Let's discuss how 1998-2002 was the Golden Age of Gaming

[Aulayna]

I started gaming at the dawn of the 16-bit era but will happilly consider the quoted period of the thread to be the best in gaming so far.

The 8-bit and 16-bit and early 32-bit eras had some stellar titles but given relatively cheap development costs there was also a substantial amount of chaff around too. For me 1998 onward was the time when developers started combining and refining lessons learned from the early 32-bit era with great artistic style, narrative, gameplay direction and elements, multiplayer functionality (in some titles) and other things into complete packages where technical limitations were becoming less of a constraint.

That's not to say the NES/SNES era wasn't without it's gems because there were some absolutely amazing games from that era but games making in general was still relatively new then and most of those stellar of titles were ahead of their time so to speak and a quality whole was few and far between.

[Night Fury]

Shenmu.

[Madame Adequate]

Shenmu.

Tara, darling. I may have been too quick to judge you based solely on being northern. Let's get dinner sometime.

Anyway I started gaming in like 1988 (Well, probably earlier and I just can't remember), and I've been through everything since then, and there's little doubt in my mind that something around the dates Pike has given are pretty much the best years this medium's ever had. If you look at Pike's list and then say there's a better period, you better have a darned good list to back that up! Also everything Aulayna said in both her posts, but especially Soul Calibur and ESPECIALLY especially SSX.

If someone said "You can only ever play games from 1998-2002" then I don't think I'd be that bothered because SO MUCH GOOD trout came out then. I can't really think of any other period that's the same.

[Sephex]

I enjoy games from when I started to play in the midish-late 80s to today. Granted, my favorite ones are mostly 16 bit titles, but still. I think people sometimes let nostalgia cloud their judgement a bit too much. Don't get me wrong, I love looking back at my past, cracking a smile, and booting up an old game as much as the next person.

However, I have come to realize that for every game that I love to this day as much as I did when it came out decades ago (or even more), there are many others that just aren't for me because they are a product of their time, or that my personal tastes have changed.

That said Pike made a good list, as well as titles other people have said.

[Del Murder]

If you look at Pike's list and then say there's a better period, you better have a darned good list to back that up!

Maybe someday I will have the time or desire to do this. You win for now, Golden Playstation Era!

[Aulayna]

To be fair I'd probably extend the timeframe to include up to 2004 too for the likes of Dark Chronicle, SSX3, Lost Kingdoms 2, Mario Kart Double Dash, XIII, Viewtiful Joe and the masterpiece of Soul Calibur II. Notably most of those are sequels though.

[Bolivar]

I guess it's all personal tastes and how many years you're allowing yourself to have.

It's easier to list a golden age of genres. Some games today are better than their predecessors ever were, but others have had their time pass. I'll take a Killzone 2 No-HUD playthrough anyday over Goldeneye 007, but I couldn't be asked to boot up Castle Crashers again when I already have Streets of Rage I-III in HD ready to go.

[Levian]

Definitely a strong era, and many of my all-time favorite games are from those years.
Awesomeness.

although, not having much of a problem mentioning equal amount of greatness in other years:

1997

• Goldeneye
• Final Fantasy VII
• Grandia
• Star Fox 64
• Crash Bandicoot 2: Cortex Strikes Back
• Diddy Kong Racing
• Age of Empires
• Mario Kart 64
• Tomb Raider 2
• Carmageddon
• Clock Tower PSX (it's an awful awful game, but I love it like I'd love my own (adopted amputee) son.)

1996

• Super Mario 64
• Tekken 2
• Tomb Raider
• Civilization II
• Super Mario RPG
• Resident Evil
• Kirby Super Star
• Donkey Kong Country 3
• Crash Bandicoot
• Diablo/Quake/Suikoden (aka games i haven't played but will get killed for not mentioning)

1995

• Chrono Trigger
• Yoshi's Island
• Warcraft II
• Seiken Densetsu 3
• Worms
• Donkey Kong Country 2
• Myst
• Megaman X2/Megaman 7
• Rayman
• Tekken

Some honorable mentions goes out to games that probably weren't made of gold, but in the eyes of a young and hopeful Levian, definitely sparkled in gold: gabriel knight, 11th hour, alone in the dark 3, addams family values, mighty max, mighty morphin' power rangers, twisted metal, ridge racer, battle arena toshinden, leisure suit larry 7: love for sail, gex, megaman x3, pandemonium, lost vikings 2, harvest moon.

