Objectively, what was the best generation?

Im not even sure how we can judge this, maybe someone can look up the generation with the highest scoring games. Right off the top of my head, I guess the ps2/gamecube/xbox probably had the most game releases and therefore the most high scoring games that gen.

Very tough to answer... in terms of the sheer number of quality games released, probably hard to go past the last gen (360/PS3/Wii). But for me personally, my favourite was the Xbox/GC/PS2 gen.

I think generation 5, it was the most impactful for me anyways and had so many crazy, good and experimental games. This is also the reason I still think the Dreamcast is the best 6th generation console, as it kept the crazy, good and experimental torch lit.

During the 5th generation that was the peak of game development and developers, there were thousands of studios making games, that just doesn't exist anymore. Most of the good developers like Midway, Acclaim and Iguana are dead, and everything now is corporate parents companie who own smaller studios that they have consumed forcing development around money instead of new ideas and fun.

PS1 for me. I'm just jaded. Just perceived things differently in that era.

im going to be 44 this year.ive played through a lot of generations of consoles. Even as nostalgic as I am towards the NES I have to say Xbox,PS2,GC was the best gaming..EVEN though PS1 had Twisted Metal 1,2 and Resident Evil and Silent Hill...BUT I did play twisted metal 1 and 2 all the way into the 2000s...so..its all good..;)

6th, without a doubt.

I find it disturbing that when people speak of the 6th generation they mention the Xbox, GameCube & PlayStation 2 but not the Dreamcast, they act like it didn't exist or something.

@nyadc: I think a lot of people just aren't sure wether to think of it as 5th or 6th gen. I mean it had a lot of PS1 ports and was basically off the market before GC and Xbox even came out. Great system though, however you categorize it.

To get back on topic, gen 6 is my favorite. By this point graphics could be genuinely pretty, and most good developers had worked out the kinks of camera and controls in 3d. It was a bit heavy on licensed games for sure, but development costs were still low enough that a niche concept could find a publisher.

5th gen. PS1 + N64 + PC. I still replay lots of games from that gen.

6th gen.

Generations are for the weak and stagnant

That's simple, any gen that had Sega consoles in them

6th generation.

Nothing objective about it, we're just weighing quality and quantity, but as long as quality is a factor then so are opinions. Even if we lean on reviews, we're still just leaning on opinions. Often times swayed opinions at that.

My personal favorite is gen 4. Part nostalgia for sure, I won't deny it. But also an unreasonable amount of great releases. So many classics. What really gives it the win from me is how well so many of the games hold up. It's the most replayable gen for me, I'll still be enjoying gen 4 games up until it's time for me to check out.

That said, I believe that overall, gaming is always improving. As much as I loved the 8 and 16 bit eras, there was plenty of straight garbage that wouldn't get a pass in todays gaming landscape. Also, to me it seems like we don't get heavy hitters as frequently as we used to, but the sheer amount of good games in between are so staggering that I just can't keep up. I mean really, people didn't talk about backlogs back in the day. If you gamed a lot then chances were that you played most of the worthwhile stuff. Droughts used to actually be droughts. I'd be all caught up and just waiting on the next worth while release. These days droughts are just long stretches between heavy hitters, but it's like who the **** cares because I have more games than I can possibly finish.

Too many good games. Too easy to access them. When you cut out the bullshit industry practices and when you cut away the nit picking of each platform and just look at the games and nothing but the games, it's easy to see that we have it made.

In that sense I'd say that we're always in the best gen.

6th Gen probably.

Dreamcast/PS2/GC/Xbox/PC/GB

@nyadc It's the same for the Sega Saturn I've noticed.

6th gen.

GC, PS2 and DC were the best of the best and the GBA was aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaamazing

6th

7th

4th

5th

@ps4hasnogames:

3 nominees for the winner.

1) The very first generation that introduced gaming to masses. We cant bypass that era just because we dont have a clue about it or because games were simplistic.

2) The generation where there was the biggest leap in graphics AND gameplay , which was no other than Playstation era. It was then that defined how gaming shaped as we speak , introduced new ways to play and opened new horizons in gameplay aspect.

3) And last "put here what you had the most fun with" generation. We cant bypass that. For example , many started gaming in PS2 era .. theyll go for that and i can understand why.

So out of these 3 factors , for me , the final result is pretty easy since answer 2 and 3 it for the same era. Playstation generation gave me the most fun , the most WOW factor , the most memorable moments and so forth.

Objectively i think Playstation/N64/Saturn Generation of gaming was the pinnacle of video gaming , the leap was so big that i doubt we gonna see such a leap ever again and the excitement factor to jump from traditional 2D gaming to shiny 3D was an experience like no other i had before in video gaming both visually and gameplay speaking.

