What is the best year of gaming for you?

[Ghouls 'n Ghosts]

1994 for me. Why?

Castlevania Bloodlines
Contra Hard Corps
Donkey Kong
Donkey Kong Country
Final Fantasy III
Mortal Kombat II
Phantasy Star IV
R-Type 3
Sonic 3 & Knuckles
Super Metroid
Super Punch Out
Super Street Fighter II
The Adventures of Batman & Robin
Wild Guns

Other than MKII and SSFII, I still play all of those.

[Mod_Man_Extreme]

2005

This was the last year we had a very, very tightly knit video game industry composed of mostly real fans and people that actually cared about what happened to franchises and properties.
Games both new and old were available at virtually any and all game retailers.
Fanboy-ism was at a wonderful low.
SDTV was still king.
Games were a lot cheaper.
There were tons of different Game Stores still left (Rhino, GameStop, EB, FYE Arcade, Sam Goody, Suncoast, Game Crazy, Game Rush, R'Zone, etc... etc...)
People actually played games instead of million hour multiplayer sessions.
People actually played (and recognized the existence of) games other than FPS and Madden titles.
Discs still came in cool/neat sizes and colors.
Consoles were cheap.
Older games were dirt cheap.
The big 80's/90's retro movement (aka buy any games you had as a kid for any price no matter how high) hadn't spread like wildfire to the mass public just yet.
The N-Gage QD was the most badass cell phone ever.
The 60gb U2 colored iPod video with breakout in the games section was so revolutionary you crapped your pants at first sight.
Nintendo Announced the DS Lite and got ready to inadvertently change......nay obliterate the gaming world as we knew it.
The original DS choked on it's silver spoon and turned Blue and Red as Mario Kart DS brought Nintendo kicking and screaming into the online gaming future.
The GameBoy Micro was launched alongside the best version of the SP ever made with the Brighter Screen SP+ revision.
The PS1 and Saturn turned 10.
The NES turned 20 with a special edition SP and the NES classics collection.
The PS1 tons of games, and all it's accessories were still available new in near all major stores.
Phantasy Star Online was..well.........still online.
Sega was still actually Sega (If only for a little while longer)

The list goes on and on.

[Croooow!]

2005

This was the last year we had a very, very tightly knit video game industry composed of mostly real fans and people that actually cared about what happened to franchises and properties.
Games both new and old were available at virtually any and all game retailers.
Fanboy-ism was at a wonderful low.
SDTV was still king.
Games were a lot cheaper.
There were tons of different Game Stores still left (Rhino, GameStop, EB, FYE Arcade, Sam Goody, Suncoast, Game Crazy, Game Rush, R'Zone, etc... etc...)
People actually played games instead of million hour multiplayer sessions.
People actually played (and recognized the existence of) games other than FPS and Madden titles.
Discs still came in cool/neat sizes and colors.
Consoles were cheap.
Older games were dirt cheap.
The big 80's/90's retro movement (aka buy any games you had as a kid for any price no matter how high) hadn't spread like wildfire to the mass public just yet.
The N-Gage QD was the most badass cell phone ever.
The 60gb U2 colored iPod video with breakout in the games section was so revolutionary you crapped your pants at first sight.
Nintendo Announced the DS Lite and got ready to inadvertently change......nay obliterate the gaming world as we knew it.
The original DS choked on it's silver spoon and turned Blue and Red as Mario Kart DS brought Nintendo kicking and screaming into the online gaming future.
The GameBoy Micro was launched alongside the best version of the SP ever made with the Brighter Screen SP+ revision.
The PS1 and Saturn turned 10.
The NES turned 20 with a special edition SP and the NES classics collection.
The PS1 tons of games, and all it's accessories were still available new in near all major stores.
Phantasy Star Online was..well.........still online.
Sega was still actually Sega (If only for a little while longer)

The list goes on and on.

All good reasons why the 6th generation of video gaming is my favorite.

[BoringSupreez]

2005

This was the last year we had a very, very tightly knit video game industry composed of mostly real fans and people that actually cared about what happened to franchises and properties.
Games both new and old were available at virtually any and all game retailers.
Fanboy-ism was at a wonderful low.
SDTV was still king.
Games were a lot cheaper.
There were tons of different Game Stores still left (Rhino, GameStop, EB, FYE Arcade, Sam Goody, Suncoast, Game Crazy, Game Rush, R'Zone, etc... etc...)
People actually played games instead of million hour multiplayer sessions.
People actually played (and recognized the existence of) games other than FPS and Madden titles.
Discs still came in cool/neat sizes and colors.
Consoles were cheap.
Older games were dirt cheap.
The big 80's/90's retro movement (aka buy any games you had as a kid for any price no matter how high) hadn't spread like wildfire to the mass public just yet.
The N-Gage QD was the most badass cell phone ever.
The 60gb U2 colored iPod video with breakout in the games section was so revolutionary you crapped your pants at first sight.
Nintendo Announced the DS Lite and got ready to inadvertently change......nay obliterate the gaming world as we knew it.
The original DS choked on it's silver spoon and turned Blue and Red as Mario Kart DS brought Nintendo kicking and screaming into the online gaming future.
The GameBoy Micro was launched alongside the best version of the SP ever made with the Brighter Screen SP+ revision.
The PS1 and Saturn turned 10.
The NES turned 20 with a special edition SP and the NES classics collection.
The PS1 tons of games, and all it's accessories were still available new in near all major stores.
Phantasy Star Online was..well.........still online.
Sega was still actually Sega (If only for a little while longer)

The list goes on and on.

