52 replies to this topic

[save2600]

70's and 80's for sure.

Favorite consoles:

2600
Intellivision
Vectrex
Atari Jaguar

Favorite computers:

Atari 400/800
TI-99/4A
Commodore 64
Commodore Amiga

Edited by save2600, Tue Dec 27, 2011 9:40 PM.

[Austin]

I think I have said it before, but I will say it again--The '90s!! There was such a wide variety of games. Technology made the largest jump during this time period, and so much of the old stuff was still relavant (the 7800 with its 2600 backwards compatibility even lasted through the early '90s).

[godslabrat]

Favorite era: 1987-1992. NES ruled, Gameboy could be taken on the road, and there was still some Atari action to be had if you knew where to look. It was my first era of gaming, and subjectively is the one I like most.

"BEST" era: 1992-1997. SNES and Genesis compete neck-and-neck. The game styles that had been popular in the previous era are refined to an art form... an art form which will reach its zenith in this era, before being semi-retired by 3D consoles. Also a badass era, and if I were to be more objective, probably the "best".

[Sonic R]

5-11under, on Sat Dec 24, 2011 8:37 PM, said:

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.

1982 was an amazing year of console releases! also released this time was.. the Arcadia 2001
(and the Adventurevision)

I can't be loyal explicitly to one era… my favorites would have to span from the above mentioned 1982 consoles (Atari 5200, Colecovision, Vectrex), to the '8-bit' era of NES and SMS, to early '16-Bit' era - which would include just the Genesis and Turbo Grafx-16… I favor the early 16-bit times to about mid 1991, what I like to refer to in terms of the Genesis as the 'pre-Sonic' era… early Grnesis games prior to Sonic seem to be more robust IMO… I like games that came out later on the Genesis life time, but I REALLY have a deep level of enjoyment of the early Genesis games… games like MUSHA, Fire Shark, Trampoline Terror, Wings of Wor, Wardner, Bamini Run, Thunder Force II&III, Air Diver…

I enjoy games before and after these eras, but I find my most favorites from 1982-1991

[thegamezmaster]

For me the early 80's before the "crash". It was such a magical time. Colecovision, Atari 5200, great memories.

[chrisbid]

my favorite era was the 16 bit era. i was in high school at the time, so i admit nostalgia plays a big part in my thinking, but the competition between sega and nintendo and the fact that they truly had different styles and approaches to their product is what made that era the best. the pre crash era and the nes era are also memorable and i buy all the logical arguments as to why they were the best. but in my book, the 16 bit era was the zenith.

Edited by chrisbid, Wed Dec 28, 2011 11:57 AM.

[A_Locomotive]

My favorite era is 16 bit and the generation following it with the Playstation and N64... lol what is this generation referred as??? I have the most fond memories from these generations and have the most favorite games from them as well.

[cimerians]

As much fun as I'm having today my favorite was the 'Atari Age'. To me personally it's broken up into 4 parts.

My Favorite:
Atari, Colecovision, Intellivision, C64
1977-1984

2nd favorite:
Today
Xbox 360 etc.

3rd favorite:
Playstation/Dreamcast
1995-2000+

4th favorite:
NES/SNES/GENESIS
1985-1994

[lushgirl_80]

Early 80's!! For me the Atari 5200 is my all time fave ,Atari 2600 is second and the original NES is third.

I thought the other day ,1988 was really the peak year for Nintendo,and it really peaked during the summer of '89 before the Sega Genesis came around. Miss those days....Genesis is good too.

Late 90's Playstation 1 days were awesome too cos my older brother was a game tester for Sony and he used to bring home all the latest games for free. I really miss the big PS 1 library we had. We had nearly every game they put out before 1999.

[DemonoidTentacle]

lushgirl_80, on Fri Dec 30, 2011 3:04 AM, said:

Late 90's Playstation 1 days were awesome too cos my older brother was a game tester for Sony and he used to bring home all the latest games for free. I really miss the big PS 1 library we had. We had nearly every game they put out before 1999.

Sounds like the best flippin' job in the world!

My guidance councillor in high school had no idea of how I could get a job doing that, secretly I bet he didn't even think it was a real job.

[Ross PK]

Definatley the 8-bit era.

My favorite consoles are the Atari 800XL and the Atari 2600 Jr.

[16BitMan]

Without any doubt the 16-bit era (if you couldn't have guessed by my name!)

You had a nice range of consoles with real individuality, all the big companies were still around, there was still loads of innovation and the game magazines were brilliant too.

