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Best Year in Gaming

DekuNut

I play my drum for you
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Jan 30, 2011
Location
Tangent Universe
I spent tonight building a list of video game anniversaries in 2018 and saw judt how many great games were released in 1998. Starcraft, Banjo Kazooie, Ocarina of Time, Sonic Adventure, Half-Life, Spyro the Dragon, and more. This inspired me to wonder what people believe to be the best year in gaming?
For me, despite 1998 being awesome, I'll have to give it to 2003. Rayman 3, Wind Waker, Toon Town Online, Black and Bruised, and Mario Kart: Double Dash all hold a special place in my heart.
 
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Well, if anyone is following my blog series, then I'd say this year (2017) has been one of the best (and the best year in gaming for me personally).

True, some classics like Ocarina of Time, Pokemon, Mario 64 released in years of their own previously with new hardware, and those games are great but this year has been incredible.

Nier Automata, Breath of the Wild, Mario Odyssey, Persona 5, Tales of Berseria, Splatoon 2, Nioh, Sonic Mania, Arms, Sakamoto not completely screwing another Metroid up, Nintendo Switch... even games i didnt think were the best that they could have been (like Tekken 7) weren't all bad. You know its a good year if all i can find to complain about are games I still rather enjoyed.

For all Nintendo are no longer giving much love to the 3DS it still had some great games too like Monster Hunter Stories, Ever Oasis, Kirby Battle Royale and a few more Atlus RPGs.

I never really play games and take note of the year but 2017 has had such a great momentum of stellar games that I cant help but take notice that they all released in the same year.

Even games i didnt like too much like Horizon Zero Dawn, Resident Evil 7, Assassin's Creed, Crash N-Sane trilogy, Wipeout HD collection, weren't genuinely bad games. Then we had all the great indies like Rime and the Shovel Knight expansions and more niche titles like Ys. Plus RPG fans still have Xenoblade 2 to look forward too which will be a huge game.

2017 man, what an impressive year.
 
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Turo602

Vocare Ad Pugnam
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Location
Gotham City
I'm usually good at remembering specific releases of games I really liked, but it's quite difficult for me to pinpoint exactly which years had the most releases that interested me.

2017 has definitely been a great year for me with Zelda and Mario having 2 of their biggest releases, Metroid making its long awaited comeback, and the amazing nostalgia trips in Sonic Mania and Crash Bandicoot N. Sane Trilogy all in the same year. Other notable releases that I haven't really gotten to yet include stuff like Cuphead, The Evil Within 2, Uncharted: Lost Legacy, Sonic Forces, Assassin's Creed: Origins, Splatoon 2, and surprisingly even Call of Duty: WWII.

The only other year that really ever stuck out to me was 2011, which saw Dead Space 2, L.A. Noire, Gears of War 3, Batman: Arkham City, Saint's Row: The Third, Assassin's Creed: Revelations, Uncharted 3, Halo: Combat Evolved Anniversary, Marvel vs Capcom 3, Sonic Generations, Super Mario 3D Land, and Skyward Sword.

I'll have to give it to 2003. Metroid: Zero Mission, Rayman 3, Wind Waker, Toon Town Online, Black and Bruised, and Mario Kart: Double Dash all hold a special place in my heart.

Metroid: Zero Mission was 2004.
 
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Turo602

Vocare Ad Pugnam
Joined
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Location
Gotham City
One could argue that 1985 was that year. Saved the world from the video game crash of 1983.

Well, the thread isn't really asking what's the most important year, more like personal favorite based on video games you like. Otherwise, we could just keep going further backwards to the year where video games originated because without that, then there would be no video game crash to save in the first place.
 
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Well, the thread isn't really asking what's the most important year, more like personal favorite based on video games you like. Otherwise, we could just keep going further backwards to the year where video games originated because without that, then there would be no video game crash to save in the first place.
He asked this.
This inspired me to wonder what people believe to be the best year in gaming?
He is literally asking what is the best year in video games. One could say best and most important are similar. We each have our own opinions on which year we think is the best or most important. How we choose the best is up to us. Some choose the year their favourite games were released, some choose an important year for the industry. Neither is wrong as both are valid opinions.
 

