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Gaming peaked during 6th gen, change my mind
- Thread starter Drizzlehell
- Start date
kvltus lvlzvs
Member
4th is where 2d was perfected, 5th was experimentation into 3d, with varying results, and 6th is where 3d was perfected, IMHO
Onironauta
Member
Okami was a PS2 game first.
Ratchet & Clank and Katamari were born during 6th gen and the best titles were on PS2 IMHO.
vodka-bull
Member
Back then games had soul. Now it‘s just blatant AAA stuff OR indie devs who‘re rescuing this medium.
Solidus_T
Banned
I grew up with the 4th gen and the 6th gen blew that one away to me.
Fools idol
Banned
considering my top 10 games of all time contain 5/6 games made in the last 5 years or so I have to strongly disagree.
There are a lot of what I would consider shovelware games, and plenty of awful predatory capitalistic shitshows going on the regular these days but .. the marriage of tech and booming indie scene coming out with a constant deluge of great games is a time I dreamed of as a kid.
So many masterpieces came out this past year that I have a backlog now well into next year
There are a lot of what I would consider shovelware games, and plenty of awful predatory capitalistic shitshows going on the regular these days but .. the marriage of tech and booming indie scene coming out with a constant deluge of great games is a time I dreamed of as a kid.
So many masterpieces came out this past year that I have a backlog now well into next year
NeoIkaruGAF
Gold Member
I surely don‘t miss long-ass loading times, flimsy DVD trays, memory cards, amateurish VA, lack of QoL features, lack of patches, unskippable cutscenes, wired controllers, and the authentic mission some western devs seemed to be on to make the most controversial games to get some free publicity from the scandalized general media.
PAL gamers also have little reason to remember Gen 6 with a happy face, at least most of PS2’s output and virtually everything before the second half of 2002 except Dreamcast games. That’s when some publishers realized 60Hz could be an option for PAL land. If you ever saw Devil May Cry running in PAL 50 your glasses may not be as rosy.
PAL gamers also have little reason to remember Gen 6 with a happy face, at least most of PS2’s output and virtually everything before the second half of 2002 except Dreamcast games. That’s when some publishers realized 60Hz could be an option for PAL land. If you ever saw Devil May Cry running in PAL 50 your glasses may not be as rosy.
You are right, why did i forgot that it was a ps2 game lol
nial
Member
Holy shit, this.
Drizzlehell
Banned
So you got all those bells and whistles today and in exchange for what? A bunch of soulless games that only recycle ideas that were originally introduced back in the days that you claim were so awful.
PrefectAboro
Member
Man there's so many titles from the 6th gen I still haven't tried yet! Time to fire up retroarch! Which one should I tackle first?
1. Onimusha series
2. Devil May Cry Series
4. Okami
5. God Of War 2
6. Paper Mario (just saw the trailer for the new remake too bad I don't have a Switch)
7. Jet Grind Radio
8. Fatal Frame Series
9. God Hand
10. Max Payne 2
1. Onimusha series
2. Devil May Cry Series
4. Okami
5. God Of War 2
6. Paper Mario (just saw the trailer for the new remake too bad I don't have a Switch)
7. Jet Grind Radio
8. Fatal Frame Series
9. God Hand
10. Max Payne 2
nial
Member
baaaased.
Hayabusa83
Banned
In the last seven months I have finished Ace Combat 0 7 times. Since 2019 I have completed Ace Combat 7 twice. It isn't nostalgia, games really did have SOUL back then.
Drizzlehell
Banned
All of those are awesome so you should be good picking any of these, although my personal favourite is God of War 2, i.e. one of the greatest games of all time.
Akuji
Member
thats a good point!
but i still dont feel any gen has "peaked" were still getting better and better and more varied games ... the market ist much bigger and there are so much more devs putting out quality games then ever before.
saying that games cross gens is not fair IS my point. putting games into "gens" is arbitrary. Sure if you say its my way of looking at it ... thats fine but i dont think it holds much value for a "general" statement then.
