The golden age of gaming?

[Drakon]

When do you think the "golden age of gaming" was?  And why do you think so?  I'll get the ball rolling here

For me the 8-bit era honestly didn't really take off until near the end.  Until about 1987 I just found video games to be too simple and without depth.  And back in 1987 the only games that really impressed me were only in the arcade.  The earliest game I'm a huge fan of is r-type in the arcade.  But by 1988 games were getting decently complex.  I actually jumped on the gaming bandwagon originally in 1989 because of megaman 2.  And from that point onward it was just like a whirlwind adventure.

The 8-bit era I believe is the era where all the best original game ideas were created.  Most of the best stuff started out on 8-bit hardware.  Zelda, contra, final fantasy, street fighter, earthbound, megaman, mario, metal gear, as well as many original styles of games like beat'em'ups (river city ransom, tmnt 2/3).  However when I'm in the mood to play something I usually wind up going to my personal favourite generation of gaming.  The 16-bit era (and 24 bit counting the neo geo).

The 16-bit era to me feels like they took all the great game ideas of the 8-bit era and just did them all again on a much better hardware platform.  During the 16-24-bit eras games were still on cartridges.  And this would basically be the last true hurrah for cartridge based games.  Sure the n64 used cartridges, but the n64 went the way of all 3d boasting more graphics than fun (to me anyway).  CD based stuff in the 32 bit era turned games into weird interactive movies and awkward 3d environments which I honestly didn't find very immersive.  Animation that was once completely hand drawn had now become replaced by pre-rendered AVIS, or 3d models following a scripted path.

Basically the 16-bit era is just like a pumped up 8-bit era.  Games still were basically played and experienced the same way.  But with better hardware capabilities and storage capacity.  This's probably why sequals of 8-bit hits translated perfectly to the 16-bit era.  Although I think the 8-bit era is BY FAR the best era for outstanding original game ideas.  The 16-bit era just has more fun games because it's like they've been unleashed.  And 16-24 bit arcade hardware ruled quite well.

3d games never did it for me.  If I wanted something to look as realistic as possible then I'd just go on a walk.  2d games are like pieces of hand drawn art that you bring to life through controller manipulation.  And 2d basically died once the 16-24 bit era finished.  Also cd technology lead to bloated games with so much capacity that things no longer had to be programmed.  Instead cutscenes became replaced by a video.  If I play a game, I want to experience it, not just watch a video play.  Also video games in the 80s and 90s were less socially accepted than they are today.  So this forced game creators to make insanely addictive and brilliant games to lure people into gaming.  After the 16-24 bit eras were done I felt like games lost the depth that they once had.  Sure they look way better and have cool looking videos in them.  But losing the interactivity of being able to easily control what you see on the screen kind of killed it for me.

I do think that the wii is a step in the right direction.  For 3d games you can't get the right experience with just a controller.  I probably won't be enjoying 3d gaming until I can wear gloves or something that reads my movements.  But something tells me I'm never going to enjoy the new eras as much.  The hardware limitations have been broken and this put an end to clever game creation.  The 16-24 bit era is the last time I saw games that were really limited.  Many rpgs had parts removed due to space limitation.  But this forced the creators to leave only the best and most important parts.

So why do I choose the 16-24 bit era?  It's the best looking time for 2d.  The sound hardware was basically the equivilant of mod music and wasn't just the entire song recorded in a massive file.  Everything was rendered and generated real-time which allowed 100% interactivity at all times.  Frames of animation were almost always completely drawn.  Limited space encouraged creativity.  Controlling was still simple and easy to pick up.  And so many amazing ideas born from the 80s were brought back in brilliant graphics and sound.

so....yeah....that's my rant for now

[shoggoth80]

Posts like these are always fun to read. Shows a deep appreciation for the hobby.

It's a tough question for me, as there are 4 distinct time periods that stand out.
First:
The Atari era, for a lack of better phrase. This is where I cut my teeth at a rather young age. I grew up playing this thing, though I didn't have the depth of appreciation for it then that I do now. Games were simple, fun, and addicting. They were pretty imaginative given what the hardware limitations were. The games were closer to arcade styled at the time, because home video games were still evolving as a product, market, and hobby. I have many consoles from this era, though it's a toss up between the atari 2600, and the 8-bit computer line for me... one has more games, the other has better translations of them.

