When did game consoles reach their peak for you?

[Shannon]

Not exactly a large list there. Nowadays the genres seemed to be limite to sports, fighting, 1st person shooter, an RPG title here and there, racing, and occasionally a plane based game but not that often. Alot less variety than we saw back in the heyday... Including text adventures, graphic adventures, 2d platformers, horizontal/vertical shooters, sim "toy" games, flight simulations, sub simulations, a good variety of strategy based games and so on.

[RevEng]

Each title I listed was so original to merit it's own genre or subgenre, so its more or less equivalent to your short genre list.

 

If its variety you're looking for, rather than originality, I can list a hundred modern games that aren't in the sports, fighting, RPG, FPS.and racing categories. (though that genre list seems to approach your retro one in length)

Edited January 7, 2010 by RevEng

[youki]

First Emotional peak for me , was : Colecovision and Turbo + Module. It was dream that come true for me.

 

The second one , was the : Dreamcast with Crazy Taxi , and then Soul Calibur and Skies of Arcadia.

 

Console between Colecovision and Dreamcast never interrested me , i just start now to discover them in term of gaming. and i have to say i like more and more Saturn and MegaDrive.

 

One console i have another Emotional peak but a bad one in that case, is the PlayStation. i really hate that machine. Not that the machine is bad, but more for what it represents, this machine have no saoul for me, it is just an industrial product to sell to mass. (sorry i have difficulty to explain my feeling about that in english).

[FalcoPhoenix808]

I would say it was the SNES era for me. While I enjoy all gaming generations, to me the SNES era was the best. PC was probably around the same time as the SNES (I was always more of a PC gamer) LucasArts, and Sierra adventure games, Wing Commander, and all the shareware games I'd download from BBSs from Apogee, and Epic games. Great times.

[Shannon]

So your trying to tell me that the number of "original" games coming out now, as well as the number of "genre" types and the number of games in those "genre" types are equivalent to what they were in the past. And that those numbers have not somehow got skewered where certain "genres" are favored over others, or that sequels are more likely to make it through than original titles/franchises?

Edited January 7, 2010 by Shannon

[MagitekAngel]

I'm a lot younger than most of you, so I haven't really experienced a peak yet - games are still getting better for me. I would have to say though that the best gaming experiences to be had that came out in my gaming lifetime were those of last generation - the Dreamcast and PS2 in particular. They were all about shiny graphics and bigger, better processing power in their day, to be sure, but there was still creativity abound. I feel less of that in the HD generation.

 

On the other hand, it's a peak from before I was really a gamer of any sort, but for me, the NES era saw the biggest explosion in innovative game design and simple, unadulterated addiction.

[GameGirl420]

I think the first Xbox, when I went over my ex boyfriend's house he had every Genesis and NES game ever made on his Xbox. I thought that was the epitome of cool lol.

[TI99Kitty]

Until recently, I would have said video game consoles started to peak with the ColecoVision and the TI (I know it's a computer, but it made a great game console, and without all the expensive peripherals, that's about all it was good for), and finally peaked with the NES. A friend of mine had a Sega Master System, which he traded in for a Genesis, then a PlayStation. Meanwhile, for most of that time I still had my NES, which was the last new console I had bought until Sony came out with the PSOne for around $50.

 

Still, I have to say that I agree with youki, in this post:

 

One console i have another Emotional peak but a bad one in that case, is the PlayStation. i really hate that machine. Not that the machine is bad, but more for what it represents, this machine have no saoul for me, it is just an industrial product to sell to mass. (sorry i have difficulty to explain my feeling about that in english).

 

I have a tendency to personify inanimate objects (I guess that's why the OS-tans and console-tans appeal so much to me, but I digress). I felt some bond or emotional attachment to my TI, my C64, and my NES. I had none of that with my PSOne (which I gave to my son) or my PS2. If any of my other consoles acts up, it worries or upsets me. If the PS/PS2 acts up, eh, whatever. Sigh and turn it off. Fire up the Dreamcast, because she won't do that to me. And the current gen consoles? If the PS was the zombies from "Resident Evil," then the current gen are the zombies from "Resident Evil: Apocolypse" -- just as dead and soulless, but damn, they're fast!

