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[ShirAhava]

PS4/X1/WiiU era was so bad I basically quit being a console gamer

PS3/X360 all the way mine are still hooked up

 

[Stilton Disco]

You cant say Nintendo was on fire this gen and ignore the Wii U since that's where all their output for the gen, switch is next gen, came from.

Hell a large chunk of the Switch's best games are Wii U ports anyway not to mention thier Wii U output is superior to their Switch content anyway.

The Switch and the WiiU are both 8th gen. Nintendo does not control when generations start, and this is not the first generation where a platform holder has released two systems. The Atari 2600 and 5200 are both 2nd gen systems for instance.

I also strongly disagree on the comparative quality of WiiU games. I mean let's be fair, given that the WiiU sold less than the Vita and the Switch is the fastest selling console in US history, it's safe to say your opinion does not match reality.

Infact with the exception of Mario Kart most everything has either been outdone by their Switch sequels or been a comparatively minor blip sales wise when ported over. Breath of rhe Wild is about the best game that was on both, and may as well have not released on WiiU.

Meanwhile Mario Oddysey, Ringfit Adventure, Arms, Splatoon 2, Links Awakening, Smash, Mario Maker 2, the Pokemon games, Fire Emblem 3 kingdoms and Animal Crossing have all been amazing well received critically and commercially, pretty much all blowing past WiiU's best.

The Switch has better games, better hardware, and a better gimmick, and sold amazingly well because people love it.

The WiiU sold like shit, because it was shit.

 

[leo-j]

love the remastered versions of last gen's best games. Like Bioshock, Kingdom hearts, The last of us, GTA, and more.

 

[brap]

Nearly every franchise that was big last gen is either worse this gen or MIA

Halo (worse)
Gears (worse)
Fallout (worse)
Elder Scrolls (MIA) (Mainline entries)
Mass Effect (worse)
GTA (MIA)
Splinter Cell (MIA)
Bioshock (MIA)
Crysis (MIA)
Uncharted (worse)

This was the gen that almost made me quit gaming.

Agree with this. This gen sucks ass outside of japanese games.

 

[93xfan]

Gen 7 was great. Halo 3, Halo Reach, Socom Confrontation, LittleBigPlanet, Fez, Uncharted, Awesomenauts, Crackdown, Skyrim, Last of Us. I think I lean slightly in that direction.

Still, this gen gave us Hollow Knight, Ratchet and Clank remake, Rainbow Six Siege, Metal Gear Solid 5, FF7 remake and many other great games

 

[DunDunDunpachi]

Indies really opened up this gen in comparison to PS3/360/Wii era. It's not even a fair comparison. Minecraft, Terraria, Don't Starve, H1Z1, Witcher 3, etc changed the landscape for everyone. Last gen felt like a struggle as devs were tugged between the Wii and the hardware differences of PS3 vs 360. This gen all the online update stuff has mostly been smoothed out. Games work so well that it's almost mundane.

I think western devs were firin' on all cylinders last gen... with the exception of the Wii, which seemed to put them off. Lots of landmark games. Japanese devs had some hits but also a lot of major slip-ups. This gen it felt like the opposite: the western devs (Ubisoft, Bethesda, EA, Activision, etc) were mostly letdowns and Japanese devs have been firing on all cylinders on all systems.. with the exception of the Xbox, which seems to put them off.

Last gen, handheld gaming was the best generation in history, DS + PSP.

This gen, handheld gaming was a disappointment, to put it nicely (3DS + Vita).

So it depends on what you like. I think indies have been The Great Balancer this generation, filling in all the gaps and missing holes left behind by the over-bloated AAA publishers.

Also the genres distribution is lopsided again. We have way too many shooters last gen and way too many open-world games this gen. Even though I have some favorites from this gen, I have a lot more fighters on PS3 compared to the PS4. On the flip side, I have a lot more twin-stick and shmups on the PS4 compared to last gen.

 

[Danny Dudekisser]

I have a feeling that games in that era were dramatically worse. The transition to HD was rough, and I feel like game design was a lot better both before and after Gen 7.

 

[SleepDoctor]

Easily last gen was way better imo. This gen we got some gems here and there but overall this gen is disappointing compared to last gen imo.

 

[dyergram]

360 era did feel like a renascence however all those games still exist now so this generation is better.

