Game of the generation

[archnemesis]

Oh, I almost always forget about them. But you also have casual games like Wii Sports, Wii Fit, Kinect etc. Those are pretty popular and innovative too, even though they're not for me.

[Tasty]

GotG and my fav television actress of the 90's: SMG

SMG was crazy hot. Super crushed on her.

I'm not saying you take it seriously, I'm just saying that it's fucking annoying.

You see what you want.

[Himu]

I forgot about the casual games. Those are pretty unique experiences. Just Dance games are games that weren't possible in past gens. I guess in my brain I automatically x'd them out because, you know why...

[Tasty]

I forgot about the casual games. Those are pretty unique experiences. Just Dance games are games that weren't possible in past gens. I guess in my brain I automatically x'd them out because, you know why...

Guitar Hero.

spoiler (click to show/hide)

GH5 was my favorite music game this gen. Great peripheral too.

[close]

[Himu]

GotG and my fav television actress of the 90's: SMG

SMG was crazy hot. Super crushed on her.

Seems to me SMG is leading this shit.

I forgot about the casual games. Those are pretty unique experiences. Just Dance games are games that weren't possible in past gens. I guess in my brain I automatically x'd them out because, you know why...

Guitar Hero.

spoiler (click to show/hide)

GH5 was my favorite music game this gen. Great peripheral too.

[close]

Guitar Hero started on ps2 and wasn't exactly fully original to begin with (see: benami)

[Tasty]

I meant more in terms of great casual games than original this-gen-only experiences.

Also:

[Barry Egan]

It was probably Half-Life Source for me but I know that doesn't really count.

[Himu]

[Tasty]

[Human Snorenado]

GOTG Modded Morrowind.

spoiler (click to show/hide)

If I had to chose a game that actually came out this gen it would be a toss up for me between Fallout 3 or Oblivion.

[close]

Only true deviates would say Oblivion > Skryim

[Eel O'Brian]

I don't think an open world Western game was exactly a safe bet in 2010, even if it was a Rockstar game.

[D3RANG3D]

GOTG Modded Morrowind.

spoiler (click to show/hide)

If I had to chose a game that actually came out this gen it would be a toss up for me between Fallout 3 or Oblivion.

[close]

Only true deviates would say Oblivion > Skryim

All TES games are better than Skyrim except Arena

[Himu]

I don't think an open world Western game was exactly a safe bet in 2010, even if it was a Rockstar game.

I listed RDR as an unsafe bet, so I agree. But more than that, RDR was an original sandbox experience amidst the rest of the genre harping on last gen stuff. RDR was the first sandbox game to feel actually next gen in its approach.

[Eel O'Brian]

yeah, I saw that after i'd already posted

RDR bro daps

[D3RANG3D]

yeah, I saw that after i'd already posted

RDR bro daps

I really wish there was a PC port because I don't own any consoles.

[Himu]

First HD game I played: Dead Rising. Didn't get a 360 until 2007.

GOTY's over the years:

2007 - Persona 3
2008 - Persona 4/Fallout 3
2009 - Resident Evil 5/Uncharted 2
2010 - Super Mario Galaxy 1/2 / Red Dead Redemption
2011 - Saints Row The Third/Skyrim/Dynasty Warriors 7
2012 - Warriors Orochi 3/Diablo 3

[Himu]

I disagree, I get a lot of specific games from consoles. Consoles have their uses.

If we talked about franchises that improved this generation, it would be such a small number compared to the franchises that have deteriorated.

[Shaka Khan]

I didn't end up playing a lot of games this gen, not even the ones I already bought. But of what I *did* play, thoroughly, I'd say:
Console- Toss up between the Soul games. (Far from perfect but made big statements and inspired other games/devs in a positive way)
Handhelds- Tactics Ogre. (Hit all the right notes for me. It represents exactly what I want out of portable games)

[Cerveza mas fina]

Someone mentioned Guitar Hero, good one.

I also have a weak spot for Uncharted, Tomb Raider (the first one on 360), Walking Dead, Mass Effect, Dragon Age, Gears, Alan Wake.

Maybe all super safe mainstream choices but hey maybe im just average joe as far as gaming tastes go on this board, but among my friends im def the only one that played Super Meat Boy, Miami Hotline etc.

[Himu]

I'm saying straight up that even console specific/centric genres suck dick right now. Fighting games? stale. JRPG's? pathetic. 3D action hacknslash? most of the best titles are on PC. I guess if you play mostly Japanese games right now, you're probably starting to hate gaming. Well, blame it on them. As for franchises.... Who cares? Franchises are born, live, die, and are sometimes reborn. Personally I think a lot of NEW franchises/talent have emerged that are really really stellar, despite a shit economy in Japan, the US, and the EU.

