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This console gen - many excellent games but no real classics?

Batman: Arkham Asylum is a classic in my book. First Batman game done justice and a AAA one at that.

Do agree the Halo series has sucked this gen. 3 was a good start, Reach was a dissapointment that did nothing different except give you classes, a space mission, and more of the same bullshit right down to the moon physics.
 
Super Mario Galaxy 1 and 2, Portal, and Team Fortress 2 (PC/Mac) are all obvious classics.

Episode 2 will probably be lumped in with the rest of the Half Life series as classics. Bioshock is probably a classic. Arkham Asylum is right up there, too, and would be a lock if it didn't kind of fall apart in the last boss battle. I'm also going to totally cheat and call Metroid Prime Trilogy a classic, since 3 came out this gen and 1 and 2 were improved on the Wii.
 
I think classic should be defined properly, again.

There is no such game as Super Mario World on snes. You can't become classic in 3 years.

The BMW 3 E36 (1990-2000) is a classic for my personal taste. The BMW 3 46 (1998-2007) isn't. To become a classic you have to become very popular to a broad audience.

But this rule can also have some problems because I don't think that The Wii Sports is a true classic.

typical classics for me on snes are:
Super Mario World
Zelda
Lufia
Super Mario Kart
Street Fighter II
International Superstar Soccer

or Diablo II, Starcraft on PC



It is hard to find a game with the same feeling on the PS3/Xbox 360.
 
Uncharted 2 was the game which impressed me the most. oh my god, so many awesome setpieces. MGS4 is my favourite game though - It's just an epic final for the whole series! Two instant classics for me.
 
1. Super Mario Galaxy
2. Batman: Arkham Asylum
3. Mass Effect
4. Braid
5. Gears of War

Off the top of my head. Plenty of great games this generation, but the above are my top five classics this gen.
 
BocoDragon said:
While clearly there are many classics this gen.... this gen has seen the most radical break in orthodoxy from the types of games which used to dominate. Some weathered the change in stride, and didn't notice any difference.... And others just aren't getting just aren't getting what they used to love about gaming- from the mainstream titles.

I think a gamer who is stuck in that NES-PS2 era will look at the current crop of blockbusters, and they won't satisfy him in the same way. These new titles satisfy in different ways, for different types of gamers. Meanwhile, this oldschool gamer can find MANY titles which do satisfy like the blockbusters of old, but they aren't recognized by the mainstream as the big titles any longer. Valkyria, Muramasa, Lost Odyssey, Demon's Souls, etc. They sell, but these are not the games that people are lining up at midnight launches to buy. Probably the Nintendo biggies are the only old-school style games that are still Big Deals, which is why people bringing up Mario Galaxy, etc.
This is a good post. The list in the OP really makes me raise my eyebrows. I honestly don't see at least half that list being even remembered in the next-gen, especially when their sequels appear. I think it's very comparable to movies. Big blockbuster games can get hyped a lot during the moment but forgotten within a year, but the best movies that really sticks with you are the classics: which doesn't matter if it was a blockbuster or not. To list all the blockbusters of this gen is probably the wrong way to actually guess which ones will be considered classics.
 
games that have genuinely impressed me above all....


Mario Galaxy 1,2
Uncharted 2
Mass Effect 1, 2
Bioshock
Gears Of War (1 and only 1 on this)


Im Surprised at the lack of Bioshock in this thread!!! I thought it was real highlight of this gen for me at least!
 
Yes Boss! said:
Lots of Kirby Epic Yarn in this thread.

I'm not seeing it. Loved it and one-hundred-percented it but, to me, it is just one of the excellent games Nintendo releases every year, and not a timeless classic.

Yeah, I'm surprised to see it too. It's a good game, but no way is it making the cut over Galaxy and NSMBW.

DSN2K said:
snip

Im Surprised at the lack of Bioshock in this thread!!! I thought it was real highlight of this gen for me at least!

It's all over the first page, so I'm not sure what you mean by "lack of."
 
Well, Warhawk has turned out to be my favorite game ever, and although the bulk of my playtime this gen has gone into that alone, Mirror's Edge is also a truly innovative and brilliantly executed game, and Demon's Souls seriously raised the bar for dungeon crawls.

If they ever shut down the Warhawk servers then I'll have time to check out more than just a handful of current gen games, and I'd be willing to bet there are quite a few more that I'll be able to look back on as classics someday.
 
Despite the inherently subjective nature of this thread, I'm actually going to have to agree with the thread starter.

