Poll: Which Console Generation did you feel improved gaming the most?

[krebons12]

Video Games have come a ridiculously long way since the late 70's with games such as Pong evolving to the photo-realistic FPS's of today. With this, and the expansion of the demographics of gamers to more than just children, some have mixed opinions as to what lead to this. While some believe the graphic enhancements keep the market afloat, others think that it is the expansion to darker, less childlike tales than "princess got kidnapped go save her".

Personally, I believe it has a fusion with that and many other features, such as the expansion of controls, the amount of data that can be held on one disk, and of course the ease of access with games becoming mobile, and the need for understanding of electronics becoming more mainstream.

However, that is just me. I'm curious as to what everyone else thinks. So, if you would, select your answer from the poll and give an explanation as to why in a post.

It is my stupidly optimistic hope that this could perhaps shed some form of light as to what we all look for in newer generations as a community, and how we can use it to bend the 10th (if not 9th) generation to our favor

 

[scorptatious]

Objectively, probably the NES era as it did help bring life back to gaming after the big crash. Every other generation after that I feel just served to increase the gamer population.

My personal favorite generation is probably the 6th. Most of my favorite games came from that era. Shadow of the Colossus, MGS3, the Ratchet and Clank series, ect.

 

[Asclepion]

The jump from 2D sprites to 3D polygonal graphics was certainly huge. It became possible to interact with a game world in a way closer to the physical world.

I have little doubt that immersive virtual reality will be a world-shattering invention. Not just for video games, but for any kind of experience in a virtual environment.

 

[Strelok]

Commodore 64 era, came out in 1982 by the way not 83, for me anyway it saved gaming from the first death of consoles, NES didn't come out in NA till 85, consoles were long dead to me by then. Didn't even notice there was a crash, except we stopped buying console games and started buying PC games.

 

[tippy2k2]

Objectively, probably the NES era as it did help bring life back to gaming after the big crash. Every other generation after that I feel just served to increase the gamer population.

My personal favorite generation is probably the 6th. Most of my favorite games came from that era. Shadow of the Colossus, MGS3, the Ratchet and Clank series, ect.

Agreed.

If you took away the NES generation, there wouldn't BE a Microsoft/Sony gaming division. Console gaming would be dead. I suppose someone else may have been able to pick up the mantle and make it work but we'll never know.

However, I personally feel the 6th Generation (The PS2 specifically) was a true game changer. Sony absolutely nailed it. Gaming evolved from a niche nerd hobby to something that "normal" people did. My grandma had a PS2. No matter what type of game you wanted to play, the PS2 had it. Internet gaming was also launched for consoles in the 6th generation, which, for good or ill, has completely revolutionized how we game and get our games.

Hell, the PS2 stopped being made...in 2012; 5 years after the PS3 launched. FIFA 14 was the last game made for the PS2...in November of 2013.

I suppose the generation takes a smidge of a black eye with the Xbox (and the brutal death of Sega) but even that had one hell of an impact with the Halo series and getting the FPS genre to really click on the console. Also, while the PS2 helped introduce internet gaming to the consoles, the Xbox is the one that ran with it.

EDIT: After josemlopes pointed it out below, I realized that I made it sound like the PS2 was the main bringer of internet gaming to consoles. I didn't mean for it to sound like that so I edited my post to reflect that.

 

[popa_qwerty]

I'll have to say 6 gen mostly because that when gaming systems showed that they can do more than just play games. I remember that was back when DVD players just took off.

 

[Rozalia1]

3rd for the simple fact it saved gaming. You can claim whatever you want to rubbish that fact, but without question gaming wouldn't be anywhere as big today as it is without that vital third generation.

 

[thanatos388]

Its really hard to answer since "improved gaming" can mean anything really. The NES era brought games into the mainstream without the garbage and lack of profits. SNES and Genesis brought more freedom and creativity. PS1 and N64 brought 3d, PS2, Gamecube brought games that could almost do anything creatively without a crippling budget, PS3 and 360 um...made it prettier I suppose and more space for larger games that only seemed to get smaller due to all the crippling budgets going towards graphics and online. So I'd say the PS2/Gamecube/XBOX classic era. It had a nice variety of titles at reasonable prices that had graphics good enough to carry them through and better yet were really fun to play and still all felt unique to one another not like today where every game feels oddly like something else you've already played and very forgettable otherwise. Also a PS2 can play the Matrix on DVD (before the sequels came and ruined the mood for everyones party) can the Genesis do that SEGA? Well can it?

 

[gmaverick019_v1legacy]

Objectively, probably the NES era as it did help bring life back to gaming after the big crash. Every other generation after that I feel just served to increase the gamer population.

