GreenTeaHarbor1297
Senior Member
For me; (Not including the first 3 gaming generations since it would be redundant and they would rank at the bottom by default due to them all being archaic at this point, and also not including the 9th gaming generation since it just barely started and is technically not even in full swing yet.)
Also, this is copy-pasted from a thread I made on Reddit. If that is against the rules, I will edit and change the wording so it's no longer identical.
Also, this is copy-pasted from a thread I made on Reddit. If that is against the rules, I will edit and change the wording so it's no longer identical.
- #5 - 7th Gaming Generation - Late 2006 to Mid 2013 - Wii, PS3, Xbox 360, DS, PSP, Windows 7
This generation was a low point for gaming, in my opinion. The massive success of Wii Sports led to the Wii, and later on the Xbox 360 with the success of the Kinect, becoming oversaturated with mediocre motion control party and exergaming games. On the other hand, the massive success of the Call of Duty series led to the libraries of the Xbox 360 and PS3 becoming oversaturated with FPS and other colorless AAA games. Also, the Xbox 360 was severely lacking in notable exclusives outside of Halo, Fable, Gears of War, or the Kinect games, the Wii Remote was just awful and jittery, Wii Motion Plus fixed the issue a bit but even that wasn't ideal, either, and the PSP's only selling point was features and its gaming library was mediocre. Plus, Red Ring of Death for the Xbox 360, and Yellow Light of Doom for the PS3. The DS was easily my favorite console of this generation, not only for nostalgia reasons, but also because it had a solid library with tons of variety, and the touch screen and stylus was an innovation that enhanced rather than ruined gameplay, unlike the Wii Remote. In terms of home consoles though, my favorite is definitely the PS3, since that console had the most variety out of the home consoles, and had tons of exclusives that didn't require motion controls. Though, the Wii did have Super Mario Galaxy, my favorite game of the generation, but even that game is a lot better on the Switch via the 3D All Stars Collection. - #4 - 5th Gaming Generation - Late 1996 to Mid 2001 - N64, PS1, Saturn, GBC, Windows 95 / 98
This generation had a lot of variety, and a lot of great classic games. However, it was still just the dawn of 3D gaming becoming the norm, and the technology was still primitive, so a lot of games from this generation haven't aged very well. Also, the N64 controller's joystick was horrible, the PS1 was heavily prone to freezing due to bad placement of the power supply right beneath the laser, the Sega Saturn was marketed horribly and was cut prematurely because of Bernie Stolar's barmy comment, the Game Boy Color was more of a half-step than a full on successor and was terribly outdated for 1998 given the Sega Game Gear and Sega Nomad came out years prior, and PC gamers at the time had to deal with the infamous Blue Screen of Death. Still though, despite all these, there's still a lot to like with this generation. While a lot of the games do look terribly outdated, they still have a lot of retro appeal, and are still a lot of fun to go back to, and the advent of 3D gaming was a necessary step in helping these games feel more immersive, and the variety in this generation was outstanding. Also, the 2D and 2.5D games such as Castlevania: Symphony of the Night and the first Paper Mario game have aged extraordinarily well. - #3 - 8th Gaming Generation - Late 2013 to TBD - Wii U, Switch, PS4, Xbox One, 3DS, PSVita, Windows 8 / 10
A huge improvement over the previous generation, in my opinion. Technically, the generation is still going on, since the Switch (and yes, the Switch is 8th gen) is still Nintendo's primary console. The Wii U and PSVita may have been commercial failures, but are criminally underrated consoles with great gaming libraries that I consider to be a major improvement over the Wii and PSP respectively. The 3DS continued to improve on the gaming experiences of the DS. Then there's the Switch, which combined the home console and handheld gaming markets into one, a gaming dynamic that has hit the sweet spot that the Wii failed to reach, of appealing to both casuals and traditional gamers without alienating one or the other. The best part about this gaming generation though was the indie scene. With great games such as the Shantae games, A Hat in Time, Skullgirls, Bloodstained, Celeste, Cuphead, Hollow Knight, and many more seeing a limelight that would've been impossible for them in the previous generation, with the Wii U and 3DS opening up more to indie developers, the Switch staying open for them, and these games also seeing success on PlayStation, Xbox, and Steam services, the 8th gaming generation has been a golden age for indie gaming, as well as a revival for a lot of great genres such as 3D platformers and metroidvanias that have been practically dormant in the previous generation. Not to say this generation has been perfect, the Xbox One had a horrendous launch and still had the issue of not having many exclusives, the Switch has the joycon drift issue, DLC became a worse issue, and the dynamics of gaming were moving in a more digital-centric direction which I think has been problematic. Still though, overall, this generation was a major improvement over the previous one. - #2 - 4th Gaming Generation - Late 1991 to Mid 1996 - SNES, Genesis, GameBoy, GameGear, Windows DOS / 3.1