 

I guess that's why the newest consoles I have are the DC and the PS2, and that's really when I feel things peaked for consoles. Ever since the PS2, it's been all about form, and function be damned. Obviously, the XBox must be an exception, judging by how many people seemed to think it was ugly; I rather thought it looked cool, but y'know, it's a Micro$haft product, so I never felt the need to spend my money on it.

[+wood_jl]

Interesting reading!

 

Forgot to add...about the PS1/Saturn generation: In addition to "opening up" the 3-D racing and 3-D fighting genres, the 1st-person shooter was popularized (much to the chagrin of some, but PS Doom is awesome) and - for retrogamers - finally popularized the "arcade classics" complilations, and without compromise. Prior to stuff like Namco Museum, Williams/Midway collection, Atari Anniversary Edition Redux, Konami Arcade Classics, (etc.) there was no easy way to play the **REAL** arcade version of these on a console. As well, the "Activision Classics" was a cool way to play 30 compilations each from 2600 and Intellivision. The much-unused "link" feature was fantastic fun for the few who could get all that stuff necessary to try it. The Ace Combat games kind of opened that genre to consoles.

 

The retro-compilation stuff would have to be appreciated from anyone who enjoyed those 80s arcade games, even if you don't like the newer games and genres.

 

I felt fortunate it continued with the PS2 with stuff like Taito Legends (1 & 2), the Namco museum stuff (again!), Midway Collections (1,2 &3). "Tecmo Classic Arcade" is a nice little Xbox (original) collection. The Activision Anthology, Intellivision Lives, and Sega Classics Collection are cool.At least with PS2/Xbox generation, you could "own the games forever" which is kind of a passe concept with the current download stuff which effectively rents it for the life of your hard drive. But at least the Xbox Live downloads feature neat classics you'd never see at retail....

[madhatter667]

This is a pretty hard one to quantify for me. There are a few very distinct points in my gaming habits that reflect various points of hobby evolution for me.

Atari 2600, this is what I cut my teeth on, almost literally. I had older siblings, and I started playing on this thing in like 1984. Though I love this console, and have at least a respectable collection for it, some things have improved over time.

 

NES. I got mine in like 1989 or so. We lived overseas at the time, and we got things a little slower than folks back here in the states. BUT getting the NES back then was a BIG DEAL. This is still a very treasured console in my collection. With over 100 games, I can keep myself entertained. I can always play Super Mario Brothers (any NES title) with a smile. Dragon Warrior still rocks. Castlevania's jump mechanics still suck, but I like it anyway.

 

SNES/16 bit era. Things improved very quick at this time. The SNES was a Xmas present in 1992 (maybe it was '91?). Most of the games released were just great. When I say "An RPG has a classic feel to it," I mean it reminds me of many elements that I recall from this time period. The SNES collection does not rival my NES collection in number, but it does in game quality.

 

To complicate matters, I also collect imports for both NES and SNES (famicom and SFC) just to keep expanding on it all.

 

Playstation was a revival period for me. It took me a while to get one, and this was the first game system that I managed to purchase with my own hard-earned-funds. Many great titles, and a very strong emotional connection here. I used to hang out with one of my best friends after work and play Resident Evil, Silent Hill, Soul Reaver etc. for hours (we worked for the same company for a while).

 

PS2 does have some strong offerings, and was a big purchase for me. Many of the series that I love on PSX were continued on the PS2. I can find almost no fault with this system. It's a pretty nice piece of work for what it is. I still have the old grey PSX console for playing some Proto/unreleased games (Thrill Kill is not 100% compatible with PS2). In fact, I have a couple PSX consoles, including a blue debugging unit. I see the PSX as kind of overlooked by a lot of people. When it has to compete with the classic clout of Atari, Nintendo, Coleco, Vectrex etc. and with the advent of the newer generation consoles... it's sort of the middle child of gaming.

 

Just my feelings in a nutshell.

There will always be an Atari, NES, SNES, and PSX/PS2 in my collection.

(like many on here I own more than this, these are just the systems that generate a strong emotional connection)

[BydoEmpire]

But it seems that alot of companies started settling into lesser genres around that time. So creativity seemed to be going out the door and being replaced with more realism but less game.

