What do you think was the Golden Age of PC gaming......

What do you think was the Golden Age of PC gaming?

For me the Golden Age of PC gaming will always be between the years of 1998-2002. It was during that time we saw the advent of second generation 3D accelerators which started to come out starting with the release of 3DFX's Voodoo 2 graphics chip in early 1998. This was during the period where games really started to take advantage of advanced 3D accelerators to truly set them apart from the consoles. 1998 was also the year what many consider the best FPS to really raise the bar come out and that was Half-Life. It was also the year where everybodies jaws dropped to the floor when they saw Unreal for the first time running on a 3D accelerator not to mention other gorgeous looking games to use 3D accelerators such as Forsaken. A host of other great games such as Thief, Heretic II, Shogo: Mobile Armored Division, Need For Speed Hot Pursuit (which used 3D accelerators which made it way better than the non-accelerated Playstation version). It was also during 1998-2002 that host of other great games came out, such as Quake 3 Arena, American McGee's Alice in Wonderland, Star Trek Voyager: Elite Force, Giants:Citizen Kabuto, No One Lives Forever 1 & 2, Deus Ex, Return to Castle Wolfenstein, Jedi Knight 2, Warcraft III, Medal of Honor Allied Assault, just to name a few. This was during the time where PC games didn't suffer from "consolitis", where all these great games were made specifically for the PC.

If I were to have a second choice I would choose between 2002-2006. This was during the time where great games like Far Cry, Half-Life 2, Doom 3, F.E.A.R. came out. Not to mention the ever increasing gap in 3D hardware technology during this time between the PC and the console, most consolers were still using PS2 graphics, or the grahpics from the orginial Xbox, where we had moved on to GeForce 3/4/5/6/7/8 series not to mention Radeon 8500/9700/9800/X800/X1800/X1900 series.

So, which years do you think was the Golden Age of PC gaming? Pre 1994, 1994-1998, 1998-2002, 2002-2006, or do you think we are currently living in the Golden Age of PC gaming, 2006-Present.

1998-2002 sounds about right. I can recall that this is the time when stores had a huge section for PC games. Now most retail stores don't even have a pc game section. And I can remember each month there were always at least a couple great AAA games released. Now, we are lucky to have a couple AAA pc games a year. This period brought so many new ideas to gaming. Since then, new ideas have become more rare.

1998-2002. No contest. :) PC Gaming was pretty solid up until 2004/2005, and has been sort of sliding downhill for me since. Game developers just have different priorities these days. Instead of appealing to a niche of gamers, every game is now trying to be as streamlined and barebone as possible in an attempt to appeal to everyone. And as a result we're just left with a generation of dumbed-down games with weak stories and tired gameplay.KHAndAnime

Well this pretty much sums up what I wanted to say. But I'm looking forward to the upcoming games of this year, especialyl Portal 2 and Red Orchestra 2

My favorite games came from '94 to '98 but the best done ones came from '99 to '02 no question.

1996-2001

Duke Nukem 3D, Close Combat, Tomb Raider, Terra Nova, Crusader, MoO II, Civ II, SMAC, Daggerfall, Redguard, Fallout, Baldur's Gate 1 & 2, MDK, Blood, Battlezone, Quake I-III, Unreal, UT '99, Half-Life, Shogo: Mobile Armor Division, Mech Warrior 2, Jane's flight sims, Dungeon Keeper, Outlaws, Thief 1 & 2, AoE, Independence War, Descent, Freespace 2, System Shock 2, Deus Ex, NOLF, Hexen, Heretic, Wheel of Time, Myth I & II, Grim Fandango, Command & Conquer, Dark Reign, Total Annihilation, Homeworld

The only game you listed from1998-2002 that I actually like and care for is WarCraft III.

98-02 and here's why: Half Life, Aliens Vs Predator, Quake 3 (well, it was around that time, right?), Age of Empires II, Popolous III (not ever a crappy sequel???).

Eh, 2001-2005 for me, but I didn't have a PC in the 90s and 2000 though, so I went to hunt games that came before 2001 as well.

