Which was the "Golden Age" of gaming?

I was at a local meetup the other day, some hipsters showed up and there was a huge argument about what was the golden age of gaming.

The hipster said it was everything before 1983: the 2600 and the first arcades. Those guys ate every page of bushnell's book, they actually said that he smoking pot on a hottub was a symbol of how awesome that time was...

The consensus among the actual gamers there were the 16bit, but some also supported the current generation, while a few ones said it was the 8bits or 32bits.

So what was the golden age? in terms of quality and innovation I think the 16bit age represents gaming at its finest, and while gaming hasn't peaked and this generation isnt that bad the concept of a "golden age" is not necessarily about the highest point of something but its purest best form, like movies: the industry is bigger than ever, but you wont find one film aficionado saying we're living in the golden age of movies.

Quality != Quantity

Your take?

 

I couldn't choose a certain poll answer but the 90's was the most innovative decade with the leaps in technology from 8 bit - 128 bit within a matter of 10 short years.

The Era where the 16 bit games stood with the 64 bit games and they played and looked just as good.

Ah the memories.

 

I'd say 16-bit, back then things somehow still felt fresher than now, and there was actual competition and differences between systems, while now the 360 and PS3 are pretty much the same. The 32-bit era was where things really went downhill, it started out awful and it wasn't until the late 90s when things finally got better.

 

I also voted 16 bit. On a side note, Im a huge fan of video game music and to me the late 80s up to mid 90s is a prime period. Imo, music started to go downhill when the CD opened the way to mainstream stuff.

 

I voted 32bit (and 64 bit). Don't get me wrong the 16bit era was pretty damn golden, but the 32bit era was the one that was the most special to me. While we had some amazing games in the 8bit and 16bit era, the consoles were very limited in their capabilities, we had platformer after platformer, RPG after RPG, and so on. The 32bit era marked the point where the doors were blown wide open and developers could really start doing new things, 3D environments, analogue controls, full motion video, high quality audio, it was the transitional generation between old and new and spawned quite literally some of the greatest video games of all time. To be honest though I'd prefer to just say that the 90's was the golden era because some of the greatest games of all time came from that decade regardless of which generation they came from, both were pretty golden I you ask me.

I often ask my self "where do games go from here?" And to be honest I really don't know.

 

i voted 16bit as theres no option for "I don't like cheese"

i think "The 90's" should have been an option

 

To me from snes to saturn.

Many different machines, with much to ofer, new mediums and gameplays explored, arcades still alive; not just a couple of hardware makers but a great boubbling cauldron with snes, genesys, gameboy, gg, playstation 3do, saturn, cd-i ecc ecc.

every issue of a gaming magazine was new and exciting.

this is the golden age for me.

 

16bit without a doubt! It was the first time games had great audio and graphics you could really make out although the NES and Master System weren't too bad in the graphical department. But yeah, 16 bit is the golden age of gaming and I've been gaming since 1982!

 

16bit, I grew up in the arcades

 

While the NES was awesome, the time frame of the 16-bit consoles was the best time. It covers a pretty decent chunk of time, with the PC-Engine, Genesis, and SNES. That also covers a whole lot of awesome games. The 32-bit generation was also quite good. From the NES to the end of the 32bit generation was my favorite whole time span. I didn't really care for anything pre-NES and everything after the PS1/N64/Saturn while good just doesn't have the same feeling.

 

Same here, at least during that era games became a bit more affordable as a lot of us were growing up so less dependent on pocket money. Before then, saving up for those expensive 16-bit carts was a slow painful ordeal! Also the leap in technology (graphics and sound) made it a defining era.

 

16-bit, even though I grew up with 8-bit!
In the 16-bit era was when things really exploded, in the creative department at least, of course some hits or misses but the sheer volume and things tried but companies large and small was pretty substantial.

PS. Even todays top consoles are essentially 32-bit. There is no actual 64 or 128-bit.

 

I voted " I like cheese " because I find this whole thing kind of pointless. I like all eras for different reasons. Obviously, everyone loves the era he grew up in. I love finding old Windows 95/98 videogames and playing them on my retro PC, because I grew up with that crap. Someone else may be obsessed with home computers, because he grew up having/wanting one. Others love the MegaDrive/SNES wars, Saturn VS PS1 VS N64 and so on...
One things is for sure, nowadays is the easiest era to get hold of games. Cheap video games for everyone, digital distribution has helped a lot on this. Plus, indie developers can now actually make a living out of their passion. Being an indie developer is actually feasible mostly thanks to online/digital distribution. And of course there's kickstarter, which may prove to be the next big thing or perhaps a fiasco.
Who knows really...

 

I prefer the playstation era

 

I don't think we've reached the golden age yet.

3rd Gen saw the dawn of home consumer gaming on an industrial scale
4th Gen had an insane amount of variety from many manufacturers which have since fallen by the wayside.
5th Gen brought us the dawn of 'true' 3D and made high quality audio standard.
6th Gen was more of the same with added polish.
7th Gen... Advertised as HD but most titles look like ass and can't even do 1080p60 so need a PC to do it right. What a Gyp. Motion controls finally becoming mainstream but I'm too much of a clumsy tard to use them!

The Golden Age will be when we have photorealistic Virtual reality. Yeah it was the future 2 decades ago. It probably won't arrive in a photorealistic form for another 2 decades either. But man, you had better start looking after your body and mind if you wish to show the new kids on the block a thing or two as and when it lands as a real life Tron would kick some serious ass. So long as it isn't a real life Tron Legacy, that is in which case please shoot me now

 

Well, they were right if they had been refering to the "Golden Age of Arcade Games" in the West, which declined massively after the crash.

In terms of consoles I think it's total bullshit. Games before the NES are hardly remembered and pretty much no brand names were created (excluding arcade games of course). No quality control probably played a role in that... the NES/MSX/MS era was much more influential in the big picture.

I grew up with the N64 but that's not my "Golden Age". I hardly play it anymore... for me, the "golden age" is anywhere between 1987 and 1998 - the age of great Famicom games, Super Famicom, Mega Drive, PC-Engine, many experimental hardware and addons, the introduction of online-gaming and arcade-perfect ports, the Neo Geo, 3D graphics, handheld gaming.... EVERYthing happened in this short time period, it was fantastic. I'm just a little bit sad that I was too young (or not born yet) to actually experience it, but I'm trying hard to re-experience it by collecting old games and magazines

 

Seems like I´m the first one to vote for current generation. It´s just because there is so much choice. The current pc machines can do anything and everything. Their own games, ports of current game consoles, emulation of older machines... and not only that but currently is a great time for retro gaming by purchasing old systems from ebay and forums, so much discussion about current generation and retro alike. So much fun making those old consoles a special experience with new big flat screen televisions, special scalers like gbs and xrgb, and hi-fi systems. The golden age of gaming is right now!

 

I have not seen the oldest generation.

 

yay, I guessed 16bit without looking

 

I gotta lump 8 bit and 16 bit together. From 1987-1994 that's the golden age, they were when gaming was at it's most creative, programers were finding themselves, gamers weren't buying the same shit FPS but trying new games and new ideas. The Golden Age ended in my opinion anyway when 3D came along and went mainstream rather than a Novelty like Virtua Fighter and Star Fox.