 

[Pizdetz]

The PS3/Xbox era just had a lot of "good" games. Not AAA but still really fun. It was the best gen so far for singleplayer.
Current gen is ruined by padding and forced mp. Single player games need to justify their existence so they have to last 20+ hours and have the same rehashed side quests.
A lot of what came out this gen that was good is basically recycled from the last gen, and in many cases worse. The trend is going to only continue due to emphasis on realism and improved graphics. You'd think all these companies were in the CGI movie business.

 

[eastwood333]

I feel this way all the time. Remembering when I first played Gears of War,Mass Effect,Oblivion, Bioshock,Halo 3, Fear, Prey, Condemned Criminal Origins, Alan Wake,RDR, Skyrim,Crackdown, The Orange Box, Dragon Age Origins,Deus Ex, Infamous, etc....

The N64 tops all for me though

 

[Rest]

Nah. There was some real trash last gen, just like every generation. The best games this gen are among the best I've ever played. Digital game design is maturing as an artform, and the way it's been established as an industry means it has the financial resources to continue to do so. Games are better now than they've ever been.

 

[hussar16]

id say this gen devs really play way to safe,at one spectrum its easier to make games its not ps2 era when even Rockstar was making small titles,now the only companies making smaller games are indies

 

[Belmonte]

Japan came back. This gen wins.

Plus AA games and indies are better than ever, delivering the variety which was lacking in the PS360 days.

 

[levyjl1988]

Well during last gen we got store exclusive preorder bonuses, online passes, preorder bonus dlc, etc.
This gen we got escalated forms of microtransactions, loot boxes, seasons with time-limited content availability.

Yeah, the Xbox One/ PS4 generation really sucked.
For the Xbox 360 we got masterpiece titles like DragonAge: Origins, Mass Effect Trilogy, Dead Space 1, Halo Reach, etc.
Most of those gems are backward compatible titles on X1.

I have more fonder memories during the 360 days than Xbox One. Xbox One started off with extreme disappointment and a let down, literally soured the introductory experience.
Companies getting really greedy. Regardless a lot of the current game design relies on FOMO to keep a constant install base.

This gen was muted and meh.
Hopefully, Xbox Series X will be something.
From what I can predict, games will increase in MSRP and having Games as a Service will have Microsoft ahead of the competition.
Nintendo will continue to fail in innovation and focus on their IP and not listen to fans. Nintendo will have a lot of sequels for Legend of Zelda.
I'm still waiting for the Quality of Life update for Animal Crossing New Horizons if that will ever be a thing.

 

[M1chl]

I feel this way all the time. Remembering when I first played Gears of War,Mass Effect,Oblivion, Bioshock,Halo 3, Fear, Prey, Condemned Criminal Origins, Alan Wake,RDR, Skyrim,Crackdown, The Orange Box, Dragon Age Origins,Deus Ex, Infamous, etc....

The N64 tops all for me though

That is some good list of games you have there : )

Well during last gen we got store exclusive preorder bonuses, online passes, preorder bonus dlc, etc.
This gen we got escalated forms of microtransactions, loot boxes, seasons with time-limited content availability.

Yeah, the Xbox One/ PS4 generation really sucked.
For the Xbox 360 we got masterpiece titles like DragonAge: Origins, Mass Effect Trilogy, Dead Space 1, Halo Reach, etc.
Most of those gems are backward compatible titles on X1.

I have more fonder memories during the 360 days than Xbox One. Xbox One started off with extreme disappointment and a let down, literally soured the introductory experience.
Companies getting really greedy. Regardless a lot of the current game design relies on FOMO to keep a constant install base.

This gen was muted and meh.
Hopefully, Xbox Series X will be something.
From what I can predict, games will increase in MSRP and having Games as a Service will have Microsoft ahead of the competition.
Nintendo will continue to fail in innovation and focus on their IP and not listen to fans. Nintendo will have a lot of sequels for Legend of Zelda.
I'm still waiting for the Quality of Life update for Animal Crossing New Horizons if that will ever be a thing.

This is pretty good analysis of the situation.

 

[Shmunter]

You’re probably right. There were some ground breaking moments. Mass Effect, Bioshock, Modern Warefare, Uncharted, Last of Us, Xbox Arcade. Etc.

Not as much new this gen.

 

[chriskun]

I joined the pc master race at the beginning of this generation, but playing mostly multiplat games on pc I can confidently say the ps3/xbox360 gen was vastly superior. Pretty much everything that has come out this gen has just been iterations on genres in which the standards were set the previous gen.