If anything this gen proved that you don't have anything to look forward to from consoles next gen except for first party stuff. And even then? fuck buying a console for what any of these dudes are making. I can understand owning consoles... But being console specific in 2012? I honestly feel kind of sorry for you dude.

Why do you feel sorry for me? I play on console, handheld, and pc. I'm just talking discussion. Games are great.

I think it's important to note franchises, because franchises are staples. Almost all the great games this gen were new franchises. That's true. But when almost every old franchise has delivered middling or awful results, I thin that's something worth discussing since it affects this hobby of ours.

I never said this generation is awful, because it isn't. I love this generation thoroughly, but holy shit is it a cluster fuck and the changing of times/era. I think that's fun to discuss, because things like that don't happen often. If anything, I'd say, at this point, if you can't find anything to enjoy across all platforms (console, pc, handheld) something is wrong.

[Cerveza mas fina]

Tomb Raider is a franchise that made a good comeback this gen after the last.

I havent played the new MK but it seemed to make a splash too.

[Himu]

I agree.

Games that made improvements:

- Tomb Raider
- Sonic
- FIFA
- Red Dead
- Call of Duty
- NBA2k
- fighting games in general

Games that made comebacks:

- X-Com
- Fallout
- Gianna Sisters

[Cerveza mas fina]

Wow almost forgot Read Dead 1 was two gens ago great comebacks indeed for Fallot and Xcom.

Another game that fell off Pro Evo Soccer.

Not sure about COD, it was already big, it just blew up with MW.

[Himu]

Wow almost forgot Read Dead 1 was two gens ago great comebacks indeed for Fallot and Xcom.

Another game that fell off Pro Evo Soccer.

Not sure about COD, it was already big, it just blew up with MW.

Games that went down the shitter:

- Final Fantasy
- Metal Gear
- Devil May Cry
- Ninja Gaiden
- Civilization
- PES
- NBA Live
- Gran Turismo
- Splinter Cell
- Kingdom Hearts
- Diablo (arguable)
- Mega Man
- Castlevania
- Grand Theft Auto
- SOCOM
- Prince of Persia
- Resident Evil
- Zelda

On top of those other franchises I listed that made improvements, I'd say Mario and Rayman.

[Cerveza mas fina]

Moba games are really big now too, sure Dota was a wc3 mod but they really developed into something huuuge now.

starcraft 2 is another amazing comeback and diablo 3 too for most (not me).

Edit: damn good list himu. Id argue civilization cause of 4 and civ rev.

[Cerveza mas fina]

And yeah what happened to the NBA games, they used to be big even here in europe.

[Himu]

On the other hand, we have so many awesome new IPs to play.

Gen is really fucking crazy. Next gen will get even crazier.

[Stoney Mason]

Wow almost forgot Read Dead 1 was two gens ago great comebacks indeed for Fallot and Xcom.

Another game that fell off Pro Evo Soccer.

Not sure about COD, it was already big, it just blew up with MW.

The big jump with COD was the multiplayer in 4. The idea of perks, customization, and leveling-up permanently changed everything in the mp world. Not that it was the first to use all of those concepts but it was the first to combine it all in a package for the masses. As an admitted fan of COD everything in the series since has been balance fixes essentially to the concept. But that original (4 I mean) one dropped the bomb. Before that it was just another popular game series among other popular game series. After that it made the leap.

[Stoney Mason]

And yeah what happened to the NBA games, they used to be big even here in europe.

The 2k basketball series is very popular in America. The NBA Live series fell off due to incompetence.

[DCharlieJP]

oh, i guess if it counts as part of this gen, the game i played the most this last gen was easily Monster Hunter 3rd P.

And , of course, i have a stinking great chub on for the series - just completely burnt out after 3rd P, so getting back into 3G was slow and painful (especially as Jonnyram and my wife decided to skip it because ... well, same reason i guess. No desire to go back to Jaggi armour to go hunting the low level monsters after you've just spent weeks kicking the shit out of the 3rd P end game/hidden Ancients).

Now, i know 3G/U now has online play but.... hell is other Monster Hunter teams. Our team is a well drilled and practiced set up - whenever i've played with anyone else it just doesn't feel right and they nearly -always- do something that we wouldn't (deploying traps too early, wrong elemental weapon, no shit bombs (WHY WHY WHY?) , no on-field item creation, suicide bomb triggers, positions aren't decided etc). So yeah - MH4 is going to be when the whole thing starts again.