All good reasons why the 6th generation of video gaming is my favorite.

Yes, it is my favorite generation as well. All those reasons are great, especially the bolded one. It used to be so much cheaper to be a retro gamer. I'm glad I built my N64 and SNES collection when I did, it would have cost me quite a bit more to do it again today.

[CD AGES]

That's an easy one for me 2001

Why: Dreamcast

It was my Junior year in high school and everything in my life was clicking for me (good grades, Friendships etc). The arcade scene (which is where i would do most of my gaming) was in a rut at the time, suddenly got a small jumpstart (thanks in part mostly due to SEGA's developer friendly NAOMI hardware and their wise decision to license their tech to other publishers like Namco, Capcom, Tecmo etc). Anywho, my mom was cool enough to suprise me with a launch PS2 console as a reward for my 4.0 GPA at school. I was SO shocked because it was impossible to get a PS2 at day one and i come from a single parent household stricken with constant financial issues, so i never imagined she would drop $300+ dollars for a PS2 (i had to Beg and Plea her to get me a SNES back in 97 ) Around that time i got my very first job with my two best friends during summer vacation and everyday after work we would take the bus to one of our friends house and chill from a hard days work. While they knocked out from an exhausting day i would inspect my friends game rig. His brother had bought a DC at the time and a catalog of games for it. I remember I would play it for as long as i could while i was there! Such games as MVC2, CVS1, KOF 99 and KOF EVO left me mesmerized as i played them. They were arcade perfect ports or even better than, with no slowdown, no loading, no choppy animations, no audio degrading! Never had i witnessed arcade perfection of such altitude on a system. Even though the DC launch of 99 was the buzz of my high school and around the community, i never saw myself buying one as i had no income of my own. At some point while playing Dreamcast at my friends house for as long as i could, I knew i had to someday jump on the DC bandwagon. There was so much incredible software pumping out for the system that catered to my taste (while i loved my PS2 alot, there really wasn't much an interesting selection of games to play at the time other than Tekken tag and playing my old PS titles on it) and with my first paycheck earned i contemplated buying one for $150. I recall reading an article on a gaming magazine the next day that SEGA was stepping down the console business and halt production of the Dreamcast. I was in shock and very bummed out, and i didn't even have a DC t begin with. But soon enough i rectified that! with my first paycheck i went to my local KB toys and bought my very own Dreamcast for $100 and soon after that i went to every game retailer within my vicinity and started buying brand new dreamcast titles left and right for only a few bucks a pop. Arcade titles like Soul Caliber, Garou, Powerstone and innovative game like Shenmue, Jet Grind and Sonic series made me play my DC for an entire decade and counting with no sign of stopping. The DC was the first time ever played games alongside my younger sibling for hours on end. Those were the days for me that counted the most in gaming... i can recall those amazing times vividly in my head... like a Dream

[ATARI800XLfan]

9/9/99 for 199 dollars.

Because of Dreamcast launch, games would be Sonic Adventure and Soul Calibur.

Second choice would be the 90's in general seeing as I was born in 89 so I grew up through the 90's plus there was the Genesis, SNES(which was the first and only system I played a lot with my parents and brother.), Sega CD, Sega 32X, and N64 for me. Plus sonic of course. Man I miss the 90's

Plus 2011 for Rayman Origins, Nintnedo 3DS and Sonic Generations.

[Breetai]

I'd say 1991, 1992, 1993 and 1994 are all equally brilliant. 1995 was up there, too. I should not have to explain why.

Tons of amazing 16-bit releases. The hype for the PS1 and Saturn was HUGE in late 1994 and into 1995. I was young enough in school to have enough free time to really enjoy gaming then. So, some GREAT 16-bit games mixed with my age at the time made these years look great in my rose-coloured glasses!

[o.pwuaioc]

According to RF Generation, the top years (two are tied) of the games I own are 1991 and 1994. What about you all?

Edit: Super R-Type, which came in the mail today, bumped up 1991 to first place.

[GigaPepsiMan]

2004. Got my gamecube for christmas 2003 spent the whole of 2004 playing the best gamecube had to offer: pikmin, mario sunshine, wind waker, wario world, mario kart double dash, starfox adventures, f-zero gx, metroid prime, metroid prime 2, paper mario 2, pikmin 2, pokemon colosseum, luigi's mansion, Super Smash Bros Melee, Sonic Adventure 2, Soul Calibur 2, Viewtiful Joe, Star Wars Rogue Squadron 2.
It was a bloody great year for me.

[Jrecee]

Hatta summed it up. 1994. That was the pinnacle of the 16-bit generation.