Best gaming year ever:

[Donkbaca]

http://games.yahoo.com/blogs/plugged-in/five-no-six-best-years-video-game-history-160038889.html

To save the read they have:

5 - 1980
4 - 1991 and 1996 (tie)
3 - 2001
2 - 2007
1 - 1998

I think  1980 should be higher on the list.  1980 is also the year that the Game and Watch was released, Nintendo's first handheld, which is the only reason it beats 1981, which had Ms. Pacman, Galaga and Donkey Kong, in my opinion, the holy trinity of classic games released.

I can't argue with 1991, man that was a freaking awesome year. with Sonic getting released, and the launch of the SNES here in the states along with super mario world, SFII comes out and saves arcades, I don't care what you old grumps say, we had troves of kids headed to the local 7-11 after school every day for months just to play SFII

1996 is a good year - metal slug, C&C Red Alert.  I always thought the tombraiders were overrated though.  Mario 64 is an important game, as is the launch of the pokemon series and the N64 launches.  Diablo was a decent game, but in my opinion, Diablo 2 really is the gem in that series.  I would replace 1996 with   either 1981, 1997 or 1999

1997 had Final Fantasy VII, which in my opinion is the game that defines the PS1, it had Goldeneye for the N64, which is probably the best game on that system, it had the first Fallout released, Gran Turismo is released which completely changes racing games, Tekken 3 is out in the arcade along with MK4, the last MK in an arcade.  You can even say that Parapa the Rappa is kind of important because it was one of the first commercially successful rhythm  and music games.  1997 kicks the pants off of 1996 in my opinion. I spent hours playing x-wing vs Tie fighter.  Why don't they make games like that and Wing Comamnder anymore?

What about 1999? Everquest, Tony Hawk Pro Skater, the first  Medal of Honor, the dramcast drops and Shen Mue is the first ever open world 3d game, and the first game that was treated like a big budget production for a console... too bad it flopped its pretty good.  Lets not forget War Craft 2 battle net addition.

1987 saw zelda, metal gear and mega man all hit the US along with double dragon...

Lets go top 6 game years, 2 from each decade:

1980-90
91-00
01-10

Mine are
1981
1987

1991
1998

2007
2011

Surprisingly I put 2011 in there, there are a ---steaming pile of meadow muffin--- ton of good games, arkham, skyrim, MK9, UMVC3, a ton of old arcade ports on PSN and XBL, a new MMORPG based on star wars, a new zelda.... pretty good year


  What are your top 5 game years?

[DaveMMR]

I found it odd they picked 1996; I find the mid-to-late 90's a dark period in gaming. We were just getting out of FMV nonsense and into that "everything-needs-to-be-3D" period. Were there good games that came out around that time?  Yes, but there were also a lot of games that aged very, very poorly.

I think I have to go with the pre-crash years, particularly 81 and 82, when video games were practically everywhere you looked and then '90 and '91 with the release of some great NES games (SMB3), the Sega Genesis/Mega Drive started getting its stride and the Super NES' launched with A+ titles right off the bat (one of them a pack-in).  

And I happen to like the current couple of years as well: so many gaming choices; we don't know how spoiled we are.  Three consoles, a few handhelds, PC gaming (and Mac - they have excellent Steam titles), iOS gaming, Android gaming, gaming on Facebook, etc. And not to mention going online to play with other people has become more mainstream.

So, to answer the question: 81, 82, 90, 91, 10, 11.  

(BTW: I kind of cheated a little; I picked years not so much by release dates of games but what I could theoretically buy in a store in a given calendar year, even if it came out in a previous year. Also I listed six - just count 10 and 11 as one year.)

[amendonz]

don't think i can pick 5 years (mainly because i'm too hungover to think too much) but i'll definitely agree 2011 was a great year.

[Gatt]

I found it odd they picked 1996; I find the mid-to-late 90's a dark period in gaming. We were just getting out of FMV nonsense and into that "everything-needs-to-be-3D" period. Were there good games that came out around that time?  Yes, but there were also a lot of games that aged very, very poorly.

Personally,  I think 97 and 98 were better years,  but I can understand why 96 was chosen.

Duke Nukem 3D,  Pokemon,  Resident Evil,  Quake,  Daggerfall,  Red Alert,  Diablo.

97 and 98 were better years,  but most of the console people wouldn't recognize that because it was among the PC's strongest years.  Plus,  Pokemon,  Resident Evil,  Red Alert,  and Diablo are all highly influential games,  each having altered the course of gaming and even entertainment for 15 years now.

2011 I would say is one of the worst years in gaming history.  A couple good games released,  but most of what's being shipped is either horribly designed or in Beta state.  The only points I can think of that are worse than 2011 are those awkward transition periods:  C-64 -> Nes era and SNES/Genesis -> PC era.  Which IMO,  is likely a sign we're about to transition again,  we're way overdue and I think we're going to transition X-box/Playstation -> PC again.  It seems pretty cyclical to me.

[Paul Olson]

1. 1981   Donkey Kong.
2. 1985   NES. Seriously, if nothing else was ever released for it, SMB and Duck Hunt were more than worth the price. Add in Zelda, and we had near perfection.
3. 1995   Area 51. Still one of my favorites, and one of the main reasons I continued to search for arcades for 10 years after its release.
4. 1999   Hydro Thunder. Same reason as Area 51.
5. 2012   Diablo 3. This better actually release this year! I have been waiting for a long time.

[Blanka]

1982
period

Handhelds
It was the best year for hand-helds. Come on, the 1980 Nintendo Ball was utter crap. In 1982 Gakken, Entex and Bandai were full on steam and delivered the best handhelds ever. And if you do care about the overrated Nintendo ones: their best are from 1982 too: new widescreen DK Jr en dual screen Donkey Kong.
The Vectrex
No words needed. It was total awesomeness entering the house.
The ColecoVision
This awesome machine brought the best arcade conversions to your TV. Where the later NES created a total new gaming genre, the Colecovision was the best console for authentic arcade feel.
The first wide variaty of great arcade hits
Arcade makers finally left the period of space invader variations behind. A new wave of creativity led to real variation in the arcades..
Dig Dug, Q*Bert, Zaxxon, Burger Time, Pengo, Mr. Do, Joust, Moon Patrol, Pole Position, Robotron, Time Pilot, Xevious, Tron

[Circo]

I'm way too tired to go into the year debate, but you mentioned wing commander and xwing vs tie fighter, those have to be some of my favorite games of all time.  I would kill for those types of games to hit my modern pc, they rocked my 386!

[Donkbaca]

Yeah, what happened to those games?  I would LOVE a new Wing Commander or x-wing vs Tie.  Hasn't really been a good one of those type games since Rogue Squadron on the Game Cube that I can think of.