thx for the childhood

[Wolf Kanno]

I'd say the 90s in general were the golden age, there was a lot more experimentation with technology, a lot of genres either were founded or sorting out what they were going to be (I mean the 90s was the decade to really establish what we all see as RPGs both East and West) and later console generations are just trying to emulate it like the console wars or battling over exclusives like the old Mario vs. Sonic or which console had the better version of Mortal Kombat and Street Fighter. I just feel that the decade really emphasized a blossoming of interesting ideas and it was one of the more exciting times to be a gamer cause the medium transformed a lot.

[Rostum]

Ah one year earlier and you could have mentioned Riven, which is absolutely beautiful!

Also, props for mentioning Grim Fandango. One of my favorite games of all time. Otherwise, I think the list is excellent. Ah the 90's and early 2000's, was a time of greatness in games.

[escobert]

I tried to keep my list a healthy mix of console and PC titles. I know through the years I've gone through more console-heavy phases and then more PC-heavy phases.

My borthers wouldn't allow me to play console games with them so I was always stuck downstairs on the Mac.

[Sephex]

This guy get's it.

[Denmark]

My personal Golden Age Of Gaming would be 1991-1996. But I'm a SNES fanboy. Bias bias bias bias bias

i might extend it to 1998 to include OoT, Banjo, and Pokemonz

[Shoeberto]

I'd say the 90s in general were the golden age, there was a lot more experimentation with technology, a lot of genres either were founded or sorting out what they were going to be (I mean the 90s was the decade to really establish what we all see as RPGs both East and West) and later console generations are just trying to emulate it like the console wars or battling over exclusives like the old Mario vs. Sonic or which console had the better version of Mortal Kombat and Street Fighter. I just feel that the decade really emphasized a blossoming of interesting ideas and it was one of the more exciting times to be a gamer cause the medium transformed a lot.

Agreed. There was a LOT of new and evolving tech in the time period and development costs were significantly cheaper than they are today so there was a lot more room for experimentation. This was the decade that gave us the jump from cartridges to CD, high-res 2D graphics leading to full 3D, enough storage space for voice acting and full-motion video. I think the tide of awesome developments really held up through the early 2000s but the scene has changed a lot - bigger budgets, more mainstream appeal. Not to say that amazing stuff isn't released, it just doesn't get the same kind of press as the blockbusters which are pretty hit-or-miss.

I'm super nostalgic for the period Pike's talking about though because it is right around when I started gaming seriously and I just remember hit after hit of great games that really experimented. I haven't gotten excited about a release cycle in the same way as that for some time, which likely has a lot to do with me growing up, but also due to how damn predictable it's all become. A new Call of Duty and Assassin's Creed released in October/November NO WAY

[Loony BoB]

The Golden Age for me is the time when gaming boomed significantly, perhaps around 1996 through to 2001. In that time, the biggest advancements were made in most genres and game design in general which for the most part are just rehashed over and over today.

1996
Resident Evil
Super Mario 64
Civilization II
Duke Nukem 3D
Pokémon Red and Green
Super Mario RPG
Quake
Star Ocean
Crash Bandicoot
Command & Conquer: Red Alert
Tomb Raider
Diablo
Mario Kart 64

1997
GoldenEye 007
Final Fantasy VII
Oddworld: Abe's Oddysee
PaRappa the Rapper
Ultima Online
Fallout
Grand Theft Auto
Age of Empires
Riven
Colony Wars
The Curse of Monkey Island
Gran Turismo

So, yeah. Beats the 2001-2002 stuff too easily. I know you love your Morrowind but it can't carry the rest of the titles in your 2002 list to beat the 1997 list. 2001 could give 1996 a run for it's money, but I think due to most of the games on that list being sequels while almost every game in the 1996 list were originals says that 1996 wins.

EDIT: And I was beaten to it by Lev. Reading his list, I agree that 1995 easily beats 2000, too. So, 1995-1999 for me, if we're going by five year intervals. 1995 also featured Suikoden, Time Crisis, Destruction Derby, Command & Conquer, EarthBound and Descent.