Respectfully disagreeing. The game industry has always had a glut of unoriginal companies.

 

How many pong knockoffs were there? How many 2600 games involve a ship at the bottom of the screen shooting at stuff? How many retro console games were knockoffs or ports of arcade games?

 

The last 5 years or so has brought us some original titles too. Off the top of my head: World of Goo, Lit, Bit.Trip, Wii Sports, Little Big Planet, and Peggle.

I agree new game concepts have made a little bit of a comeback with the downloadable games and the occasional Katamari Damacy or Little Big Planet, but back in the 80s - especially early 80s on consoles and mid-80s for computers - people were inventing new game mechanics all the time. Every crazy setting was explored, and there were a lot of abstract games. There were new genres being invented all the time. People were trying to create new games, and publishers were trying to bring them to market. Sure there were knockoffs, but those rode on the back of a wave of new, creative stuff. I agree there has been a bit of a return to that, but by enlarge things have stagnated a lot since the ps1 days. I think you can see signs of that starting to happen on the NES.

[Devbinks]

There were definitely games during the N64 period that I absolutely loved (mainly Zelda OoT, Zelda Majora's Mask, GoldenEye, Perfect Dark) but I'd have to say that it was during the SNES/Genesis period that I feel games had really reached their peak.

 

It was the last generation of the more simplistic games. Game companies were still very creative and imaginative with their games due to system limitations. The games were also very colorful. Now, games are far more complicated and it's all about how real the game looks and online play. Though, I will say, I still enjoy quite a few current-gen games.

[Flojomojo]

I think the generation with Saturn, Playstation, and Nintendo 64 was the peak of console gaming for me.

• There was a steady stream of product.
• Not too much, either -- you could definitely keep track of new releases on most platforms. 
• Most of what you could buy was technically proficient. While there were duds, they weren't as frequent or expensive as on NES or SNES. 
• There was an active game press scene, Next Generation (and EDGE) in particular.
• The internet discussion was pretty good. Usenet and IGN were my go-to's, I'm somewhat embarassed to say. 
• Games were complex and interesting, but not hundreds of billions of dollars in development. No add-ons or internet play to speak of, everything had to stand alone for what it was, as a finished product. 
• Optical media meant you could get lots of demos and try different things
• PCs were still really expensive, and didn't offer all the choices that consoles do now. 
• Ebay for selling and buying was fun. 
• I was 25-30 years old in this period, a good time to have some extra money and free time to play.

[PlaysWithWolves]

That's the era for me.   My XBone feels like it could be easily replaced by a PC. 

[DragonGrafx-16]

My favorite years for games was 1985-2006.

 

First console was a NES. And in the early 2000s I was really into the original Xbox. My newest consoles are the 360, PS3, Wii and latest being the 3DS. I lost most if my interest in the current generation (not counting the Switch as I do want one).

 

My current favorite console is my PC Engine.

Edited August 29, 2019 by DragonGrafx-16

[Flojomojo]

So, "only" twenty years? ?

[DragonGrafx-16]

1 hour ago, Flojomojo said:

So, "only" twenty years? ?

More like it peaked around 2001.. I really started to get into PC games in 2009 and built a PC to play games and I hadn't bought a brand new console since. It should be "when did consoles take a nose dive for you." Lol

[derFunkenstein]

Whoa, holy thread necro. I scrolled up a little bit and saw " last 5 years or so" in a post that referenced World of Goo and Wii Sports. I was all like...

 

 

BTW for me it's the 16-bit era. There's a lot of derivative stuff, to be sure (as a post from 2010 said), but I find those RPGs to be just enough grindy to satisfy my itch without requiring endless leveling, and I love well-crafted 2D action. PS1/Saturn/N64 after it was very good, but my favorite genre (JRPG) got out of hand with the grind. Even the most-loved games of that era, like Final Fantasy VII, were very heavy grindfests with little plot movement.

 

I'm playing Final Fantasy IX right now and it feels like I can play for an hour or 90 minutes and not advance the plot even a little.

