Luke wrote:Whatever generation is Gen X, I choose that one.
And I mean "Gen X" in the sense that you watched Channel 1 during Home Room.
Hell yeah. We watched Anderson Cooper and Lisa Ling before they were cool. Whatever happened to Rawley Valverde?????
Anyways, it's the 16-bit era for me. You love your Nintendo little Jimmy? Well check out THESE games! Yeah the tech is simple but still. There was nothing like that leap. Even the jump to 3D didn't impress me as much.
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G4 - G6 - G7 - G3 - G5 - G2. With G4 and G6 neck and neck, G7 and G3 very close as well, G5 just tailing those, and G2 last.
G2 is the hardest to evaluate. I mean, there was a ton of growth in the industry, and it begat so many innovations... but there are very few games that have much depth, so it goes to the bottom. Sorry, G2!
Handhelds also throw a kink into my rankings. I tend to delineate by the consoles, so it gets really tricky throwing in all the odd timings the handhelds came out at. Although having the GBA in G6 certainly strengthens its case, and having the DS/PSP in G7 also strengthens its case as well. It might actually put a bit of a gap between it and G3.
And that's not even mentioning PC gaming! That one's even harder to place in neatly. But having the C64 in there likely boosts G2 up, and also helps alleviate my complaints about depth.
Long story short, there's good stuff to experience in every generation of gaming!
IMO, the GBA is the best portable, ever.
our top 3 are the same, albeit in different order.
Currently Playing: Hatsune Miku Project Diva F 2nd (PS3)
1. Gen 4 - 16-bit era was the golden age. 8-bit era gameplay polished and refined, with graphics closing the gap with arcades. It will NEVER be that good again. Plus, arcades were still thriving at this time and they were awesome. I was never more in love with gaming than I was at this time
2. Gen 6 - When 3D gaming matured, and also the last time gaming was good. HD gen was when it all went to shit. The rise and fall of the Dreamcast took me from a great high to a great low, it was the last console I ever felt true excitement for. But the PS2 still provided me with many great games and memories
3. Gen 5 - Bad graphics, but still good games. I didn't mind the tank controls in some games. We owe this gen a big thanks for introducing memory cards. 3D was an amazing, game changing (no pun intended) thing at the time. Today's equivalent would be the movement to virtual reality. While many will cite Mario 64, it was Tomb Raider that blew my mind with what 3d gaming was capable of. Also, FMV in PS1 games just blew my mind too (never had a Sega CD)...as did Final Fantasy 7's amazing (for their time) graphics. This was the PS1 era, no question. The Saturn and N64 didn't even matter. For a certain generation of younger gamers, the PS1 was their Nintendo
4. Gen 3 - NES era, this is when I started to get hooked into gaming. Great games, but graphically a far cry from the amazing things we saw in arcades and there was so much archaic game design and game mechanics in this gen. Still, gaming as many of us know it began to take shape in this gen. Games with stories, actual endings, a POINT to playing them. Gaming starting to mature here. Ninja Gaiden was an eye opener with its deep and cinematic story telling.
5. Gen 2 - Can't say much about it, most of the games I didn't play. And it seems like there was no point to games in this gen as they had no stories, no endings. It was just games looping and people playing for high scores...boring. Games felt "incomplete" this gen. They weren't a true means of escapism.
6. Gen 7 - I absolutely abhor everything about this generation of gaming. Fuck Microsoft and certain other companies for all the bad things they introduced to the gaming world (Pre order exclusives, on disc DLC, multiplayer bullshit, fleeting digital content getting de-listed at the drop of a hat, day 1 patches, etc.). And this gen reeks of corporate greed more than any other. Also, the move towards consoles becoming more and more like PCs has brought nothing good to console gaming.
Last edited by Gamerforlife on Tue Jul 14, 2015 7:08 pm, edited 1 time in total.
RyaNtheSlayA wrote:
Seriously. Screw you Shao Kahn I'm gonna play Animal Crossing.
