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[01011001]

Jet Set Radio,
Jet Set Radio Future,
Splinter Cell 1-3,
God of War 2,
Perfect Dark,
TimeSplitters 2,
Wind Waker,
Mario Galaxy,
Crazy Taxi,
Soul Calibur 2,
Street Fighter 4,
Virtua Fighter 5,
Dead or Alive 3,
Halo 1-3,
Resident Evil 4,
REmake,
Metal Gear Solid 2-4,
GTA Vice City,
GTA San Andreas,
GTA4,
Prince of Persia: Sands of Time,
Maximo,
Maximo vs Army of Zin,
Ratchet & Clank 1-3,
Jak 1-3,
Deus Ex,
Urban Cheos Riot Response,
Batman: Arkham Asylum,
Silent Hill 2-4,
Conker's Bad Fur Day + Remake,
Metroid Prime,
Otogi 1+2,
Ninja Gaiden 1+2,
Fable 1+2,
Modern Warfare 2,
Lego Star Wars 1+2+Complete Saga,
Jedi Knight 2,
Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 2-4,
Tony Hawk's Underground 1+2,
Tony Hawk's American Wasteland,
Need for Speed Underground 2,
Bayonetta (yes it counts due to the 2009 JP release),
Devil May Cry 1+3+4,
Oninusha 1-4,
Resistance,
Soul Reaver 2,
Blood Omen 2,
Project Gotham Racing 1-4,
Super Smash Bros. Melee
...
..
.
Darksiders narrowly missed it by being released on January 2010...

but yeah, the 2000s easily win for me.
I bet I'm missing some super obvious ones too, but there are just so many titles that make it IMO the best decade for gaming.
and it's the decade where 3D gaming became fully fleshed out.

 

[pramod]

I'm an old dude so it was 80s for me. Sure there were still amazing games in the 90s onwards but I just didn't have as much time to play them since I was already an adult.
When I was a kid I spent all my summer breaks playing RPGs like Ultima 4. Nothing will ever beat those experiences I think.

 

[Captain Toad]

I'd probably pick somewhere around 95-05, if that was an option. But, divided as they are in the poll, I went with the 2010s.

 

[Cinco de Mayo]

The 2010 / 2020. FROM / Souls' have made me enjoy gaming again.

 

[Damigos]

I need to cheat a bit.
My own was 1995-2005. Gran Turismo 1-4, mgs 1,2,3, ff7,8,9,10, resident evil 1-4, unreal tournament, red alert 2, diablo 2, world of warcraft, halo, silent hills, age of empires 2 and so many others. Those were the days my friend

 

[Rac3r]

I picked 2000's, but I would've picked 2005-2015, if it were an option. Absolute wild decade for gaming. PS2 doing record numbers, PSP comes out, Xbox 360 changes the game with Live, PS3 and Wii launch a year later, and they all sell 85+ million. Although, the hardware in the latter half of the decade was a bit of a flop with the XBONE, Wii U and Vita, I don't think there's a better 10 year period in terms of games.

From 2005-2015 we got: GoW, RE4, MGS4 & MGSV, TLOU, Halo 3, COD MW/WaW/Black Ops, SOTC, AC, KH, Uncharted, GTA IV & V, RDR, Gears trilogy, Mass Effect trilogy, Arkham, Persona 3 & 4, Deus Ex HR, Guitar Hero, Skyrim, Oblivion, Fallout 3, Splinter Cell Chaos Theory, Ninja Gaiden, Super Mario Galaxy, Bioshock, Zelda TP, LBP, The Witcher, SFIV, Souls/Bloodborne, and so much more.

That period of gaming struck a perfect balance between the length of development and the quality of each game.

 

[Cashon]

Jet Set Radio,
Jet Set Radio Future,
Splinter Cell 1-3,
God of War 2,
Perfect Dark,
TimeSplitters 2,
Wind Waker,
Mario Galaxy,
Crazy Taxi,
Soul Calibur 2,
Street Fighter 4,
Virtua Fighter 5,
Dead or Alive 3,
Halo 1-3,
Resident Evil 4,
REmake,
Metal Gear Solid 2-4,
GTA Vice City,
GTA San Andreas,
GTA4,
Prince of Persia: Sands of Time,
Maximo,
Maximo vs Army of Zin,
Ratchet & Clank 1-3,
Jak 1-3,
Deus Ex,
Urban Cheos Riot Response,
Batman: Arkham Asylum,
Silent Hill 2-4,
Conker's Bad Fur Day + Remake,
Metroid Prime,
Otogi 1+2,
Ninja Gaiden 1+2,
Fable 1+2,
Modern Warfare 2,
Lego Star Wars 1+2+Complete Saga,
Jedi Knight 2,
Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 2-4,
Tony Hawk's Underground 1+2,
Tony Hawk's American Wasteland,
Need for Speed Underground 2,
Bayonetta (yes it counts due to the 2009 JP release),
Devil May Cry 1+3+4,
Oninusha 1-4,
Resistance,
Soul Reaver 2,
Blood Omen 2,
Project Gotham Racing 1-4,
Super Smash Bros. Melee
...
..
.
Darksiders narrowly missed it by being released on January 2010...

