Poll: The greatest console generation so far...

[Nomanslander]

If anyone has ever taken it upon him/herself to check up on it we are right now in the 7th generation of console gaming.

Considering I started gaming with the Atari 2600, I can honestly say alot has changed...so the question is what generation do you think has been the best at least for its time.

I know most retro gamers would say the third generation that show the rise of Nintendo after the console market crash of the Atari years.

Other's will claim the fifth generation that saw the launch of CD titles, Nintendo 64 and every Nintendo game with 64 at the end of the title0o...and of course the PS1 bringing mass appeal to gaming with games like MGS, Final Fantasy 7, Residence Evil, and Silent Hill..

Anyways before I ask the question, it might be better if I do a quick run through of what every generation had to offer..

As for me personally, it would have to be the 3rd and 6th generations....

....



1st Generation: 1972-1977

Systems:

-Magnavox Odyssey
-Coleco Telstar
-PC (I know I'm cheating here but fuck it, Maze War and Dungeon needs to be mentioned)

Games:

Pong, Star Trek (text game), Maze War (first FPS ever made), Dungeon (first RPG, and an unlicensed implementation of the new role playing game Dungeons & Dragons).

Winner of the Console Wars:
Ummm...these were the experimental years, so I guess who ever came up with Pong got something out of it...0o






2nd Generation: 1976-1983

Systems:

-Atari 2600
-ColecoVision
-Magnavox Odyssey2
-Intellivision
-Vectrex
-Too damn many and that's why the market crashed in 83...0o

Games:

Asteroids, Breakout, Berserk, Defender, Donkey Kong, Frogger, Mario Bros., Pac-Man, Pitfall, Space Invaders, Spy Hunter, Tempest.

Winner of the Console Wars:
Game console crash of 1983...everybody losses..=(






3rd Generation: 1983-1995

Systems:

-Nintendo Entertainment System
-Sega Master System
-Atari 7800

Games:

Super Mario Bros., Castlevania, Contra, Metroid, Final Fantasy, Metal Gear, Legend of Zelda, Ninja Gaiden, Bionic Commando, Mega Man, Alex Kidd in Miracle World, After Burner, Shinobi, Battletoads, Ghost and Goblins, Punch-Out, Double Dragon, Tetris, .

Winner of the Console Wars:
NES 60million units sold...3rd highest grossing console of all time.






4th Generaion: 1987-1999

Systems:

-Super Nintendo
-Sega Genesis
-TurboGrafx-16
-Neo Geo

Games:

Super Mario World, Super Metroid, Super Castlevania 4, Sonic the Hedgehog, Golden Axe, Contra 3, Earthworm Jim, Zelda: Link to the Past, final Fantasy 2&3 or should I say 4&6...0o, Street Figher 2, Mortal Kombat, Super Ghouls and Ghosts, Revenge of Shinobi, Metal Slug, Samurai Showdown, Doom, Splatterhouse, Final Fight, Streets of Rage.

Winner of the Console Wars:
Super NES: 49millions units sold






5th Generation: 1993-2006

Systems:

-Sony PlayStation
-Nintendo 64
-Saga Saturn
-Atari Jaguar..>>

Games:

Metal Gear Solid, Super Mario 64, LOZ: Ocarina of Time & Majora's Mask, FF 7-8-9, Resistant Evil, Silent Hill, Golden Eye, Perfect Dark, Grand Theft Auto, Twisted Metal, Marvel Vs. Capcom, Gran Turismo, Banjo-Kazooie, Crash Bandicoot, Snatcher.

Winner of the Console Wars:
PS1= 102million units sold..second highest grossing console of all time






6th Generation: 1998-today

-PS2
-Xbox
-Nintendo Gamecube
-Sega Dreamcast

Games:

Silent Hill 2&3, Metal Gear Solid 2&3, Fantasy 10, GTA: Vice City & San Andreas, God of War 1&2, Max Payne, Halo 1&2, Devil May Cry, Resident Evil 4, Fatal Frame, Half-Life, Jak and Dextor, Guitar Hero, Metroid Prime, Ratchet $ Clank, Shenmue 2, Super Mario Sunshine, Super Smash Bros: Mele, Ninja Gaiden, Knights of the Old Republic, Onimusha.

Winner of the Console Wars:
PS2=140 million units sold..highest grossing console of all time.





7th Generation: 2004-today

Yeah I'm pretty sure you all know what's going on now...0o




.........





My Final Thoughts: I remember very little of the 2nd generation, but for me the 3rd generation defined what gaming was and would become. When I think of video games the first thoughts that come to my mind was my NES and those giant cartridges that I had to blow into, cram into the slot to get it working.

By the time the fourth generation came around I was beginning to lose interest in gaming, Super Metroid, Contra 3, and Super Mario World kept my interests up and so did my Genesis games. But after that my dad insisting we stick to all the stupid accessories and upgrades that came with the Genesis like the Sega CD and that 32x bull....later I bought a Panasonic 3DO and that was the last time I decided I would ever spend that much money on a console if ever.