Never before was a decade so filled with great titles then the last 10 years. And the next 10 most likely will be even better. Truth is that games on old consoles were great, atleast the great games everybody is talking about. LttP is my favorite Zelda of all time.
That doesnt mean that many games that released on snes or ps2 by today standards are still good games ( great when they released ) but the overall game quality has gone up. Play God of War on the PS2. A masterpiece and omg did it feel great when it released. Not play GoW Acension.
It wipes the floor with GoW 1. Modern games like it as well.
A Game like GTA 3 wouldnt really do anything today anymore. Back then the percentile on games that were arcade games were much biggger thats true. But arcade style games still are released. They are not the big blockbuster games. But the games that release today still have the advantage of knowing what other games before it did do really well and adopt it.
Gaming has become so big, that nobody has a real grasp on everything anymore. Many people say the big AAA titles are not for them anymore. And i agree. I only play a few AAA titles myself. Mostly Online Multiplayer games. But thats the case since ... Starcraft, when i was 6 or 7.
If you say games dont really do anything for you anymore and u want the "fun" games of the past. I dont know if you really tried games like Cuphead, Binding of Issac, Stardew Valley, Hades, Dead Cells, Octopath Traveler etc pp. the weird games are still there. Catherine is my favorite puzzle game ever.
Still havent played fullbody ... should give it a go. the collerctors edition is waiting for years now.
So thats my view on this atleast. We had awesome 30 years of gaming. I dont see it coming to an end or peaking anytime soon.
And 30 years is just what i have expirienced myself.
NeoIkaruGAF
Gold Member
I’m not claiming they were awful. But there’s definitely been improvements on what we got back then. A recycled idea from the 6th gen is still better today with fast loading, autosaving, patches, additional content, QoL features. More people are making games so you’re not stuck with waiting for that specific dev to make a new game in the genre you like. If you like metroidvanias you used to have to wait for Konami to make one, and you had to have a Nintendo handheld to play it. Now there’s so many to choose from.
The only thing I really miss from that time is less bloated games and the absence of constant monetization from publishers.
One thing people forget is that Gen 6 is where the homogeneization of AAA started. The push for “mature” content (ie, what today is demonized as “male power fantasy” and all kinds of negative things) was already starting to push variety towards the edge of the market. Everyone’s beloved God Hand was a flop. Japanese AA games were fringe. JRPGs got localized by the ton just because they got their fifteen minutes of fame during Gen 5 and publishers thought they had a golden egg goose on their hands, but nothing came close to FF in sales or recognition. Arcade racers and space shooters were going out of fashion. So were platformers, unless they had shooting and/or attitude to boost sales. Fighting games were getting too complicated for casuals. FPSes were booming, cutscenes were getting unbearably long already, people were already in “realistic graphics or bust” mode. A lot of successful AAA games ended up spawning trilogies.
Go take a look at the list of best-selling PS2 games, take out the licensed crap that parents were buying for their kids, and see what’s left. Not really a varied landscape for the console touted as the one having the most varied catalog ever and selling the most a console ever did. Gen 6 is where creative, original games found out pretty few people cared for them.
Honey Bunny
Member
I thought 6th gen was PSwii60 gen and got angry every time I saw the title of this thread, glad I clicked it lol.
It was the best gen if you were on consoles. But PC has been better than that for a long time, interesting B tier games live there now.
It was the best gen if you were on consoles. But PC has been better than that for a long time, interesting B tier games live there now.
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Humdinger
Gold Member
I thought Max Payne 2 was great. Really well-paced game. I can't comment on the others as I haven't played them. I owned a PS2 for a short time, but I wasn't much of a PS2 guy. I am going to plumb the original Xbox and 360 catalog first, then maybe venture back to the PS2 and PS3 catalog, if I'm still hankering after some old-timey goodness.
