What Will This Gen Be Remembered For?

[Someone]

Topic.
Will it be when Microsoft started consols.
Or when the first decent wireless controler was made.
Or will it be remembered as Sony's finest hour.
Or something compleatly different.
What do you think.

[Retsudo]

Extreme Fanboyism

[mgriff]

The mourning of Sega

[Ed Oscuro]

Yeah. Microsoft and Sega's exiting stage left.

[GaijinPunch]

When gaming went extremely commercial.

[s1lence]

For sure microsoft will be one of the big things. The death of the sega console business would be another. How about the extreme violence that has truely been put into games this gen (I dont have a problem with that btw), like GTA. Consoles going online for multiplayer gaming would be something else I would remember as well.

[Milk]

Gaming really, seriously broke out into the mainstream this era. Nintendo T-shirts are trendy, and local papers covered the PSP launch and E3. Everyone is always reminding themselves that it's a billion dollar industry. It's gone from being a hobby for geeks and children to grudging acceptance by the "norms".

[Graham Mitchell]

I second the sudden jump in extreme, viscious violence in games. GTA and Halo will be THE games that are remembered from this generation.

As for gaming going mainstream, I actually think that happened with PS1. That's when the college kids really picked up on it, and they've grown into the "adults" that make up most of the market.

[Griking]

If you mean the PS2, Xbox and Gamecube generation then it's for being too short.

[retroman]

i was and still am heart broken.....love you always sega...

[CullJeff]

The usage of video games for entertainment purposes.

[Dr. Morbis]

In this 'gen', videogames started to get regular coverage in the newspapers in my area which, I think, is quite significant. There is a columnist who writes articles about the "latest and greatest" in the videogaming world in my city's paper. From where I come from, this is bizarre. If I had woken up one morning in my youth and found the front page of the entertainment section was featuring Castlevania III for NES or something, I would have spit out my cereal all over the floor.

For better or for worse, gaming is now mainstream. (Oldtimer alert: I choose 'for worse').

[Sam]

The era of physics and sandbox game design.

[briskbc]

Bringing console gamers online. Sure other systems have tried it to some degree but all three of the current systems were designed with this in mind. This is the first step in the changing players mindset about downloadable games (and other content) and turning a video game console into more of a entertainment console.

I should end this by saying I don't have a GCN and I'm not really familiar with how well Nintendo's forray into the online gaming biz went.

[§ Gideon §]

I share the same opinion as Milk and Gaijin. Imagine gaming exposure last gen, say, 1997. Then, imagine it now. I don't have to list all the ways it's expanded.

[NeoZeedeater]

In this 'gen', videogames started to get regular coverage in the newspapers in my area which, I think, is quite significant. There is a columnist who writes articles about the "latest and greatest" in the videogaming world in my city's paper. From where I come from, this is bizarre. If I had woken up one morning in my youth and found the front page of the entertainment section was featuring Castlevania III for NES or something, I would have spit out my cereal all over the floor.

For better or for worse, gaming is now mainstream. (Oldtimer alert: I choose 'for worse').

I would say gaming was very mainstream in the NES' time. The big difference is that back then it was a market geared toward children.

[DeputyMoniker]

This is slightly related but...
PS2=SNES
XBOX=Genny
GCN or DC=TG-16

That isn't really saying a lot but on the other hand I think it kinda gives us a little view into the history of the future.

[THATinkjar]

It will be remembered as the stepping stone to the next generation.

[Fuyukaze]

A part of me wants to be jaded and say that it will be remembered for the parting of Sega from the console market. Yet another part of me wants to be ugly and say it will be known for bringing games into the casual gamer, and away from the dedicated gamer. I think each system will be thought of for different things. The X-box will be remembered for being the system of online prefrence, Halo, and more Halo. The PS2 will be remembered for the lil game no one expected, yet everyone loved, Katamari Damacy. The PS2 will sadly always be thought of as Nintendo's lil kid machine dispite having a number of titles that are mature and well beyond anything fit for children to play. The GBA, as the re-release system.

[Ed Oscuro]

The era of physics and sandbox game design.
Ooh, good choice.

[THATinkjar]

I'm not sure I agree with that sandbox comment. I think (in the main) it's the complete opposite, personally.

