Favourite era and consoles

[so_tough!]

What is your favourite era of videogames and favourite consoles?

[lucifershalo]

8 bit era

Atari 2600,5200,7800 and Vectrex

[Rex Dart]

16 bit era; snes, tg16, genesis. Just so damn many games. Gaming magazines were the size of phonebooks near the holidays, full of upcoming titles.

[Ransom]

The era after cartridges were invented up to before the NES came out. That was a period of experimentation in game design, and it was also an era that forced a lot of creativity due to the limitations of the consoles.

[Mirage]

The era after cartridges were invented up to before the NES came out. That was a period of experimentation in game design, and it was also an era that forced a lot of creativity due to the limitations of the consoles.

 

Word for word my thoughts, not surprisingly.

[mike99mccarthy]

79-92.... the 2600 really took off after the space invaders port came out. all the excitement of being able to play the arcade games at home.

Then when the NES came out.... the realization of arcade perfect ports in your home finally after all those years. also the super mario brothers series.

[high voltage]

1972

[DemonoidTentacle]

SNES and Mega Drive era. Absolutely loved a lot of the gameplay and graphical style.

 

Worst: the era just after that.

[roland p]

I had most fun with the MSX, MSX2, but those aren't consoles...

 

Worst: the era just after that.

I agree with that, A major game-depression for me. I started playing games again in 1999 with the PC with a voodoo2, etc, and then the Dreamcast.

Edited December 23, 2011 by roland p

[Keatah]

I believe the most exciting time, when many mfg's were proud of the games they made - began right after the fixed-function consoles were replaced by cartridge based systems. And ended with the NES.

 

With the NES and beyond, the industry had changed around and had become more profit-driven than ever. Games became more generic and unimaginative than ever.. Nothing was quite as satisfying as the formative years. Sure there were a few standout titles from time to time, but nothing really earth-shattering.

 

The graphics race started by 3dfx was just terrible. It set a precedent in motion that games continually had to improve in presentation, but not content. And today we are left with companies coming out with a newer faster better more expensive graphics card every 3 weeks.

Edited December 23, 2011 by Keatah

[AtariLeaf]

The Atari era. Yes, it was so awesome it gets an era named after it

[Reaperman]

I'm a 16-bit fan myself. A good mix of arcade fun and increased depth/polish. Lots of new genres popping up or gaining popularity back then too--some of them even turned out well. I'd say SNES, Neo Geo and maybe even Genesis are my favorites from then.

 

It was nice of GBA to remind us of the best parts of that era too.

[BydoEmpire]

Pre-crash 8-bits. Arcade-style games are endlessly playable and just as fun today as they were in the day. Because it was more "wild west" and a smaller industry there was a lot more creativity, even if it meant a lot of duds. New genres were being created every year.

[1982VideoGames]

Pre-crash 8-bits. Arcade-style games are endlessly playable and just as fun today as they were in the day. Because it was more "wild west" and a smaller industry there was a lot more creativity, even if it meant a lot of duds. New genres were being created every year.

 

Exactly,

Arcade games really started it all. Atari was the 'must-have' system in the home and will always be my favorite systems (with some colecovision mixed in).

The diverse range of games, the art, the marketing - it started a new hobby and cult that is unstoppable!

[Emehr]

The era from like 1980 to 1994. Damn fine era.

[MagitekAngel]

Had you asked me a year or two ago, I might have given you a decade or a generation, probably the NES era. But the more I think about it, the more I realize that I don't have a particular era I defend as "the bestest" or "the one before it all went downhill". The consoles hooked up to my living room TV run the gamut from the Atari 2600, the NES, the Master System, the SNES, the Sega Genesis, the TurboDuo, the Sega Saturn, the PS2, the Xbox, the Xbox 360, the Wii, and the PS3, and they all get played. I collect games, I play games, and I love games.