but yeah, the 2000s easily win for me.
I bet I'm missing some super obvious ones too, but there are just so many titles that make it IMO the best decade for gaming.
and it's the decade where 3D gaming became fully fleshed out.

I almost agree with you, but since there was no year 0, your decade is off by a year.

 

[01011001]

I almost agree with you, but since there was no year 0, your decade is off by a year.

noone counts decades like that even if it's technically correct to count from 1.
but the 90s for basically everyone is 1990 to 1999, so the 2000s are 2000 to 2009

 

[Cashon]

noone counts decades like that even if it's technically correct to count from 1.
but the 90s for basically everyone is 1990 to 1999, so the 2000s are 2000 to 2009

Then it's arbitrary and you should pick whichever 10 years you want.

 

[01011001]

Then it's arbitrary and you should pick whichever 10 years you want.

the poll doesn't let me tho lol, and I wanted to match the poll

 

[Cashon]

the poll doesn't let me tho lol, and I wanted to match the poll

Fair enough.

 

[ClanOfNone]

I'm an old dude so it was 80s for me. Sure there were still amazing games in the 90s onwards but I just didn't have as much time to play them since I was already an adult.
When I was a kid I spent all my summer breaks playing RPGs like Ultima 4. Nothing will ever beat those experiences I think.

Fogeys unite. Grinding my way through AD&D Gold Box games, Might n Magics, and running up the phone bill calling the Sierra hint line for puzzle solutions. Twas a magic time to be sure.

 

[Fbh]

I voted the 2000's but I also love the 90's and 2010's.
2000's just includes so many games I like though, you get the entire Ps2 and Gamecube era which was awesome but it's also recent enough that it includes a lot of "modern classics" like Mass Effect 2, Demon Souls, Bioshock , Halo 3, etc.

90's is obviously great too with so many classics on the NES, SNES, N64 and Ps1
And 2010's includes most of the souls games which are easily my favorite thing in any era of gaming.

 

[TGO]

1992-2013 was all good then something happened.
But this applies to everything, not just gaming
If I was to choose I'd say between 1996-2008 was golden

 

[BadBurger]

2010's for me. The tail end of the PS360 gen, along with all of the excellent games that came out on PS4, PC, and Wii U (yes, I enjoyed the Wii U a great deal) from 2012 - 2019, was just a great time for gaming. Some of the best E3 moments happened during that decade as well.

The 2000's looks great on paper but I missed out on almost every game released from about 2000 - 2008.

 

[Neff]

Super Mario World
Street Fighter II
A Link to the Past
Link's Awakening
Super Metroid
Snatcher
Final Fantasy VI
Resident Evil
Super Mario 64
Final Fantasy VII
GoldenEye 007
Resident Evil 2

No other decade can compete imo.

 

[simpatico]

I'm going through a retro cartridge phase. Something warm and interesting about the little ROM chips. Especially the ones that decided to pack in extra processing power on the cart! Wish we could do that now. Let Cyberpunk 2 ship with a few dozen ray tracing cores you cowards.

 

[jayj]

Easily the 90's, runner up would be the 00's. The 90's just had such a fun and creative energy to it, and the industry as well as the journalism was just so much more fun, exciting, and focused on what mattered back then. No politics, no pretention, no hyper-competitiveness or toxicity towards preferences. I just miss that simplicity and togetherness we used to have. Everything has become so toxic and divided since.

The 00's wasn't bad though, especially when compared to the 10's. Especially in the first half of the 00's, back in the PS2/Gamecube era, so many hit games back then, probably when the AAA industry was at it's peak.

 

[Lasha]

97-04 is the period I found most interesting. Studios were just starting to get bigger budgets while still willing to experiment. Mid 00s onward we saw conventions calcify into the genres and styles that make up the modern market.

