Which era of videogaming do you prefer?

[Foebane]

I don't know how to post poll options yet, so I thought I'd ask manually:

Era 1 Do you prefer gaming from when it started in the 1970s with 1980s home computers and Amiga games up to the early 1990s, up to around 1993 (Doom's launch)?

Era 2 Do you prefer gaming from the FPS games of 1994 up to around 2004, with the rise of 3D accelerators? (Basically, when most games were First-Person)

Era 3 Do you prefer gaming from 2005 to today, where everything is First- or Third-Person 3D, with an emphasis on story-driven narrative?

For me, my strongest choice is Era 2.

Basically, After my experience with Era 2, I find it hard to go back to the Era 1 games and derive any possible enjoyment from them, I've been too spoiled by the 3D FPS games of Era 2 for too long in my 26 years of PC ownership (after just 4 years with Amigas). However, Era 3 games, I find are more demanding in terms of expensive hardware, but there is something lacking with replayability, or they have become too involved with narrative and trying to be like movies, which I don't care for.

So what is your preferred videogaming era?

[Aladin]

FPS are indifferent to me. I much prefer Resident Evil 1 than Tomb Raider 1 (and all those that play the same way).

Era 1 as well as the games which are played in the manner of era 1 in era 2 and 3

[fxgogo]

I appreciate games from all eras. Although lumping games from the 70's and the 90's together is a bit of a stretch. Early 8bit and late 16bit games are chalk and cheese.

[saimon69]

I like the first era but also strongly appreciate some of the new retro styled games like Katana Zero and Blasphemous that put strong narration in a metroidvania setting

[eXeler0]

Originally Posted by fxgogo

I appreciate games from all eras. Although lumping games from the 70's and the 90's together is a bit of a stretch. Early 8bit and late 16bit games are chalk and cheese.

+1 Exactly the same answer from me ;-)

[kriz]

1 + 3 But also must mention alot of nice new 2d games also

[d4rk3lf]

Era 2 - but not because of the FPS's (couldn't care less for them), but because this was the time where games really started to get nicely polished, and studios weren't big enough to be scared of experimenting with new ideas.

This is the period that brought us games that I play regularly today, such as:
- Master of Orion 2
- Civilization 3
- Might and Magic 6,7,8
- gothic 1 and 2
- Disciples 2
- Stronghold + Stronghold Crusader
- Starcraft and Warcraft 3
- Mafia
... and many many more...

New games are treating us as morons, and they are not challenging at all, Even in medieval RPG's you have the stupid GPS showing you were to go, and game applauding you for every stupid thing you do.
It's just tastles and bad.

[SSJTrunks69]

Damn this is a pretty hard choice, I think it would be era 1

[Foebane]

Originally Posted by d4rk3lf

game applauding you for every stupid thing you do.

You mean "achievements", right? Yes, they are dumb beyond belief, I've played those modern games where you "achieve" something that is an integral part of the game! It's very much like those participation trophies handed out to sensitive snowflakes.

[dreadnought]

My favourite era is what was going on with microcomputers/PC between ~1983-1994, but not forgetting arcades and consoles too. There was just an insane amount of creativity in this period.

I don't like the obsession with "storytelling" in modern AAA games, plus they have some other serious flaws, but there are some gems too. Especially when you throw modding into the mix.

[zipper]

Def 1. Atari 2600 was such a game changer after Pong derivatives.

[Paul_s]

1983 - 1993 for me (Era 1'ish)

Arcades, Amiga, Sega... golden times.

[Anubis]

I do still play games form ~1979 - 2020... There are times where I would play certain period for long time, usually around time I would go through some old mags, but usually I would play game from any period, and still enjoy them all.

My son seems to follow this, and at the moment is interested in Doom, Doom II, Doom 64 and couple of NES games. But last night played Halo on XBox one and Fruit Ninja on VR.

[Pyromania]

Mostly Era 1 for me. The recent addition of PS5 joystick support for the iPad and iPhone shows that a touch screen is not the best gaming input device for a lot of games. I was never a big FPS fan.

[kremiso]

Era 1 for me, mostly 2d.
Exceptions :
many jrpg games on PS1 (some hand drawn), and the early 2d games again on PS1, like Rayman, Lomax or later Alundra.
I have a lot games for the xbox360, the latest console bought, but i'm rarely playing only some Tiger Woods golf; i can freely skip with Leaderboard at any time without problems

[gimbal]

Golden era 1 for me was pretty much late 80's (Atari), through the early 90's (Amiga) and then mostly up to around 1997 when DOS gaming came to an end, so sort of era 1 which I think is a little misrepresented in its timeline. As of the push to 3D acceleration it went downhill for me, the games went from pushing boundaries in inventiveness to pushing more polygons and selling more units. I never stopped enjoying the games but I was never really surprised by them anymore.

Basically the golden era for me is when it was normal that you got highly experimental weird games that were unlike all others and gamers actually were interested in playing them.

So: Golden era 2 started with the rise of the indie game market where inventiveness (and 2D) was back on the menu, somewhere around 2007/2008. AAA gaming is largely dead to me with a few exceptions, but the indie game market is a treasure trove.

[arcanist]

I'd say Era 2 is my personal favorite but I wouldn't specifically call it the FPS era.

e.g. The "supply-chain" genre had a golden age in the Impressions games, from the early Caesars through the more refined Pharaoh/Zeus/Emperor into the early 00s. I think the entire strategy genre saw some of its greatest releases in that period.

Another favorite of mine, combat flight simulators, evolved from the earlier (simple but fun) Microprose games into the Jane's series, Microsoft CFS, and many smaller titles.

I was an Amiga hold-out into the 21st century so I missed much of it. It's been a lot of fun going back and discovering the games from that era. I play the hits and enjoy watching Twitch's macaw45 play a lot of the misses.

[Gordon]

Era 1 is where I have the most love and memories

But a special mention to era 3 where i enjoyed a lot of Xbox live before having family.

[phx]

I would select Era 1 as well. I skipped Era 2 completely as all these 3D FPS are quite boring. I'm playing some games from Era 3, but mostly sandbox games, and certainly no game with a fixed story.

[Foebane]

Originally Posted by phx

I would select Era 1 as well. I skipped Era 2 completely as all these 3D FPS are quite boring. I'm playing some games from Era 3, but mostly sandbox games, and certainly no game with a fixed story.

Why on earth would you prefer Era 1 games which are mostly just small objects moving around a screen, usually in a top-down or sideways view, rather than Era 2 FPS which is just like being there and has scope for so much more gameplay options? Maybe it's me, but I've been spoiled on Era 2 and Era 3 games and I just cannot go back to the simplicity of Era 1, with all of its limited options.

It baffles me why anyone would prefer 2D games to 3D FPS, to be honest.