Gamerforlife wrote:1. Gen 4 - 16-bit era was the golden age. 8-bit era gameplay polished and refined, with graphics closing the gap with arcades. It will NEVER be that good again. Plus, arcades were still thriving at this time and they were awesome. I was never more in love with gaming than I was at this time
2. Gen 6 - When 3D gaming matured, and also the last time gaming was good. HD gen was when it all went to shit. The rise and fall of the Dreamcast took me from a great high to a great low, it was the last console I ever felt true excitement for. But the PS2 still provided me with many great games and memories
3. Gen 5 - Bad graphics, but still good games. I didn't mind the tank controls in some games. We owe this gen a big thanks for introducing memory cards. 3D was an amazing, game changing (no pun intended) thing at the time. Today's equivalent would be the movement to virtual reality. While many will cite Mario 64, it was Tomb Raider that blew my mind with what 3d gaming was capable of. Also, FMV in PS1 games just blew my mind too (never had a Sega CD)...as did Final Fantasy 7's amazing (for their time) graphics. This was the PS1 era, no question. The Saturn and N64 didn't even matter. For a certain generation of younger gamers, the PS1 was their Nintendo
4. Gen 3 - NES era, this is when I started to get hooked into gaming. Great games, but graphically a far cry from the amazing things we saw in arcades and there was so much archaic game design and game mechanics in this gen. Still, gaming as many of us know it began to take shape in this gen. Games with stories, actual endings, a POINT to playing them. Gaming starting to mature here. Ninja Gaiden was an eye opener with its deep and cinematic story telling.
5. Gen 2 - Can't say much about it, most of the games I didn't play. And it seems like there was no point to games in this gen as they had no stories, no endings. It was just games looping and people playing for high scores...boring. Games felt "incomplete" this gen. They weren't a true means of escapism.
6. Gen 6 - I absolutely abhor everything about this generation of gaming. Fuck Microsoft and certain other companies for all the bad things they introduced to the gaming world (Pre order exclusives, on disc DLC, multiplayer bullshit, fleeting digital content getting de-listed at the drop of a hat, day 1 patches, etc.). And this gen reeks of corporate greed more than any other. Also, the move towards consoles becoming more and more like PCs has brought nothing good to console gaming.
for no. 6, i think you mean gen 7.
While i don't agree with you, i can see why you'd say that. I just believe that, all of that financial mess, is in the end worth it, due to how amazing the games are this gen.
On all that stuff you listed:
>Pre Order Exclusives have been around since before this gen. And, if were talking gameplay exclusives, most of the time it's just pointless costumes.
>On-disc DLC does suck. It's really bad, and i miss having unlockables. :/
>"Multiplayer BS"? not all games focus on multiplayer. Games like TES, Mass Effect, Fallout, GTA, Arkham Series, & others barely have had a multiplayer component in them.
>De listed content sucks.
>I like day 1 patches if done right. I'd rather have a fixed game than a forever broken one. Plus, it prevents having to recall products.
BTW, not trying to get into it with you, i was just listing my opinion, and I respect yours, my friend.
Currently Playing: Hatsune Miku Project Diva F 2nd (PS3)
Gen 1 - This was basically the 'pong' generation, right? We all gotta start somewhere, but there's very little reason to go back to this era outside of collectability. Rating: Dull...
Gen 2 - Console games are still very primitive and have still aged very poorly, and if that's all we were judging this on, it'd get a D. However, this was also the time of the Golden Age of Arcade Video Games. Space Invaders, Donkey Kong, Pac Man, Galaga, Dragon's Lair and lord knows how many other legends existed in this era and these arcade versions (not their home conversions) are reason enough for me to hold this era in high regard. Rating: Atomic!
Gen 3 - The Famicom Generation. Rather than going the Gen 2 route of consoles trying to provide very inferior versions of the arcade experience, this generation had more games that were built from the ground up for home use. A lot of creative ideas in this generation and games that kept it simple and fun. While the Famicom was capable of reproducing near 1 to 1 ports of games like Pac-Man, Galaga and Donkey Kong, the arcade scene continued to evolve by creating experiences that just couldn't be felt at home with games like Outrun, Chase H.Q., and Afterburner. The biggest problem with this generation is Nintendo's draconian rules for publishers, as well as its censorship policies and aggressive marketing of the NES as a "boy's toy", which made the video games go from something enjoyed by all ages and genders to being the male child's play thing that it is still considered by many today. I mean, sure, it worked for Nintendo like a charm, but it's done damage. Rating: Bingo!