 

[Poppincaps]

Hmm as much as I would like to say that this generation is better, if I'm being honest the PS3/360 era had some iconic franchises. Franchises that for the most part are worse than they were in the previous gen. The indie gaming scene is definitely better though. Hollow Knight, Undertale, and Celeste being a few examples.

 

[MaddMatt]

The PS2 era was the best, Ps3/360 is on par with this gen I think. There had been some great stuff on PS4 - hell the FF7 remake alone has been worth it.

 

[vaibhavpisal]

Back then people complained about too much linearity. It was era when uncharted 2 was launched and developers found out what cinematic games could be.

Now people complain about too much open world and filler content.

I think only issue is industry starts following certain trends which might have worked for some Dev's and console hardware can allow to work best. So lot of games come out samey.

It was also era when annual franchises like Assassin's creed and cod were started. Repetition was quiet prevelent back then.

 

[Diddy X]

PS360 gen was probably the pinnacle of gaming, smartphones and social media ruined gaming forever, there is no such thing as hype anymore among other things. IQ was trash tho.

 

[Iced Arcade]

Last gen was a monster.

- Was a sizable jump from the previous gen where this gen was mostly a resolution bump.
- tons of new IPs were born bioshock, mindcraft, Arkham, gears, uncharted, assassin's creed, TLoU etc
- a lot of games had 4 player online co-op which seems to be scaled back this gen for some reason.
- we got 4 mainline Halo's, 4 Gears, 3 uncharteds etc all of which were top tier
- how have we not gotten a splinter cell this entire gen?

I still enjoy the hell out of this gen as well though.

 

[Lethal01]

Nearly every franchise that was big last gen is either worse this gen or MIA

Halo (worse)
CoD (worse)
Gears (worse)
Fallout (worse)
Elder Scrolls (MIA) (Mainline entries)
Mass Effect (worse)
GTA (MIA)
Battlefield (worse)
Assassins Creed (worse)
Splinter Cell (MIA)
Bioshock (MIA)
Crysis (MIA)
Uncharted (worse)

This was the gen that almost made me quit gaming.

This thread makes sense now I didn't really care for any of these games.

Resident Evil(better)
Final Fantasy(better)
Devil May Cry(better)
Zelda(better)
Mario(better)
Monster Hunter(better)
The indie games are better
The games output of my favourite studios are better
The new Ips are better.

 

[mickaus]

I think this gen too many games released in an unfinished state. If Sonic 06 was released today the devs would just call it a games as a service game, with eventual updates 3 years later actually making it playable. If most games are just sequels why is it taking so long to make? Just hire enough graphic artists or animators to do the job on time, microtransactions have created more profits so just use the money to make a good looking playable game from day one,

 

[ybfelix]

Most of best games of that gen got remasters on this gen anyway

 

[gow3isben]

Yes. The era of the linear third person. The best era.

 

[tsumake]

I don’t feel like games are games anymore. They are a “service.” Even the big AAA singleplayer games feel like a carefully manufactured tentpole movie.

 

[Griffon]

I call it the brown generation. Everything was brown and blurry, ran like shit, and had awful slow gameplay.

I don't miss it.

PS2 gen was way better, and current PC gaming is much better.

 

[Keihart]

I like this generation more than the PS3, it has been shorter, but i think that we've gotten more varied games this gen. Maybe it's enormous amount of indie tittles coupled with the well rounded end of the gen games from Sony, but last gen had most developers stumbling all 10 years to get 1 one kinda alright game, maybe 2. This gen has been shorter but i've seen more iteration on game concepts.

I still prefer PS2 era tho, when AA had a big space in consoles, that space it's now filled by indies....it's not the same, but i appreciate it too.

Also, i really like how dearing some games are becoming, like Death Stranding and now TLoU2 or even DMCV and GOW, this games were even a harder sell to publishers last gen in this high productions value form, publishers were more focused on making games more mainstream than aiming to their respective niches. Everyone wanted that wii and mobile money. Luckly, not anymore.

 

[Area61]

Depending on the diversity i agree with 360/ps3 era was better. This gen was just a battle between single player narratives vs. Online MP games.

 

[Kagey K]

The 360/PS3 era was peak gaming. We had entire trilogies come out during the time.

Now we are lucky if we even get one game in a franchise.

