[PPOTW] Which console generation was the best?

[T-hug]

1972

Present​

This week's poll asks; Which console generation was the best?
This doesn't necessarily mean sales-wise or tech-wise, but just your own personal opinion!
You can see the full list of machines from each gen here:
Console Generations Wiki

Spoiler: Previous Polls

Previous Week - Are you buying Destiny?
Week 26 - Which nextgen system will have the best year in 2014?
Week 25 - Do you like micro transactions?
Week 24 - What did you think of this years VGX Awards?
Week 23 - Which of the nextgen consoles do you own?
Week 22 - Do you think the Xbox One launch was good?
Week 21 - Do you think the PS4 launch was good?
Week 20 - Is Microsoft right to ban early Xbone players?
Week 19 - What is the best video game genre?
Week 18 - Is Vita TV a good idea?
Week 17 - Have you got Pokemon X or Y?
Week 16 - Do you keep trade or sell your games?
Week 15 - Are you interested in Valve's new Vision for Steam
Week 14 - Do you think GTAV is the game of the generation?
Week 13 - Have you ever backed a Kickstarter project?
Week 12 - Will you be buying a 2DS?
Week 11 - After last weeks Gamescom are you more or less interested in the PS Vita?
Week 10 - Are you looking forward to Gamescom this week?
Week 9 - Which company has the best online infrastructure?
Week 8 - Which is better android or ios?
Week 7 - Which August game release are you most looking forward to?
Week 6 - Will you be buying GTA V?
Week 5 - Will you buy a Gateway 3DS Flashcard?
Week 4 - Which system has the best controller?
Week 3 - Have you preordered a nextgen console yet?
Week 2 - Now MS has backtracked, will you?
Week 1 - Who will sell the most hardware next gen?

If you have an idea for a poll you would like to see on the portal just send me a PM with PPOTW in the title and your questions and answers for the poll.

 

[emigre]

Gen 6, there was great diversity between the consoles, support was plentiful, a shit ton of awesome gaems, Devs began getting their shit together with developing 3D gaems, PS2 and Persona 4.

It was my favorite gen tbh tbf.

 

[Dork]

Gen 6 because every console had something good going for them and memorable exclusives.

 

[mightymuffy]

Have a suspicion this'll almost come down to age difference.... For me it's Gen 4, my golden era of gaming! I was in school/college/YTS (eww) at this period, obviously a memorable period in anyone's life - was also great to be able to afford games myself for the first time, which always makes them better. Plus the SNES is my all-time favourite games machine, and the Megadrive 2nd! Gen 5 coming a close 2nd, man did the PS1 have some classic titles!

 

[chavosaur]

Tbh, last gen was my favorite gen of all time.
Consoles went from "Ok, so you can already play games right? Well now we are gonna change the way you play games"
There was a lot of innovation and mixups last gen that I really enjoyed.
And it was also the era of Polished online console gaming that got me back in touch with a lot of good friends I used to play games with side by side on the couch, and could now play online with all the time.

 

[GameWinner]

Probably 6th gen for me.
Persona 4, ya know.

 

[CompassNorth]

Fifth Gen man, we had so many great titles.
Where Fifth Gen had quality, Sixth Gen had quantity.

5 > 6 > 4 > 3 & 7

 

[user64]

Fourth Gen was my first real introduction to gaming.
I kind of missed fifth gen...
Sixth Gen was for me. Paper Mario TTYD was probably my favourite game from then. I also enjoyed the fact I could play SNES remakes on my GBA on the go. SP was a great system.
Seventh Gen was also a lot of fun. The revival of platformers was great. Indie games came to be a part of my life through Minecraft. Mario kart wii and Brawl were games a played quite a bit. In addition, I preferred Galaxy to Sunshine...
Eighth is just getting started. I only have a Wii U so far, and not too many games at that.

 

[Blaze163]

Though I'll always have a soft spot for the SNES/Genesis era, I voted for 5th Gen. Whichever way you slice it, a generation makes or breaks on the strength of its games. And I'm still playing my favourites from Gen 5 to this day. Ocarina of Time, Final Fantasy 7, Ape Escape, Lylat Wars, Pokemon Red/Gold/etc. That was when games became something more than idle fun to me, they became entire worlds to explore, with a depth I hadn't experienced up til that point. They became more like leading a second life than a quick arcade style blast for ten minutes when bored. While there have been games before and after that have achieved this, 5th gen was when it first became apparent to me that gaming could truly be an art form. Notably the death of Aerith (don't tell me I need spoiler tags for that, surely everyone knows by now) for being the first time the death of a character actually meant something to me.

 

[Thomas83Lin]

Toss up between gen 4 and 5 for me, But nothing tops the good old Genesis and Snes

 

[FAST6191]

There are memorable things in each.... but damned if I would want to go back to them today.