Gen 4 - The Street Fighter generation. Arcades finally solved the problem of people hogging the machine for hours on one credit by creating a genre that guaranteed somebody would be inserting a coin soon enough. The genre becomes so extremely popular that the Super Famicom's controller is designed with this genre in mind specifically. Games like Mortal Kombat and Sega's marketing strategy target older players, starting to somewhat tear away at the damage done by Nintendo's marketing strategy. Neo Geo's home console finally creates true arcade-at-home experiences, though the prohibitive price prevents it from taking off - however, the Neo Geo arcade system revolutionizes the way arcade games are created, making arcade games much easier and cheaper for arcade operators to acquire. (oh, and there was the TurboGrafx. Cool little system that never really took off where I lived but from what I've played, really excelled at hardcore, arcade like experiences.) Rating: Blast!
Gen 5 - I believe this is the point at which everything scatters into completely different directions. Arcades move away from fighters and more to games that can never easily be recreated at home, such as House of the Dead, Area 51, San Francisco Rush, Daytona USA, Carnevil, Time Crisis II, etc. PlayStation was the place for Role Playing Games and other single player experiences with incredible (for the time...) 3D graphics and cinematic stories. Sega Saturn was the home of near arcade perfect ports of shmups and fighters with amazing 2D graphics. Nintendo 64 kept up with the family friendly approach while it's four built in controller ports made it the perfect choice for group play and parties. For the first time, your choice of console meant more than just whether you preferred a red plumber or a blue hedgehog, Think you know all about this generation just because you had one of the systems of this time and you have no reason to go back? Guess again. This generation has the most to go back to because each console is a generation unto itself. Rating: Smokin' Sick Style!!!
Gen 6 - Dreamcast bridges the gap between console and arcade, giving on release arcade perfect (or better than arcade perfect) ports of games like Soul Calibur, Hydro Thunder, House of the Dead 2 and Power Stone, with only more to come. Ships with a modem enabling online play. Has some of the most amazing, unique and downright weird titles with games like Crazy Taxi, Jet Grind Radio, Space Channel 5, Shenmue and Seaman.
Then it dies. What we have following is a swift decline of video arcades with them being replaced almost entirely with redemption games. The PS2 has its fair share of good games, but the system was sold primarily because of its DVD playback. Gamecube also has great games, but it still feels more like a mini-PS2 with a few exclusives. The Xbox comes out and does nothing more than confuse people - unless you wanted to get in on a very lite version of PC gaming with inferior control compared to mouse + keyboard, I don't understand what this was to accomplish.
Were it not for the sheer quality of the Dreamcast line-up and the sheer volume of PS2 games which, thanks to the law of averages, gave us quite a lot of high quality games if you were willing to dig through the gunk, this would have been a fail. Rating: Crazy!
Gen 7 - Xbox 360 finally manages to kill the Japanese stronghold on the games industry, ushering in a reign on bald space marines and smarmy assholes voiced by Nolan North using that one voice out of the hundreds he's capable of. The Wii manages to break the law of averages by producing mountains of dung with maybe just a few kernels of sweet corn in there. The PS3 sells for at least the first year for no reason other than its ability to play Blu-Rays. DLC, DRM, Pre-Order Bonuses, and Online Passes patrol the lands like SwatBots making sure to put a "No Fun Allowed" sign everywhere it can. Arcades are worse than dead - pure redemption, videmption and fucking tablet games with coin slots.
Sure, eventually we'd get games that actually make us remember why we partake in this expensive and time consuming hobby, but for the most part Generation 7 is a Disaster.
TL;DR - Gen 5 is the best because each platform excelled at different things. While every other gen had each platform racing on the same track to the same finish line, each platform on Gen 5 had its own track and its own unique goal.
Last edited by the7k on Tue Jul 14, 2015 1:45 am, edited 1 time in total.
