If the 80's were considered the Golden Age of Gaming, then...

[Squilookle]

That was the birth, the 90s were the renaissance, now we're dealing with the future.

No, we're in the renaissance now.

Lets make a little test. Could you get away with publishing a game like Journey, or Spec Ops The Line in the 90's? No? Then its not the renaissance.

Sure you could get away with publishing games like them in the 90s. Considering how much games were innovating back then and branching out, it's actually far more likely they would have come out in that environment than they did now. If Spec Ops had come out in the 90s, they wouldn't have been forced to shoehorn multiplayer into it, either.

Could you get away with publishing a pure stealth em up like Thief for the first time today? No.
Could you get away with publishing a flight sim with a dynamic campaign like Red Baron 3D today? No.
Could you get away with publishing FPS series that actually brought something new to the table with each iteration today? Not really.
Could you get away with publishing puzzle and adventure games like Myst and Monkey Island today? One look at how Double Fine had to resort to a Kickstarter tells you the answer to that.

Just about the only true innovation we've had since the 90s is the sandbox, and even that is just a blending of gameplay elements all seen before.

 

[7thHanyou]

That was the birth, the 90s were the renaissance, now we're dealing with the future.

No, we're in the renaissance now.

Lets make a little test. Could you get away with publishing a game like Journey, or Spec Ops The Line in the 90's? No? Then its not the renaissance.

The 80's was prehistory, the 90's was rudimentary toolmaking, the 00's were the Greek and Roman periods, now is the Renaissance.

Ever heard of Ecco the Dolphin? Myst?

Yeah, lots of developers got away with it.

 

[Jazoni89]

That was the birth, the 90s were the renaissance, now we're dealing with the future.

No, we're in the renaissance now.

Lets make a little test. Could you get away with publishing a game like Journey, or Spec Ops The Line in the 90's? No? Then its not the renaissance.

The 80's was prehistory, the 90's was rudimentary toolmaking, the 00's were the Greek and Roman periods, now is the Renaissance.

What was the 70's then...The dinosaur era?

What about the 60's...the creation of the world? There were technically videogames in the 60's as well. Hell there was even prototypes of consoles being made in the late 60's, Ralph Baer was creating the Magnavox Odyssey at that time, which eventually saw a commercial release in 1972.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ralph_H._Baer

One of the first computer games spacewar (1962) was manpowered by a whole room of computers.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spacewar!

Gaming is a lot older than most think. We have a 90 year old German inventor to thank for the creation of videogames.

I'd use a chart if it wasn't too small.

Okay, 50's, the formation and creation of the planet earth. Setting the stage for what would become a hospitable environment.

60's, God creates single celled life forms capable of adapting and evolving. It is life/gaming by its vaguest definition - its simple and utterly incapable of leaving a wider impact, but its there, and shows the promise of what may come one day.

70's, the first fish leaves the sea, and the first home console is established, the Magnavox Oddysey. It struggles in a hostile environment that nothing had ever tried to live in before. It dies after a lifetime of struggle, but its willingness to try has forever changed gaming/life.

Early 80's - the rise of the dinosaurs. Slow, lumbering, and in hindsight look fucking ridiculous, covered in feathers/wood. Too many of them looked the same. A catastrophic event wiped them all out.

Late 80's - the smaller mammals (in that they are a lot friendlier to small kids than the dinosaurs) survive the hardship, and breed to a gigantic library of games, most of which are expected to die in harsh conditions. The mammals are not intelligent by any means, being more hyperactive and fast moving, with very very short lifespans, but making up for it by being savage and harder to kill.

Early 90's - the rise of Homo SNES. While the NeanderSegas that predate them by years could lay claim to having more intelligent and fitter Blast Processing, the Homo SNES's were ultimately able to prevail, driving the NeanderSegas close to extinction. Ultimately, they would be rendered extinct, never again rising to the same level.

At the same time, rudimentary intelligence is shown. Plots become more than an excuse. While still not good, they show effort, and a capability of using tools to tell a story.

Late 90's - first civilizations. After the relative calm of relationships between NeanderSegas and Homo SNES's, the MesoPlaystatians become the first empire, one not engaged in a stand-off with its opponents, but one that utterly crushes everything before it.

At the same time, we gain the first ideas of culture. Music is emphasized and brought to great levels as new instruments are formed. Knowledge is able to be recorded in larger tomes, possibly known as cnowledge dumps (people couldn't spell back then). These "CD"s could hold more information than the outdated models of information storing, that being just kept in ones own head.

