What Will This Gen Be Remembered For?

[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.

[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. . 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?

[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.