Assuming the American console perspective here, from worst to last. Note, I'm ignoring PC games for the most part and all handhelds.
10. Pong (1975-1977)
Ah, the Pong generation. I'm sure it was great back then, and I can still play Pong today, but if I want to play Pong, I'm headed to the local Barcade, throwing in a couple of quarters, and challenging a friend/my wife. If I'm home, there's so much better to play.
9. Current (2012-now)
Aside from a precious few on Steam, this current stuff doesn't interest me at all, especially not at the price and cost, and by one of those, I mean the omnipresence of DRM, the humongous installations, the tedious cut-scenes and QTEs, and the "cinematic experience", which is utter crap, since no game has even come near the greatness of movies. I don't want to press a button just to watch something happen. Give me a game, or give me a movie.
Same goes with visual novels, though those obviously were around long before now.
8. Post-16-bit Stop-gap (1993-1997)
By this I'm thinking of the 3DO, Jaguar, 32X, etc. There are some good gems here, but by and large, it's just not worth investing in at all. This probably would have been a straight tie for 9th place, but the Neo Geo CD is definitely worth nabbing if you don't have, don't want, or can't afford a Neo Geo AES or upright. I don't mind missing out on the fighting games, the best of which are elsewhere anyway, if it means I don't have to pay exorbitant prices for games. The two that still really elude me, though, are the Metal Slug games.
7. HD (2005-2014)
This was the first time I saw the new gen come out and was only mildly impressed. As I dug into the library, albeit very late in the game, I became less and less impressed. Still, PS3/360 combined I would want maybe a dozen exclusives. The Wii is the one saving grace, and it's probably my least favorite console right now, and that's including the NGCD.
6. Crash (1982-1984)
Basically the placement of this gen comes down to the ColecoVision, the only thing I have from this time except the C64. I do also own a SCV, but it's not American, and thus for simplicity's sake I'm excluding, although it wouldn't really affect the placement much.
So when deciding between 5th and 6th place, it came down to the ColecoVision vs. the Wii.*
We can even break it down point by point, and I think the Wii would edge it out except for one problem: disappointment. The ColecoVision is not a disappointment. As far as pick-up-&-play games in the early 80s, it had the best graphics until the 7800/NES was released, it had decent sound, not as good as the 5200, but not terrible; the controllers were bad, but so were the competitors (I'm including having to press up to jump in C64 games); the arcade conversions were generally very sound. Overall, it was a nice little system, and a great complement to the 2600 and C64 (5200 you could skip because of its library).
Meanwhile, the Wii seemed full of promise, but really failed to deliver. Online multiplayer was shoddy, and they cut it out too early (which was pretty much the only reason I got one, to play with sevin0seven and crew on Mario Kart Wii and GoldenEye); Metroid Prime 3 and Other M were embarrassing; and although I liked some of the platformers, the highlight of the console, they weren't as charming this time around, and not getting the Rayman follow-up was just another disappointment. The console disappointed me, and I think that's why it ultimately gets bumped below the Coleco.
Also, the CV is getting some awesome ports from the MSX and SG-1000 library lately, which is a very welcome boost. I doubt we'll see very many homebrews for the Wii in 2036.
*I don't own and never have owned a Vectrex, nor have I spent very much time with it, so I can't really speak to its strengths or weaknesses. Thus I'm really only thinking about the CV, 5200, and C64 for American consoles/console-like computers.
5. DVD (1999-2010)
This generation really is the PS2 generation. For a long time I bought into the idea that the Xbox had the best multi-plats, and so I gathered together a sizable collection of both Xbox and PS2 games, and a decent amount of GCN games, too. That all changed. Earlier this year the Xbox is sold. The GCN would be sold too if it weren't for Metroid Prime, seriously one of my favorite shooters.
I love the PS2 for its polish, though, and for the introduction to larger worlds, without typically becoming too bogged down in trivialities. I also love me some racers, and think that here is where the racer genre shines: Outrun 2006, Extreme G III, Burnout 3, and some quirkier ones on the Dreamcast, like Hydro Thunder, Re-Volt, Crazy Taxi 1/2. Even the GameCube got in on the action with F-Zero GX and Wave Race: Blue Storm, though they're down the list a bit.