[Cerveza mas fina]

Wow almost forgot Read Dead 1 was two gens ago great comebacks indeed for Fallot and Xcom.

Another game that fell off Pro Evo Soccer.

Not sure about COD, it was already big, it just blew up with MW.

The big jump with COD was the multiplayer in 4. The idea of perks, customization, and leveling-up permanently changed everything in the mp world. Not that it was the first to use all of those concepts but it was the first to combine it all in a package for the masses. As an admitted fan of COD everything in the series since has been balance fixes essentially to the concept. But that original (4 I mean) one dropped the bomb. Before that it was just another popular game series among other popular game series. After that it made the leap.

I know I know thats why I started this thread by naming COD4 my gotg

[D3RANG3D]

Wow almost forgot Read Dead 1 was two gens ago great comebacks indeed for Fallot and Xcom.

Another game that fell off Pro Evo Soccer.

Not sure about COD, it was already big, it just blew up with MW.

Games that went down the shitter:

- Final Fantasy
- Metal Gear
- Devil May Cry
- Ninja Gaiden
- Civilization
- PES
- NBA Live
- Gran Turismo
- Splinter Cell
- Kingdom Hearts
- Diablo (arguable)
- Mega Man
- Castlevania
- Grand Theft Auto
- SOCOM
- Prince of Persia
- Resident Evil
- Zelda

On top of those other franchises I listed that made improvements, I'd say Mario and Rayman.

You forgot Metroid.

[Stoney Mason]

Earlier I gave my personal games of the generation but if if you tweak the thread to most important or influential games of the gen I would also have to include Minecraft and League of Legends.

[Human Snorenado]

Wow almost forgot Read Dead 1 was two gens ago great comebacks indeed for Fallot and Xcom.

Another game that fell off Pro Evo Soccer.

Not sure about COD, it was already big, it just blew up with MW.

Games that went down the shitter:

- Final Fantasy
- Metal Gear
- Devil May Cry
- Ninja Gaiden
- Civilization
- PES
- NBA Live
- Gran Turismo
- Splinter Cell
- Kingdom Hearts
- Diablo (arguable)
- Mega Man
- Castlevania
- Grand Theft Auto
- SOCOM
- Prince of Persia
- Resident Evil
- Zelda

On top of those other franchises I listed that made improvements, I'd say Mario and Rayman.

Haha, look at that list.  So much of it is Japan-centric.  I would put DQ on there as well, because I'm not playing shit on handhelds anymore, fuck it.  That's just me though.  The Fire Emblem wii game kinda sucked as well.

[Tasty]

Creepy Old Guy's Andrexocity into account.

What does this mean?

[Steve Contra]

It's sort of amazing just how much Call of Duty overshadowed the traditional gaming market this generation. 

[Human Snorenado]

Creepy Old Guy's Andrexocity into account.

What does this mean?

I think it means "general unreasonableness and possible fucktardery" or something along those lines

[D3RANG3D]

Creepy Old Guy's Andrexocity into account.

What does this mean?

Writing off games for reasons that have nothing to do with the actual games.  We all do it sometimes.  Some of us more than others.  Might have some connection to what I've named it!

In Andrex's case not enough whimsy and open source?

[iconoclast]

Top three:

Mushihime-sama Futari (AC - 2006, 2007; 360 - 2009)


This is probably my favorite game of all time. Between versions 1.5 and Black Label, there are 6 different modes that cater to players of all skill levels, complete with different scoring systems. 1.5 Maniac and God are my favorites of the bunch.

Ninja Gaiden II (360 - 2008)


The pinnacle of action game combat. The survival missions also make it an excellent game to play for score, where the most skilled players dominate the top of the leaderboards.

Akai Katana Shin (AC - 2010, 2012; 360 - 2011)


Everything about this game is great. All three modes, both of the scoring systems, all three characters, the art, graphics, and music. I'd put it right behind Futari as my second favorite shooter.

-

Other favorites (in no real order): Death Smiles 1 & 2, Demon's & Dark Souls, Ouendan 1 & 2, Street Fighter IV, Shadowrun, Espgaluda II, Vanquish, Bayonetta, Catherine, Hard Corps: Uprising, Mega Man 9, Dead Rising 1, Strania, Child of Eden, Muchi Muchi Pork!, Bionic Commando Rearmed, Virtua Fighter 5, EDF 2017, Sin & Punishment 2, Crimzon Clover, Bangai-O HD.

