Best year of gaming?

Neodogg

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I'm leaning towards '96 at least for the NG.

Metal Slug
Turf Masters
Drift Out
Ninja Masters
WW7
Samurai Spirits 4
KoF '96
TTS

Didn't Mario 64 come out too?

I think '98 was a good year too...
 

madmanjock

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Maybe for the Neo ‘96 was better, but across all platforms it’s got to be ‘98.

Neo Geo:
KOF ‘98

N64:
Ocarina of Time

Playstation:
Metal Gear Solid

Saturn:
Panzer Dragoon Saga

PC:
Half Life

Gameboy:
Pokemon Red / Blue (in English)


I mean you could argue any of these are the best game on their systems, and they are all some of the greatest games of all time.

I know Last Blade came out in ‘98 as well, but I prefer the second one.
 

F4U57

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The Future is Now!

2018 is the best year of gaming. Followed by 2019, and so on. The SSDS3 is amazing, I love it!
 

oliverclaude

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For me personally, I'd choose 1992... Viewpoint, Last Resort & Art of Fighting. I didn't play Alone in the Dark, but the survival horror genre started here and I'm a huge Resident Evil fan. The Virtua series started the same year with Virtua Racing.

Historically, probably 1987, which got R-Type, Darius, Contra & Street Fighter.
 

Ip Man

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i don't know my years, so i'm just going to say mid to late 90's. so many promises, so many hopes built up and a lot of dreams come to past.

street fighter alpha was a religious experience for me. and being able to bring it home and play it on a console in its almost arcade perfect form was something else.

the playstation experience with final fantasy 7, silent hill, resident evil, ridge race, rival schools and tenchu.

i never got the same feel for games after that era.
 

titchgamer

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Hmm tuffy but ime going with '93.

DOOM, Streets of Rage 2, Samurai Shodown, MK2, Star Fox and Mario all stars.

Good year for gaming right there!
 

StevenK

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For me personally, I'd choose 1992... Viewpoint, Last Resort & Art of Fighting. I didn't play Alone in the Dark, but the survival horror genre started here and I'm a huge Resident Evil fan. The Virtua series started the same year with Virtua Racing.

Historically, probably 1987, which got R-Type, Darius, Contra & Street Fighter.

I'm on board with 1992.

Don't forget

SNES: Street Fighter 2, Super Mario Kart, Axelay, Super Tennis

Mega drive: Desert Strike, World of Illusion, Olympic Gold, Road Rash 2, Thunderforce IV
 

suicidekiller

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1996 for me. Mario 64, Duke 3D, Resident Evil, Metal Slug, SF Alpha 2. That's quite a lot o' classics.
 

evil wasabi

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I would out it around 1998. The online community was picking up steam, but it was still kind of innocent, with people mainly just looking to talk games, and not alpha other gamers like some greaseballs who came a year later.

1996 games like Metal Slug became more popular after 1996. Meanwhile, 1998 has a lot of community discussion over Last Blade, and real excitement over Kof98, Last Blade 2, Asura Zanmaden and Wild Ambition. Overall, it was a watershed era.
 

J-P

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Mid to late 90's were incredible - but I think the stand-out year for me would have to be 1998. Notable titles are:

Sega Rally 2, Last Blade 2, Metal Slug 2, Blazing Star, Radiant Silvergun (SS), Cyvern, RB2, KOF 98, Soul Calibur, MvC, X-men vs SF, Street Fighter Zero 3, ESPrade, RayCrisis, Batrider, Dangun Feveron, FF Tactics, Xenogears, Panzer Dragoon Saga, Metal Gear Solid, Half Life, Thief, SW: Rogue Squadron, Zelda Ocarina of Time, DDR... and more.

That year in Japan the Dreamcast launched as well as the Neo Geo Pocket, Game Boy Color and WonderSwan. Pretty epic year. I was working in game distribution / importing (mainly from HK and JP) at the time and it was a memorable year to be working in that field for sure.
 

wyo

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I'm on board with 1992.

Don't forget

SNES: Street Fighter 2, Super Mario Kart, Axelay, Super Tennis

Mega drive: Desert Strike, World of Illusion, Olympic Gold, Road Rash 2, Thunderforce IV

Console-wise, I'm torn between '91 and '92. A strong case could be made for either year. That was the peak of gaming for me. It was all downhill from that point.