1996-2001

JackBurton

2011 will be better for pc gaming than 2010 that for sure let see, we will get firt AAA pc game in january (dead space2) also we will get some AAA games in february (Bulletstorm AC:Brotherhood Test Drive Unlimited 2 Shadow harvest) Also in march we will get AAA games too (Dragon age 2Homefront Fear 3 Crysis 2 Darkspore captain blood duke nukem alice madness return e.t.c.) Maybe some time in the future there will be a new golden age of pc gaming but for now i am glad that at least pc will get more AAA games in 2011 than it got in 2010

I don't like how your Poll years are divided :(

PC Gaming's Golden Age was 1997-2000 (inclusive).......during that 4 year span (which coincides with 3dfx's rise and fall) you could get 30 excellent PC games per year, as opposed to today when you are lucky to get half that many a year. Games were made for the PC first and foremost.

It all started in January 1997 with the release of the original Diablo (full game) and the release of GLQuake (not to mention both Quake's expansion packs came out that month) which ignited the Graphics Wars.

The Golden Age ended at the end of 2000 as developers jumped ship to begin developing for PS2, Gamecube, and Microsoft's first entry into the gaming market, the X-Box.

Other than 1 excellent expansion pack for Diablo 2 and Baldur's Gate 2 each, a great multi-platform 3rd person shooter called Max Payne, the best Air Combat Sim ever in Il-2 Sturmovik, and an excellent realistic shooter in Operation: Flashpoint, 2001 was weak.

There was a resurgence in 2002 but it was never the same, consoles had become the primary, PC secondary.

I'll vote for '98 - 02, but 1997 was FAR superior to both 2001 and even 2002.

Just the tip of the iceberg but here are 10 games from 1997 that blow away either 2001 or 2002:

• Diablo
• Fallout
• Dungeon Keeper
• Curse of Monkey Island
• Quake 2
• Total Anihilation
• Jedi Knight: Dark Forces 2
• MDK
• Interstate '76
• Myth: The Fallen Lords

Also GLQuake, Blood, Age of Empires, and Longbow 2 are up there....

developers were at that point ('97) developing primarily for Windows '95 (over DOS) and using CD-ROM's, great period of growth for PC gaming.

This brings back memories. Interstate 76, i havent thought about that game in forever, it was so amazing as was dungeon keeper 2, and my all time favorite decent freespace 2(not to mention tie fighter). 3dfx cards, i miss them.....

I have been playing PC games forever(im 29), I loved duke nukem and doom and all, but the game that really kick started my love for pc gaming was Unreal. After the original unreal i was totally hooked, loved that game.

1998-2002. No contest. :) PC Gaming was pretty solid up until 2004/2005, and has been sort of sliding downhill for me since. KHAndAnime

I agree with this. Even up to 2005 PC gaming was solid. I believe over the last 5 years the two exceptions would be Crysis and Crysis Warhead which was specifically developed for the PC. It seems it has been medicore over the last 5 years due to consilitis. Just look what happened to the F.E.A.R., the first F.E.A.R. was great for the PC than the second one was a flop, they didn't even have a lean button because of "consolitis".

I didn't really start to get into PC gaming until around 2004-2005... But I did get to play games like Diablo 1 and 2, Starcraft...and I mainly played World of Warcraft. Golden Age of PC gaming for me is continuous. I appreciate gaming whether it was back in the 90's, early 2000's or present day. I'm not one of those people that live off of nostalgia or need it from time to time.

Just like everyone else said, 1998-2002 were the golden years. While we still have plenty of games to enjoy, I cant say I have been enjoying gaming as much as I used to. Consolization, Cinematic Gameplay, Overly Intrusive DRM (Ubisoft), Stat Tracking and excessive streamlining makes me a sad panda.

However, if everything is going the way I hope it to, we may be in for some real gaming goodness coming soon. In the last few years, some really promising developers have shown up.

Just like everyone else said, 1998-2002 were the golden years. While we still have plenty of games to enjoy, I cant say I have been enjoying gaming as much as I used to. Consolization, Cinematic Gameplay, Overly Intrusive DRM (Ubisoft), Stat Tracking and excessive streamlining makes me a sad panda.

However, if everything is going the way I hope it to, we may be in for some real gaming goodness coming soon. In the last few years, some really promising developers have shown up.

Maroxad

Love to see a resurgence of "PC-gaming first" greatness, that would be something.......1997-2000 were marvelous years, and the memories are great. Pc Gamer magazine was at its peak as well, and so were 2 other magazines: Computer Gaming World and Computer Games

Interesting how we often seem to be looking simply for sequels to games from that period, whether its Diablo, Starcraft, Total Annihilation (as in Supreme Commander), Fallout, etc.