00's - The Greek and Roman Empires. The Greeks were able to establish a civilisation that, while sometimes falling prey to infighting due to inelegant design, became the envy of the world back then. Years later, a newer empire would try to copy everything off them, stealing epic tales and claiming them as their own.

THe firt playwrights were established, and as such, epic dramas became something that the whole civilisation could enjoy. Grand ideas were made, and technology grew by leaps and bounds.

And now I want to try and turn this into a video. Anyone wanna help?

Wow you totally thought this through didn't you...

Have you ever considered a career in philosophy?

 

[7thHanyou]

That was the birth, the 90s were the renaissance, now we're dealing with the future.

No, we're in the renaissance now.

Lets make a little test. Could you get away with publishing a game like Journey, or Spec Ops The Line in the 90's? No? Then its not the renaissance.

The 80's was prehistory, the 90's was rudimentary toolmaking, the 00's were the Greek and Roman periods, now is the Renaissance.

Ever heard of Ecco the Dolphin? Myst?

Yeah, lots of developers got away with it.

In what way are they even close to what was happening with Spec Ops the Line or Journey?

Do you even understand what Spec Ops is, and how insane it is? They are intentionally making a bad game to draw attention to the way games glorify horrible experiences. THey are making something terrible on purpose. Do you get what that means?

I don't know about Spec Ops. But Journey? I'm plenty familiar with it, and I'd put Ecco and Myst on the same level.

 

[Canadamus Prime]

I'd call it the Brown Age of Gaming.

 

[Shadowstar38]

Whenever someone tries to say that a certain era was the "golden age" of that media, I just shake my head and tell them to stop being such an idiot. There aren't enough solid hits all in one span of time that makes me think video games have done done hill from "X" year.

 

[ThePS1Fan]

I'd say mid to late 90's were the golden age. Well I wouldn't say anything is a golden age because there are always ways to improve, but based on everything up till now that is the best era.

 

[Grape_Bullion]

Firstly, the "golden age" of gaming was not the 80's. Anyone who says otherwise has their nostalgia goggles strapped on so tight it's cutting the blood flow to their brains. As to what the actual "golden age" would be? I really couldn't tell you, every generation of games is different from the others, for a myriad of reasons. And each generation shows us why we love games and what we can/could do to make games better. When I'm objective as I can be, I consider the mid to late 90's as the "golden age" of gaming. Infinite graphical updates, the branching out of many genres of games, mechanics in games, et cetera et cetera. If you want to disagree me into the ground feel free and I'll give more examples.

Secondly, I think it's safe to say we're at the tail end of ingenuity and imagination making games happen and in the middle of an age where focus groups decide what would make most economical sense to put in a game. An age where every dollar spent on developing a game is meant to bring in more cash and players and not meant to give us an experience we once enjoyed.

 

[7thHanyou]

That was the birth, the 90s were the renaissance, now we're dealing with the future.

No, we're in the renaissance now.

Lets make a little test. Could you get away with publishing a game like Journey, or Spec Ops The Line in the 90's? No? Then its not the renaissance.

The 80's was prehistory, the 90's was rudimentary toolmaking, the 00's were the Greek and Roman periods, now is the Renaissance.

Ever heard of Ecco the Dolphin? Myst?

Yeah, lots of developers got away with it.

In what way are they even close to what was happening with Spec Ops the Line or Journey?

Do you even understand what Spec Ops is, and how insane it is? They are intentionally making a bad game to draw attention to the way games glorify horrible experiences. THey are making something terrible on purpose. Do you get what that means?

I don't know about Spec Ops. But Journey? I'm plenty familiar with it, and I'd put Ecco and Myst on the same level.

Except for the complete and utter lack of any form of on-screen prompting or text-based directing in Journey, relying solely on outstanding design and pre-programmed player response to stimuli to guide the way.

Okay. So? Absent that, a game can't have the same level of artistic merit?

I'm confused about your premise. Exactly what doesn't put Myst on the same level, artistically, as these games?

 

[Squilookle]

Wow- I thought this was a pretty civil thread. Now I'll have to adjust my expectations, seeing as how far down the BS talk route you chose to go.

What an amazing way of arguing. If it didn't and wouldn't under any circumstances whatsoever, claim it totally would have, and would have done it better, then offer absolutely no proof. A.K.A. the argument of every whiny punk who "could totally kick your ass, and I'd do it like so bad you'd die, but, I'd totally get in trouble with my fighting teacher."

