Topic: Best console generation

Please don't turn this thread into some fanboy trolling or anything of that nature.

What was the best generation of consoles in your opinion and why? When you go back to those games do you still have as much fun or is it all just nostalgia?

For me this is a tough question. I remember having my Genesis and ruthlessly defending it against any of the Nintendo kids on the playground. I had an NES previous to it but when Sega's 16-bit wonder came out I was in love with video games. Sega's arcade style and Sonic's new take on platforming quickly won me over and made me the gamer I am today. My best friend chose the wrong side of the fence in my opinion when he got the SNES when it launched. I didn't want anything to do with it and he didn't want anything to do with my Genesis. Many times we argued who was better Sonic or Mario. Until finally I played Super Mario World at his house and was locked on to it for hours. I soon started to think maybe SNES wasn't so bad and found myself playing more and more of his games. Soon he was doing same with my Genesis after he played Sonic and some of Sega's arcade beat em' ups. Next thing I knew we were swapping consoles so that he could have a couple of nights playing Genesis and I could have a couple with the SNES. Sega and Nintendo's marketing had us both brainwashed for some time but in the end the quality of games prevailed. Now I go back to these games and the memories of a simpler time and joy of being a kid are all there. Some of the games don't hold up as well as I remembered but most of the time they are still great fun and present a whole new issue to me. They make me realize just how easy games have become compared to those times. The challenge of the game was part of the fun and most new games seem to lack it. This time period put the brakes on my thinking that one console is the only way to play and I greatly appreciate it for that. Always a Sega fan first at heart but never did I again after that say that another console didn't have any good games for it, well, except for Jaguar. I did tell a friend that wanted one back in the day that it was junk and to not get it but this opinion was formed after I had tried a few games on it. Still don't regret telling him that because he held off and got a Playstation instead as his parents would only allow him to have one console. We all know he was better off that way.

for me it was the GC/GBA gen. pure nostalgia and some good fun still lasts in the mix though it's not as much as it was at the time.
maybe the 3DS gen will beat it though(most games I've ever gotten in such a short timespan and only 2 mistakes) but only if I get a home console because I like those, a lot.

PS2, Xbox, and GCN generation.

Rose-tinted glasses FTW.

The SNES.

There were some true gems on that console.

16 bit - SNES/Neo Geo/Megadrive/PC Engine/X68000/CPS1/CPS2 (Even though the PC Engine is 8 bit it was around the same time).

Don't think it is entirely nostalgia because I only played SNES and Megadrive at the time. (Other than bits of Neo Geo in the Arcades).

I guess it has to be a toss up between the 16-bit era and the PS2/GCN/XB era. The first console I really got into was the PS2, though I really did want the original PSone. Though it was not the first era to popularize 3D gaming, the 6th gen refined it to near perfection. Games like RE4, Viewtiful Joe, God Hand, Halo 2, etc. still look visually appealing even with lower poly counts.

The 16bit on the other hand was like the golden age for RPG's, Shooters, Platformers and fighting games alike. It also helped that Platformers are my to-go genre for gaming. I'm rebuilding my SNES collection yet I now have quite enough games to last me for a while. Lots of great gems with that console.

Yes, i will agree here. The 16-bit era and GCN/PS2/XB eras were the best. They basicly refined the 2D and 3D games.

I had a Master System but I didn't really get into gaming until I got the original GameBoy. I was pretty young at the time. Pokemon (Blue) is pretty much what got me into gaming.

If I had to choose though it would probably be a toss up between the N64/PS1/Saturn and the Gamecube/PS2/Xbox/Dreamcast generations. Both generations had no lack of great (and unique games). Developers were not as hesitant to try new things and it showed. The former may be due to nostalgia as my first console was an N64, however I feel some of the most defining representatives or certain series showed up during that generation.

For example, 3D Bomberman games such as BM64 and BMH. FF games such as 7 and 8. Also, Super Mario 64 (no Mario game after this has managed to match it in regards to freedom of objectives/order) appeared during this time. A number of mascots also made their debut during this age like Spyro and Crash Bandicoot (which have since fallen into obscurity).