I'm hoping it's this gen..............

It is impossible to answer objectively, since there is no means of evaluating games objectively.

I think I would go with 6th gen, so many great games from then, Halo 2, FFX, Metroid Prime, Silent Hill 2, RE4, DMC 1+3, Twilight Princess, Persona 3+4 just to name a few

Not this one.

Either the 4th or 6th gen.

Gen 6 for me , thank you.

Gaming peaked with the PS2 era.

ps2 > all

The Sixth Generation. It had the GameCube, Xbox, PlayStation 2, and, of course, the Dreamcast. That's hard to beat.

Gonna go with whatever gen PS1 is in.

There is no objective way to qualify the best generation. It's entirely subjective based on each gamers personal experience, which can vary greatly on how long they've been gaming, whether that's recently to this or the last two generations, or going as far back as NES or even further back to the Atari and Colecovision era. And even then the subjectivity can extend to perspective; some will adapt and say they like the current gen more, others will judge from a nostalgic frame of mind.

So who can really say?

Gen 4 and 5, I really can't choose.

6 was when videogames really started to get a foothold with the mass public thanks to the ridiculous popularity of the ps2.

For consoles, last gen.

Kind of a redundant statement. By definition, only consoles (and by extension handhelds) have generations. By the way you bring up and focus on consoles, I take it you were in some fashion alluding to PC's being part of the discussion. Yet we all know as non-uniform hardware, "generations" don't apply to that platform.

When I see these best gen discussions I always factor in whatever was happening on PC during that period of time.

I don't believe human beings are capable of picking an objectively best anything. Personal preference will always come into play

Not sure whether I'd go with snes/gen/tg16/neo-geo or psx/n64/Saturn/(Dreamcast?).

Reason being is that while I do recognize that the snes/gen/tg16 received a fair amount of great games, th psx/Saturn/n64 was more varied as a whole. Every kind of genre was covered.

-psx/n64/Saturn

-great fighting games. Tekken 2/3 on psx, virtua fighter 2 with all the 2d capcom stuff, and smash bros if you count that. This gen nils the prior in this area.

-same goes for racing. Sega released a lot of great arcade style racers along with arcade perfect versions of some older games. Psx had gran Turismo(decent I guess). N64 had Mario Kart, Fzero, and Waverace.

-another thing this era benefitted from was the adventure/RPG area. Better games? I'm not sure, but there were great more traditional 16bit style ones along with revolutionary games like Ocarina of Time.

-platformers saw this same trend. Saturn has many traditional ones, while N64 brought forth the mind numbingly good Mario 64.

Shooters? Again, same deal. Psx-Einhander, etc. N64-goldeneye. And, the overlooked strong point of the Saturn which has better shooters than all of the prior gen.

Hard to decide. Hardware build factor in?

4th

5th

6th

7th

You say it's redundant and then emphasise that I could be implying something, interesting. Also, not redundant if not everyone shares a concensus view of what a PC generation is. I expect some consider a time frame between console generations etc. Perhaps 'fruitless' might have been more adequate :-P. But you weren't wrong, I was implying something else.

It might be nice to consider the PC in various states of evolution. But how would we measure...

Something like, 'I have fond memories of the PC during it's late Neanderthal period some 100, 000 [PC] years ago when we were playing Theme Park and Tie Fighter' :-).

6th

7th it had the best games

I'd have to go with the 4th generation. Mainly because of the many great snes games.

Super Mario World
The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past
Super Metroid
Super Mario Kart
Yoshi's Island
Super Castlevania IV
Chrono Trigger
Mega Man X
Super Mario RPG
Donkey Kong Country 1 - 3
Final Fantasy 6 (3 in US)
Contra 3 / Super Probotector
Secret of Mana

The Sega Genesis/Megadrive has some great games too. I feel that overall games from the 4th gen have aged better than games from other generations. During the 4th gen many developers have had about a decade of more to perfect their 2D gaming which is probably one reason that so many games from that era have stood the test of time so well.

its a toughie. 4th and 6th gen come to mind

Forgot about the prominent arcade factor during the snes/genesis era.

Objectively this gen has the most powerful hardware.

My favourite were 4th and 7th.

4th generation.

This one, the quality of gameplay and production is amazing. Multipurpose gaming consoles that can play high definition games across many generations.

6 is the best generation, especially for gamers, but it's not necessarily the most important generation for the gaming industry.

Overall: 5th gen followed by 6th gen.

If you only count Consoles: 6th gen followed by 5th gen.

7th Gen is worst.