The 8 bit era.... This is a great time to be a gamer. I got my NES in the later 80s... had to be '88 or '89. I came a little later to the game in this one. This system hooked me easily. SMB, and Adventure Island for starters. These were two that I used to play the bowling alley at the AAFSOUTH base. Ok, it was Wonder Boy, and SMB... but I am not gonna split hairs on this. Then Double Dragon II, SMB2, SMB3, NARC, Shinobi (not the best version ever, but hey... it's what was there).  At this time, I would say the NES ruled the market, and everyone knew it. Friends of mine had other games like Zelda, RC Pro Am, and Dragon Warrior... these are all games that I added to the collection eventually.

I used to plunk a LOT of coins into Splatterhouse, Shinobi, TMNT, Galaga, Mario, and Wonder Boy during this time period. Right before we moved back stateside (prior to 1990).



The 16 bit era... I say things got a little more streamlined here. The SNES came out, and spanked  the Genesis in my opinion. Better color palette, comfy controller. Super Mario World, Secret of Mana, Gradius III, Super Adventure Island... these were all earlier titles in my memory that just rocked. Arcades sorta seemed to make a comeback, though it's hard to find one these days anymore that really has that feel to it. The SNES has some really good RPG games on it, as well as some really good arcade translations. The Genesis is a fast paced, action console, with some seriosuly good translations as well (love me some Golden Axe), and even some nicer RPGs (Phantasy Star series). The TG16 is a really good sleeper console... sorta a closely kept secret... lots of good games, and plenty of nice arcade ports.

The Playstation era...
I dunno what you would call this. It's CD based, it's beyond 64 bit... I was kinda out of the gaming loop for a long time, enjoying my SNES, NES, and Atari... when a friend got one of these. It took a little while to really catch on with me... but when it did, it caught on big time. There were many good series on this console... and this was also a sort of gaming renaissance for me. Resident Evil (1,2,3, and Survivor), Silent Hill, Koudelka, Twisted Metal, Syphon Filter, Legend of Mana, Parasite Eve, Alone in the Dark, Blood Omen, Soul Reaver...just TONS of good titles (although there are junky ones in any library as well). It took me a while to get my own PSX, but I have NEVER regretted it. Some of my friends and I worked for the same establishment at the time; we would get off work, go over to one of their apartments, drink Surge soda, and smoke Marlboro 25 packs.... just about every day after work. Sure, it was nerdy, and it probably wasn't the healthiest thing to down a lot of soda, or smoke...but god DAMN were those good times!

Ok that's enough for now. I could probably keep talking... but it's a pretty epic post.

[Drakon]

epic indeed.  But you didn't answer the question of when you think the golden age really was

[Rob64]

When do you think the "golden age of gaming" was?  And why do you think so?  I'll get the ball rolling here

I do have a couple of ages narrowed down.

I have the Atari age, Famicom age, Super Famicom age, Nintendo 64 age, and Wii age. Alll are worth being the golden age for different reasons.

My top 2 ages are the Super Famicom and the Nintendo 64. For the N64, all you need to say is "1998" and you know that that was the year for gaming (November 23, 1998, Ocarina of Time is released... need I say more).

In contrast of awesomeness, all I need to say for the Super Famicom is to name any one of the big hit games. I consider these to be the following: Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past, Super Mario World 1 and 2, Super Mario RPG, Donkey Kong Country, and Earthbound.

It's a close match between all of them, but overall my pick is................ 

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sorry need to think hard about this one

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Super Famicom age. Everything was awesome during this time. Games were great, graphics were amazing, and the music is memorable and there is no bad song in any of the games I mentioned. Probably the golden age of gaming. I doubt there will be another age like it.

[133MHz]

I'm also going with the 16 bit era. SNES vs Genesis. Gaming got a whole new depth but it still was loyal to its roots. PC gaming was also thriving during that time. I've got very fond memories of that era.

[Agent X]

While my gaming goes back to 1982 in the Arcades, and 1983 for the video computer systems (what I still refer to "Consoles" as... just thought the old A2600 moniker made more sense than the generic term console) with a six switch wood paneled Atari 2600  VCS... and the fact I love the 8-BIT era...

to me, my personal Golden Age of Gaming would be the period of 1988 through about 1994/95, and the 16-BIT/Hyper 8-BIT Home VCS era.  From the minute I saw Konami's Super Contra in the arcade it was all over for me.  In terms of "falling truly in love with" video gaming both as an interactive medium as well as artwork.  Even now I own more 8-BIT Famicom games over Mega Drive, and have just recently got back into SFC, but it was the 16-BIT [Hyper 8-BIT concerning PCE, as two 8-bit processors working in unison wasn't "true 16-bits") era that saw both the much more realized visions of the previous eras and paradigm shifts than at any other time.  Let's face it, while yeah... the arcade already had laser disc games like "Dragon's Lair" and "Road Blaster" ... the advent of CD-ROM just upped the ante to a level of awesome within the home not previously seen.

