What's The Best Thing To Happen In Gaming This Decade ?

[Kubrick]

You've honestly never heard of companies like Introversion, Reflexive or Pom Pom?

I honestly hadn't heard of them, but I just googled their names and discovered they all make PC games, which explains why I didn't know about them.

After digging around their websites though, Reflexive's Dinner Dash 2 and Cake Mania appear to be awfully familiar to the PS2 game Yoshinoya from a couple of years back. Plus, I see the game Zuma there which I had heard of since I read a story about it being involved in a lawsuit for ripping off someone else's idea.

Regardless, it speaks volumes about the state of the industry when those type of games are being made in a "bedroom coder" fashion and sold over the internet. The big corporations just don't care about "simple" games because there's no money to be made from them.

[Brats]

The big corporations just don't care about "simple" games because there's no money to be made from them.

What's Live Arcade all about then?

Reflexive's Wik is a wonderfully innovative game. Well worth checking out. Darwinia is just sublime. Pom Pom's games are very slick for a three man team.

Do you agree that the fact that the games are on the PC is no excuse for massive generalisations? If you think about development in the West, it's the only place they are likely to be (and now Live Arcade).

[Oh! My Car!]

What's The Best Thing To Happen In Gaming This Decade ?

NTSC-uk

[babs]

lol - as if the 1st online game services, or anything else, were any better...

Actually they were comparitively very, very good. QuakeWorld was one of the first to use the internet as we know it now, with TCP/IP packeting, and the difference it made to modem play (and we're talking 28.8/33.6k here) was out of this world. It made playing online with a modem between nations not only possible but enjoyable.

Without Carmack, id software, Quake and more importantly quakeworld the state of online games (especially FPS) would be a much different place now. Also QW came out in '96 so it actually fits into the 'last decade' theme rather nicely, and is my vote.

[Concept]

Hardware?

The PS2's open diversity and the fact that out of the Gamecube and Xbox, I believe it's the one that's been pushed the most. As for hardware/software/net integration, easily Xbox Live.

Software?

ICO.
Shenmue I/II.
Rez.
GTA: III and San Andreas (San Andreas is the better game but III had the impact).
Manhunt.
Halo.
Panzer Dragoon Orta.
Half-Life 2.
Metroid Prime.
Killer7.
Psychonauts.
Shadow of the Colossus.
Oddworld: Stranger's Wrath.
Resident Evil 4.
Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion.

And personally for me:

Discovering Panzer Dragoon as a series.

[Concept]

Oh yeah, and NTSC-uk.

[MikeRox]

Hardware?

The PS2's open diversity and the fact that out of the Gamecube and Xbox, I believe it's the one that's been pushed the most.

I do find it quite sad that we'll never get to see the full potential of the Xbox, compared with the PS2 but the PS2 being market leader such a strong really helped for that.

[Kron]

Plus, I see the game Zuma there which I had heard of since I read a story about it being involved in a lawsuit for ripping off someone else's idea.

Its a copy of Mitchell's Puzz Loop series:

http://www.mitchell.jp/home/from_mitchell_pzlp~history.htm

http://www.mitchell.jp/game/game_arcade1.htm

[Yoshimax]

I agree Smegaman - Once you see things like Riddick/Rallisport2/DOAXVB and realise how well it can handle ports of PC heavyweights like Doom3, FarCry and HalfLife2 it's very sad we'll never see the system pushed to the nth degree.

Although I predict a big homebrew scene for the xbox1 in its twilight years !!!