There have definitely been some exceptional games this generation, but almost nothing that I think I'll still be playing and enjoying five or 10 years from now.

My Last Gen Classics:
Resident Evil 4
Splinter Cell Chaos Theory
Shadow of the Colossus
Prince of Persia Sands of Time
Half-Life 2

These are all games that I knew then and there would end up being some of my favorite games of all time. I haven't played anything this gen that's quite hit that level.

Potential Current Gen Classics:
Super Street Fighter IV
Team Fortress 2
Half-Life 2 Episode Two
Call of Duty 4
(for other people) BioShock
 
The number of PS3 and 360 games in my permanent library is quite small and most of those have been released in the last two years. I suspect that the rise of online console multiplayer has contributed to an increase in the proportion of games that are strictly ephemeral.
 
Bioshock's nomination keeps surprising me.

I mean, its pretty good absolutely, some amazing art and nice voice acting.

But on a personal level it felt like a less sophisticated, less scary version of System Shock 2. Coming from SS2's level of intensity, difficulty and sustained mortal dread, Bioshock was a let down. It held my hand too much, promised more choice than it actually delivered, and had a pretty bad second half
everything after Ryan needs to be changed basically
.

I'll look back on it as a good game, but one that wasn't as good as System Shock 2, and didn't quite live up to its promise or potential. Future generations might be kinder or harsher when they revisit it.
 
razorman said:
Despite all this, I can't help but feel that there hasn't been anything this generation which really matches up to the very best of last gen.

I just can't think of anything this gen which had same kind of impact on me as some of the titles mentioned above. I'm more than happy with the quality of games in the last few years, but still I long for something with that real 'all time great' status. Does anyone else agree, or am I being too fussy?

One possible cause is that games were actually better before. Another possible explanation is a retrospective bias. Was Resident Evil 4 instantly considered a classic? It takes time before you can sort out which games get to join the hall of fame. So comparing this gen to last seems premature in that regard.
 
Mario Galaxy 2, BioShock, Dead Rising, and Red Dead Redemption are the only games I'll remember this generation for. Everything else has just been alright.
 
hey_it's_that_dog said:
One possible cause is that games were actually better before. Another possible explanation is a retrospective bias. Was Resident Evil 4 instantly considered a classic?

Yes, because it immediately set a standard for quality 3rd person shooters just like Gears of War did.
 
Host Samurai said:
This list just destroys this generation in terms of retail releases. And keep in mind its only 100 games from 1 console.

http://www.ign.com/top-ps2-games/

Just shows how much better variety there was last generation
Um...I would have to disagree, especially on the variety point. We've had fantastic entries in pretty much every genre, and I could probably put together a similar list of
"highly regarded games" if I wanted to take the time to. Include the Wii and the DS in consideration and there have been amazing games in every genre and niche.
 
OP is just showing his age, for any form of entertainment, a large group from every generation of people will look back to their teen and 20s years as a golden age.
 
The_Technomancer said:
Um...I would have to disagree, especially on the variety point. We've had fantastic entries in pretty much every genre, and I could probably put together a similar list of
"highly regarded games" if I wanted to take the time to. Include the Wii and the DS in consideration and there have been amazing games in every genre and niche.

The TC said console generation so I am only going by home console titles. In terms of quality retail games last console generation was far superior. This generation lacks

Survival Horror- Haunting Ground, 3 Fatal Frame games, ReMake etc
JRPG's - Do I even need to mention?
Wrestling games - Where are my KoC? FPW? I am stuck with shitty WWE games
Adventure games - SoTC, Ico, Wind Waker, Beyond Good and Evil
etc

It is hard to come by all of the following genres if you even own all 3 home consoles. Previously I have owned DC/PS2/GC/Xbox and my gaming was complete. I had everything.
 
linsivvi said:
1) You don't own a Wii or either of the portable systems.
2) You are obviously clouded by nostalgia. Games like Dead Space, Assassin's Creed 2, Uncharted 2 and Batman are every bit as good as the classic action titles from past generations.
3) This gen is hardly over. The developers of ICO and SOTC, which you considered to be classics, have yet to release a game. Retro's 2nd game isn't even released yet. First mainline GT is not even out. We haven't played a Zelda developed solely for a next gen system yet.
4) This gen is much more diverse than the past. Many prominent games are on portable systems only, some are downloadable titles. The Sam and Max games, for example, are just as good as the classic adventure games.