[SoulBlazer]

Pretty much any era I enjoy. I'm a gamer, not a hater. (See my sig)

 

My favorite eras was the 8 bit one (NES) and 16 bit one (SNES/Genesis). I've played and enjoy anything from Pong to Skyrim, however.

 

Woot! 2000 posts! Go me!

[GKC]

Though I don't hate any era I definitely enjoy the 16 bit era the most. I include in that the systems and add ons up until the launch of the Playstation. I'm not sure but I'm guessing people tend to like the era they grew up with the most and I'm not different.

[chuckwalla]

I've spent much more time playing games on the 8-bit Atari consoles and computers, ColecoVision, and the C64 than on the 16-bit systems - even today. The 16-bit systems (Genesis and SNES for me) have tons of great titles too but my heart will always be with the early systems.

[Petran79]

I believe the most exciting time, when many mfg's were proud of the games they made - began right after the fixed-function consoles were replaced by cartridge based systems. And ended with the NES.

 

With the NES and beyond, the industry had changed around and had become more profit-driven than ever. Games became more generic and unimaginative than ever.. Nothing was quite as satisfying as the formative years. Sure there were a few standout titles from time to time, but nothing really earth-shattering.

 

The graphics race started by 3dfx was just terrible. It set a precedent in motion that games continually had to improve in presentation, but not content. And today we are left with companies coming out with a newer faster better more expensive graphics card every 3 weeks.

 

PC gamers blame consoles for the lack in graphics advancements when in fact the main cause was what occured in the 90s. There were at one point many different graphics and sound chips with very few differences one from the other. Even 3d accelerators besides 3dfx. Only the best survived (Ati, Nvidia and Creative) but at a cost of lack of competition. Nvidia by buying 3dfx had secured the #1 spot already. All othe r chip makers ceased, were sold or focused on other business Same occured with sound cards.

 

Cheapness is now the distinct feature of PCs. PCs are no longer profitable due to this. Hence a lot of manufacturers have dropped the PC market. Custom PCs are the rule now.

 

I'd also characterize the golden age of the PC era till the arrival of Windows 95. Eg Japan had till that time a very unique and productive PC gaming industry next to consoles. Indie and commercial PC games made an impact even though they were unheard of outside Japan.

 

the era you mention with the NES, PC gaming actually retained some characteristics of the golden era till Windows 95 and Microsofts dominance. there were so many systems and games worldwide.

 

though one can say that PC games were very different from arcade or console games and had different demographic regarding income and education.

[+5-11under]

My favourite era is the one with ColecoVision, Atari 5200, and Vectrex. I think these were all released pretty close to each other. The older systems also have a certain charm to them.

[Keatah]

Each sub-era had different tastes and flavors. The best was when the 2600 got underway, and the intellivision and colecovision and 400/800 era were just a few percent right behind the 2600.

 

Then there was the Apple II+ and //e, with the sweet spot being right before //e came out. We were firing on all cylinders then.

[akator]

My favorite era for nostalgia reasons is everything up to the US console crash. Arcades, electronic games, digital watches, consoles, computers, home robots, everything was exciting and new. There were differences between each system that made them interesting and awesome. It was a new world, one that inspired hope that everything we saw in sci-fi movies was possible and we'd be talking to computers (and exploring planets) in 2001 just as Clarke and Kubrick showed in film. There were dozens of computer and game magazines even at the grocery store, and TV shows (and even mainstream TV advertising) reminded us that the future was now.

 

(That doesn't mean that I don't love other eras... I love most except the one we're in now, and the next one rapidly approaching. I don't want touchscreens, closed systems with app stores, subscription services, non-user serviceable batteries, DRM, always-on connections, required OS updates, etc., on every device I use... but that's a completely different topic for another time.)

[Tenorman]

The 16-bit era. Genesis, SNES, and TurboGrafx all had great games.

[in the dark]

My favorite time period in gaming was during the NES, Super NES, Turbo Grafx 16, Sega Genesis, and Neo Geo CD gaming era. This would also include the portables of that time period. That is where I still spend my gaming time the most. I still live in that era.