If anything, it was the era of multiplayer. 4 controller ports effectively became standard. Xbox Live, despite not appealing to me, ushered in a new era of online gaming. It's easy and it works well. The PS2 came online eventually, to a mixed reception. And Nintendo were criticised for not taking the GameCube online. Downloadable content became the norm. And so on.

This era brought in a new philosophy: the multiplayer component is as important as the single player game. Fact.

[Ed Oscuro]

If anything, it was the era of multiplayer. 4 controller ports effectively became standard.
Bah. The N64 had it, leading the way for this generation's controllers. "Multiplayer" has been around for a long time in any case. Online...yes. You can (and should) break multiplayer down like this.

Sandbox play, sure, that's something that was pretty rare before this generation (and even when you had it, it was usually pretty limited), and it certainly feels like a new addition.

[DeputyMoniker]

WTF is sandbox play?

[Kroogah]

WTF is sandbox play?

Open-ended and exploratory like GTA3.

[THATinkjar]

I liken sandbox gameplay to strategy games. For example, skirmish/instant action modes. Any mode without a storyline, offering quick and infinitely replayable gameplay, is "sandbox" IMO.

I have never considered GTA to truly have sandbox-style gameplay. It is far too repetitious and to heavily linked to the overall gameplay.

[Graham Mitchell]

In this 'gen', videogames started to get regular coverage in the newspapers in my area which, I think, is quite significant. There is a columnist who writes articles about the "latest and greatest" in the videogaming world in my city's paper. From where I come from, this is bizarre. If I had woken up one morning in my youth and found the front page of the entertainment section was featuring Castlevania III for NES or something, I would have spit out my cereal all over the floor.

For better or for worse, gaming is now mainstream. (Oldtimer alert: I choose 'for worse').

Oddly enough, I'm from Bellevue, Washington. Since Nintendo was a major employer out there, EVERYTHING they did would always show up in the paper. Because everybody was so interested in Nintendo, their competition was well covered as well. When I moved out to Chicago and saw multiple articles devoted to the release of Harvest Moon: It's a Wonderful Life and Maximo 2 in the Chicago Tribune, I didn't find anything odd about it. But I guess not long ago, that didn't really happen in the Chicago papers.

[Avatard]

I think it will be known for proving how important handhelds are to the market. Also the introduction of non-PC online play. XBox has truely revolutionized the industry being the first IP enabled console (despite it only really having 2 good games on it). Now I don't think you'll ever see a console that will not have IP capability. Long live RJ-45 and 802.11b/g !!!! Microsoft had the cash and was willing to take that leap, kudos to them. Them proving olnine and network play was feasible will make the entire industry better. (I'm assuming Dreamcast's online ability was because of an adapter and wasn't built in, I'm talking about built in capabililty. Either way Microsoft are the ones that made it mainstream).

Introduction of games to the mainstream happened with Goldeneye 007, Mario Kart, SSB, and FF7. I can't tell you how many Goldeneye tourneys we had at college. We also had a few Smash Bros. ones from time to time. Now that torch has passed to Halo & Halo2.

On a side note, Linksys really needs to jump on this trend. With all the Wi-Fi systems comming out they should offer coupons for a discount on their products bundled with systems or something. With handhelds and consoles being wireless I know I'm going out to replace my old router. Myabe even tailor their firmware to work easier with consoles.

[WanganRunner]

I think it'll likely be remembered as the golden age of 3D gaming, as we know it.

The NES era was sort of gaming's rebirth, with the 16-bit days being sort of the Golden Era of 2D gaming.

the 32/64-bit era was another revolution, with stuff like Mario 64 coming out, new genres getting invented again (3D platformer), others really getting fleshed out for the first time (i.e. FPS), etc...

And so I think that the Xbox/PS2/GCN era will likely be remembered as the golden age of 3D gaming. I imagine that this will begin to merge a bit with the incoming generation, as aside from any surprises Nintendo has in store, we seem to be without any major technological leaps, like there was from 2D to 3D gaming.

A *lot* of new franchises were birthed in the current generation too, many of which will likely be around for awhile (i.e. Halo) with others probably fading out a bit (i.e. GTA).

[THATinkjar]

A *lot* of new franchises were birthed in the current generation too, many of which will likely be around for awhile (i.e. Halo) with others probably fading out a bit (i.e. GTA).

You think Halo is going to outlast GTA? I don't.

Halo is rather generic. Rather... unoriginal. Halo is the current marmite of gaming. I know a lot of people who love it. And I know an equal number of people who don't give a damn about it. On the other hand, I don't know a single person who doesn't like something about GTA.