But speaking in terms of generations is not arbitrary. It is a traditional way of talking about gaming, with an inherent logic (based on tech changes in the gaming platforms themselves). What is arbitrary is dividing things up by decades (12 years, actually) and lumping together three generations at once. Besides, you're ignoring the premise of the thread. If you want to do that, you can of course, but you're on a tangent; that's not what the thread is about.
But I'm glad you're having just as much fun with modern games as you did back in the day, and that you are so optimistic about gaming. I'm not, but I know others feel differently.
One of the other things to consider is the number of disappointments per gen. I can't count the number of big-budget games this gen and last that have been disappointments. I don't remember that happening much in the PS2/Xbox/360/PS3 era. Today, it's almost predictable that the next iteration of X or Y will be a letdown. We are surprised when something turns out really well (e.g., Baldur's Gate, Elden Ring).
I'm sure that's true -- that there are great indie games out there (although I didn't like Catherine, and the others you mention don't much appeal to me). I don't play many indies. I used to, about 10 years ago. I enjoyed a handful of them, but many of them just didn't deliver, at least for me. I got tired of digging through piles of schlock, looking for something that appealed. I have explored the indie scene periodically since then, but I've always come away feeling sort of meh about it. I guess I prefer the bigger-budget games -- or better still, the AA type game, which don't seem to exist anymore but flourished back in the day.
Cool. Glad you're enjoying it. This is all just a matter of opinion, of course.
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kvltus lvlzvs
Member
Okami is really good and would be my reco; just prep yourself for a slow start. Its a slog.
Once you get going, it just keeps on giving, and giving, and giving.
kvltus lvlzvs
Member
As much as I dunked on the generation for being piss colored/brown/grey military sim hell, I think I prefer it to today's "overanimated neon bright multicolor dopamine farm" style.
Drizzlehell
Banned
Video games existed since the 70s, I think we're way past "figuring it out"
Drizzlehell
Banned
Well, okay, to be more specific, my main problem here is that innovation slowed down to a grinding halt. Even the 7th gen, which was brought up in this thread a number of times already, saw more interesting things happening in the triple-A space than what came after it with PS4/Xbone and onward. Most big budget games these days are basically all remakes or sequels, with some new IP coming around every so often. And those really great games that really push the envelope are so rare these days that it's kinda depressing.
Not saying that there isn't anything good coming out these days but most of modern triple-As are just good enough and nothing more - safe, predictable, homogenised, without a soul. Everything is so comfortably good that any casual can just pick it up and finish over the weekend but rarely do I get to play a big budget game that really sticks with me and dares to take risks and maybe stumble along the way. God Hand may have been under-appreciated at the time, but at least there was someone there to make and publish it. Nowadays the only space where you can find that kind of endearingly ridiculous game is low-budget indie games.
And I would disagree that it was the same during 6th or even 7th generation. It's not even nostalgia speaking either because I only played many of those games much, much later in my adult life. And somehow they still managed to make a stronger impression than any of the more contemporary games.
Xdrive05
Member
6th Gen excitement for me was:
PS2: The follow-up to the hit newcomer on the block, and rumored to have infinite unlockable power, with a built-in DVD player and all the 3rd parties. Wow! In hindsight we know how all of this turned out (very well for most of it) and it was just an unstoppable force.
GameCube: Nintendo was just coming off of their sort-of controversial N64, which itself had some of the very greatest games of all time. And while the N64 took some steps backwards in terms of media and losing 3rd parties for it, the GC could turn things around for them, being a less expensive, sleek design that finally uses optical media! We also know how this turned out, but at the same time the cube gave us many serious bangers! Metroid Prime, Wind Waker, Rogue Squadron games, etc.
Xbox: Microsoft is releasing a home console based on the best PC tech! It's going to have full online support with everyone having headsets! They bought Bungie and Halo is going to launch with it! Halo ended up being a enormous cultural force. Xbox Live pretty much did live up to the hype, and bring online gaming into many console living rooms.