Life is only getting better.

 

[PolloDiablo]

Have a suspicion this'll almost come down to age difference.... For me it's Gen 4, my golden era of gaming! I was in school/college/YTS (eww) at this period, obviously a memorable period in anyone's life. Plus the SNES is my all-time favourite games machine, and the Megadrive 2nd! Gen 5 coming a close 2nd, man did the PS1 have some classic titles!

my thoughts here

 

[Gahars]

It's kind of hard to offer any objective answer here since a person's choice is going to be pretty colored by nostalgia.

That being said, Generation 6. The Playstation 2 single-handedly carried that gen and it was glorious.

 

[weavile001]

6th Gen. because: Persona 4!.

 

[TemplarGR]

I have been a gamer since Gen 3, and while i think every gen had its pros and cons, i chose gen5 as my favourite.

Generation 5 in my opinion was the best generation in terms of innovation and taking risks. Many companies tried to produce a console, introduce 3d graphics, gameplay styles, franchices etc. It was the gen when gaming became "serious" and not something for the kids.

Most if not all current genres took shape in gen 5. FPSs, 3d platforms, cinematic rpgs, survival horrors, stealth games, mmorgps, fighting games, cinematic adventures, RTSs, music games, you name it, it started then... Later generations improved those genres and added or mixed some more, but the biggest change and innovation was with gen 5...

And even with hardware, there were big innovations then. From the analog stick to the failed Virtual Boy, this gen was anything but boring...

Although when playing those games today, you may find them lacking compared to modern games, you cannot underestimate gen 5's importance for gaming...

 

[Tom Bombadildo]

Man...I had a hard time choosing between Gen 6 and Gen 5. I have more fond memories of Gen 6, but Gen 5 was when I really started "gaming" as a child, so I have more attachment to the games from that generation, but I had the most fun with my PS2/GC/Xbox.

 

[FAST6191]

Regarding exclusives, I actually dislike the concept.

Most if not all current genres took shape in gen 5. FPSs, 3d platforms, cinematic rpgs, survival horrors, stealth games, mmorgps, fighting games, cinematic adventures, RTSs, music games, you name it, it started then... Later generations improved those genres and added or mixed some more, but the biggest change and innovation was with gen 5...

Assuming the ideas of certain games then became codified as "genres", and I can see it for that period in time, that is a good thing? Personally I have had a great time now the idea of genre is starting to collapse, and had a lousy time leading up to it, and people are mixing and mashing things together all over the shop.

and to finish... gen 5 would then seem to be the PS1, N64 and the like. Early console 3d, PC stuff was almost doing something OK, can go rot.

 

[Hyro-Sama]

All glory to the 6th Generation.

 

[Taleweaver]

I have been a gamer since Gen 3, and while i think every gen had its pros and cons, i chose gen5 as my favourite.

Generation 5 in my opinion was the best generation in terms of innovation and taking risks. Many companies tried to produce a console, introduce 3d graphics, gameplay styles, franchices etc. It was the gen when gaming became "serious" and not something for the kids.

Most if not all current genres took shape in gen 5. FPSs, 3d platforms, cinematic rpgs, survival horrors, stealth games, mmorgps, fighting games, cinematic adventures, RTSs, music games, you name it, it started then... Later generations improved those genres and added or mixed some more, but the biggest change and innovation was with gen 5...

And even with hardware, there were big innovations then. From the analog stick to the failed Virtual Boy, this gen was anything but boring...

Although when playing those games today, you may find them lacking compared to modern games, you cannot underestimate gen 5's importance for gaming...

Some VERY interesting points.

And you're right. At first, I was going to vote for 4th generation because of the plethora of 2D quality titles. But until that point, it was mostly an evolution. The fifth generation revolutionized gaming in the literal sense of the world. As such, it was indeed the most important one for gaming, save perhaps the third one (the recovery of the video game crash).

Your last point is also interesting. I actually disliked this period in consoles, as it seemed as if every developer went 3D no matter what (even games like bloody tetris), and in that regard PC's were much better (this happened to also be the golden age of FPS'es on pc). But on hindsight...it certainly was the best generation, IMO.

 

[FouadtjuhMaster]

So I haven't really participated into the 8th generation, but I remember having a lot of fun playing GTA SA and Fable on my old Xbox and PS2. As I grew older, I still enjoy those moments more that I do now (= 7th generation)

Graphics / CPU etc. don't really mean much to me, as it is the gameplay that is important to me...
Therefore, I am voting for the 6th generation.

 

[RodrigoDavy]

For me it would be the 4th followed closely by the 5th, mainly because of quantity and quality of titles.

6th generation is completely overrated btw