 

[nush]

The only type of games that I think we are really missing, and 7th gen did better, are the mid range A and B tier titles, outside of the first party libraries at least.

It's exactly what's missing, now it's either tripple A or indies making up the catalogue. There's no risk taken or investment in some games so it's not really been a breeding ground for innovation. As great as PSVR is, where's the new Rockband type breakout title? Have we had an equivalent number of new IP's go from new to part III within this gen (Mass effect, Dead Space)? I get the impression that the B,C range of titles was taken up by remasters and remakes of older games.

 

[Komatsu]

If we consider last gen lasted almost 10 years (2005-2014), and the fact that most Japanese developers seemed to hit a wall, I wouldn't say it was that superior. Maybe I'm just older, but the PS2/NGC/XB/DC era seemed to yield way more 9-10/10 games than what came after.

I mean, what were the really generation-defining games of that era? Looking at lists online, this is what we usually come across:

1. Red Dead Redemption;
2. Metal Gear Solid IV;
3. Call of Duty: Modern Warfare
4. Dark Souls;
5. Dead Space;
6. The Last of Us;
7. Uncharted 2;
8. Portal 2;
9. Grand Theft Auto V;
10. Mass Effect (Trilogy);
11. Skyrim

Honorable mention:

• Nier;
• Catherine;
• Ni No Kuni;
• Fallout 3;
• Witcher 2;
• Fallout New Vegas;
• Oblivion;
• Batman: Arkham City;
• Yakuza 5;
• GTA IV

Great line-up, sure, but Mass Effect, Skyrim and Last of Us aside, I suspect we won't be talking about many of these titles 20 years down the line. And notice the absence of Japanese games in that list - most of the heavy hitters came out of the West.

 

[Kagey K]

If we consider last gen lasted almost 10 years (2005-2014), and the fact that most Japanese developers seemed to hit a wall, I wouldn't say it was that superior. Maybe I'm just older, but the PS2/NGC/XB/DC era seemed to yield way more 9-10/10 games than what came after.

I mean, what were the really generation-defining games of that era? Looking at lists online, this is what we usually come across:

1. Red Dead Redemption;
2. Metal Gear Solid IV;
3. Call of Duty: Modern Warfare
4. Dark Souls;
5. Dead Space;
6. The Last of Us;
7. Uncharted 2;
8. Portal 2;
9. Grand Theft Auto V;
10. Mass Effect (Trilogy);
11. Skyrim

Honorable mention:

• Nier;
• Catherine;
• Ni No Kuni;
• Fallout 3;
• Witcher 2;
• Fallout New Vegas;
• Oblivion;
• Batman: Arkham City;
• Yakuza 5;
• GTA IV

Great line-up, sure, but Mass Effect, Skyrim and Last of Us aside, I suspect we won't be talking about many of these titles 20 years down the line. And notice the absence of Japanese games in that list - most of the heavy hitters came out of the West.

What games from this gen do you suspect people will be talking about in 20 years?


As a comparison.

 

[rofif]

Yes. We had more new aaa and aa games each month. All the time. It was a great time for single player gamers. We've got whole new IP's and trilogies. 2011 was nuts especially. Publishers were not afraid to try new things and games took 2 or 3 years to make and not 7...
I mean the are great games this gen on PS4 mostly but these are sequels or similar games. That said we've got last guardian, bloodborne, death stranding, tlou2 abd quite a bit more... We've also got ruined Halo and good awful gears...
My fav games are still probably gears of war 1,2,3, the darkness, dead rising and dark souls1,2. All last gen also gta4, uc trilogy, list Odyssey, dead side, portals, saints row 3, best burnout, Bioshock and infinite, ma effect games, edf games
And Indies were not trashware like now

 

[German Hops]

For me it was a mixed bag. The start was defined for me mainly with Bioshock and Infamous. But we can't forget motion controllers with Wii Sports on the good side, and Kinect Sports on the bad side (it wasn't that long when Microsoft tried to tack Kinect on every XBox 360 game). Music games like Rockband 2 were a blast in the past era. Then things got gritty, brown/grey and unimpressive in the singleplayer side like Battlefield 3 and CoD clones. Portal and Portal 2 were a big turn around. It was at that point that I pretty much migrated to PC, so personally the PS3/XBox 360 era ended early for me.

It was such a roller coaster that it's too difficult to define it with just one or two games. I would say, though, that Crackdown is an all-time favorite of mine and Xbox Live Arcade was indeed a blast back then.