My personal favorite generation is probably the 6th. Most of my favorite games came from that era. Shadow of the Colossus, MGS3, the Ratchet and Clank series, ect.

Agreed.

If you took away the NES generation, there wouldn't BE a Microsoft/Sony gaming division. Console gaming would be dead. I suppose someone else may have been able to pick up the mantle and make it work but we'll never know.

However, I personally feel the 6th Generation (The PS2 specifically) was a true game changer. Sony absolutely nailed it. Gaming evolved from a niche nerd hobby to something that "normal" people did. My grandma had a PS2. No matter what type of game you wanted to play, the PS2 had it. Internet gaming was also launched for consoles, which, for good or ill, has completely revolutionized how we game and get our games.

Hell, the PS2 stopped being made...in 2012; 5 years after the PS3 launched. FIFA 14 was the last game made for the PS2...in November of 2013.

I suppose the generation takes a smidge of a black eye with the XBOX (and the brutal death of Sega) but even that had one hell of an impact with the Halo series and getting the FPS genre to really click on the console.

definitely agree with this, on top of it I think this was the best generation for controllers across the board (the second xbox controllers, the huge ones were meant for people were very large hands) and quite possibly the best library across the board.

hell, on top of it, ps2 acted as dvd players in at least 3 rooms around my household, it was only logical that instead of buying dvd players we would just go get a used ps2 because of how many games we had and doubling it up its dvd player value.

 

[CriticalTortoise]

I don't really want to say the obvious thing and tell everyone that the NES was the most influential system (though everyone is correct if they say modern gaming would not exist without it). I would actually say that the sixth generation (Xbox, PS2, Gamecube -- though in particular the Xbox and PS2) is/was the most influential, at least in that it had the most direct effects on today. The PS2 can be credited with making games far more mainstream and making 3D graphics more advanced as well. Meanwhile, online multiplayer as we know it today would not exist without the Xbox (and more specifically Halo 2). I would also say the Xbox was the first to try and integrate multimedia functionality with the DVD and music player, though I honestly feel that was more the result of the PS3 and 360, both of which were the start of Netflix and music streaming integration on a large scale.

 

[God'sFist]

I must say that the PS2 era was the one that did the most in my opinion. While I have to agree that without the NES we wouldn't have gameing and all but with the PS2 it completely changed how we game. Without the PS2 I wouldn't be the gamer I am today. So SONY will hold a special place with me forever because without them I never would have been a gamer. No I'm not SONY fanboy who will defend their every action. but still

 

[josemlopes]

I suppose the generation takes a smidge of a black eye with the XBOX (and the brutal death of Sega) but even that had one hell of an impact with the Halo series and getting the FPS genre to really click on the console.

Dude, dont forget that even though the PS2 had online multiplayer the Xbox advanced that shit through the roof, Sony only caught up midway through the PS3. We may not like how the online stuff is being handled currently but back then it had all it needed and was a very big bonus.

 

[Signa]

I'm going with the SNES. By that point, 2D gaming had been perfected. The N64 was a step back because no one knew how to do 3D right. We've come far from that point, but I feel like 3D gaming is still missing much of the charm many 2D games had naturally.

 

[Akiraking]

I think that many generations have improved gaming but the seventh generation to me feels like it was significant in the variety in games available. The addition of the full online support meant smaller games could be released digitally, expansions could become a thing for consoles instead of just pc (ignoring releasing the expansions on disc) and the wii being different to the others meant there were two types of games being made. I know people hate on the wii but it is the only system I can play with the non gamers in my family. I played Super Mario 3d World with my sister, a game she would normally never touch by herself as she does not like dying in games. Though that is a Wii U game so it is not actually a part of the 7th generation.

I have some fears and problems with the eight generation but it has the potential to expand and improve on everything the seventh generation did.

 

[LaoJim]

This is how I see it. Obviously each successive generation has had an increase in processing power, graphics, size and ambition of the games etc. Also the number and type of buttons on the controllers increase.

1st: Was the first.
2nd: Actually allowed people to play different games (the 1st only had Pong and a few variations)
3rd: Allowed games to scroll instead of have mostly fixed screens. Japanese became major industry players.
4th: Nothing special.
5th: 3D. The Playstation allows more freedom to 3rd Party developers. Introduction of CDs for games.
6th: On-line play. Microsoft become first major Western console manufacturer for a while.
7th: Increase in downloadable/indie titles. Motion controls. Arguably gaming becomes mainstream with the success of titles like CoD.
8th: Nothing special/Too early to call?

Not ragging on the 4th generation particularly, had some great titles, just didn't do anything gamechanging as far as I can see.

