NationStates Jolt Archive


Best era of computer games

People without names
14-02-2006, 02:46
when was the best computer gaming era?

i was just thinking back to the days of kings quest, space quest, and all those other old Sierra games.



this includes consoles

explain!
M3rcenaries
14-02-2006, 02:50
I definatley am a fan of the old Sierra games. Empire Earth, CeaserIII and all the Great Empires games, etc.
2006 is going to be a great year for computer games though. Oblivion, BFME2, UT2007, and others will make a great year.
Forfania Gottesleugner
14-02-2006, 02:51
The multiplayer in Goldeneye 007 on N64 was incredible for it's time.
Eyster
14-02-2006, 02:55
The multiplayer in Goldeneye 007 on N64 was incredible for it's time.

Hey Pal, it's COMPUTER games, not N64 games.
Dodudodu
14-02-2006, 02:55
Today's games... COD2 is crazy, Half-Life is insane.

Sierra games were pretty badass too... I still play Empire Earth almost every day.
Kazcaper
14-02-2006, 02:56
I still love all the old C64 games. Sad bastard that I am, I spend a lot of time listening to Slay Radio (http://www.slayradio.org/home.php) which plays remixes of the soundtracks to all those classic games. I love playing with the C64 emulator as well.
Eyster
14-02-2006, 02:56
Wait, never mind, I didn't read the rest, sorry about that pal.
M3rcenaries
14-02-2006, 02:57
Today's games... COD2 is crazy, Half-Life is insane.

Sierra games were pretty badass too... I still play Empire Earth almost every day.
EE fans unite! Never did buy EE2...

For RTS games, 1998 was the golden year. AOE, Starcraft, Comand and Conquers.
Righteous Munchee-Love
14-02-2006, 02:57
IMO, the 80´s.
Today all the rage seems to be about this new shader, or that new weapon in Quake 377, whereas back then, most games were truly original (Mail Order Monsters, anyone?) and the graphics stimulated your imagination.
Datasettes for the win!
M3rcenaries
14-02-2006, 02:58
IMO, the 80´s.
Today all the rage seems to be about this new shader, or that new weapon in Quake 377, whereas back then, most games were truly original (Mail Order Monsters, anyone?) and the graphics stimulated your imagination.
Datasettes for the win!
Today all the rage is AI, which is a great thing.
Jewish Media Control
14-02-2006, 02:59
80s. "Druglord" and "Rockstar".. Need I say more? *nope!*
Undelia
14-02-2006, 03:01
Before recently, I would have said late 90’s to early 2000’s because of Warcraf III, Counter Strike, Morrowind and Civilization III.

But after upgrading my graphics card recently and purchasing FEAR, Call of Duty 2 and Civilization IV and in anticipation of Oblivion, I would have to say that now is the greatest time for PC games.
Xenophobialand
14-02-2006, 03:03
I wouldn't say that there is any one "best" period in gaming, as all eras have a lot of good things to say for themselves. For me, however, the "funnest" era was in the early 90's, when we first started to see exactly how much promise games really held, with stuff like Warcraft II, Civilization, Masters of Orion, and X-wing. They aren't nearly as good as the more modern stuff, but they showed us what we could expect in the future.
Zilam
14-02-2006, 03:05
Today's games... COD2 is crazy, Half-Life is insane.

Sierra games were pretty badass too... I still play Empire Earth almost every day.


Hey me too!
:D

I also like Firaxis games aka Civilization....
Zilam
14-02-2006, 03:07
I still love all the old C64 games. Sad bastard that I am, I spend a lot of time listening to Slay Radio (http://www.slayradio.org/home.php) which plays remixes of the soundtracks to all those classic games. I love playing with the C64 emulator as well.


I wish i still had my c64..i loved that thing :)
Silliopolous
14-02-2006, 03:08
I still have Space Invaders for the Apple stored on an audio cassete tape somewhere....


And yes - that used to be a valid storage media!
Bakamongue
14-02-2006, 03:09
when was the best computer gaming era?

i was just thinking back to the days of kings quest, space quest, and all those other old Sierra games.



this includes consoles

explain!Hard to choose.

Either the early 80s (when games had to be small and sharp and the best games were ones that had severely addictive gameplay, if bad graphics, like Asteroids, Missile Command, Battletank, even PacMan and Frogger) or the early nineties, when Wolfenstein and Doom came to life and completely revolutionised the industry...