We also have solid fighters, with MotW, CvSNK, and MvC 1 & 2 really making the Dreamcast shine. I prefer earlier shooters better, but Sturmwind and Raiden III (never understood the hate) are classics. I actually think this gen is when shooters lost me. It started with some earlier titles, but the bright, colorful, slow-moving bullets and pattern-finding more than action gameplay leaves me uninspired. I'm not a bullet-hell guy, I guess, though I can be when I'm in the right mood.
4. Early Cartridge (1977-1981)
It's almost blasphemous to put the 2600 so high up on any list, yet that's what I'm doing here. The grandfather of video games is just too good to let linger among some of the stinkers at the bottom. I just love the put-it-in-and-turn-on gameplay. I love the short bursts of playtime. Want to waste 20 minutes? What better way to do so than popping in an arcade classic ported with horrible graphics (though not for 1980!) and sitting down until you die...three or four times later. The 2600 is the sportiest of consoles. Like shooters and early platformers, you really need to have the reflexes to play these games.
And new games continue coming out for it! I was playing Juno First today. There is a beautiful simplicity in boiling down features to the essence and then really making them shine. Since my time has been greatly curtailed lately, this beautiful simplicity, this essence of action-gaming, has been my go-to.
3. Early Modern (1995-2003)
I don't particularly care for the 3D stuff in this era, with a couple exceptions, but the 2D is where it shines. Saturn and PlayStation shooters finally were able to move seemingly beyond limitations, and games like Strikers 1945 I & II, Layer Section, Shienryu, Soukyugurentai Otokuyo, Battle Garegga, and perfect ports of games like R-Type, After Burner II, and Raiden, I get a lot of shooting done on the PS1 and Saturn.
With the exception of just two landmark games on the 16-bit systems, this is where I go to fill my fighters thirst. Not even the Dreamcast's excellent library can outshine this gen.
It also excelled in 3D platformers, even more than the DVD era, which I found a bit on the stale side. RPGs I'd probably give it an edge over earlier (and definitely later), though mostly due to some outstanding examples (e.g. Ogre Battle 64, the most underrated game of all time).
Otherwise, though, I find it good, but not the best. Racers, shooters, 2D platformers, ARPG/action-adventure, and unique puzzle or puzzle-like games were all better elsewhere. Still, what they offer is just good enough to put them all the way up my top 3.
2. Post-crash 8-bit (1986-1992)
So many of here I see are really only thinking of the NES and only putting the Master System and 7800 here as an afterthought. That's a shame, but I get it. The golden age arcade games isn't that appealing. I wonder if that's because many people suck at it these days. Centipede might seem repetitive, but who of those who decry it can put up a score over 100k? And then I see people in arcades near me pushing 700, 800, 900k. It gets intense. I don't come close, but I appreciate the challenge.
And that's where the 7800 is best. In fact, between all three systems, you have Centipede, Popeye, BurgerTime, Joust, Mario Bros, Galaga...if I had to, I could survive only on this generation. I could play these games forever. And to top it off, you get the entire 2600 library with the 7800, butchered though unique enough to play ports of 16 bit games on the Master System (like Sonic 1, which is actually only aesthetically related to Sonic 1 on the Genesis, or the Mickey Mouse games), and best of all, the best library of all time on the NES. The NES was action-gamers' heaven. You have your golden age classics (though maybe not as good as the joystick gens), you have the new platformers (SMB, Contra, Mega Man, Ninja Gaiden), you have the beginnings of turn-based RPG, you have shooters galore, you have Balloon Fight, Castlevania, Dr. Mario, Kirby, Metroid, Zelda, and a crap ton of Japanese exclusives.
The NES was the best console of all time, in my opinion, and that's coming from someone who didn't actually grow up with it (though being fair I did play it from time to time as a kid at other people's houses). It just has everything, and it does it right. Even if it lacks polish, the breadth and depth is more than overwhelming.
Throw in the arcade classics that 7800 offers, the excellent Master System library, and again, if from 1986 to 1990 was pure gaming bliss.