Overall, this gen has been pretty good. Mostly because of the small developers that would rather make good games instead of lots of money.

[Timber]

IT basically Fallout 3 and Persona 4. Can't even process how soft I am for this games 

[Human Snorenado]

Creepy Old Guy's Andrexocity into account.

What does this mean?

Writing off games for reasons that have nothing to do with the actual games.  We all do it sometimes.  Some of us more than others.  Might have some connection to what I've named it!

HEY

It's not that I'm super petty and don't want to play the series on a nintendo console- we've already established that if I like a series enough, I'll even buy a console for it alone (see Fire Emblem).  It's more to do with the fact that I don't like handhelds in general and specifically am not a big enough DQ fan to buy a handheld for that game alone.

Will get a 3ds for fire emblem at some point.  I have a problem.

[Don Flamenco]

Hey wait, Metal Gear Rising is out in Feb....

I'll just bump it then.

[Eel O'Brian]

There are a bunch more games I loved this gen, but I figured I ought to narrow it down to the two I spent the most amount of time with

[Cerveza mas fina]

Effin great point Oscar, never thought of it that way.

But for the sake of continuity franchises like Halo, cod, morrowind, gta continued their influence, even to new levels. Western gamea matured this gen.

I think the turning point was the xbox which was a western platform and made pc devs make console games. (Coupled with the pre-steam pc troubles).

[Cerveza mas fina]

Something else that occured to me is that with better graphics Japanese games stand out more and more in their looks. Maybe making them less attractive to westerners.

Cloud was a blocky dude you could imagine to be anyone really, but going forward games like FF13 look extremely japanese, something that wasnt the case two gens ago cause of hardware limitations.

The big japanese hits in the west look western many aspects, dead rising, resident evil, metal gear. But games like Bayonetta and Vanquish fail to connect somehow, maybe because of their looks and overall feel.

[Himu]

Anyway, the main reason why Himu's list looks so Japan-centric is that the west had little to lose this gen.  Most of the grand old western franchises were killed last gen, though this gen we've seen a couple of very successful revivals (Deus Ex, Fallout, X-Com seems like it too?).  Stuff like Ultima, Wizardry, HoM&M, C&C, Lucasarts adventure games, Doom, Quake, Duke Nukem, Sierra's licenses, Syndicate, Zork, Thief, Mech Warrior, and so on all took their dirt naps quality or financial-wise before this gen started. 

I think in a way that was kind of liberating, because Western developers kind of had to dig their way in on the backs of new IP, to excellent results.  With a few exceptions, the great western games this generation have been new IPs, with attempts to ride on the backs of dormant or damaged IPs largely failing.  Hopefully the scorched earth done on most long-in-the-tooth Japanese franchises leads to a similar creative revival for the big companies there, next gen.

I'm always bewildered at "WHERE ARE THE NEW IPS??" bullcrap I hear from fanboys cause this gen's biggest games were new IPs that started this gen(Gears Of War, Mass Effect, Dead Space, etc.) that barely have more than 3 games under the franchise, and the revivals like Deus Ex, Street Fighter and Fallout were long overdue as well. Now they're mad that those franchises hit it big and are being milked, which is more to do with the industry than anything else and I'm sure once interest eventually wanes on some of those blockbusters you'll see more new IPs coming out.

I think you're projecting or stretching the truth a bit here. There's a select minority of people (often quite stupid) who complain about lack of new ips.

[Human Snorenado]

Something else that occured to me is that with better graphics Japanese games stand out more and more in their looks. Maybe making them less attractive to westerners.

Cloud was a blocky dude you could imagine to be anyone really, but going forward games like FF13 look extremely japanese, something that wasnt the case two gens ago cause of hardware limitations.

The big japanese hits in the west look western many aspects, dead rising, resident evil, metal gear. But games like Bayonetta and Vanquish fail to connect somehow, maybe because of their looks and overall feel.

I think if the games were quality, it wouldn't matter.  Not saying it doesn't to some people, but those people are racists, or as I like to call them "Borys"

[Cerveza mas fina]

Im not even talking about animu stuff Wrath, just something about Japanese games that aesthetically feels off, like it doesn't connect.

I think many people would say bayonetta and vanquish are superior to gow and gears, yet the latter sell millions while the former are dead.

[Himu]

It's a simple matter of advertising, Lager. Gears of War has a ridiculous ad campaign championed by Microsoft  - who put insane amount of money into their advertising. Bayo and Vanquish are published by fucking Sega. I never even saw a Vanquish commercial on tv. If they were advertised well, I think we'd have sequels out by now. Advertising is half the game.