(Though the orginal Grand Theft Auto, was also a revolution, as was GTA3's extra dimension...)
[Edit: Meant to add mention to Elite... There. Done it now.]
Zolworld
14-02-2006, 03:17
I would have to go with the mid to late 90's. Recently I have played call of duty 2, quake 4, FEAR, civ4, neeed for speed, doom 3 half life 2 far cry etc.

and none of them are as good as perfect dark or goldeneye, or sega rally or virtua fighter 2. or command and conquer. Nowadays I always feel like I am waiting for the game that justifies the cost of my video card. Elder scrolls Oblivion and Stalker are the current ones, but half life 2 and the rest were the same. and some of them justified the hype; half life 2 is genius. but it still doesnt make me want to play it.

but I still prefer perfect dark. doing the challenges in multiplayer against the bots. we must have spent days on that! but now i cant play as i have no n64 anymore. and if i did play it would suck because the graphics now suck. the beautiful games of today have ruined the brilliant ones of yesterday.

except final fantasy 7, I played that this afternoon. it looks a turd but it rules!
Dodudodu
14-02-2006, 03:33
I would have to go with the mid to late 90's. Recently I have played call of duty 2, quake 4, FEAR, civ4, neeed for speed, doom 3 half life 2 far cry etc.

and none of them are as good as perfect dark or goldeneye, or sega rally or virtua fighter 2. or command and conquer.

I have to disagree... the multiplayer on COD2 is incredible. Just incredible.
Megaloria
14-02-2006, 03:35
I am a WoW addict. I need my fix but I got a new computer and I need more RAM. SOON.
Seven Spin Clans
14-02-2006, 03:37
I would say mid-late 90's, just before many game companies went the way of the music industry and sold their souls to Mr. Dollar Sign.
Which is not to say that they werent in it for the money before, and that there arent non-sold-out companies now (Bethesada, anybody?) and so on and so forth.
But yeah, 2006 is looking good thus far.
East Coast Federation
14-02-2006, 03:48
Alot of retro fans will probably get mad at this.

But I think Next Generation games will be the best by far.

Half Life 2 is a great example of this, the 1st game with physics that almost mimic real life.

Then theres FEAR and Far Cry, games that have AI that are so smart its almost scary.

Because of the raw power of new Gaming PCs and Consoles, you can produce a world that can completly take you in and make you feel like a part of the game ( WOW, good example ). Back in the 80s, it just wasnt possible to make games like that.

The N64 I think is the 1st system that had that " wow " effect, just because of the 3d worlds. ( Super Mario 64-Best Game Ever )

I'm not saying old games are bad some are awsome, like old nintendo games , but new hardware and developers can just do so much more toady
AllCoolNamesAreTaken
14-02-2006, 03:53
I would say early 90's. Bard's Tale 2. Master of Orion. Star Control 2. King's Bounty. (and the sequals, the Heroes of Might and Magic series). And lets not forget the Gold Box D&D games. And Wolfenstein 3D.
Theoretical Physicists
14-02-2006, 03:53
Personally, I think 1996-2002 was the peak of PC gaming. Here we saw Fallout, Half-Life, and the Diablos. Also, 2002 is when games in general both looked and ran amazingly on your average machine.
Kanabia
14-02-2006, 04:48
The early to mid 90s. The birth of classics like Civilisation, the invention of the FPS (so it was still a fresh concept and didn't feel done a billion times before), and the glory days of console gaming with the SNES. Oooh, and there was Star Control 2. And at the other end of the time scale, there are RTS classics like Warcraft 2. Mmmh. Memories. :p

It's a lot harder nowadays to find games that grip me enough to want to keep playing them until the end without stopping. Maybe i'm just older. But there are a few recent ones (Knights of the Old Republic, Half Life 2...)

Games weren't quite as commericalised as they are now, either.
Non Aligned States
14-02-2006, 05:10
Mmm, it's hard to say. It's like asking what was the best era of the automobile. But I like the 90s for the Monkey Island series. I have a strong suspicion that they modeled Guybrush Threepwood after Lunatic Goofballs.
Kanabia
14-02-2006, 05:11
I have a strong suspicion that they modeled Guybrush Threepwood after Lunatic Goofballs.

LOL, good one... :D
Kievan-Prussia
14-02-2006, 05:21
Early-mid 90s. The Apogee/id era. Wolf 3D, Doom, Duke Nukem 3D, Commander Keen... ahh, bliss!
People without names
14-02-2006, 05:25
Early-mid 90s. The Apogee/id era. Wolf 3D, Doom, Duke Nukem 3D, Commander Keen... ahh, bliss!

ah, i almost forgot about Apogee, been a long time, what happened to them, do they still exist?
Kanabia
14-02-2006, 05:28
ah, i almost forgot about Apogee, been a long time, what happened to them, do they still exist?

I think they became 3D Realms, who are *cough* working on Duke Nukem Forever.
Non Aligned States
14-02-2006, 06:14
LOL, good one... :D

Better not rile LG up then. I bet he keeps an attack duck in his pocket that will bite of your nose when he uses it. :p