I think I'd have to go with the fifth generation—Saturn, PlayStation, N64. As genres were defined during this period, games in them had nothing to live up to nor laurels upon which to rest. I feel that some such games are thus fuller experiences than their successors because they were not streamlined (e.g. Super Mario Galaxy 2 shrinking the hub area and making levels accessible only by menu) and they were not regressive—they set the standard for modern games. For instance, I can't think of many platformers after Banjo-Tooie that match that game's scope; more recent ones typically just seem condensed.

Meanwhile, four-player games like Mario Kart 64 and Super Smash Bros. showed me just how much fun people could have playing video games. That wasn't as common as in previous generations, and nowadays rollicking local multiplayer tends to be overshadowed by online.

I gotta go with Gen 6.
So much was right, you know? That was when the internet wasn't as major as it is now, when local mulitplayer was still a thing and when games came out they were complete. This was also before DLC abuse. Good times.

4th Generation. I was born in the middle of the 4th and 5th so I didn't play much of it, but without a question Nintendo's shining moment was the Super Nintendo. I think the Golden Era of gaming was the 4th-6th generation though. So many things were close to perfect. I wish we still had those times now.

That really depends entirely on how you look at it. I think if you polled most of the more dedicated gamers, you'll see 4th and 6th gens take a massive lead. If you want a nostalgic opinion, you'll get anywhere from 2nd to 6th. If you ask me, I'm gonna tell you it's the 7th generation, and there's two important reasons as to why:

1) Hardware sales were at an industry high, with the Nintendo systems reaching a collective of 250 million+ sales and the competition still getting around 75 mil, each. Even the PSP did just fine.
2) This is also probably the most balanced generation to date, each console being good from something different, and each one being just unique enough for their purposes.

That said, sales aren't everything. I think many will agree that the Dreamcast was a magnificent console, regardless of sales. And ever-so-many will argue that the Wii, despite its sales, was a lame ball of gimmick. The options are endless, and the opinions will vary, but just know that if we're talking about the population as a whole, 7th generation brought in more gamers than ever before.

The 5th generation. Game companies finally were able to use the ideas of 3D gaming that they couldn't use before. Better and more innovative gameplay (Ocarina of Time), better cinematics (Final Fantasy VII and Metal Gear Solid), new ideas (Survival Horror and Collect-a-thons), a better sense of freedom (Super Mario 64, Body Harvest, and NiGHTS into Dreams...[I know it's actually very restricted, but it felt so free!]), etc. Not to mention the refinement of already established gameplay (Star Fox 64). Everything just came together.

That's tough, but I'll say 6th Gen, just because that's really when I started to research & buy my own games, instead of just playing whatever I got for Christmas & my birthday.

First came the PS2, which allowed me to experience great games like Kingdom Hearts, Final Fantasy X, Okami, Soulcalibur III, Kingdom Hearts II, Ace Combat 4, GTA: Vice City, & Ultimate Spider-Man.

I also had a GBA during the same time, which allowed me to experience Metroid Fusion, Final Fantasy IV Advance, Kirby: Nightmare in Dreamland, Sword of Mana, Pokémon Ruby, Kingdom Hearts: Chain of Memories, Fire Emblem: the Sacred Stones, & Zelda: Minish Cap.

Also finally got a GCN during the last year before we started upgrading to 7th gen machines (we got a 360 & Wii that Christmas), which allowed me to finish out the gen finally playing Super Smash Bros. Melee, Sonic Adventure 2: Battle, & Zelda: Twilight Princess (which was still new at the time).

That said, 4th Gen is a close second (Super Mario World, Zelda: ALttP, & Super Metroid are masterpieces that are still just as fun today, as they were back then. I didn't even play Super Metroid until last year, so this isn't all nostalgia speaking either. Donkey Kong Country, Super Mario RPG, Yoshi's Island, Street Fighter II, Kirby Super Star, Sonic 2, Super Mario Kart, & F-Zero were all good fun as well).