96 - 02

• DN3D
• Unreal Tournament
• Quake series
• Diablo series
• Warcraft series
• Starcraft
• Civilization series
• Age of Empires series
• Command & Conquer series
• Half Life & Counter Strike
• Grim Fandango
• The Longest Journey
• Syberia
• The Elder Scrolls series
• Gothic
• Sims
• Baldur's Gate series
• Thief series
• Serious Sam
• Wizardry 8

And a milion more, but those are my personal golden years, i would assume some did not enjoy the games in that perioud.

Ive been around pc gaming a long long time..Since they early says of the gold boxes..The original civilization games..Let me tell ya its not all been that bad in recent years..We had some great games come along..Torchlight is a fun neat cheap game im looking forward to tl2..We had half life series rock de house...Company of heroes has been fun...Crysis an number 2 on the way..Elder scrolls still looks better on the pc than the box..The sims which my wife is addicted to..Nverwinter nights 2 an dragon age with number 2 on the way..The gothic series..Some of the devs are still making great pc games..Civilization five..Some one said this year will rock the house sure it will my friends..

Just imagine if DIablo 3 hits this year omfg sales will top starcraft 2..

I think I'll go and be awkward and agree with the 96-2001 crowd. I was always a heavy RTS player back then, and every year there were some excellent RTSs coming out - C&C, Total Annihilation, Red Alert, Starcraft...even SimCity reached what I considered the peak of the series with SC3k (SimCity 4 got needlessly technical and Societies too easy/closed).

I don't play so many RTSs any more, but looking back that is because there just aren't any coming out that I want to play (the Total War series fails to grab me). SC2 is an obvious high point, but with SupCom 2 as a godawful low point in 2010 as well, especially considering the greatness of SupCom and FA, they don't seem to come as thick and fast as I'd like.

[QUOTE="Maroxad"]

Just like everyone else said, 1998-2002 were the golden years. While we still have plenty of games to enjoy, I cant say I have been enjoying gaming as much as I used to. Consolization, Cinematic Gameplay, Overly Intrusive DRM (Ubisoft), Stat Tracking and excessive streamlining makes me a sad panda.

However, if everything is going the way I hope it to, we may be in for some real gaming goodness coming soon. In the last few years, some really promising developers have shown up.

AFBrat77

Love to see a resurgence of "PC-gaming first" greatness, that would be something.......1997-2000 were marvelous years, and the memories are great. Pc Gamer magazine was at its peak as well, and so were 2 other magazines: Computer Gaming World and Computer Games

Interesting how we often seem to be looking simply for sequels to games from that period, whether its Diablo, Starcraft, Total Annihilation (as in Supreme Commander), Fallout, etc.

Guess what? Most of those promising developers I mentioned have been PC first or PC only. CD Projekt, Taleworlds, Frictional and Mojang are examples of the devs that look really promising and so far, most of them have prioritized on the PC as opposed to consoles in fact while some of them have been planning to make console versions most never ended up making it in the end.

And yes, I do find that interesting how we are looking forward to sequels of that era. Unfortunately, we got a sequel to one of those and it felt heavily consolized especially with the UI and lack of Keybinding (Fallout 3). Duke Nukem Forever feels the same, the devs even confirmed they put a 2 weapon limit simply because of consoles. I got nothing against console versions however, UNLESS it makes the PC version suffer, in fact otherwise I am for it.

1990-2002 It was a great time because that's what got us into gaming, games were just evolving, they were interesting, almost all of them were an entirely new experience, the only reason why it didn't continue after 2002 is because we played too much games, we experienced a lot more than what we got after and even though games nowadays are better we demand more of them and we constantly compare them to how good old games felt at that time. Of course there are bad games also, or games that try to much to copy others, making them less interesting.

Games only get better, for most they might get worse since expectations evolve way faster than games, but at the same time they begin to merge into stereotypes that offer nothing more than the original offered. Gaming is going as strong as ever, but interesting experiences are fewer and they'll continue to be rare.

96 - 02

• DN3D
• Unreal Tournament
• Quake series
• Diablo series
• Warcraft series
• Starcraft
• Civilization series
• Age of Empires series
• Command & Conquer series
• Half Life & Counter Strike
• Grim Fandango
• The Longest Journey
• Syberia
• The Elder Scrolls series
• Gothic
• Sims
• Baldur's Gate series
• Thief series
• Serious Sam
• Wizardry 8

And a milion more, but those are my personal golden years, i would assume some did not enjoy the games in that perioud.

