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1998-2005, ironically enough I didn't play most of the PC games from that generation until 2007 at least.
Now! Thanks to the wonderful indie revival scene on PC and the consoles' digital distribution services, we are getting passion projects like FTL and Tokyo Jungle.
To this day, my amazement with the 16-bit era never ceases. It just keeps getting renewed.

Close second? PS/N64 era.

Nothing makes games better like extremely close and heated rivalries between first-party devs!
Late 90s and early 00s
The Kickstarter generation. Hasn't played it yet, but it looks to be amazing.
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orcishgamer: Let me predict everyone's answer: "The one that happened when I was 13".

I don't recall anymore whether StingingVelvet or SimonG said it, but it seems at least as true as anything else.
Mine is NOW!

The "when I was thirteen" age was actually also quite good (mid to late nineties). But after that it really took a nosedive. Only clones of popular games and when the XBox and PS2 were dominating gaming, it really hurt PC gaming.

Gaming "turned around" in roughly 2008. After the 360 and PS3 had established themselves and developers knew how to really get stuff going with the tech provided.

Edit: Oh, and it was Stinging who said it. I just agree with him a lot.
Post edited October 09, 2012 by SimonG
As many people said, it would be around 1999-2005

Best time for videogames

PC games were awesome
Dreamcast was out and it was in your face awesome
Xbox actually had exclusives and was worth owning
Gamecube was it's own distinct "Nintendo flavour" actually had exclusives and was worth owning
That generation gave us the best console ever made: The PS2

Now compare that to this gen where:

Nintendo isn't even in this gen, it's a gen behind
PC gaming got the "Shaft" from some publishers
The Xbox 360 sucks harder than a Taiwanese prostitute in Hong Kong
the PS3 had tons of problems and while it is the only good console this gen, it pales in comparison to the PS2

Not to mention how terrible 2012 is, completely filled with failures, blunders and shitty AAA games, might as well rename that to "Year of the Backlog"
Around when the first Thief came out, so let's say 1997-2000 or thereabouts.

- It felt lots of interesting games were coming, and were already out, for PC (and Playstation)

- Interactive movie FMV games and generic point&click adventures were mostly the thing of the past (I didn't really dislike the latter, but at some point it felt Sierra, LucasArts and others, were just churning too many similar adventure games out).

- Developers started to see beyond just making 3D card showpieces, and tried to make interesting games again.

- I think the awful Starforce copy protection hasn't really yet arrived at least in full force, nor online authentication. The publishers still seemed content with simple CD checks.

And I wasn't anything near 13 back then. Frankly, I almost disliked gaming when I was 13, mostly because I had bet on the losing horse when selecting which gaming system I wanted to get. Twice in a row in fact. It was not nice to be stuck with a couple of "shitty" games and watching friends getting lots of great releases for their systems.

I admit thought that around now is also pretty nice, considering the wealth of games available in digital (even DRM-free) format. GOG is a big part of what I love about gaming right now. The days of buying overpriced rare copies of games from eBay are over as far as I can tell (if all you want to do is to play the game).
Post edited October 09, 2012 by timppu
Hah! When I was 13 Pong was not even out!
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Roman5: As many people said, it would be around 1999-2005

Best time for videogames

PC games were awesome
Dreamcast was out and it was in your face awesome
Xbox actually had exclusives and was worth owning
Gamecube was it's own distinct "Nintendo flavour" actually had exclusives and was worth owning
That generation gave us the best console ever made: The PS2

Now compare that to this gen where:

Nintendo isn't even in this gen, it's a gen behind
PC gaming got the "Shaft" from some publishers
The Xbox 360 sucks harder than a Taiwanese prostitute in Hong Kong
the PS3 had tons of problems and while it is the only good console this gen, it pales in comparison to the PS2

Not to mention how terrible 2012 is, completely filled with failures, blunders and shitty AAA games, might as well rename that to "Year of the Backlog"
Yes gaze in the glorious games of last gen

http://www.metacritic.com/browse/games/release-date/available/ps2/metascore

http://www.metacritic.com/browse/games/release-date/available/xbox/metascore

http://www.metacritic.com/browse/games/release-date/available/gamecube/metascore

http://www.metacritic.com/browse/games/release-date/available/gba/metascore

http://www.metacritic.com/browse/games/release-date/available/dreamcast/metascore

Sadly I cannot find a list for PC games of the time frame so I will just say some games

Neverwinter Nights
Rainbow Six 3 Raven Shield
Battlefield 2
World of Warcraft (when it was cool)
Half-Life 2
and of course Morrowind.
Hard to say. The latest generation has dragged on for so long that there's a disproportionate amount of good games from it.
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Whitecroc: Hard to say. The latest generation has dragged on for so long that there's a disproportionate amount of good games from it.
True, which is actually quite strange if you think about it. I assume you're talking about consoles. What other electronic devices take 7 years to move on to the next generation? None, and it's not even a close contest!
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orcishgamer: I've honestly found things to adore in every generation, I'd have a hard time picking a favorite, they're all good, though each also has its stinkers.
^ This is exactly how I feel. Very well said. ;-)
Around 2000 was the Golden Age of PC Gaming.
There was a wide variety in quality games of kinds of genres. Most of the classic turn based Strategy, RTS'es, FPS'es and some of the best CRPGs were releases in this period.
Sadly it ended with the launch of the X-Box in 2002, which heralded the Dark Ages of Dumbing Down, with levels/areas in games getting smaller and more linear, and quest compasses being needed so the consoletards would know what to do next.
This was also before day one DLCs, obligatory romances in "RPGs", and draconian DRM.

But thankfully things have improved lately with more old school, DRM free games being produced, thanks to Kickstarter, and more classic games being easily available thanks to GOG.
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PetrusOctavianus: Around 2000 was the Golden Age of PC Gaming.
There was a wide variety in quality games of kinds of genres. Most of the classic turn based Strategy, RTS'es, FPS'es and some of the best CRPGs were releases in this period.
Sadly it ended with the launch of the X-Box in 2002, which heralded the Dark Ages of Dumbing Down, with levels/areas in games getting smaller and more linear, and quest compasses being needed so the consoletards would know what to do next.
This was also before day one DLCs, obligatory romances in "RPGs", and draconian DRM.

But thankfully things have improved lately with more old school, DRM free games being produced, thanks to Kickstarter, and more classic games being easily available thanks to GOG.
Hey Neverwinter Nights and Morrowind did not have quest compasses.

and there were still non-linear PC games like Ghost Recon 1 and Rainbow Six 3 (imo)

EDIT:But you are correct that quest compasses suck in open-world which kills the purpose of exploration the only game that gets away with it is grand theft auto because exploration is not really a gameplay feature for the game.
Post edited October 09, 2012 by Elmofongo