1. 16 bit (1989-1995)
This was a simple formula. Take everything right with the NES, 7800, and Master System, and improve on it with the Turbografx-16, Genesis, and Super Nintendo.
Need I say any more?
I couldn't possibly live without my 7800 or NES, so I couldn't survive on this gen alone, but if I had to choose just one, it would come down to this one or the last one. The sheer volume of awesomeness in this gen, though, just pushes it ahead, but just barely. The NES might win overall best console, but the Master System and 7800 combined don't equal it. Maybe if it were just two of the 16 bit goodness, say, just SNES and Genesis, or just Genesis and Turbo, then perhaps I'd give the win to the 8bits, but all three? You can't compete.
This was the epitome of gaming. Metroid? Super Metroid! Super Mario Bros? Super Mario World. Generally speaking, the 16 bit stuff just polished the 8 bit ones, though they weren't always better. But even where they lacked a little bit in the gameplay department, they more than made up for it in aesthetics. Super Castlevania III gave off that gothic atmosphere like none of its predecessors could before it, or after; SCIV, CVX, and Bloodlines combined easily beats out CV 1-3. Super Metroid bought Metroid to a whole new level (funk, we bring, melodies, etc.). Arcade ports looked and played much more like the originals finally. Shooters were gorgeous and lacked flickering!
You also had more variety. Each of the post-crash 8-bit systems had strengths and weaknesses in its game library (except the NES), but the 16-bit systems had a solid mix of everything. Even the TG-16 with its skimpy US library had a thorough mix!
And it satisfied all gamer types. Many games were pick-up and play, arcade compilations first arrived here, platformers, shooters, RPGs, APRGs, SRPGs, action-adventure, and all with a healthy serving of atmosphere and beautiful sprites. How could you go wrong? Whether you wanted to play arcade perfect ports of Frogger and Defender, or wanted to lose yourself in a 30 hour long RPG, this was the generation to do it, do it well, and not be excessive doing it.
Last edited by o.pwuaioc on Sat Aug 15, 2020 11:21 am, edited 1 time in total.
I'm not going to list through all the generations since most of them aren't something I feel strongly about. I don't necessarily think they're bad, they're just not my thing. However, I will say I think that the 6th and 7th generations are my favorite by a long shot. Say what you will about the lack of 2D games in the PS2 era and the online gaming craze, day 1 patches, other industry bullshit, and the death of the B-tier middle-budget title towards the end of the 7th. That's all fair. However, I think that in terms of game variety there's nothing that compares. Especially with the 7th gen, I think it's ignorant to base a dislike of it solely off the western AAA titles when there is so much else there.
the7k wrote:Gen 1 - This was basically the 'pong' generation, right? We all gotta start somewhere, but there's very little reason to go back to this era outside of collectability. Rating: Dull...
Gen 2 - Console games are still very primitive and have still aged very poorly, and if that's all we were judging this on, it'd get a D. However, this was also the time of the Golden Age of Arcade Video Games. Space Invaders, Donkey Kong, Pac Man, Galaga, Dragon's Lair and lord knows how many other legends existed in this era and these arcade versions (not their home conversions) are reason enough for me to hold this era in high regard. Rating: Atomic!
Gen 3 - The Famicom Generation. Rather than going the Gen 2 route of consoles trying to provide very inferior versions of the arcade experience, this generation had more games that were built from the ground up for home use. A lot of creative ideas in this generation and games that kept it simple and fun. While the Famicom was capable of reproducing near 1 to 1 ports of games like Pac-Man, Galaga and Donkey Kong, the arcade scene continued to evolve by creating experiences that just couldn't be felt at home with games like Outrun, Chase H.Q., and Afterburner. The biggest problem with this generation is Nintendo's draconian rules for publishers, as well as its censorship policies and aggressive marketing of the NES as a "boy's toy", which made the video games go from something enjoyed by all ages and genders to being the male child's play thing that it is still considered by many today. I mean, sure, it worked for Nintendo like a charm, but it's done damage. Rating: Bingo!