I'm going to lay myself open to the obvious 'you're an idiot' cheap shot by revealing I didn't understand any of that giant run-on sentence. Could you try it again? And yes, I'll be expecting what you probably consider the obligatory attack on my cerebral capabilities.

Could you get away with publishing a pure stealth em up like Thief for the first time today? No.

Oh hai Dishonored.

I said for the first time. Dishonored is just doing again what has been done before.

Could you get away with publishing a flight sim with a dynamic campaign like Red Baron 3D today? No.

Oh hai Rise of Flight the First Great Air War

Thought you'd say that. Theirs was patched into the post release game, unlike Red Baron- specifically RB2, which had it straight out of the box.

Could you get away with publishing FPS series that actually brought something new to the table with each iteration today? Not really.

Oh hai Portal.

Fail again- Portal's sequel's most significant change was merely co-op. Hardly a groundbreaking leap.

Could you get away with publishing puzzle and adventure games like Myst and Monkey Island today? One look at how Double Fine had to resort to a Kickstarter tells you the answer to that.

Oh hai Heavy Rain and its coming predecessor Beyond: Two Souls.

bahahaha. (gasp) AHAHAHA! I said puzzle/adventure games, not interactive movies. Predecessor implies coming before something, by the way, and B:TS does that in neither chronology OR story.

 

[Olas]

I'd use a chart if it wasn't too small.

Okay, 50's, the formation and creation of the planet earth. Setting the stage for what would become a hospitable environment.

60's, God creates single celled life forms capable of adapting and evolving. It is life/gaming by its vaguest definition - its simple and utterly incapable of leaving a wider impact, but its there, and shows the promise of what may come one day.

70's, the first fish leaves the sea, and the first home console is established, the Magnavox Oddysey. It struggles in a hostile environment that nothing had ever tried to live in before. It dies after a lifetime of struggle, but its willingness to try has forever changed gaming/life.

Early 80's - the rise of the dinosaurs. Slow, lumbering, and in hindsight look fucking ridiculous, covered in feathers/wood. Too many of them looked the same. A catastrophic event wiped them all out.

Late 80's - the smaller mammals (in that they are a lot friendlier to small kids than the dinosaurs) survive the hardship, and breed to a gigantic library of games, most of which are expected to die in harsh conditions. The mammals are not intelligent by any means, being more hyperactive and fast moving, with very very short lifespans, but making up for it by being savage and harder to kill.

Early 90's - the rise of Homo SNES. While the NeanderSegas that predate them by years could lay claim to having more intelligent and fitter Blast Processing, the Homo SNES's were ultimately able to prevail, driving the NeanderSegas close to extinction. Ultimately, they would be rendered extinct, never again rising to the same level.

At the same time, rudimentary intelligence is shown. Plots become more than an excuse. While still not good, they show effort, and a capability of using tools to tell a story.

Late 90's - first civilizations. After the relative calm of relationships between NeanderSegas and Homo SNES's, the MesoPlaystatians become the first empire, one not engaged in a stand-off with its opponents, but one that utterly crushes everything before it.

At the same time, we gain the first ideas of culture. Music is emphasized and brought to great levels as new instruments are formed. Knowledge is able to be recorded in larger tomes, possibly known as cnowledge dumps (people couldn't spell back then). These "CD"s could hold more information than the outdated models of information storing, that being just kept in ones own head.

00's - The Greek and Roman Empires. The Greeks were able to establish a civilisation that, while sometimes falling prey to infighting due to inelegant design, became the envy of the world back then. Years later, a newer empire would try to copy everything off them, stealing epic tales and claiming them as their own.

THe firt playwrights were established, and as such, epic dramas became something that the whole civilisation could enjoy. Grand ideas were made, and technology grew by leaps and bounds.

And now I want to try and turn this into a video. Anyone wanna help?

You are my hero. When you get this documentary published would you be willing to autograph a copy of the DVD for me?

 

[Risingblade]

The Ps2 era was the golden age. The hell with the 80's

 

[Imperioratorex Caprae]

People have made the argument that the consoles were essentially dead, but the Arcade was thriving at that point on to the mid-90's. To me the Arcade symbolized the first social gaming experience, the first multiplayer experience on a massive scale and paved the way for in-home game systems.
A Golden Age indeed it was, and I miss those days sometimes. Of course nostalgia makes things feel better than they may have been... Then again, I had fun and it gave birth to my love for all things gaming so GO GO NOSTALGIA GLASSES!