PC: Doom 3 and Half-Life 2. Nuff said.
I ended up pretty happy with all of it. The 6th gen was a transition period being the last gen before HD flat screens were the console targets.
PS2: The follow-up to the hit newcomer on the block, and rumored to have infinite unlockable power, with a built-in DVD player and all the 3rd parties. Wow! In hindsight we know how all of this turned out (very well for most of it) and it was just an unstoppable force.
GameCube: Nintendo was just coming off of their sort-of controversial N64, which itself had some of the very greatest games of all time. And while the N64 took some steps backwards in terms of media and losing 3rd parties for it, the GC could turn things around for them, being a less expensive, sleek design that finally uses optical media! We also know how this turned out, but at the same time the cube gave us many serious bangers! Metroid Prime, Wind Waker, Rogue Squadron games, etc.
Xbox: Microsoft is releasing a home console based on the best PC tech! It's going to have full online support with everyone having headsets! They bought Bungie and Halo is going to launch with it! Halo ended up being a enormous cultural force. Xbox Live pretty much did live up to the hype, and bring online gaming into many console living rooms.
PC: Doom 3 and Half-Life 2. Nuff said.
I ended up pretty happy with all of it. The 6th gen was a transition period being the last gen before HD flat screens were the console targets.
We clearly haven't yet
charles8771
Member
There were games on PS2 without loading times:
-Jax and Daxter series
-God of War 2
-Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time
The PS2 DVD speed is 5.28MB/s
While PS1 CD speed is only 300KB/s
Nothing wrong about memory cards, it for save files
Sleepwalker
Member
6th and 7th gen were the best IMO.
5th gen aged badly and looks horrible nowadays.
5th gen aged badly and looks horrible nowadays.
Shenmuefan2000
Neo Member
I suppose it depends on the decade you spent your childhood in, so if you were born in the say... the early to mid 90s (92-96) then the 6th gen was your childhood since that dominated the 00s.
The 4th generation the SNES era etc the chances are high you were born in the 80s and was a kid throughout the 90s.
It's generational.
The 4th generation the SNES era etc the chances are high you were born in the 80s and was a kid throughout the 90s.
It's generational.
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SEGAvangelist
Member
Which gen gaming peaks is pretty much what time you're most into video games. It's like when people say what their favorite Final Fantasy is, and then it ends up being the first one they actually completed.
Not necessarily. I was born in 1982 and consider 7th gen my favorite.
A.Romero
Member
A lot has to do with age. Nostalgia hits hard and early experiences shape our tastes.
Younger kids can't stand older games, I know because I have tried to get them into them but they just don't resonate the same way.
Every gen has it's advantages but I don't really see what's that bad about this one. Controversy comes mostly from older people wanting stuff to stay the same.
About always online... It's the trend for pretty much any device. In general stuff gets way more versatile when connected to the Internet.
Younger kids can't stand older games, I know because I have tried to get them into them but they just don't resonate the same way.
Every gen has it's advantages but I don't really see what's that bad about this one. Controversy comes mostly from older people wanting stuff to stay the same.
About always online... It's the trend for pretty much any device. In general stuff gets way more versatile when connected to the Internet.
Shenmuefan2000
Neo Member
S0ULZB0URNE
Member
Was good but I enjoy modern gaming more than gen 6 and gen 4 is better.
Madserb2023
Member
I wouldn't say specifically the 6th gen was the best but that period from 1997 to 2007 was the greatest decade in gaming. Pretty much every game series we play today either started life or reached its peak during that period.
Humdinger
Gold Member
I've gone back to it lately, and I'm enjoying it. My interest in gaming has trailed off since 2017, but going back to the "old days" (specifically, to the 360 and original Xbox) has reinvigorated my interest in gaming. Games were shorter, simpler, and more fun back then.
