Favorite console era...

[Rockster]

I loved each console era. And it's nice to reminisce about them, because that's all you can do. My memories of those games, far better than the reality. If you actually go back and play some of them, you're often left wondering why you enjoyed them so much. It's weird. So I try not to go back and play them, to avoid tarnishing their memory.

As I reflect back on my console purchases, I have come up with the conclusive way to tell if a console is going to win its generation. If I don't buy it. I mean I owned all the losers; the Master System, Genesis, Saturn, Dreamcast, and XBox. Currently we have a PS3 and 360, so I guess the Wii is destined to dominate this gen. What can I say, I was a huge Sega fan, and it was painful to watch them die. But I'll always have my memories of Snatcher on the SegaCD.

 

[Arwin]

Yes, it's interesting to see which games stand the test of time and which don't.

The game that has surprised me the most is Populous 2. That game (playing it in Steem, the Atari ST emulator) still looks great, and still has a lot of depth in its gameplay, what with your ability to alter the surface of the whole world map at will, wreak all sorts of natural disasters, unleash all sorts of different heros, and a high degree of independent thinking on the hundreds of inhabitants of that world. It was brilliant, and it demands a multi-player remake.

Also, I do think games like Gods and Xenon 2 still look very good today, and their gameplay isn't too bad either. On the other hand, most racing games and early stuff that relies on 3D has aged horribly now.

 

[Shifty Geezer]

Currently we have a PS3 and 360, so I guess the Wii is destined to dominate this gen.

For God's sake, man, don't buy a Wii or the whole industry will collapse!

 

[Sonic]

Thank you all for sharing your thoughts in this thread. I really appreciate it and am enjoying reading through the posts.

It's hard for me to define my favorite era of gaming. I guess I can go for the Genesis/SNES era simply because that is the era that truly drew me into games. The first time I played Sonic the Hedgehog my jaw dropped to the floor. Not just at the graphics, but also at the music, gameplay, and overall presentation to it. It was an experience for me that ignited a passion for games that still brews strong to this day.

I also love the Saturn/Playstation/N64 era. This is the era where I officially stopped being a fanboy and became enlightend in a sense that every console has its own great games. I still cheered for the Saturn, (you know..company pride and all that) but fell in love with the Playstation due to games like Final Fantasy VII and Legacy of Kain. The games of the day were just new and refreshing. New things were being tried for the first time and not even really all that refined. Plus it ushered in the era of 3D graphics to me in terms of games. Who remembers that first time playing Tomb Raider and just being in awe of the expansive environment and freedom allowed in it?

I really don't know if the Dreamcast has an era, but it's special to me in my own way.

The Xbox/PS2/GCN era is still a bit too fresh in my mind to have an overall feel for it but I definitely love the games I played.

The current era kind of reminds me the Genesis/SNES days. Gameplay is becoming important again and graphics are still advancing but not necessarily the most important aspect. It's a damn good time to be a gamer.