 

[Hydroxy]

PS3 gen was good but my favorite is PS2/DS gen

 

[cireza]

It was indeed a better generation. PS4One did not add much, it simply was the extension of what was created during PS360, not much innovation, less variety in big AAA games, more tedious and empty open worlds (which suck quite a bit overall).

However we made some progress in both resolution and framerate, today I mainly play games on One X that are 1080p and 60fps, this is a good improvement. Even though there were some 60fps games on PS360.

PS5SeX will be basically the same thing. Same trend. There won't be much improvement in my opinion, AAA games will still mainly be the same style as during PS4One.

As for every gen, I will stick to what I consider are "real" games, that carry the essential principles of games I loved on MegaDrive/Saturn/Dreamcast. As for narrative games, there are also great choices out there with interesting stories that certainly aren't these pretentious interactive AAA movies, but rather VNs and indie games. So there are still nice things to discover and play, but the mainstream style of games has been stuck since PS360 and probably won't evolve in a way that will catch my attention.

 

[Sander Cohen]

I have to agree.

Last gen was in many ways groundbreaking with Oblivion, Modern Warfare, Uncharted, Bioshock, Mass Effect (cannot emphasize enough how important these games were for the future of industry).

Red Dead Redemption, The Last of Us, GTA V, Dead Spaces (best horror games ever IMHO), Fallout 3 & New Vegas, Dark Souls, Batman series, Battlefield 3 (groundbreaking moment for franchise), God of War 3 etc etc.

This gen, with all its flaws, gave us two of the s in Witcher 3 and RDR 2. Japanese games were also much better (Nier Automata, Persona 5, Nioh, Dragon Quest XI, Monster Hunter World).

Still, very few groundbreaking moments and serious lack of innovation and boldness. Also, output slowed significantly which gives me pause for next gen.

 

[bumleforce]

Nope. I have been playing games since 1984 and every gen i feel like the games have just been better than the last

 

[RoadHazard]

Nope, I prefer the PS4 and Switch over the PS3 and Wii/Wii U by far. This generation has given us some of the most amazing gaming experiences ever IMO.

 

[ROMhack]

Not really. I thought the AAA games were better that gen but not necessarily everything else. Indies are better this gen for absolute certain.

We did though get a lot of great 7/10 games that weren't obnoxiously long. It was era of renting from LoveFilm and it worked very well.

 

[Birdo]

If you are a fan of racing games, this gen has been the worst gen of all time.

 

[M1chl]

If you are a fan of racing games, this gen has been the worst gen of all time.

Well I guess the variety sucked, but my favorite games were Forzha Horizons and onRush was good. Aside from that Dirt sucked, no PGR, no Blur, etc. I cannot agree with that, but I understand.

Nope, I prefer the PS4 and Switch over the PS3 and Wii/Wii U by far. This generation has given us some of the most amazing gaming experiences ever IMO.

What are those, if I may ask out of pure curiosity?

 

[DetectiveBananas]

Each of the last 3 gens had their ups and downs. I would rank them PS2, PS4, PS3 Eras for me. Just had more of what I wanted and variation was nice. That doesn’t mean there is a wide gap because I still hold them all in high regard.

 

[the_master]

Where are all the other generations in the poll???

I would say the first 3D consoles (Saturn, Playstation, N64) and the generation after (Dreamcast, Ps2, Xbox) where the best generations (relative to the times) There was a steady stream of games each better than the previous, ever improving, constantly new genera and types of games. It helped dreaming about what games would come out next.

There where also new arcades coming out with very cool experiences.

 

[JeloSWE]

Lets just say I wasn't a fan of the grey/brown aesthetics during the PS3 era.

 

[M1chl]

Where are all the other generations in the poll???

I would say the first 3D consoles (Saturn, Playstation, N64) and the generation after (Dreamcast, Ps2, Xbox) where the best generations (relative to the times) There was a steady stream of games each better than the previous, ever improving, constantly new genera and types of games. It helped dreaming about what games would come out next.

There where also new arcades coming out with very cool experiences.

Sorry, but I started with consoles in 2007 with X360, PC before that, so it probably would need someone else to do separate thread.

Lets just say I wasn't a fan of the grey/brown aesthetics during the PS3 era.

Well, it was not like that the whole gen though.

 

[Deleted member 740922]

I've missed Ridge Racer during this gen