[IntellivisionDude]

I don't have a favorite and if i did choose one i'd change my mind a minute later. If i did a list of my top 10 games of all time i guarantee there would be a game from the Intellivision, Atari 2600, Nes, Sega Genesis, PS1, PS2, N64 and Gamecube. I already did a top 10 once and i really chose a game or 2 from each of those systems.

[Seob]

I guess the 16 bit era, due to the vast variety of systems that competed against each other.

[RangerG]

I agree with 5-11under, 82-84 was a great two year span with the 5200, Colecovision, and Vectrex. This was the apex of pre-crash console gaming.

[Emehr]

I was most active during the Platform Era (NES to SegaCD) so that was probably my favorite. I was old enough to have a job and buy my own games, I bought the magazines, and I had a renewed interest in my Atari VCS and newfound 7800. I was hitting the arcades and discovering new games. The Lynx came out and reproduced many of those same games beautifully. Nintendo and Sega were duking it out and I was enjoying both side's offerings. Atari 2600 and 7800 games were being liquidated and could be had for under three bucks. It was a great time to be gaming.

I was a little young to fully experience the Arcade Era (Atari VCS through Vectrex). My family had the VCS and nine games and that was about the extent of my experience. I watched the Saturday morning cartoons but that doesn't really count. I made up for it in later years by getting into more Atari games, the Intellivision, and Colecovision.

[yell0w_lantern]

Honestly, my favorite era was my childhood. When I think about it, that's what it really comes down to - Atari 2600, Commodore, TI-99/4A, NES and Genesis.

[AlvinKarpis]

For me my favorite era was "My Era" of playing video games

That was from 1983-1995

Started with the 2600

Then the 7800

Then came the NES in 1987 and tha ruled my house with my two brothers and myself right up until the Super Nintendo came out and we got that the X-mas of the year it was released

I was very lucky and lived in aneighbohood that had many kids around my age and we all had systems

In the early 80s 90% of my neighborhood had a 2600, my friend who lived across the street had a ColecoVision (I played it all the time)

There was a guy who was in high school around that time named Jon who owned a 5200 (as well as a C64) and sometimes (when he was feeling nice, which wasnt too often lol) he would let a bunch of us come over and play his 5200 and while most of us where in awe of all the great arade ports others would be playing "Mickeys Space Adventure" and other text games on the C64

When the NES came out 100% of my neighborhood owned it, we would trade and borrow games all the time

This is the huge reason that I played so many games back in the day

I consider myslef lucky to be raised in such a nighborhood, it was great

Edited by AlvinKarpis, Thu Jan 5, 2012 12:14 PM.

[genesisguy]

Late 80s - Early 90s for me. The NES and Genesis were the most fun for me and there was that time period were they both overlapped.

[Segataritensoftii]

1995-2001, or the fifth console generation. Very interesting period with video games all going 3D, with the rise of the 3D platformer laying the groundwork for the sandbox games and third person RPGs of today. Meanwhile, the PC side was going through an even more complete transition to CD-ROM. It was also the era where 3D accelerator cards became mainstream in personal computers around the world, with several different competitors vying for their share of the market.

[ls650]

Definitely the 8-bit era; the machines were technically limited so the developers had to work to make games that were simple yet fun to play. I find that as machines advance in technology, more emphasis has been put on great artwork and presentation, while gameplay and mechanics often fall behind. I was watching a friend play Skyrim on her PS3 last night. While the graphics are amazing, it looks actually rather tedious to play: all that dropping and picking up, searching, farting around with different armor and weapons and potions, etc. If I need a 200+ page book to play through a game, I'm not really interested in investing that much time.

[BillyHW]

The Nintendo era: NES + SNES.

[JayWI]

The 8 and 16 bit eras of the late '80s/early '90s. I got into games with the Intellivision but I was still a bit young to truly appreciate it. Once I was a bit older and could get a job that would let me buy games I really went crazy.

[Trekker_1138]

early 80's. My cousins got an Atari 2600 in Christmas of '81, and we played the crap out of the pack-in cartridge -- Combat. Good times. We'd pop a box of Totino's Pizza rolls into the microwave for subsistence and play for hours. Then in '84, we got a ColecoVision and a Mattel Aquarius.

[Rex Dart]

ls650, on Thu Jan 5, 2012 5:53 PM, said:

If I need a 200+ page book to play through a game, I'm not really interested in investing that much time.

Me too. Good thing Skyrim's manual's only what, 20 pages? And it plays like a modernized Ultima, so the mechanics aren't really anything new.Have you looked at any new classic-styled games? The Arkedo Series on xbox live arcade has some entertaining takes on classic platformers in JUMP! and PIXEL!.