The Greatest Era in video gaming?

[icest0rm]

When was the truly greatest era of gaming? Or are we presently in the greatest era of gaming right now?

For me, the greatest or "golden age" of gaming was the Nintendo/SMS era. It was the era that really got me into video gaming personally. In my opinion, the original NES library beats out all other gaming libraries of the past and now. Only the SNES library comes close.

[Chunky]

I still say 80's If you count an arcade on every corner.

[icest0rm]

I still say 80's If you count an arcade on every corner.

Ahh, yes arcades. I miss them.

[game_trek]

A lot depends on when you were growing up. For me, mid eighties thru the early nineties were most memorable. I still remember vague early atari moments, but NES basically jumped a dead battery and its been running ever since. Much Props to the NES.

[nesman85]

the nes era is definitely my favorite, snes/genny era would be my second choice.

[Phosphor Dot Fossils]

For me, the 70s/80s epoch of Atari. A lot of times the graphical finesse wasn't there to make people say "Well, the game play sucked, but it's one of the best-looking games ever for that platform!" - it was all about the game play. If it looked cool, great, but if the game play wasn't addictive, it was a train wreck. (This, incidentally, is also why Pac-Man doesn't really belong in the 50 worst 2600 games ranking, but more on that in the relevant thread later.)

It was the era when anyone could walk up to an arcade game and pick up the basic mechanics from one or two viewings of the attract mode. You didn't need to be a concert pianist to handle their controls (though there were exceptions - i.e. Stargate).

It was the era when home games were a lot like that too. And you didn't need a strategy guide that cost half the game's price extra to get through the first level of the bloody thing.

I miss that.

[sniperCCJVQ]

I most say the late 70's until the very late 80's (around 1989, the year in my opinion where the arcade industry begin to fall).

In that time, there was no internet, so when a new game hit the shelve for a console or a new arcade arrive at the local amusement center, it was always a new adventure. Tips to beat the game was always came from a friend who heard from another friend how to do this and that.

[gamingguy]

The 80's as a whole were the most creative. Almost every game we play today is based upon one of those classic games from the early/mid 80's.

I can't vote for Nintendo though. For me, NES games were just upgrades on classic Atari concepts. Even the ever popular Super Mario 1/2/3 were just extensions of Atari classics Super Mario Bros and Pitfall 2. And, the most creative games of the late 80's were not on NES. They were on the Commodore 64 platform. Where else but C64 could one command a Naval Attack Force of Aegis Battlecruisers (StrikeFleet), relive the days of 1500s pirating on the high seas (Pirates), and pretend to be a trader along interstellar space lanes (Elite)?

Unfortunately, C64's not listed, so I'll cast my vote for Atari instead.

[Happy_Dude]

Oh man I loved Elite
I have find a copy of it now

[kainemaxwell]

My first choice is the NES/SMS era, followed by SNES/Genesis. For me, the NES era did it since Nintendo revived the industry and showed everyone that video gaming wasn't a dead fad. SNES is my 2nd choice cause Nintendo, and Sega took what they learned and had and ran with it, much to the joy of gamers.

[robot717]

Impossible to say.For me it's a tie between the Atari 2600 and the NES Eras

[Aswald]

If you count variety and the excitement of new gaming ideas (e.g. Zaxxon and Q*Bert), definitely the "Atari Era."

[Six Switch]

For me it is a tie for the SNES/Genesis or the PSX era.I was born in the late NES era so I wouldn't count anything before that.

[IGotTheDot]

YOU CAN"T BEAT OLD ARCADE GAMES! Arcades now are crap. I don't want to bounce up and down while I play some stupid game. I want to pump quarter after quarter into a machine just to see the next level. The 80's where the best!!!

My2Cents and I am right!!!

[slapdash]

I suspect that most people are going to be biased by the period that they first got into gaming, and I'm no exception...

I voted for the Atari era, but not just for nostalgic reasons. I think that it earns the title "greatest era" because it was all so new. Any post NES eras can't say this, and it's hard to make this case even for the NES era, because gaming in general was so widespread. But the 70s were all about the birth of videogames, and that is something you just can't recapture, no matter how cool or new the system. Even VR & holography gaming are still going to be similar enough to videogaming that they probably won't feel as fresh as they should. Gaming is an industry now, not just experimenters building a business.

[Sylentwulf]

SNES, The best of 2-D role playing and other fine games.

[portnoyd]

The SNES/Genesis era. The last great cartridge era. You'd think I'd say NES era, but the SNES/Genesis brought out too many games I worship. My top 10 list is half 16 bit games. (Toe Jam N Earl, Landstalker, FF2, Secret Of Mana, Super Metroid)(The other half is Pilotwings 64, Zelda 1, BBBB, Marvel vs Capcom 2, and Juno First). The NES will always be my favorite system, but things got even better once the Sega/NOA competition heat up.

dave

[congobongo]

I'd put another point in there between the first and second, call it "mid eighties" (C=64, Atari 8-bit, 5200) and select that one.

[Arqueologia_Digital]

I think SMS/NES era, but here in Argentina SNES/Genesis era is more important than the first one.

[Britboy]

PS2 easily qualifies as the best. At least until ah gets me a holodeck.