I'm not GTA's biggest fan. But I admire the free-roaming aspect, and I enjoy the style, craft, vision and execution of the core concepts. As technology pushes forward, GTA *should* become more popular. Obviously, graphical improvements will always help sell a game such as GTA. But, as technology allows, GTA's world will become much bigger and bolder. It's hard to not see it becoming some form of MMO game (or something) in the not too distant future. Some sort of virtual reality game. Hmm, I'm rambling.

Bottom line, GTA > Halo.

[Avatard]

Bottom line, opinions are not bottom lines.

I hate GTA, its running and shooting like any other shooter except I can't play it with friends...here is one that doesn't like it FYI.

So where is a comment on what you think this generation will be remembered for?

Thanks for playing. :roll:

[Promophile]

This is the first step in the changing players mindset about downloadable games (and other content) and turning a video game console into more of a entertainment console.



I agree which makes me sick. :puke: . To me computers should = online games and consoles should be for one player or multiplayer games where you can TOUCH THE DAMN PEOPLE YOU'RE PLAYING WITH!

P.S. Downloadable games is the worst idea ever. If a game is "download only" I wouldn't buy it no matter what. If the market shifts that way guess im done with modern gaming.

[googlefest1]

this era will be remembered - for the phantom console

the best there ever was!! - that never was!!

[dbiersdorf]

That handheld systems are still the hottest item around.

Pokemon Channel too.

[Ed Oscuro]

Halo is rather generic.
Rather unlike dad's Marathon! :D

[CartCollector]

PS2=SNES
XBOX=Genny
GCN or DC=TG-16
My opinion:
PS2=Genny
XBOX=SNES

PS2 and Genny were out first, and both XBOX and SNES were known as the more powerful systems in terms of graphics.

I agree with WanganRunner. This will be the golden age of 3D. I see a problem with this, though. What will the next gen's gimmick be? I'm going to guess online multiplayer. It was experimented with in this generation, and both 360 and Rev are going to support it out-of-the-box. This will probably give rise to a number of online games.

[swlovinist]

The "Next Gen" Generation will be remembered as the generation that combined movies with games. This generation will be also known for mainstreaming online console play effectively. I feel it will be also known as the generation that made video games "realistic". Games have come a long way, the question is, have they lost their way back? :D

[Cryomancer]

Personally I say the Dreamcast is the "16 bit" of 3-d. The games are fun, and not too bad to look at either. Saturn/Playstation are the "8-bit", they're usually ugly but some are still fun. This generation...is the generation of playing it safe, and overal mostly mediocre games that will mostly be phased out by things that do it better...although I'm hoping that the small trend of more Japanese games coming over will continue.

[WanganRunner]

I think that GTA's gameplay will likely outlast it's premise.

The whole structure of GTA will have to change for anyone to continue to care. I got bored after the first one, Vice City put me to sleep. If they can set it up so that it's something else that's just as free-roaming but without the "Do x mission for x crime boss", it has real lasting appeal, but something like that wouldn't be called GTA.

Someone else will pick the concept up and do that, but I think that GTA itself has maybe 1 or 2 more games left.

Halo on the other hand, IMO, really *was* "combat evolved", it was exactly what the console FPS scene needed. It was an FPS that was really designed to be a GOOD single player console game, and I don't really see the storyline needing to have any sort of real conclusion. It's also a nice sort of game to show off new tech on.

I could be wrong about Halo, but I definitely think I'm right about GTA.

[Nature Boy]

My first thought was "Grand Theft Auto." The number of copies sold, the gameplay, the controversies. Nothing else compares to it.

But I think it'll be the fact that this generation was the one that saw the sales $$$s rival that of the movie industry. It's good or bad, depending on your perspective of course, but it is big methinks.

[Captain Wrong]

For better or for worse, gaming is now mainstream. (Oldtimer alert: I choose 'for worse').

I would say gaming was very mainstream in the NES' time. The big difference is that back then it was a market geared toward children.

Man, I'll go you one more than that. If you're really an old-timer, surely you remember Pac-Mania? Pac Man lunchboxes, cartoons, birthday party sets, board games, etc., etc. Remember the Time magazine cover with Defender on it? Warner Communications bought Atari and it doesn't get more mainstream than that.