Kylo Ken

I will finish what Spyro started
Joined
Aug 10, 2011
Location
Ohio
The only other year that really ever stuck out to me was 2011, which saw Dead Space 2, L.A. Noire, Gears of War 3, Batman: Arkham City, Saint's Row: The Third, Assassin's Creed: Revelations, Uncharted 3, Halo: Combat Evolved Anniversary, Marvel vs Capcom 3, Sonic Generations, Super Mario 3D Land, and Skyward Sword.
The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim was also in '11.

Since 1998 is already taken I'll go with 2001. It ushered in modern gaming. We saw the release of the Nintendo Gamecube and the Microsoft Xbox. With the PS2 released the year prior some of the most well known games ever were released in 2001,here are just a few:
Halo
Runescape(admit it, you had an account)
Max Payne
Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney
Grand Theft Auto III
Luigi's Mansion
Super Smash Bros Melee
Silent Hill 2
Metal Gear Solid 2
Sonic Adventure 2
Final Fantasy X
Jak and Daxter
Devil May Cry
Crash Bandicoot Wrath of Cortex
SSX Tricky
Ico
Tekken 4
Shenmue II
Fatal Frame
Star Wars Rogue Squadron II: Rouge Leader
Ghost Recon
Gauntlet: Dark Legacy(the greatest arcade game ever made)
NBA Street
Conker's Bad Fur Day
Legend of Zelda: Oracle of Season/Ages

Wow, now that was a hell of a year for gaming. To my knowledge, all of those cost released in 2001. Had to double check a few cause I didn't believe it myself.
 

CynicalSquid

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2001 because of Silent Hill 2, Grand Theft Auto III, Halo, Metal Gear Solid 2, Pro Skater 2, Paper Mario, Melee, Conker, and Luigi's Mansion

Close second would be 2016 because of Doom, Dark Souls III, Overwatch, Stardew Valley, and Pokemon Sun/Moon
 

mαrkαsscoρ

Mr. SidleInYourDMs
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Location
American Wasteland
'98 is an obvious one, but i second 2003, adding in to your list dark cloud 2, ape escape 2, xenosaga, zone of the enders second runner, silent hill 3, beyond hood and evil, katamari damacy, fire emblem blazing sword, sonic advance 2, mario & luigi superstar saga, it just carries on
 

Lozjam

A Cool, Cool Mountain
Joined
May 24, 2015
2017 by a long shot I think.

The Release of a console that would start a renaissance of Nintendo, one which would give a lot of people more time to play games. Plus there were the games themselves, which everyone seemingly was firing on all cylinders(except for you M$, you did good with Cuphead, but that wasn't enough. Go sit in a corner and think about what you have done).

Zelda Breath of the Wild
Resident Evil 7
Super Mario Odyssey
Fire Emblem: Shadows of Valentia
Horizon Zero Dawn
Sonic Mania
Crash Bandicoot
Persona 5
Cuphead
Splatoon 2
ARMS
Nier
Mario + Rabbids
Wolfenstein 2
South Park
Fire Emblem Warriors
Pokemon USUM
Nioh
PUBG
Mario & Luigi Superstar Saga
Life is Strange 2
Hollow Knight
Metroid: Samus Returns
Uncharted
Ever Oasis
(Plus Xenoblade 2 coming)

Plus we had excellent memes such as the return of Bubsy, and the Return of terrible 3D Sonic games!

I truly think that there was something for everybody this year. No matter if you took the side of Sony, or Nintendo, or both. There were just amazing games all around of all sorts. And while, this year has become the "year of the loot box", there were still some fantastic experiences that had no such thing. We saw a return of single player games, local play, and more. The legendary 3D collectathon genre finally came back with 2 amazing releases, Mario Odyssey, and a Hat in Time. Legend of Zelda finally became about exploration again. Resident Evil went back to its roots of being a horror game. Plus, we had some really amazing, wacky new ideas like Cuphead, ARMS, and Mario + Rabbids. This is the best year of gaming for me, and I think everyone should be really pleased with this year!
 

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