I missed out on the 5th generation almost entirely, and my interest in gaming didn't start up again until the PS2 was released...Of course later I got into Xbox and PC gaming around the mid 2000s. As I said for me the 6th generation was probably my next favorite period in gaming, and thanks to backwards compatibility that "worked" back then I was able to enjoy a lot of PS1 games that I had missed.

As for today's generation, I've mostly become a PC gamer, I can't stand for hardware problems so the 360 was out of the question in my eyes (original Xbox > 360 even PS2 to some degree...0o). And so was the PS3 until the recent drop in price (wasn't going to buy another 3DO until I was sure).

All in all this generation could be better....I miss the old Nintendo with the great line up of games that it once had...and to consider the Wii as being anything like the original NES is a joke.

PS and Xbox have pretty much filled in those roles, but since the 6th generation I'm not to sure in the direction of console gaming....well at least until the 8th generation rolls around.

Until then PC all the way...and some PS3 when I just want to rent a game and not buy it...0o

 

[Julianking93]

I'd say this one.

Most of my favorite games are either from the PS2 or PS3.

 

[Nomanslander]

LOOOOONG.

Also, somewhat done.

I think the best was whichever had the N64, but thats just nostalgia speaking.

Trust me this is the short version compared to all the material I had to read to make this list...XP

 

[The Austin]

Uh... The 360 one. I am NOT old school.
In fact, I'm NEW school.

 

[AC Medina]

For me, the SNES alone makes the 4th generation the best. I mean, the SNES was just ubiquitous...I don't think I knew any guy my age who didn't have one. And so many games...and so many good ones.

And, it's endured. I was at my cousin's for Christmas and he still has his SNES set up alongside his PS3, and it only took us about a half hour to go from Rock Band to Donkey Kong Country.

 

[minidevil921]

I'm an old school gamer and EARTHBOUND FOR THE WIN (If you couldn't tell by my avatar)

 

[Dys]

The highest ratio of games I liked to games released was gen 5, so I'ma go with that (also, less sequals were nice).

 

[Icecoldcynic]

This thread was done a week or so ago, and my vote still goes to 5th gen. The N64 is the best console created so far.

 

[SantoUno]

I'm gonna have to say the 6th, simply because there were far more outstanding titles than in this one or the 5th. Seriously in many threads people refer to last-gen games so Ima have to say that the 6th generation was probably the greatest.

 

[TK421]

Probably 3.

 

[Antlion]

6th gen for me.
I was just born around the time that 3 ended, so... i can't really comment on 1-3. it's just that around 98/99, i remember watching my dad play the original quake, and loving it.
I guess i've sortof been a PC gamer for most of my life, but it didn't really pick up for me untill around '06 when i moved into a new building and met some other people who also liked video games that were around my age. and ever since, i've been really into the entire following the market thing, and have been forming opinions based around this "Sitting infront of the computor playing video games" lifestyle.

 

[Nomanslander]

I really like the gaming with todays consoles...

but Microsoft's blatant attempt to get away with selling cheap hardware after how awesome the original Xbox was...

Sony's arrogance...

and Nintendos poor decisions in quality control has really..well....

pissed me off with the direction the market has taken.

 

[Snotnarok]

I'll say 5th, considering that's when a lot of game genres really took off. FFVII brought RPGs more into the mainstream, some other amazing RPGs came out (Final Fantasy Tactics Breath of Fire 3&4, Xenogears, Legend of Dragoon, etc etc)Zelda blew minds, Mario took platformers into the 3D world and did a great job. A lot happened and changed.

I'd say 6th was a runner up considering how well the PS2 did and what games that system alone brought in.

 

[ScruffyTheJanitor]

5th... was introduced with an n64 and loved it to bits.

 

[SupaMechaDeathChrist]

Even though the 8 bit era kicked ass with over 1000 titles, and will always be one of the best in my heart, but I gotta give it to the 7th generation, because of all the top notch graphics improvements, special ramification's and etc. But just in case im getting my flame retardant armor

THE POWER OF INTERNET CHRIST COMPELLS YOU THE POWER OF INTERNET CHRIST COMPELLS YOU!

 

[FungTheDestroy]

I combination of last gen and this gen, because in no other generations have games made stronger steps towards cementing the medium as a form of art instead of a childish entertainment toy.

But this generation has had some massive steps back with Uncharted 2's praise and Modern Warfare 2's sales paving the way for future "cinematic" adventures. All while previous artistic pieces like Metroid Prime and Shadow of the Colossus, are completely ignored by the major investors and creators. Or at least they have been for the beginning of this generation. Things are looking up though with ambitious titles like Heavy Rain, and upcoming heavy hitters like The Last Guardian. But if Haze's treatment is any indication of the acceptance of ironic thinking, then this might turn out to be the worst generation so far.