I disagree with all of these.

(Seriously, you've played Telltale's games, right? I'm not sure THEY would put their own games with the classics.)
 
GhaleonQ said:
I disagree with all of these.

(Seriously, you've played Telltale's games, right? I'm not sure THEY would put their own games with the classics.)
I played only Tales of MI and it's my second favorite MI (after MI2). Really charming game.
 
Host Samurai said:
The TC said console generation so I am only going by home console titles. In terms of quality retail games last console generation was far superior. This generation lacks

Survival Horror- Haunting Ground, 3 Fatal Frame games, ReMake etc
JRPG's - Do I even need to mention?
Wrestling games - Where are my KoC? FPW? I am stuck with shitty WWE games
Adventure games - SoTC, Ico, Wind Waker, Beyond Good and Evil
etc

It is hard to come by all of the following genres if you even own all 3 home consoles. Previously I have owned DC/PS2/GC/Xbox and my gaming was complete. I had everything.
But this generation has also seen the rebirth of the platformer, which makes up for the rest.

You know, I would really love an actually good current-gen jRPG, but at this point I've given up hope. I mean in the vein of high fantasy like in FF, DQ, and the like. There have been some great jRPGs the past few years (Persona, Mario and Luigi, Pokemon, etc), but nothing in that steampunk/fantasy style that used to be so prevalent. I understand the decline, but I'd love to see something impressive with that style again, something with a fresh twist on it and not a "me too!" game like Lost Odyssey.

Maybe my requirements for it are a bit too strict :lol
 
Uncharted 2 is the best game I have played this gen, and one of the best ever in my eyes...its a classic or whatever.

The OP mentioned RE4... personally I think U2 is a much more impressive and better executed game...even considering respective release dates
 
-Dead Rising (only the first)
-Bayonetta
-Vanquish
-Valkyria Chronicles
-Demon's Souls
-Super Street Fighter 4
-Super Mario Galaxy
-Zack and Wiki

Hopefuly we can add a couple to this list next year!
 
Crunched said:
But this generation has also seen the rebirth of the platformer, which makes up for the rest.

You know, I would really love an actually good jRPG, but at this point I've given up hope.

Where were you last generation? There were loads of platformers.
 
Dude BioShock is already a classic, but I see it as one of those gems that will truly standout from the rest of this gen.
 
Host Samurai said:
Where were you last generation? There were loads of platformers.
Not like we're seeing now. Just a sampling off the top of my head: Galaxy, Splosion Man, Super Meat Boy, VVVVVV, Mirror's Edge, Braid, Mega Man 9+10, N+, New Super Mario Bros, and so on. They put last gen's offerings to shame. That's without mentioning games like Assassin's Creed and Crackdown, which play with platforming concepts in new ways.
 
Disregarding some games I love personally, but are not liked too much in general, I think at least Demon's souls, Mario Galaxy and Batman: Arkham Asylum will be considered classics in the years to come.

While I enjoyed both of the Uncharted games a lot, I think the gameplay (especially the platforming) is just too basic for them to be considered truly excellent games...
 
see5harp said:
Demon's Souls is not a classic. Don't turn bad design into immersion or innovation.

STFU_and_GTFO.jpg
 
Host Samurai said:
This list just destroys this generation in terms of retail releases. And keep in mind its only 100 games from 1 console.

http://www.ign.com/top-ps2-games/

Just shows how much better variety there was last generation


meh. not many of those games interested me as much as stuff I've seen on the console this gen.

I'm pretty confident that in 5 years, there'll be enough games from this gen to count as "classics"

and only a fraction of them will be first person shooters.
 
The only games I've played this gen that seem like classics are SMG (havent played 2) and Warhawk.

Amazing in Warhawk's case. As an online only- action game, it rises above everything I've seen on console. Completely lacks cliches. Stunning balance. A soaring skill ceiling. Robust netcode. A true videogame's videogame. Classic.
 
Crayon said:
Amazing in Warhawk's case. As an online only- action game, it rises above everything I've seen on console. Completely lacks cliches. Stunning balance. A soaring skill ceiling. Robust netcode. A true videogame's videogame. Classic.

I spent months just on the demo for that game. Amazing experience.
 
GhaleonQ said:
I disagree with all of these.

(Seriously, you've played Telltale's games, right? I'm not sure THEY would put their own games with the classics.)

You disagree that the Wii has some classic games?

You disagree with the fact that the developers of ICO has not released a game this generation? What?
 
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