Edited August 30, 2019 by derFunkenstein

[Flojomojo]

1 hour ago, DragonGrafx-16 said:

It should be "when did consoles take a nose dive for you." Lol

So true. Mark mine at "on the occasion of the birth of my child," which was when Xbox 360 had red ring of death, just when I wanted to play Orange Box. When the UPS driver came around with my fixed console, saw the baby, and said, "you don't have time for this anymore," he was completely correct. 

[DragonGrafx-16]

45 minutes ago, Flojomojo said:

So true. Mark mine at "on the occasion of the birth of my child," which was when Xbox 360 had red ring of death, just when I wanted to play Orange Box. When the UPS driver came around with my fixed console, saw the baby, and said, "you don't have time for this anymore," he was completely correct. 

Luckily my 360 I got for Christmas back in 2007 still works and never RROD'd.

[Flojomojo]

Yep, they fixed it right after the big recall. My repaired console never had any more symptoms either -- though it didn't see nearly as much action, either. I liked their steady stream of retro remakes. Xbox Live Arcade was my favorite platform for a while. 

[roots.genoa]

8 hours ago, Flojomojo said:

saw the baby, and said, "you don't have time for this anymore,"

That's not a nice way of talking about a baby!

Edited August 30, 2019 by roots.genoa

[Flojomojo]

Gasp!

[jdollatari]

dreamcast or xbox 360 I haven't had the time money or interest to spend with new stuff

[spacecadet]

I can pinpoint peak game console for me in 1999/2000. I was playing a ton of PS1 games, had just bought myself an N64 and was looking forward to the Dreamcast's release... then when it was launched, it quickly became my favorite game console of all time (and still is). I was also writing about video games for a living by 2000, so started going to things like E3, a lot of smaller industry events and then got sent on my first two trips to Japan to cover both the Tokyo Game Show and Nintendo Spaceworld.

 

At the time, most of my favorite games were Japanese so this was like finally visiting the motherland, and seeing all the Japanese games that we either hadn't gotten yet or never would was like a whole other world of console gaming had opened up for me. (I of course *knew* this other world existed, and regularly looked at Weekly Famitsu and other gaming publications from Japan, but to actually see it in person was a whole different thing.) By around mid-2000, I was pretty much living, sleeping, eating and breathing game consoles - there weren't enough hours in the day for me to play everything I wanted, and it was both my job *and* my only hobby. I'd spend all day playing games and writing about them for work, then come home and play more games until I went to bed. And there were just *so* many great games coming out, for every current system. It was like 1983 except there was a glut of *good* games. Tooooo many good games. I probably wore myself out on games.

 

A few things happened after that to start pulling me away. First, the Dreamcast was discontinued. I owned a PS2 by then as well and I have a lot of games for it, but it just didn't have a soul to me. There was no "house style" like any Sega or Nintendo console had. And while I've always respected Nintendo for still sticking with their house style, it's just not really my thing - Sega's style was my thing, and that was gone.

 

Second, the dot-com crash happened, I lost my job (my company closed) and got another one working at Rockstar Games. You'd think that would pull me closer to game consoles but it had the opposite effect. Whereas before, I enjoyed my work so much that I wanted to continue it even after hours, while at Rockstar all I wanted to do was go home and forget about video games until the next day.

 

And third, this is going to sound weird but 9/11 changed a lot of things for me for a while... I lived in NYC at the time and watched that in person, then had smoke actually blowing directly over my house for months afterwards. Playing video games while all that was going on just seemed a little strange, so I just didn't. I do remember playing Silent Hill 2 one night in maybe October/November and we had a minor earthquake, and my wife (then-girlfriend) and I actually ran out of the house where we could see the skyline better to make sure all the other buildings were still there (we thought it was another attack). But I think SH2 was maybe all I played that wasn't work-related for like 6 months or so.

 

After the Dreamcast I feel like game consoles definitively changed. Nintendo still has their house style but everyone else is just making basically generic "platforms" that are pretty much just small PC's with walled gardens. I've bought fewer games in the current generation than any other, probably ever. I'm looking at my PS4, Switch and Xbox One library right now and it looks like I have about 25 games total split between them. And that's over the 5 or 6 years that the earliest of these systems has been on the market.