Gen 4 - The Street Fighter generation. Arcades finally solved the problem of people hogging the machine for hours on one credit by creating a genre that guaranteed somebody would be inserting a coin soon enough. The genre becomes so extremely popular that the Super Famicom's controller is designed with this genre in mind specifically. Games like Mortal Kombat and Sega's marketing strategy target older players, starting to somewhat tear away at the damage done by Nintendo's marketing strategy. Neo Geo's home console finally creates true arcade-at-home experiences, though the prohibitive price prevents it from taking off - however, the Neo Geo arcade system revolutionizes the way arcade games are created, making arcade games much easier and cheaper for arcade operators to acquire. (oh, and there was the TurboGrafx. Cool little system that never really took off where I lived but from what I've played, really excelled at hardcore, arcade like experiences.) Rating: Blast!
Gen 5 - I believe this is the point at which everything scatters into completely different directions. Arcades move away from fighters and more to games that can never easily be recreated at home, such as House of the Dead, Area 51, San Francisco Rush, Daytona USA, Carnevil, Time Crisis II, etc. PlayStation was the place for Role Playing Games and other single player experiences with incredible (for the time...) 3D graphics and cinematic stories. Sega Saturn was the home of near arcade perfect ports of shmups and fighters with amazing 2D graphics. Nintendo 64 kept up with the family friendly approach while it's four built in controller ports made it the perfect choice for group play and parties. For the first time, your choice of console meant more than just whether you preferred a red plumber or a blue hedgehog, Think you know all about this generation just because you had one of the systems of this time and you have no reason to go back? Guess again. This generation has the most to go back to because each console is a generation unto itself. Rating: Smokin' Sick Style!!!
Gen 6 - Dreamcast bridges the gap between console and arcade, giving on release arcade perfect (or better than arcade perfect) ports of games like Soul Calibur, Hydro Thunder, House of the Dead 2 and Power Stone, with only more to come. Ships with a modem enabling online play. Has some of the most amazing, unique and downright weird titles with games like Crazy Taxi, Jet Grind Radio, Space Channel 5, Shenmue and Seaman.
Then it dies. What we have following is a swift decline of video arcades with them being replaced almost entirely with redemption games. The PS2 has its fair share of good games, but the system was sold primarily because of its DVD playback. Gamecube also has great games, but it still feels more like a mini-PS2 with a few exclusives. The Xbox comes out and does nothing more than confuse people - unless you wanted to get in on a very lite version of PC gaming with inferior control compared to mouse + keyboard, I don't understand what this was to accomplish.
Were it not for the sheer quality of the Dreamcast line-up and the sheer volume of PS2 games which, thanks to the law of averages, gave us quite a lot of high quality games if you were willing to dig through the gunk, this would have been a fail. Rating: Crazy!
Gen 7 - Xbox 360 finally manages to kill the Japanese stronghold on the games industry, ushering in a reign on bald space marines and smarmy assholes voiced by Nolan North using that one voice out of the hundreds he's capable of. The Wii manages to break the law of averages by producing mountains of dung with maybe just a few kernels of sweet corn in there. The PS3 sells for at least the first year for no reason other than its ability to play Blu-Rays. DLC, DRM, Pre-Order Bonuses, and Online Passes patrol the lands like SwatBots making sure to put a "No Fun Allowed" sign everywhere it can. Arcades are worse than dead - pure redemption, videmption and fucking tablet games with coin slots.
Sure, eventually we'd get games that actually make us remember why we partake in this expensive and time consuming hobby, but for the most part Generation 7 is a Disaster.
TL;DR - Gen 5 is the best because each platform excelled at different things. While every other gen had each platform racing on the same track to the same finish line, each platform on Gen 5 had its own track and its own unique goal.
Very interesting list, dude! I loved the different ratings you put.
@o.pwuaioc Also loved your style of listing. Also, the list is very varied, which i like.
@RyaNtheSlayA You hit the nail on the head. That is why I am so quick to defend this gen. All the financial stuff is bad, but it's almost like people just go on a news website, read the bad stuff, and than base all their opinions on that. The games are really, really amazing and have more variety than any other I've seen. There's something for everyone In the 7th gen.
Currently Playing: Hatsune Miku Project Diva F 2nd (PS3)