This is truly the generation where video games evolved from being take-home arcades into being a full fledged entertainment medium. The biggest innovation by far of this generation was the save feature becoming standard. Games no longer had to be beaten in a single setting, and beating them in general became far more practical with your progress being bookmarked. Also, many games from this era have aged extraordinarily well, a lot better than a lot of 5th and even some 6th generation games that came after it. Sidescrolling platformers were practically perfected in this generation, and other gaming genres such as RPGs, fighting games, world simulators, and FPS games truly came of their own and started competing with them for the limelight. Super Metroid helped to perfect the metroidvania genre and help set a quality standard for great metroidvania titles after it. Also, PC gaming became far more immersive with the rise of point and click adventure games featuring realistic or 2D animated backgrounds, such as Myst for the traditional gamers, Freddi Fish for the younger gamers, or Leisure Suit Larry for the adult gamers. Also, the success of the Sega Genesis and the rising success of PC gaming in this generation helped to break Nintendo's monopoly over the gaming industry and bring much needed competition, and this was the first generation where the 3D perspective in games started taking off with the success of games such as Pilotwings and Star Fox, even though it wouldn't be until the next generation when it would become standard. Also, the console war between the Sega Genesis and Super Nintendo is still the greatest console war of all time, big fax no printer. - #1 - 6th Gaming Generation - Late 2001 to Mid 2006 - GameCube, PS2, Dreamcast, Xbox, GBA, Windows XP
This generation was truly the best of both worlds. The first full generation with specs of the modern age such as dual analog control, detailed open worlds, and full scope of gameplay, while also being the last generation with charms of the retro age such as local multiplayer, being CRT-centric, game consoles not being able to do much outside of gaming, as well as wireless controllers still being a fun novelty rather than the norm. Also, the amount of variety within this generation was phenomenal. 3D platformers were perfected in this generation, especially on the PS2 with the Jak, Ratchet, and Sly trilogies, plus the GameCube had Mario Sunshine and Wario World, and the Xbox had Blinx, Voodoo Vince and the best version of Psychonauts. Extreme sports games also peaked in this generation, with the Tony Hawk's Pro Skater games, as well as snowboarding games such as the SSX and Amped games. Simulation games were perfected with The Sims becoming a phenomenon and Animal Crossing hitting the scene. Casual games were starting to take off with the success of Dance Dance Revolution as well as the EyeToy, but they were still just a fun novelty at the time and weren't yet the phenomenon they became in the following generation. Granted, 2D games were rarer on home consoles, but they were plentiful on the GBA, the last console with a definitive retro vibe to it, and the GBA's sprites have aged phenomenally well for a handheld, and the console continued to perfect the Metroidvania formula with great classics such as Metroid Fusion, Castlevania: Circle of the Moon, and Castlevania: Aria of Sorrow, plus the GameCube's GameBoy Player allowed these games to be played on a home console as well. Also, the GameCube started off a lot of great Nintendo series such as Metroid Prime, Pikmin, Luigi's Mansion, the aforementioned Animal Crossing, as well as the first fully 3D Mario Kart game. The original Xbox also allowed users to download music from a CD to be played in some of its games, a feature I wish still existed in games. Online gaming also started taking off in this generation, yet at the same time it was still just a novelty, and local multiplayer was still the standard. So much variety, so much scope, and also so much charm that has been taken away throughout later generations, this is easily the greatest generation of video gaming.
Anyways, that's just my list, what about yours? Let me know in the comments below.
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