Favourite gaming year

[Peekay]

Alright. There is literally nothing to do at work (a situation which our managers are working overtime to rectify), and my experimental novel about the Brazilian snuff movie scene has hit something of a creative impasse, so I felt the time was right for a decent-length posting.



So? what was your most exciting year in gaming?



For me it has to be 1997. I was 14, and while I was interested in girls, they certainly weren?t interested in me, so games took up a lot of my time and attention. The PlayStation was hitting its stride (I think Tomb Raider came out then; Final Fantasy 7; and I think Soul Edge); the Saturn was struggling, but there were plenty of amazing games on the way (X-Men vs Streetfighter; Nights had come out in 1996; superb shooters were being released monthly, it seemed). I didn?t have the money to import games (how **** was it being a young teenager before you could get as job?) but I used to spend hours poring over CV+G (which went from being the best magazine on the market to one of the ****test), GamesMaster, NMS, Play, Edge and SSM. PC hardware acceleration took computer gaming to a new level. And? the N64. It came out in March, and my brother got one four days after launch (after making a Faustian pact with my mum involving the mortgaging of every Christmas and birthday present for the next thirty years or so). So mum forked over ?315 (!) for an N64 with Mario 64. I had been literally insensible with excitement since, ooh, the previous summer when NMS had begun to tease us all. I was, of course, blown away by M64. I don?t need to go into details ? enough has been said and written about that game. You were there too. You know how it felt. The thrills kept coming; WaveRace 64, PilotWings, Goldeneye, Multi Racing Championship? (Maybe not MRC, but I was desperate for a ?proper? racer to shut my PS owning chums up with.) I?m sure I?ve missed out loads of stuff that happened in 1997 ? please remind me. Let?s hear about some other favourite gaming years.

[Street Turk]

Brazilian snuff movie scene? Tell me more.

I know that they produce some absolute filth with porn but I didn't realise they went that far..

[Darwock]

Easy, for me it was last year.. 2005. Snake Eater and Devil May Cry 3 would have been enough, but we were spoilt for choice for AAA titles. Not only that but I personally had the time to try many other classics I'd overlooked in recent years so it was just top-notch game after top-notch game for me.

[Peekay]

I don't know anything about the snuff movie scene there, I'm just making it all up (it's a novel). But seeing as you can do pretty much anything to anyone there if you have enough money, I imagine there are people somewhere making snuff films.

But tell me about your favourite gmaing year, goddamnit!

[Peekay]

Can I just add, I don't know anything about the snuff move scene anywhere. I've seen 8mm, that's about it.

[chojin]

1992 for me as i'd left school and got Street Fighter II on my SNES!!.. was worth every penny of the over inflated import price.

[Peekay]

92 would be special for me as well - got a SNES (well, my brother did) with SFII and Probotector. Unfortunately we didn't get an instruction manual with SFII - so it was only about five years ago I learnt how to do a dragonball. And I still don't know how to do a dragon punch, resulting in arsewhippings from my girlfriend at SFZ. I was mightily impressed by the SNES, though.

[Street Turk]

I cant remember exact years but the early SNES years are important to me. The Tekken FF7 and MGS years of the PS1 are also up there.

[Super Monkey Balls]

1995. The year 3D arrived here and SEGA owned the arcades.

[Klatrymadon]

Probably 1994 for me, purely because Super Metroid was out (a title I still hold as the best videogame ever made, despite my fixation with shmups). On top of that I had in my possession all of the games I loved (and still worship) from the previous golden years, like Super Probotector/Contra III, Super Castlevania IV and Axelay.

So I spent most of the year sitting back and indulging in those.

[jimmbob]

97 is the one I remember the fondest. Tomb Raider on the PS1 got me through college. I didn't have internet then, and it was probably the only game i've ever played to completion, without either consulting a FAQ, or having the thing dissected and analysed so much so; that the enjoyment goes out the window. Gotta love the interweb and opinions

[Applefiend]

Not so much a year but a weekend. Picture it, 1995. I had been a buzz for months about the new consoles. I had a 3DO and a Jaguar, but they didn't seem like the real deal. Used to sit on efnet #vidgames for hours talking about toshinden, this new game in the arcades called Tekken, was Tekken better than Virtua Fighter, what's good games to buy, that kinda stuff.

US Release of Playstation one, a week after release a giant package from America arrived, on a friday. In it was...

1x Playstation 1
Toshinden, Ridge Racer, Warhawk, and Philosama I think
1x Sega Saturn
Daytona, Virtua Fighter, Robotica(I was desperate), Sega Steering wheel.

And lots of memory cards and other stuff.

Most amazing weekend of gaming, ever. Played Daytona all night, did endurance races, just sat and watched Ridge Racer and went... Woooooaaaahhhh... Played toshinden, it was OK, played Virtua Fighter, it was all flat shaded polygons and glitches but played like a dream. Warhawk was very spiffy and also flat shaded if I remember.

It got cut short on Sunday morning when I had to go see some bastard girlfriend when I'd rather be with my new toys, but I always think back to that weekend...

After a couple of months the Playstation ended up gathering dust, escepially after I finished Ridge Racer on all the courses, but the Saturn kept delivering the goods, first 18 months I was a huge Saturn fan. Then Playstation picked up again.

Since then nothing comes close. I turn up at midnight for Halo 2, take it home, get dissapointed, stuff like that. Very few magical games around these days. Last one was DQ8.

Happy days. I think Playstation 3 might be the same, not because it's the greatest thing since sliced bread, but just the build up over 18 months. I've spent so much time staring at that thing through glass cases.

[Lyle]

Not one year but three for me, 89, 90 and 91.

The golden age of the 8-16 bits era. About a dozen systems, all of which boasted scores of brilliant titles. There was room for any gaming genre, and it was the time when the arcade reached its pinnacle. I was interested in computers, arcade and consoles alike, which would be unthinkable today.

Granted, there weren't that many innovations compared to other periods, but maybe that's precisely what made this era so special to me - quality and quantity made up for the lack of invention.

And today the legacy is tremendous. There are literally hundredth of worthwhile games to have fun with.

[eastyy]

The 2 years that stick out in my mind


1 year when i got a megadrive preview tape and it had stuff like ecco the dolphin streets of rage 2 world of illusion so many great games to look forward to.

2nd year was when the psone was released and i first saw tekken i was amazed then also i was at school adn there was no way i could afford one

[muse hunter]

1998 - 2000 for me, why? because it was the years of the DC. I never have been so excited about a videogame console before and never will, CVG used to tease me of previews of vft3 tb, sonic adventure, and powerstone on almost a monthly basis. The DC felt like a true next gen console, it felt like an arcade machine in your home, probably the last console ever to take its roots from the arcade. During that time capcom were on to-p of their game with almost monthly ports of top quality 2D fighters, and of course the powerstones, sega was at the peak of their creative powers gave us magical games such as jet set radio and shenmue as well as ports of quality arcade games such as crazy taxi and virtua tennis. Gaming will never be that good again, forget what the people say DC > Saturn