Arcade peak started slightly earlier and a bit longer, maybe '87 to '91.

EDIT: I'm going with '91: Street Fighter 2, US SNES launch titles, Streets of Rage... BOOM!
 
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RAZO

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I'm going with 92 because SOR2.
 

RAZO

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According to Wikipedia it was December 20 1992 in North America.
 

famicommander

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Gotta go 1998 because I still play Ocarina of Time regularly
 
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Colorado Rockie

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2001 was a good year.

Metal Gear Solid 2
Silent Hill 2
Twisted Metal Black
Halo
Smash Bros. Melee
Pikmin
Advance Wars
Mario Golf (GBC)
Zelda Oracle of Ages/Seasons
Golden Sun
Paper Mario
Plus all the Dreamcast games.
 

DevilRedeemed

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Good question
I will chose to interpret it in terms of a year's console release as to me new hardware has at times proven revolutionary. And though I am greatly torn I will have to go with the year PS1 was released, a system I consider top 3 most important of all time.
 

Mr Bakaboy

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I really enjoyed 1999

Garou (arcade)
3rd Strike (arcade)
Tekken Tag (arcade)
Soul Calibur (dreamcast)
Marvel vs Capcom (dreamcast)
Street Fighter Alpha 3 (dreamcast )
Street Fighter III W Impact (dreamcast)
Power Stone (dreamcast)

That Dreamcast inital few months was crazy. I've never been so excited over launch titles before or after that launch.
 

oliverclaude

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Good question
I will chose to interpret it in terms of a year's console release as to me new hardware has at times proven revolutionary. And though I am greatly torn I will have to go with the year PS1 was released, a system I consider top 3 most important of all time.

I considered the Playstation to be crucial, too. But after seeing Channel 4's Thumb Candy, I rather agree with Iain Lee, who called it the console, which "made video games cool". It seemed derogatory at first, considering all the facts, though, it's the only way to put it. Seems there's just nothing more to it after seeing the whole picture.

Still a valid choice, of course. What are your other two most important ones? The Famicom & Game Boy maybe? The former crashed through the '83 crash, the latter popularized Tetris. The Neo-Geo could be up there, too, for fulfilling the ultimate 'arcade at home' dream. Well, one could also consider history, like the Atari 2600 or the Odyssey.
 

BlackaneseNiNjA

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I’ll say the mid-90’s (95-96 specifically) saw the release of the majority of fighting games that I still play today. In those years I felt like both SNK and Capcom could do absolutely no wrong when it came to the titles they released in the arcades.
 

famicommander

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no majora's mask?.

Majora's Mask is fantastic as well but I don't find it as replayable as Ocarina. I have to be in a certain mood to pick up Majora, and when I do I'll play it all the way through and then not touch it for a few years. Whereas with Ocarina I can pick it up whenever and put some hours into it no matter where I am in the game. More sidequests to keep you busy, no stressful ass timer in the way.
 

DevilRedeemed

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I considered the Playstation to be crucial, too. But after seeing Channel 4's Thumb Candy, I rather agree with Iain Lee, who called it the console, which "made video games cool". It seemed derogatory at first, considering all the facts, though, it's the only way to put it. Seems there's just nothing more to it after seeing the whole picture.

Still a valid choice, of course. What are your other two most important ones? The Famicom & Game Boy maybe? The former crashed through the '83 crash, the latter popularized Tetris. The Neo-Geo could be up there, too, for fulfilling the ultimate 'arcade at home' dream. Well, one could also consider history, like the Atari 2600 or the Odyssey.

PSX to me is relevant because it was the tipping point between generations in a way that no other console had or has been since. it was able to somewhat pull off sophisticated 2D competently, and provide 3D gaming very elegantly indeed for the time. arcade perfect was an idea reserved for neo geo only up to that point, and the neo has always been a freak system.
I would say the release of the Famicom/NES was just as important, and GB is definitely up there, but I'd argue that it is "different" and not relevant in his discussion (there is no logic behind this statement, I just think handheld gaming is a spin off, off of proper console gaming).
I'm split between PS2 and SFC/SNES as the other top 3. what they brought to the table was greatly important, especially since they where systems which carried the narrative as the frontrunners in their respective generations.
 
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