I hear a lot of people saying that your favorite gen is just a product of your age (i.e., which gen you grew up with), but that is not true for me and I suspect for many others. I simply enjoy games of the 6th and 7th generation more than most modern games.
At least I do so far. My experiment is still pretty new. Maybe I'll grow tired of old games and return to new ones. We'll see. All I can say is that I've stuck with modern games for several generations, and my interest in gaming has gradually bottomed out -- to the point where I was playing maybe one game a year, and even then not enjoying it much. Now that I've returned to gen 6/7, I'm gaming daily and enjoying it.
I hear a lot of people saying that your favorite gen is just a product of your age (i.e., which gen you grew up with), but that is not true for me and I suspect for many others. I simply enjoy games of the 6th and 7th generation more than most modern games.
At least I do so far. My experiment is still pretty new. Maybe I'll grow tired of old games and return to new ones. We'll see. All I can say is that I've stuck with modern games for several generations, and my interest in gaming has gradually bottomed out -- to the point where I was playing maybe one game a year, and even then not enjoying it much. Now that I've returned to gen 6/7, I'm gaming daily and enjoying it.
Gojiira
Member
It was certainly the most diverse.
But honestly the PS4 gen has to be my ultimate favourite, Bloodborne, Elden Ring, God of War, The Last Guardian, Gravity Rush 2, Journey,Im not gonna list everything we all know the standouts on other platforms too, but yeah this was the gen where I think games were at that sweet spot of Ambition/Gameplay and Performance by and large.
Still PS2 was the gen I played the most…
But honestly the PS4 gen has to be my ultimate favourite, Bloodborne, Elden Ring, God of War, The Last Guardian, Gravity Rush 2, Journey,Im not gonna list everything we all know the standouts on other platforms too, but yeah this was the gen where I think games were at that sweet spot of Ambition/Gameplay and Performance by and large.
Still PS2 was the gen I played the most…
Shenmuefan2000
Neo Member
Which is generally true, ask anyone born in the early to mid 90s (93-96) and they'll tell you "6th was the goat bro, nothing can top it!"
Or those born in the 80s and came up on SNES and Sega
SimTourist
Member
I wouldn't say peaked but it was the perfect spot where graphics got good enough that developers could pursue a solid artistic vision but at the same time could be developed in a reasonable time period and with a relatively small team. Lots of experimentation was allowed because a flop wouldn't sink the entire studio. Within the same console generation devs could put out a full trilogy with each game fully polished and complete and improving on the previous work. You could make an impressive showcase game in time for console launch and still continue to raise the bar throughout the generation. This image says it all really. So much variety in terms of themes, gameplay, genres and all of them fully featured. We're lucky to get one or two games per generation and it's pretty sad. We're halfway into this generation already and the number of true nextgen games can be counted on one hand.
Humdinger
Gold Member
I'm sure it's true of some people, maybe many. I also think it's untrue for some, maybe many (including me).
I think it's often used as a way to dismiss all the concerns about modern gaming, as if they are all just complaints from people blinded by nostalgia. I think it's a misleading deflection when used in that way.
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charles8771
Member
Longer time development doesn't mean longer generation of games, that the issue.I wouldn't say peaked but it was the perfect spot where graphics got good enough that developers could pursue a solid artistic vision but at the same time could be developed in a reasonable time period and with a relatively small team. Lots of experimentation was allowed because a flop wouldn't sink the entire studio. Within the same console generation devs could put out a full trilogy with each game fully polished and complete and improving on the previous work. You could make an impressive showcase game in time for console launch and still continue to raise the bar throughout the generation. This image says it all really. So much variety in terms of themes, gameplay, genres and all of them fully featured. We're lucky to get one or two games per generation and it's pretty sad. We're halfway into this generation already and the number of true nextgen games can be counted on one hand.