On that basis my order would be. (with the 1st being impossible to place due to having nothing to improve upon)

5th
3rd
2nd
6th
7th
4th
8th (but I'm happy for Sony/Microsoft/Nintendo to surprise me)

 

[veloper]

SNES (4th generation).
Controllers had become more than just unergonomic boxes with buttons on them. The internal hardware was in many ways better than the PC and homecomputers(Amiga) for several years (had sound over PC and GFX over Amiga). The games had enough resources to allow for some complexity (cRPGs and such) and many still stand the test of time. Gaming started to become mainstream, I think because of these improvements.

Second place is for the NES as SMB is still worth playing, though not much else. I don't buy the whole saved the game industry story (home computers did very well and another console would have turned up eventually), but it was a decent little console for it's time.

The rest may all share the last place: what came before the NES was kind of rubbish and is not worth revisiting, while every console after the SNES was eclipsed by the PC.

 

[Zantos]

As someone that was only really around from 5th onwards I'd say it was the 6th gen. The data capacity for DVDs allowed them to do much more in terms of voice acting and better graphics while there was still lots of room for adventurous and interesting stuff to come out. Plus the backwards compatibility of the playstation meant that we could still enjoy the games we had already bought and put a lot of time into, which is something I wish they'd kept up.

 

[Bruce]

4th

You can see the bones of the modern controller in the Genesis, the hardware allowed for gaming to develop complex RPGs, and it perfected the 2D platformer.

 

[Hairless Mammoth]

8th gen, because it's gonna show the companies and the customers how making 2 stop-gap consoles out of cheap PC parts and a beefier Wii with a jumbo DS mechanic added on will not last as long as the previous generation's near 8 year reign./jk (Seriously there is some tiny truth to that but we'll find out when more games that aren't trying to make 1080p(and later 900p, when they find out today's console just can't do that with the amount of polygons they're trying to push) one of their main selling points.)

My sincere answer is the third gen. If someone didn't revitalize the North American game market in 85(As far as I know, Europe, especially the UK, was doing fine will things like the ZX Spectrum.), the landscape would have been much different. PC gaming and arcades would have slightly grown more without any competition until someone tried entering the race with a console, and if they could have been successful would have depended on whether the entered at the right time and what strategy they used (like Nintendo's "Entertainment System" and the first batches being bundled with R.O.B). Arcades and PCs at home could have dominated the market for years if someone didn't show up before they took over the few customers that weren't burned by the crash and newbies.

Ever other one was a natural evolution of video game technology and ideals from the first Computer Space cabinets to today's stuff, along with those principles being applied along with other tech advancing with video games, like online playing. The only two that really stand out almost as much as the 3rd gen is its immediate predecessor showing what happens when there's no quality control and late 4th and early 5th when, while most devs were trying to break the polygon ceiling and take advantage of their new found freedom from their cartridge prisons, foolish devs, publishers, and console makers(Oh, Hai, 3D0, CDi and all those CD add ons!) were misusing the new CD medium's massive storage capacity to make video heavy games with usually little gameplay.

 

[krebons12]

This is how I see it. Obviously each successive generation has had an increase in processing power, graphics, size and ambition of the games etc. Also the number and type of buttons on the controllers increase.

1st: Was the first.
2nd: Actually allowed people to play different games (the 1st only had Pong and a few variations)
3rd: Allowed games to scroll instead of have mostly fixed screens. Japanese became major industry players.
4th: Nothing special.
5th: 3D. The Playstation allows more freedom to 3rd Party developers. Introduction of CDs for games.
6th: On-line play. Microsoft become first major Western console manufacturer for a while.
7th: Increase in downloadable/indie titles. Motion controls. Arguably gaming becomes mainstream with the success of titles like CoD.
8th: Nothing special/Too early to call?

Not ragging on the 4th generation particularly, had some great titles, just didn't do anything gamechanging as far as I can see.

On that basis my order would be. (with the 1st being impossible to place due to having nothing to improve upon)

5th
3rd
2nd
6th
7th
4th
8th (but I'm happy for Sony/Microsoft/Nintendo to surprise me)

I wouldn't agree too much on the assessment of the 4th generation. At least to me, it was a gateway with it's ability to hold so much more complex data (Much more space for text in-game, changing depth, etc.), as well as it's addition of the new buttons which, after the addition of the analog sticks for PS1 controllers next generation, became the structure for the control layout we use today.

While I wouldn't say it should change too much on your list, if any at all, since what you are referring to the most in your list is what goes on on-screen and in the world as opposed to what is in your hands changed, I still hold a firm belief the way they the controller is implemented and what is available on them holds as strong an influence in games as gameplay additions.

Other than that, your list, I find, to be very well thought out and that simple yet helpful chart of what goes on in each makes your ranking reasoning very understandable :3