Is the best generation gaming has ever seen, without counting the accomplishments of the first generation.

In my opinion, the gaming of today blows hardcore. The PS3 and 360 have a few key games each that focus mainly on online play, which I view as flawed (I view these as flawed because they are basically forcing you to pay for online play regardless of whether or not you want it, because that's where all the features are. I know that PS3's online is free, but you are not at any time guaranteed a good quality online game unless you are actually shelling out money for said online service). The Wii tries to promote gameplay, but ends up lacking when compared to the Nintendo 64/Playstation One generation, imo. I've owned one. Nothing besides Galaxy and Twilight Princess have aroused my interest. I beat both of them and did not feel the want nor need to go back and play through either of them that I have had for years when it comes to Super Mario 64 and The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time. Not to mention the Wii lacks capable specs, the 360 breaks down every time a full moon passes around, and the PS3 doesn't seem promising at all (lack of GOOD exclusives so far and lack of GOOD exclusives in the future really prey upon it).

This is strictly my opinion, but I will back it up with some fact.

1.) The Nintendo 64/Playstation One generation was the first era of 3D gaming. It's basically the median between the "ancient" generations of NES and SNES/Genesis respectively, and the current generation which is run completely on either cheap gimmicks or complete graphic-based/advertised hype.

2.) Said era introduced the first games of their kind, creating a gaming landmark.

3.) Gameplay was heavily favored in basically any game you could pick up and play from this generation. Not many people were worried about graphics at this point because it was just the first step towards mainstream 3D gaming. It was all about the gameplay at this point in the history of gaming; now it's nothing but making sure something looks good.

As I said, this is just my opinion, but I think that:

1.) Gaming cannot get any better than it currently is. In fact, it will get worse.

2.) Gaming will not see another generation that was as influential as the N64/PS1 generation.

3.) Graphics are now the mainstream concern, meaning that the games will sell even if they have an hour of atrocious gameplay and terrible controls (as long as it looks good).

My question is, do you agree or disagree with any points made here, or the general idea that the N64/PS1 generation was indeed the best gaming generation? Back up with your statements with your own opinion and/or good reasoning/facts; I want to get an entire debate rolling out of this topic.

It's a good thing you kept reiterating that this is all just your opinion. I might've taken issues otherwise!

I just would like to see if people agree with me on this. It may be extreme in some cases, but at least some of my points are at least somewhat valid.

I just would like to see if people agree with me on this. It may be extreme in some cases, but at least some of my points are at least somewhat valid.

Not really...
I mean I do like alot of PSOne and N64 games, but... These days games are just plainly better, I mean I just got Oblivion and I can't decide wat to do because it is so much fun.

3.) Graphics are now the mainstream concern, meaning that the games will sell even if they have an hour of atrocious gameplay and terrible controls (as long as it looks good).

Have you played any games lately. Because you are just blinded to todays mass of excellent games.

I think you are right and wrong in some aspects. Gaming has a long way to go yet, and I mean a LONG way to go. You said, "Gaming cannot get any better than it currently is. In fact, it will get worse," and I couldn't possibly disagree more. I can just sit here and come up with AMAZING games that don't exist due to technological limitations (lack of powerful enough servers, AI not smart enough yet, etc). I also think you are downplaying the importance of graphics and ignoring the fact that we HAVE had some great games already this generation - there's plenty more to come. The increase in power on these gaming machines is allowing us to experience more complex games than ever before.

Look at games like Crysis, Bioshock, Devil May Cry 4, Spore... none of these experiences would have been even remotely possible on the N64 or PS1.

Probably. What I mean't by "In fact, it will get worse," is that the genres that were developed in the N64/PS1 generation have been basically beaten to death if not in the current generation, in future generations. The N64/PS1 generation by itself puts out an experience of "freshness" that while in itself seems like a contradiction because the games are very old, still explains the experience because the games were developed at the time where the genres were just being formed and there was no real redundancy. I do agree that Bioshock for one gave an excellent gameplay experience, but I'm generalizing the game libraries based on the majority of said library at this current moment. Also, as I said, I believe that the PS1/N64 gen was the first step in the direction of 3D gaming. It was not even thought of as far as consoles go at the time of the SNES/Genesis gen (I'm not a buff on the history of computer gaming, so I'm just assuming that they were at the level of 3D graphics at the point of SNES/Genesis). I also never mentioned that people should stay in the N64/PS1 generation, I am merely stating that this generation was the best as far as the quality of games and any other factors you could even consider go, and that I really don't think any certain generation of gaming will get it right as many times as the N64/PS1 generation did.

Lainge: Oblivion is not a bad game. Nowhere in my original post did I directly single out Oblivion and say it was a bad game, nor do I think so. Also, the majority of the games that you call "new" and/or "excellent" can be looked upon as terrible shortly down the road. Excellence is not something a game retains unless it really, really deserves it and I doubt that more than a handful so far this generation deserve any type of mention of "excellence". Also, I've owned a 360 for over a year and a half (make that 3 360s), and I've had a Wii for about 5 months.

Lainge: Oblivion is not a bad game. Nowhere in my original post did I directly single out Oblivion and say it was a bad game

I didn't say you did...

But what games do you specifically like on PSOne and N64?

I do admit my favourite game is a on Playstation. 'Jade Cocoon'...
But some of the other games that were released back then just do not hold my interest anymore, such as Kula World. (Not sure if that's the exact name. The one with a ball)

I didn't say you did...

But what games do you specifically like on PSOne and N64?

I do admit my favourite game is a on Playstation. 'Jade Cocoon'...
But some of the other games that were released back then just do not hold my interest anymore, such as Kula World. (Not sure if that's the exact name. The one with a ball)

My favorites have to be Mario 64, Ocarina of Time, Legend of Legaia, Brave Fencer Musashi, and several other RPGs that were not continued past that gen/other gen defining series' such as Bandicoot, Spyro, Gex, etc.

My favorites have to be Mario 64, Ocarina of Time, Legend of Legaia, Brave Fencer Musashi, and several other RPGs that were not continued past that gen/other gen defining series' such as Bandicoot, Spyro, Gex, etc.

I completely agree with you. With the exception of a few games, the 64/PS1 days were the best gaming has seen. The ratio of good titles to titles produced seems to have been much larger back then than it is now. Maybe it's the fact that I'm older now and maybe I'm not impressed as easily, but games back then just seemed better.

Oh, and Brave Fencer Musashi is fucking epic.

These were simpler times.
I still have a 64. It provides endless entertainment to this day.
You 360 people may have your fancy technology and graphics, but us 64 people have Mario 64, Ocarina of Time, Majora's Mask, Star Fox 64, Donkey Kong 64, Banjo Kazooie and Tooie, Bomberman 64, Goldeneye 007, Duke Nukem, Rayman 2, 1080, and many more that I can't think of...
I'm not saying it's better, but to me, it's a little more entertaining sometimes. Just going back and playing some memorable games.
I imagine in 10-20 years, the 360 will be the new 64. "You know, I remember Gears of War. Sure it's not as great as these games today, but it was damn fun. In fact, I still have a 360."

Nostalgia makes the N64/ PSOne generation seem a lot better than it actually was.  Yes there were a lot of great games, but we also had a lot of great games and memories in the Mega Drive/ Super Nintendo generation, heck, I quite enjoyed the PS2/ XBox/ GC gen - Eternal Darkness, Resident Evil 4, Jak and Daxter, Ratchet and Clank, Halo, Half Life 2, Grand Theft Auto 3, Viewtiful Joe, Shadow of the Colossus, Gitaroo Man, Burnout, TimeSplitters, Guitar Hero...

And I'm optimistic about this generation.