The two giants (SEGA & Nintendo) were at their peak in terms of duking it out to be the numero uno of the game universe... arcades were flourishing with games seemingly every month with goodness to be had in just about anyplace one walked into... and stuff like MODE 7, and the insanity programmers like TREASURE pulled off on the Mega Drive was just sick!    But most important, (at least to me) was that it was also in the age when Japanimation/Anime was also still "cool" and the two mediums complemented the other in a pre-internet era of fantastical "import only" games that most would never be able to own all of.  Today both that FEEL and limited sub culture setting has been more or less destroyed.  Gaming on XBOX LIVE isn't the same as walking into a smoky neon lit arcade... or seeing works of art (Gunstar Heroes, Axelay, Eliminate Down, Metal Slug, BlazingStar, Super Mario World, EX-RANZA, Dracula X: Rondo of Blood, Contra Spirits, Bare Knuckle 2, etc.) in motion, where one felt more like they were playing in a surreal anime world versus a pseudo virtual reality that is currently where we're at.

THE 16-BIT/HYPER 8-BIT ERA FO' SURE!

[Drakon]

I totally agree with you agent x

[shoggoth80]

"But you didn't answer the question of when you think the golden age really was "

This is a hard one for me to answer! I listed the 4 major sort of time periods that had an impact on me, yet failed to single any of them out as "the golden age" simply because it is hard for me to put one above the other. It's a tough call to make.

I figured if I HAD to nail one of those down, I guess it would be the 8 bit era... LOTS happening at this time, many games available, and some of the most memorable arcade titles (for me) came out around this time (or I was exposed to them around this time).

[Blue Protoman]

My breakdown of generations;

1st Gen  (Early-mid 70s): Dinosaur Age  (Games begin)

2nd Gen(Late 70s-Early 80s): Caveman Age  (Games advance some more, but are still relatively primitive)

3rd Gen (Mid 80s-Early 90s): Golden Age (Now we're making some progress, RPGs are introduced)

4th Gen (Early 90s-Mid 90s): Industrial Revolution (New tricks, more memory, at a cheaper price, good fighting games are introduced)

5th Gen (Mid 90s-late 90s): Roaring 20s (Times were good)

6th Gen (Turn of the century-Mid 2000's): Dot.Com Boom (Internet gaming is pioneered)

7th Gen (Mid 2000's-Today): Bush Administration (They don't make games like they used to)

8th Gen (2010-2015):

[Mindfreak]

I believe the golden age was the 8-bit era.

you know...grab a coin...bop a turtle...save a princess...


it's simple...but incredibly fun!

[satoshi_matrix]

To me, I think the golden age of gaming was a timeframe between the peak of the 8-bit era and the start of the 16-bit era. So..1988-1991 would be what I would consider to be the golden age.

[namakubi]

The Golden Age was 1985 to 1998, between these years we had the beginning of the Golden Age in Super Mario Bros. and the end of the Golden Age in the triple shot of Metal Gear Solid, Ocarina of Time, and Half Life.

[xyzzy32]

For me, it's between roughly 1990 and 2001. Dates are for North America. I'm going to simply state a few representative games for each year.
1990: Super Mario Bros. 3
1991: Super Mario World, Sonic the Hedgehog
1992: Zelda: A Link to the Past, Mortal Kombat
1993: Star Fox, Castlevania: Rondo of Blood
1994: Donkey Kong Country
1995: Couldn't come up with anything else, so Donkey Kong Country 2
1996: Super Mario 64
1997: Castlevania: Symphony of the Night
1998: Zelda: Ocarina of Time
1999: Age of Empires II, Dance Dance Revolution / Dancing Stage
2000: Zelda: Majora's Mask
2001: Super Smash Bros. Melee

[Drakon]

if I had to give a date range for golden age I'm guess it would be 1987-1996

[satoshi_matrix]

you sir, are correct. hats off.