Lucianu

Great list. I always remember Grim Fandango. It was one of my all time favorite adventure games. I don't understand for the life of me WHY IN THE WORLD does Lucasarts not release a sequal to it or make an HD version of it? It's really difficult to play the old game at higher resolutions.

Every single day is a step forward.

Not going to lie, I reminisce about the days of good games, the days when flight simulators were as numerous as shooters.

But while those days are gone, they are replaced with better things as well.

Every single day is a step forward.

Not going to lie, I reminisce about the days of good games, the days when flight simulators were as numerous as shooters.

But while those days are gone, they are replaced with better things as well.

mrbojangles25

1996-2001

Duke Nukem 3D, Close Combat, Tomb Raider, Terra Nova, Crusader, MoO II, Civ II, SMAC, Daggerfall, Redguard, Fallout, Baldur's Gate 1 & 2, MDK, Blood, Battlezone, Quake I-III, Unreal, UT '99, Half-Life, Shogo: Mobile Armor Division, Mech Warrior 2, Jane's flight sims, Dungeon Keeper, Outlaws, Thief 1 & 2, AoE, Independence War, Descent, Freespace 2, System Shock 2, Deus Ex, NOLF, Hexen, Heretic, Wheel of Time, Myth I & II, Grim Fandango, Command & Conquer, Dark Reign, Total Annihilation, Homeworld

JackBurton

Take this back to 94 and add X-COM and Star control 2(I think). Also Warcraft and Warcraft2. I remember having to upgrade to Win 95 to be able to use the Warcraft 2 SDK. God what a list. Good job.

[QUOTE="JackBurton"]

1996-2001

Duke Nukem 3D, Close Combat, Tomb Raider, Terra Nova, Crusader, MoO II, Civ II, SMAC, Daggerfall, Redguard, Fallout, Baldur's Gate 1 & 2, MDK, Blood, Battlezone, Quake I-III, Unreal, UT '99, Half-Life, Shogo: Mobile Armor Division, Mech Warrior 2, Jane's flight sims, Dungeon Keeper, Outlaws, Thief 1 & 2, AoE, Independence War, Descent, Freespace 2, System Shock 2, Deus Ex, NOLF, Hexen, Heretic, Wheel of Time, Myth I & II, Grim Fandango, Command & Conquer, Dark Reign, Total Annihilation, Homeworld

Rickylee

Take this back to 94 and add X-COM and Star control 2(I think). Also Warcraft and Warcraft2. I remember having to upgrade to Win 95 to be able to use the Warcraft 2 SDK. God what a list. Good job.

DOOM 2 also came out in 1994.....I still consider it the best game ever made, still playable today (although I suppose most would need to play it in a window now)

[QUOTE="AFBrat77"]

[QUOTE="Maroxad"]

Just like everyone else said, 1998-2002 were the golden years. While we still have plenty of games to enjoy, I cant say I have been enjoying gaming as much as I used to. Consolization, Cinematic Gameplay, Overly Intrusive DRM (Ubisoft), Stat Tracking and excessive streamlining makes me a sad panda.

However, if everything is going the way I hope it to, we may be in for some real gaming goodness coming soon. In the last few years, some really promising developers have shown up.

Maroxad

Love to see a resurgence of "PC-gaming first" greatness, that would be something.......1997-2000 were marvelous years, and the memories are great. Pc Gamer magazine was at its peak as well, and so were 2 other magazines: Computer Gaming World and Computer Games

Interesting how we often seem to be looking simply for sequels to games from that period, whether its Diablo, Starcraft, Total Annihilation (as in Supreme Commander), Fallout, etc.

Guess what? Most of those promising developers I mentioned have been PC first or PC only. CD Projekt, Taleworlds, Frictional and Mojang are examples of the devs that look really promising and so far, most of them have prioritized on the PC as opposed to consoles in fact while some of them have been planning to make console versions most never ended up making it in the end.

And yes, I do find that interesting how we are looking forward to sequels of that era. Unfortunately, we got a sequel to one of those and it felt heavily consolized especially with the UI and lack of Keybinding (Fallout 3). Duke Nukem Forever feels the same, the devs even confirmed they put a 2 weapon limit simply because of consoles. I got nothing against console versions however, UNLESS it makes the PC version suffer, in fact otherwise I am for it.

[QUOTE="mrbojangles25"]

Every single day is a step forward.

Not going to lie, I reminisce about the days of good games, the days when flight simulators were as numerous as shooters.