[Cerveza mas fina]

Something else that occured to me is that with better graphics Japanese games stand out more and more in their looks. Maybe making them less attractive to westerners.

Cloud was a blocky dude you could imagine to be anyone really, but going forward games like FF13 look extremely japanese, something that wasnt the case two gens ago cause of hardware limitations.

The big japanese hits in the west look western many aspects, dead rising, resident evil, metal gear. But games like Bayonetta and Vanquish fail to connect somehow, maybe because of their looks and overall feel.

I think if the games were quality, it wouldn't matter.  Not saying it doesn't to some people, but those people are racists, or as I like to call them "Borys"

Maybe a movie analogy. There are arguably loads of good foreign movies, yet the people the world over flock to hollywood flicks. Something they can connect too intristically through exposure to us culture. Maybe its a trickle down effect from this or something.

We have become so bombarded with imagery in the last decade, more so then ever through internet and smartphones, maybe people have become more sensitive to these things.

Maybe im just drunk though

[Great Rumbler]

I'm always bewildered at "WHERE ARE THE NEW IPS??" bullcrap I hear from fanboys cause this gen's biggest games were new IPs that started this gen(Gears Of War, Mass Effect, Dead Space, etc.) that barely have more than 3 games under the franchise

Dishonored, Bioshock, Mirror's Edge, Borderlands, Overlord, Batman: Arkham [Noun], The Witcher, Crysis, STALKER, Saints Row, Sleeping Dogs, Dragon Age, Dead Rising, Portal, Left 4 Dead, Dark/Demon Souls, Alpha Protocol, Darksiders, Dead Island, Risen, RAGE, ect.

Okay, some of those aren't so big and some won't ever be more than a one-off, but whatever.

[Cerveza mas fina]

It's a simple matter of advertising, Lager. Gears of War has a ridiculous ad campaign championed by Microsoft  - who put insane amount of money into their advertising. Bayo and Vanquish are published by fucking Sega. I never even saw a Vanquish commercial on tv. If they were advertised well, I think we'd have sequels out by now. Advertising is half the game.

This too of course, but does its only half the story. Even with meager advertising these games could have sold well, look at Dead Rising (special case since it was a flavour of the month 360 game), if they appealed to people.

[Eel O'Brian]

my GOTY breakdown for this gen:

2005 - Condemned
2006 - Oblivion
2007 - Crackdown
2008 - Fallout 3
2009 - Uncharted 2
2010 - Red Dead Redemption (with special mention for Deadly Premonition)
2011 - Dead Island/Skyrim (tie)
2012 - Borderlands 2

[Momo]

Final Fantasy didnt go down the shitter this gen, it's slide started a long time ago on a console far away

[Himu]

Final Fantasy didnt go down the shitter this gen, it's slide started a long time ago on a console far away

No matter what you think about VII-IX, X-XII they were all pretty competent.

It took S-E almost 5 years from when the generation started with the release of the xbox 360 to release a new Final Fantasy for current consoles.

Versus is in limbo.

XIV was so bad they had to give it out for FREE for over a year, the original director quit, and they had to make a drastic shift in the game's design.

Type-0 is slated to never be released in English.

All we have are XIII sequels and no one really cares.

So objectively, yes, Final Fantasy has gone down the shitter this gen. What once used to be a system seller for many has been induced to groans, sighs, and mega roll eyes. Don't kid yourself.

[Cerveza mas fina]

Can someone explain to me the rising costs arguement, if Japanese devs where doing so well last gen how come they cant compete now? Where did the money of these western devs that werent doing so hot come from? How come western devs have these budgets but not Japanese ones?

Oscar said that the japanese market is doing pretty good compared to the west, where is the money going, handhelds?

[Eel O'Brian]

I bet they're all pretty nervous about the handheld situation right now

[Himu]

Well, the handheld situation is quite different in Japan compared to say, America.

[Cerveza mas fina]

But then for them there are two options, either turn completely to Japan and greatly limit their selling potential abroad by making less flashy games for handhelds or try to compete with western devs while ignoring the japanese market. Quite a limbo.

From software seems to be the only one that hit a homerun on both market this gen (im blatantly ignoring anything nintendo for arguements sake)

Jap devs could reach western gamers through ios and android, but aside from SE they seem to snub mobiles in the west for now.

[Cerveza mas fina]

Well they got it good cause of monhun in japan and re worldwide. But how long will this last?