Now, I will agree that the industry is bigger now, but so is everything else when it comes to entertainment. However I think gaming was mainstream in the early 80s and the later 80s. It may have taken a nap in the 16/32 bit eras, but I really don't think the last 5 years is something we haven't seen before.

I think the sandbox play is going to be the big thing. It's getting hard to name a genre not incorporating some kind of "open ended" gameplay these days and it's something I don't think could have really been done as well previously.

[boozi2]

Probably Halo and GTA

[Aussie2B]

Well, I'm going to personally remember it for reasons that may not be great concerns to others, but are quite depressing to me...

The death of 2D gaming and the death of Japanese gaming in the US.

The constant stream of mergers: Square and Enix, Sega and Sammy, Namco and Bandai, etc.

Nintendo giving away nearly all their big franchises and mascots to be developed and used by other companies: F-Zero by Sega, Star Fox by Namco, Zelda by Capcom, Smash Bros. by Hal, Mario Party by Hudson, etc. What the hell did Nintendo personally make besides Wind Waker and Mario Sunshine and a few odd titles here and there? Thank goodness they still have their Intelligent Systems team working on Fire Emblem and Paper Mario.

[evildead2099]

Just where did this "Sandbox" term come from? I've never seen/heard it mentioned prior to visiting this particular thread :eek 2:

Anyway, yes, this generation will be remembered for popularizing the concept of making games substantially open-ended ala Grand Theft Auto 3 (Even though older games, like Fallout 2, feature comparable non-linear gameplay).

Unfortunately, this generation also marked Sega's withdrawal from the hardware division.

[THATinkjar]

Just where did this "Sandbox" term come from? I've never seen/heard it mentioned prior to visiting this particular thread :eek 2:

Think single-player without any real objectives. Strategy games have "Skirmish" modes. Unreal Tournament's sandbox mode is effectively "Instant Action". You could possibly call Animal Crossing one big sandbox, I suppose.

[evildead2099]

Just where did this "Sandbox" term come from? I've never seen/heard it mentioned prior to visiting this particular thread :eek 2:

Think single-player without any real objectives. Strategy games have "Skirmish" modes. Unreal Tournament's sandbox mode is effectively "Instant Action". You could possibly call Animal Crossing one big sandbox, I suppose.

Yeah, I get the concept of a "sandbox"; I just wanted to know where/when that term originates from.

[Slave to the Parasites]

It will be remembered as stage 2 of a 3 part series called The Graphics Era. "Remember when we used to think easter egg hunts were fun?" "Yeah, what idiots we were!" "What the hell were we thinking?" And we all will have a nice laugh at how awful the games were back then.

[Tan]

i think it'll be remembered, but perhaps not acknowledged as the years that North American/European games and franchises finally distanced themselves from Japanese ones and proved they could be every bit the equal. Especially rpg's and action/adventure games

not to mention the lack of platformers, well i shouldn't say lack of, how about defining and/or memorable ones

[Chrome]

Maybe the death of 2-D games? Okay, well maybe they aren't dead, but what about the "terminal illness" of 2-D games? I can't really see any new 2-D games emerging on any of the new systems (besides the handheld market).

Later,
Chrome...

[Fighter17]

This generation will be remember when video games turn gangta!

Also this generation cause many fans of it to be very biased towards 2D gaming and anything that's old.

Also this generation will be remember as the generation that EA turn into the devil!

Also this generation cause many people to to believe that Graphics are better than gameplay (Black anyone?).

Also this generation will be remember when I stop playing PS2 games for a long time and stwiched to classic gaming.

I rest my case.

[christhegamer]

when nintendo lost popularity, sony became a media whore and every clueless "ghetto" kid could now drop F-bombs online using their $300 x-box :eek 2:

[keiblerfan69]

I say it will be remembered for the death of Sega and the entrance of MS.

[diskoboy]

-The death of Sega.
-Consoles going online
-Nintendo's fall from grace.
-The birth of the Halo franchise.
-And the hard drive becoming a must-have for consoles.
-Grand Theft Auto. And some really hot coffee.
-Nintendo getting some real competition in the handheld market.
-EA getting the critical smackdown from a little game called NFL2kx. And then, monopolizing all of the NFL in retaliation.
-The retrogaming craze :D
and last but not least Jack FUCKING Thompson.

