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I miss these days. Will they ever come back?

OrtizTwelve

Member
Fall / Holiday 2001 after the PS2 had been out over a year or so in NA.

Do you think we will ever see a repeat like this for Fall / Holiday 2021? 2022?

I know this image has been around the internet for ages, but it's striking even after all these years.

Imagine, 10 fantastic must have, instant classic titles all released within the same few months for one console.

I haven't seen something like this in years and with the current state of "AAA" gaming, it seems we never will.

dUZSmkF.jpg
 
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A.Romero

Member
Unlikely.

However, I just noticed that most of them are sequels from the previous gen and only one is a first party game. Also 2 of them are Konami games.

So I think we can get similar periods with as many good releases but not exclusives which is not necessarily a bad thing, in my opinion.

I think 2023 will be a year with many releases and probably are going to be good.

Also I think the length and quality of some of the games in that list are comparable to what AA and maybe some indie studios can put out nowadays.
 

Aion002

Member
At that time the ps2 was basically alone. Now it's too hard for third party developers ignore the other platforms... If those games were releasing this gen, this list of exclusives would be smaller, with one or two exceptions, they would only have PlayStation studios games on it.
 
I wish they would stop focusing on graphics and instead focus on gameplay and story. About the only dev who puts out good stuff who still does that is Falcom and they churn out classics almost every year because of it. The market needs to recognize and reward more developers like that.
 

Aenima

Member
Not gonna happen again. Back in the day, publishers saved they big games to release on Fall/ Holiday season. Now while some still do that, they spread they big games to release at diferent times of the year. We can still have a year full of amazing games.
 

Danjin44

The nicest person on this forum
Most of those games like DMC, FF and GTA still exist today, they just multiplatform instead of exclusives.

I’m gonna miss Silent Hill series but I’m still happy with current games we are getting today.
 
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fart town usa

Gold Member
I see what you're saying OP but I never left. I own a PS4 but the bulk of my gaming is spent on Sega Saturn, PSX, PS2, Wii U games.

I don't consider myself a "retro" gamer, I just own a ton of consoles and prefer the classics. YouTube has you covered too, just go watch old E3's and hype reels to relive those glory days of old!

I'm not bothered one bit by not playing 99% of the stuff that releases, most things just don't interest me in the slightest. Constantly waiting for AAA games only to be let down 50% of the time. If I'm going to game I want to play stuff that I'm actively enjoying. Not saying you aren't, I just feel like people forget that it's not necessary to play everything that releases. There's a certain peace that comes with playing stuff you enjoy playing, even if it's for the 10th time. That's why they're classics.
 

Kuranghi

Member
Fall / Holiday 2001 after the PS2 had been out over a year or so in NA.

Do you think we will ever see a repeat like this for Fall / Holiday 2021? 2022?

I know this image has been around the internet for ages, but it's striking even after all these years.

Imagine, 10 fantastic must have, instant classic titles all released within the same few months for one console.

I haven't seen something like this in years and with the current state of "AAA" gaming, it seems we never will.

dUZSmkF.jpg

The average gamer today would play GTA 3, MGS 2, GT3 and maybe Ace Combat and call the rest of the stuff fantasy/weeb/child/weird shit. So even if there was an equivalent lineup in 2020-21, most people would still bitch and moan.
 

JimmyRustler

Gold Member
No. Be glad you were part of those days.

People say 90s kids are just as nostalgic about their childhood as every kid but nah... 90s were peak to be a kid and I doubt there will ever be a time like it again. We were simply living in this magic short time period were there was loads of new tech but it had not yet taken over our entire life. Before it was too little and ever since it is too much.
 