GTA 4 took 3 years and a half to develop and that was in 2008
SimTourist
Member
Yeah, that's a problem, software and hardware development timelines no longer align well. Honestly PS4/Xone should've gone for a full 10 year cycle with current gen releasing in 2023 with a bigger power boost.Longer time development doesn't mean longer generation of games, that the issue.
GTA 4 took 3 years and a half to develop and that was in 2008
Mr Branding
Member
It peaked in 7th gen but 6th gen was amazing too
Yoboman
Member
I agree and being a young age helped but I don't think it's incorrect
Games got good enough the polished ones were really shining through but still early enough that you got distinctly creative masterpieces like the GTA games which revolutionised.open worlds
MGS2 and 3 made me love stories in games
The stealth contest between MGS and Splinter Cell was epic
Halo and Metroid Prime were god tier FPS
RE4 changed third person games forever
GOW, Ninja Gaiden, DMC completely changed action games
KOTOR was my intro to WRPGs
ICO and SOTC really changed how games could portray themselves artistically
Tekken 5, VF4 were probably the peak moment for 3D fighters
Fun arcadey games were all over - THPS, Burnout 3, SSX3, NBA Street, Guitar Hero
Sports games were actually good - NFL 2K, Pro Evo, Top Spin
The GT and Forza rivalry got started
PS2 peak era platformers - Jak, Ratchet, Sly
Unique gems like Katamari Damacy, Pikmin, Okami, Viewtifil Joe, Amplitude, Persona, Riddick seemed to drop every other month.
PC space was on fire with HL2, WOW, UT 2004, the Sims
My only negative of the gen vs others would be that GameCube was kinda ass. Mario Sunshine was a miss, the Zelda's were just good. Metroid Prime was the exception but came out of a western team. And as an owner at the time, the droughts were brutal especially with the lack of third party
Gen 7 was still good but that's where microtransactions popped up. Devs started trend chasing (bald space marines and muted colours). New IP became less frequent. And Japanese devs on the whole were missing nearly all gen
Games got good enough the polished ones were really shining through but still early enough that you got distinctly creative masterpieces like the GTA games which revolutionised.open worlds
MGS2 and 3 made me love stories in games
The stealth contest between MGS and Splinter Cell was epic
Halo and Metroid Prime were god tier FPS
RE4 changed third person games forever
GOW, Ninja Gaiden, DMC completely changed action games
KOTOR was my intro to WRPGs
ICO and SOTC really changed how games could portray themselves artistically
Tekken 5, VF4 were probably the peak moment for 3D fighters
Fun arcadey games were all over - THPS, Burnout 3, SSX3, NBA Street, Guitar Hero
Sports games were actually good - NFL 2K, Pro Evo, Top Spin
The GT and Forza rivalry got started
PS2 peak era platformers - Jak, Ratchet, Sly
Unique gems like Katamari Damacy, Pikmin, Okami, Viewtifil Joe, Amplitude, Persona, Riddick seemed to drop every other month.
PC space was on fire with HL2, WOW, UT 2004, the Sims
My only negative of the gen vs others would be that GameCube was kinda ass. Mario Sunshine was a miss, the Zelda's were just good. Metroid Prime was the exception but came out of a western team. And as an owner at the time, the droughts were brutal especially with the lack of third party
Gen 7 was still good but that's where microtransactions popped up. Devs started trend chasing (bald space marines and muted colours). New IP became less frequent. And Japanese devs on the whole were missing nearly all gen
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Chuck Berry
Gold Member
Funny how it's gone the way of the film industry in terms of output like that. Like to a fucking T.
Shenmuefan2000
Neo Member
A hard agree on the GameCube. That system was a steaming pile of dog shit! The only noteworthy games on the GC were Metroid Prime, F Zero GX and RE remake
Shenmuefan2000
Neo Member
The 6th did give birth to the greatest JRPG ever though... persona 4
You guys need to play if you haven't, whenever you have time though
You guys need to play if you haven't, whenever you have time though