Games that will be remembered -

All of the GTA's from 3, up.
Halo 1 and 2
Resident Evil 4
God of War
Shadow of the Colossus
Gran Turismo 3
Ninja Gaiden
Katamari
Madden 2k1
SOCOM - Navy Seals
NFL 2k1 (Finally, a Football game that could take down the almighty Madden. And yes, I'm including the Dreamcast)
Chu Chu Rocket (Because it was the first commercialy successful online game)
Shenmue (An RPG with a totally different feel)
Crazy Taxi (how many imitations did this game spawn)
Jet Set Radio (We were all introduced to a technique called cel-shading)

I'm sure there are a ton more, but my hands are tired.

[cyberfluxor]

Because I've only been working for 3 years now this is the generation I finally got to buy games for myself and start collecting. Although my friends grew up playing the latest game consules, I was the one playing with computers and emulating. Although I never actually HAD big gamming back when I was kid there were things I followed up and watched over time through magazines, commercials, and what my friends rented. This is where things have changed to me though:

1) Sega steps out of the consules production. It's sad but at least they lasted this long and gave us some great times and games!

2) Microsoft enters. Very good to me personally to see because I can see later down the road them changing some ways consules work and gamming that will breakthrough somehow.

3) I haven't see as many people renting video games. It appears to me as though more people just buy the games rather than rent, but I could be wrong.

4) Violence increases, just as in any generation of games. Although this one finally was graphical enough to make some of it too real for parents and politicians to handle. GTA obviously being the biggest player in this change, although I still think Postal should get a louder aplouse.

5) Handhelds becomming more sophisticated than even previous generation consules. Wireless makes it more amazing for multi-player capabilities.


Well, there's a ton of things that happened but only time will tell what people really remember most and think was just OMG at the time.

[SirDrexl]

Hmm, this is an interesting thread. I remember it from last year but I never posted my comments for some reason. Anyway:

-"Retro" gaming. This generation is when retro or classic gaming became a fad, with a lot of major companies putting out compilations, not to mention all the plug and play devices and "know your roots" stuff being bandied about. Granted, compilations have been released for a long time, but not in the kinds of numbers we're seeing these days. The popularity of emulation probably has something to do with this. Also, we're seeing more gamers grow tired of the complexities of today's games and want something simpler.

-Consoles as multimedia devices. This idea has been tried in the past with the 3DO and CD-I (which didn't have the games and the mega popular video format to support them) and to a limited extent with the CD audio capabilites when CD-based systems were released, but this generation is when they really came into their own. From built-in DVD playback to advanced modding capable of turning the Xbox into a full-fledged networkable media center, this is when the "set-top box" started to become a reality.

-Celebrity voice acting. Due in part to increased budgets, this is the generation where many games started to feature well-known actors as voices in games. Again, not entirely a new thing but it happens a lot more now. Although this has been done some in the past, this generation has been notable as we've seen more well-known actors do voices for original game characters (Michael Ironside in Splinter Cell, the actors in the GTA games and Halo 2, etc.) or as themselves (Fiddy Cent, Tony Hawk), rather than just revoicing their parts for movie-based games (which previously wasn't too common either). Of course, we've seen more and more actors doing the voices of their characters in the tie-in games than before (LOTR, Spider-Man). Even Sean Connery voiced James Bond in a game. Some of this may also have to do with the popularity of games in general and the technology allowing for more and clearer voice, but the bottom line is that the previous generation didn't have nearly as many recognizable voices in games.

I don't think the "graphics better than gameplay" applies to this generation in particular. That has been going on for a long time. Every generation has had its share of games that had great graphics and lousy gameplay.

I'm torn on the violence issue. I don't know if the games today necessarily have more violence than in the past, or if it just seems they are more violent because the systems are capable of rendering that violence in a more realistic way. Depending on how you look at it, a game like Mortal Kombat, where the blood was over the top, could be considered more violent than a modern game where the blood is shown more realistically. Then again, that very realism may be what people consider more violent. Also, many games in the past had simple gameplay where you just shot anything that moved. Now, we have more games where players have to strategically plan their shots, work as team members, and/or accomplish objectives that may not involve killing. We have more games that deal with the consequences of violence. People who find it fun to run around shooting people in GTA (not my thing, but I know some like it) at least have to deal with the authorities, and in a game like Morrowind, you can't just kill a person without a good reason unless you are prepared to deal with the consequences. Again, maybe the realism of it is what makes it seem more violent.