DazzeL Posted January 6, 2008 Posted January 6, 2008 Just though I'd post a topic on this as I find it quite interesting. In their Game of the Year article Shacknews.com claimed that: '2007, like 1998, will go down in gaming history as a watershed year for the medium. It saw some of the best, freshest, and most ambitious titles to be released in recent memory, with great games spanning all genres and platforms. It would be difficult to love games and not have had some great experiences in 2007' Let's just remind ourselves of the sort of things released in 1998. http://uk.ign64.ign.com/articles/066/066773p1.html http://uk.psx.ign.com/articles/066/066233p1.html http://uk.pc.ign.com/articles/066/066665p1.html Check those out for nostalgia value if nothing else! Now I remember 1998. And look at those games! Metal Gear Solid was absolutely amazing first time round, really started the cinematic feel of games rolling. Zelda OOT, that games impact doesn't need explaining on these forums. Half Life was released and is imo one of the most important games ever made. It proved set pieces worked - you only need to look at CoD4 to see that legacy. But it also proved that the FPS genre was more than Quake, or even Goldeneye, and that the genre could be compelling for story telling. Those games just seem to me so much "bigger" than what we've had this year. Look even to 1997 - Final Fantasy VII, Mario 64 and Goldeneye. It just feels to me as though many gaming websites are overestimating the quality we have been treated to this year. I've seen this "as good as 1998" type quote in several places. But, is Call of Duty 4 or even Half Life 2:Ep 2 really as big a leap from Half Life as that game was from Quake 2? I think the answer has to be an emphatic no. We've seen an evolution this year. 1997/1998 was a revolution and the time when 3D games started to really shine. Since then graphics have improved, features have widened, the internet has captured gaming and sure, pound for pound, todays games are better in many respects. But they're not that different.... until you look at the Wii. Not everything the Wii has done this year has worked. And there is most definitely a place for the "updated 1998 games" that we see so many of - the formula simply works. Mario Galaxy is one of those games and also one of my favourites for the year. 1998 was the year 3D games really took hold as just better than 2D games in many respects. 2007 has seen motion controls do something similar. It's not to anywhere near the same extent. But the Wii releases this year have proven motion controls work and in many cases trump gamepads. The quote refers to "ambitious" games. Those 1998 games were worthy of the accolade. I'm not so sure many of the 2007 ones are. Perhaps the real reason it will be seen as a "watershed year" is because of the success of the Wii and not so much because of the games. My feeling is this will be the case and next generation will save motion controls built into every console. Sorry the post is so long but I thought it might provoke a wide range of views and well, if all else fails, those retro Best of 1998 articles are pretty damn cool!
Mike Posted January 7, 2008 Posted January 7, 2008 I can see how it was a vintange year for some people, but for me, it was a year where I spent eight months not getting any new Wii games because nothing really appealed to me between Excite Truck and Metroid. It was even quiet on the DS front, with Pokémon and Zelda being the only major releases I can think of.
jammy2211 Posted January 7, 2008 Posted January 7, 2008 I dunno, to me it was let down with the 3 best games being exclusuvie to 3 different platforms (SMG - Wii, Drakes - PS3 and Bioshock - 360), which sort of made it hard for alot to people to enjoy. Whatsmore all the good releases were rammed into the last 3 months of the year, which made most of 2007 seem like a wait, and then bam, it turned awesome :/.
flameboy Posted January 7, 2008 Posted January 7, 2008 I think whilst it has been a good year it will be a few years before we can decide just how great a year it was. There have undoubtedly been many great games this year. Only in retrospective can we truly tell how great this years vintage has been.
Zechs Merquise Posted January 7, 2008 Posted January 7, 2008 I think it was a vintage year, just look at the Edge scores, when have you seen three months in a row with a game scoring 10? Halo 3, The Orange Box and Mario Galaxy, all tens.
James McGeachie Posted January 7, 2008 Posted January 7, 2008 You cant really compare years and say "There's no way this year is as big as that one!" because fact is, as time goes on the leaps in gaming are going to get progressively smaller, each new gen is going to feature lesss revolutionary changes in the concepts and gameplay structure of games at the very least, until we go into VR or something anyway. It's nigh on impossible for a game to come out now and have the impact to the gaming scene that something like OOT had in 98'. That being said this year had Bioshock, COD4, Galaxy, Prime 3, Zelda: Phantom Hourglass, Uncharted, The Orange Box, God of War 2, Lost Planet, Halo 3, Crackdown...etc. Whether or not the year was "revolutionary" or not doesn't matter but it was full of very high quality gaming entertainment.
RedShell Posted January 7, 2008 Posted January 7, 2008 Looking back it was definitely an excellent year, let down only by the usual, immensely bad scheduling of release dates. Seriously, when is this industry going to learn to space titles out over 12 months, rather than cram ‘em all in at the end of the year!? People do play games all year round you know, not only in the winter!! ARRGGGHHHH!!!! I (and I’m sure many others) missed out on a few games due to the crap planning. And as time goes on and new games get released, the incentive to go back and purchase those older titles kind of fades away.
Hellfire Posted January 7, 2008 Posted January 7, 2008 Phantom Hourglass, Galaxy, MP3 Corruption, Excite Truck, Trauma Center, Persona 3, GoW 2, God Hand (I dont really know if it came out in 2007 though), puzzle league DS, HL Ep 2, Portal, Crysis, CoD4, Halo 3 and a lot more, specially for DS. And I'm putting TP in because it came out late December! So yeah it was an awesome year.
c0Zm1c Posted January 7, 2008 Posted January 7, 2008 It was a great year for video gaming, yet I still feel rather bored with it all.
Ren of Heavens Posted January 7, 2008 Posted January 7, 2008 2008 will be better: Super Smash Bros. Brawl Spore Starcraft 2 Grand Theft Auto 4 Metal Gear Solid 4 Gran Turismo 5 Mario Kart Wii Banjo-Kazooie 3 Rock Band Burnout Paradise Fallout 3 FF VII: Crisis Core Ninja Gaiden 2 Resident Evil 5 Tekken 6
DCK Posted January 7, 2008 Posted January 7, 2008 The more the industry grows, the more production value and time is spent on games, and the better they (usually) get. Except for some exceptions, 2007 was mostly a year of production value, rather than good ideas and innovation. Quite unlike 1998.
LazyBoy Posted January 7, 2008 Posted January 7, 2008 F**king hell 1998 was a great year. I mean if I was the age I am now, then, I think I may have just stopped playing games, in the knowledge it could never get better. Last year was good, very good, maybe even second best ever, but it can't trump '98. Nothing ever will (unless Shenmue 3, my dream Zelda game, the Pokemon MMORPG and a sequal to theme hospital all come out in the same year).
c0Zm1c Posted January 7, 2008 Posted January 7, 2008 I was PC-only for gaming during the late 90's, but I do remember those days fondly.
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