What is the best year of gaming for you?

[BRIK]

It seems to get better every year. Be it newer games coming out that I enjoy or discovering retro goodyness it always seems to get better.

[isiolia]

I'd have to second 2000.

While it's slightly after some particularly notable titles, it was a particularly good year for PC and consoles.

PC got Deux Ex, Baldur's Gate II, Icewind Dale, Diablo II, No One Lives Forever, and plenty more (plus stuff like Planescape Torment, The Longest Journey, and System Shock 2 was still fresh on the shelf).

Consoles got a lot too. As mentioned, Dreamcast releases were in full swing - a good chunk of the 2D fighters came out that year on it (MvsC2, CvsSNK, SFIII:3S, SFA3, KoF2000, etc), Skies of Arcadia, Jet Grind Radio, and so on. PSX RPGs also had some solid releases - NA region releases for Valkyrie Profile and FFIX, plus Vagrant Story were that year. Gran Turismo 2 was still fresh on the shelf (Dec. '99). N64 had an active year with Majora's Mask, Perfect Dark, Paper Mario...

[Inazuma]

I think 1998 was the best year of gaming for me. I know that most of the Shining Force III games came out this year. I'm sure there were many other great Saturn and N64 releases during this year but I haven't taken the time to check.

[Original_Name]

In terms of the best year of gaming from a more objective standpoint, I'm gonna go with 1998 -- it was really the big killer-app year for gaming; every console had one Earth-shattering classic released for it that year:

Sony PlayStation: Metal Gear Solid
Sega Saturn: Panzer Dragoon Saga
Nintendo 64: The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time
PC: Half-Life

Not to mention the Dreamcast was released in Japan that year, and although there are differing opinions on whether it's as immaculate as people like myself insist, it definitely marked a brand new era in console gaming.

[SwooshBear]

I have to agree with 1998, but 96-97 were also pretty fantastic.

[RyaNtheSlayA]

1991, 1998, 2000, 2005

Those would be my top 4 picks.

[Hatta]

1994 on the PC: Doom II, System Shock, X-COM, Wing Commander III, Elder Scrolls Arena, Warcraft, Under a Killing Moon.
This was the time just before windows 95, when digitized audio and video were becoming feasible. Higher color modes allowed really great art, and the lack of 3d acceleration demanded great art. Most of the above games were not just astounding technical achievements, but had ground breaking design as well.

On the SNES: Super Metroid, Final Fantasy III (VI), Earthbound, DKC, Earthworm Jim
By this time the SNES was a mature platform. Developers knew what it could do, and they were competing with rapidly advancing technology. This lead to one of the greatest years on the SNES.

For the Genesis: This was the time of the Sega CD, and the 32X was released at the end of the year. But the bare console saw releases too. Sonic III and Sonic & Knuckles, Urban Strike, Dynamite Headdy, And then there's the 3DO, released in 1994. The Jaguar released in 1994. The Neo Geo CD released in 1994. Even the PSX got its start in Japan in December of 1994.

[Incognito D]

1997 for DAT N64 LAUNCH - possibly the most excitied I've ever been for a new console ever (being 9 years old and looking at magazine hype and previews every month)

*(This would probably be 1996 for the NTSC region)

Some of the games this year threw up:

- Mario 64
- Mario Kart 64
- Wave Race 64
- Star Fox 64
- Goldeneye
- Diddy Kong Racing
- FIFA 98
- ISS 64

Although looking back, it's more about hype and excitment than anything else.

[Croooow!]

I'd say 2003 and not for the particular releases of that year. That was the year I got a Gamecube and a PS1. I don't think I was ever more excited about video games than I was that year as I got to explore the Gamecube's library and was discovering PS1 RPGs.

[Gamerforlife]

It seems to get better every year. Be it newer games coming out that I enjoy or discovering retro goodyness it always seems to get better.

This is actually an interesting post. Looking at things objectively, I actually think things have been getting getting worse overall for the past couple of years. I mean there are some awesome things I can point to from this year, last year, etc, etc, etc. but I don't like where the industry as a whole is going. I really feel like it is retrogressing, particularly japanese gaming. I wonder if anyone else feels that way