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Woopah

Member
It's possible to have a good run of games like that in a 6 month period but quote difficult in a three month period. Switch can have a good run of exclusives from time to time and PS4/5 could have had one this year if Covid wasn't a thing
 
There's no going back and no it's not a graphics problem it's a money/expectations problem, HD development isn't as big an issue as people make it out to be and i'm sure it's going to be streamlined sooner than later, it's just gaming is no longer niche, selling 100k copies no longer a success for small/mid level games, fuck i remember when selling 1M copies was considerd a MASSIVE success, remember when people lost their shit when Final Fantasy VIII sold roughly 2.5 million units in Japan within the first four days of release!
 
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regawdless

Banned
Those emotions won't come back, ever.

I remember having to save all that money, then one day meeting my best buddy and walking into the store, buying a PS2 with Tekken Tag Tournament. We played that game so much, it's unbelievable. What a magic time.
 
If developers stop making bloated 60 hours open world games with Hollywood actors and OST composers, the cost will come down and they will be able to drop more of these quality games annually.
I have good faith in AI. It's already capable enough and will help reduce alot of the cost associated with building these bloated worlds.
 
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Try to find and keep an eye on indies that put effort in creating something a little new and/or unique. For every 10 indie devs obsessed with trying to recreate their limited, Nintendo-based childhood with a wannabe Metroid or collect-a-thon platformer, there's a couple that want to make something new and interesting. Just gotta look for them.
 

carlosrox

Banned
To me about 4 or 5 of those are must haves.

But yeah, sometimes it feels like gaming doesn't come out with the same amount of hits as they used to. But when you really stop and look at things there are more than enough awesome games to play on all platforms.
 

cyber_ninja

Member
The only way we can get something remotely close is due to covid delaying lots of games and have them released close to other projects that made it on time, but I'm not holding my breath.
 

Onironauta

Member
I wouldn't mind more games with PS2-level graphics (but in HD) if that helps shrinking budgets and producing more innovative games

Unlikely.

However, I just noticed that most of them are sequels from the previous gen and only one is a first party game. Also 2 of them are Konami games.

So I think we can get similar periods with as many good releases but not exclusives which is not necessarily a bad thing, in my opinion.

I think 2023 will be a year with many releases and probably are going to be good.

Also I think the length and quality of some of the games in that list are comparable to what AA and maybe some indie studios can put out nowadays.
GT3, Ico and Jak & Daxter were all first-party games
 
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fart town usa

Gold Member
No. Be glad you were part of those days.

People say 90s kids are just as nostalgic about their childhood as every kid but nah... 90s were peak to be a kid and I doubt there will ever be a time like it again. We were simply living in this magic short time period were there was loads of new tech but it had not yet taken over our entire life. Before it was too little and ever since it is too much.
Right, it's crazy cause all my memories as a kid in the 90s involve videogames, movies, nickelodeon, sci fi channel, cartoon network, playing outside for hours, even chatting in AOL Kids chatrooms! lol. I mention all of that because somehow I managed to enjoy everything media wise but I was still outside all the time with friends.

How I accomplished so much back then seems crazy. Damn good time to be a kid (I was born in 85)
 

Ceadeus

Gold Member
The heart of those times live on in AA and independent titles.
Yes because right now, almost every AAA require continuous updates after release to be in an acceptable state, some other rely on internet server that require continuous maintenance. I mean, everything feels like it's hanging on a thread, ready to burst.

So it not only takes considerably more time and ressource to develop a AAA game, it also relies on physical servers running all day, somewhere in the world.
 
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Life

Member
Maybe if I was 12 and somehow avoided joining the Fortnite bandwagon, I would "feel" pretty good about recent games today. What I'm saying is, it's not the games, studios, money, and all the other stuff people are saying. It's you and how you felt at the time. This is how life is. You grow older and talk about how much better things were before. More difficult, but better.
 

A.Romero

Member
I wouldn't mind more games with PS2-level graphics (but in HD) if that helps shrinking budgets and producing more innovative games


GT3, Ico and Jak & Daxter were all first-party games

You are right. Naughty Dog was a recent purchase back then and ICO was developed by Japan studio.

3 first party games.

I think we've had other periods in time where as many first party games have come out in a similar time frame, though.
 
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