But while those days are gone, they are replaced with better things as well.

KHAndAnime

[QUOTE="mrbojangles25"]

Every single day is a step forward.

Not going to lie, I reminisce about the days of good games, the days when flight simulators were as numerous as shooters.

But while those days are gone, they are replaced with better things as well.

KHAndAnime

Although pc gaming has lost its magic, i'm sure it will regain its former glory.

Pc gaming is getting noticed again.

Nothing is static everything is dynamic, and so this "dumbed down console era" will eventually die.

Its allready happening...

98-02 and here's why: Half Life, Aliens Vs Predator, Quake 3 (well, it was around that time, right?), Age of Empires II, Popolous III (not ever a crappy sequel???).

telep_man

Freespace 1 +2, Dungeon Keeper 2, Dark Forces 2: Jedi Knight, Grim Fandango, Starcraft, Diablo 2, Alien Vs Predator 2, Sacrifice, Giants: Citizen Kuboto, System Shock 2, Heavy Gear 2,

By far the most underrated year in PC gaming is 1997......its among the Top 3 PC Gaming years ever.

I'd say anything prior to 2002 was the Golden Age. I can't pick one specific era because there were a lot of good PC games that came out before 94 (The Ultimas, Wizardry, Might and Magics, the Gold Box games, Wasteland, etc.).

Pretty much since the release of the original DreckBox, the quality of games (and gamers) have quickly gone down hill (especially RPGs which, for the most part, aren't even RPGs anymore).

Late 90s, but 2004 was the best year.

I'd say anything prior to 2002 was the Golden Age. I can't pick one specific era because there were a lot of good PC games that came out before 94 (The Ultimas, Wizardry, Might and Magics, the Gold Box games, Wasteland, etc.).

Pretty much since the release of the original DreckBox, the quality of games (and gamers) have quickly gone down hill (especially RPGs which, for the most part, aren't even RPGs anymore).

-wildflower-

You can go further back but you have to start somewhere and I think that 94 is where that distinction can be made. Just as 01,02 can be the end point. Some where in there games started changing. You assert that the quality of gamers has gone downhill but you are extremely hardcore when it comes to playing difficulty and not everyone has followed you through. Your also very dogmatic about what constitutes RPGs. All these things are fine but if you are too ridged you'll lose objectivity.

A major difference between you and me is I have always found games like BG2 very hard even playing at easy and you could probably solo the damn thing. I look up to you for that but if games makers stayed with your way of thinking they would have gone broke by now cause of the cost of making games and the limited market that that would creat.

I wouldn't say that there was a Golden Age as every time period had it's great moments. But since I'm a sucker for good adventure games I will go with the time period when LucasArts and Sierra were the two point & click adventure behemoths, so pre 1994

Got to agree with those who mentioned 1997, easily one of the best years in gaming :)

1. Fallout 3 was not 'consolized'. 2. Fallout 3 had 'keybinding'.SkyWard20

Ok: Goes to start up Fallout 3, presses "M" nothing happens, very well, presses "I" nothing happens, Fallout 3 had keybinding but only through 1-8. I would have loved to use 9 and 0 as well. From my knowledge there was no shortcut to the map, inventory. Why couldnt we turn off Auto Aim, which was more of a burden than it was help? The game forced you to use Auto Aim, which several console shooters do (some dont thankfully).

The UI felt awkward in Fallout 3 as well.

late nineties were the greatest, but right now is pretty awesome if you take the time to see through the hype and play the great games like amnesia, dawn of war 2, arma 2, stalker series, total war series, witcher, civ 5 etc... Even some of the hyped games are great, world of warcraft and starcraft 2 for example. multiplatform or not I wouldnt be caught playing something like bad company 2 or mass effect on a console either.

Got to agree with those who mentioned 1997, easily one of the best years in gaming :)

[QUOTE="SkyWard20"]

1. Fallout 3 was not 'consolized'. 2. Fallout 3 had 'keybinding'.Maroxad

Ok: Goes to start up Fallout 3, presses "M" nothing happens, very well, presses "I" nothing happens, Fallout 3 had keybinding but only through 1-8. I would have loved to use 9 and 0 as well. From my knowledge there was no shortcut to the map, inventory. Why couldnt we turn off Auto Aim, which was more of a burden than it was help? The game forced you to use Auto Aim, which several console shooters do (some dont thankfully).

The UI felt awkward in Fallout 3 as well.