 

[Samrf89]

I mean jesus... just look at the default google list!!

insane

 

[Ozzy Onya A2Z]

90s for me, so many great memories -

• LAN parties, taking a monitor and your rig then staying the whole weekend because that medusa of networking and moving everything took effort. Gamers wanted to be there, word spread and more just showed up, rush to the store for more hardware/cables etc and shit even pizza delivery dudes stayed for some games. DOOM, Duke and so many more.
• Renting games at the video store along with your movies.
• Street Fighter II in the arcades, put up your coin or shut up.
• SFII on home consoles, holy shit goodbye weekend sleep.
• TMNT arcade before you went to the movies.
• Tony Hawk sessions, volume up loud, couch crowd gathered.
• Quake, nailed it.
• Super Mario Kart and Mario Kart 64. So many flatmates sessions and randoms from house parties going at it. If you didn't play these games you were no one to us, we probably didn't even notice you at our house party.
• Goldeneye, Bond. James Bond. Campaign and multi was such a massive double header.
• Sim City 2000 just ticked over the time with all the fun you were having, until those rogue events wrecked all your shit.
• Star Wars Dark Forces, clean FPS that introduced so many staple FPS tweaks.
• Diablo, dial up with 3 players ruined friendships.
• Duke showed up out of gum but kicked ass solo and multi.
• Half-Life crowbarred its place in gaming history.
• Thief snuck up on us.
• Command & Conquer: Red Alert, Westwood we miss you.
• Resident Evil brought panic to your gaming life.
• Hey Listen!, Zelda: Ocarina of Time.
• Sega's Game Gear carried colour around for us but gave way to the Game Boy Colour.
• Mario 64 was one of those games you wanted to 100%. Amazing silicon, amazing game, amazing controller.
• Mortal Kombat finished us, passing around finisher combos was like cheat codes of old school games in the 80s.
• Bomberman with a multitap and friends blew up.
• Virtua Fighter smashed the arcades and then arrived at home in a few short years.
• The Secret of Monkey Island, Lucasarts gave gaming humour to the masses.
• Windows games like Minecraft, Solitaire, Freecell and Pinball were bundled with Windows 95.
• Dungeon Keeper and getting your evil on was a thing.
• Sony dropped the PS1 on us with Ridge Raceeer, MGS etc.
• Ultima Online MMORPG just kept expanding.
• Rayman debuts a beautiful platformer.
• Tomb Raider nearly poked our eyes out with those tits, guns and moves.
• Road Rash on the 3DO piped right into our homes.
• Wolfenstein 3D changed everything.

 

[GametimeUK]

I started gaming in the early 90's. My vote goes to the 2010's. Even though in terms of game releases its the 2000's, I overall enjoyed my time more in the 2010's. Keep in mind with such a large and increasing number of games being added to my backlog of doom, by the time 2010's came around and I have access to remasters of games I missed like Ico, SOTC and Okami. My favourite console of all time the PS3 came out, I had my own money to buy all the consoles etc and I could still revisit old consoles if I wanted or even emulate on my new PC (Mario Galaxy 2 on Dolphin was fantastic).

I have to say the 2010's easily due to it being my favourite gen and with the added ability of the previous generations of gaming's catalogues still existing.

 

[Knightime_X]

Probably 98 to 2008

 

[CGNoire]

98-2008

Or 95-2005 depending on my mood.

 

[diffusionx]

I’m an old man, but you cannot beat the 1990s. The decade started in the USA with Super Mario Bros 3 and ended with Dreamcast and Quake 3. With all the amazing stuff in between. In years like 1994 and 1998 we got literally dozens of amazing games that people still talk about and play today. Plus you had the arcade scene which was still driving hardware advancements. The growth of the industry, the advancement in game design, it was just incredible. I actually kind of feel bad for zoomer game fans because they’ll just never know how good gaming can be and what it can do.

 

[nush]

The 90's no question. Just consider how much gaming hardware was released in that decade, also factor in hardware from the late 80's was still getting supported. Europe, that alternate reality where the Master System was a success for example. Arcades were still thriving too.

Since then we've only had 3 console players +PC.

 

[Catphish]

90s, no question.

SNES & Genesis hitting their stride, Sega CD (Lunar!), 3DO (Road Rash!), Jaguar (Tempest 2000!), Saturn (Panzer Dragoon!), Playstation (FF7!), PC (WC2, Duke3D, Diablo, and FUCKING QUAAAAAKKKEEE!!)... Great fucking times.

Maximum creativity, maximum attitude, it seemed like each year brought some more cool shit that I just had to have. Not everything was quality, obviously, but so much was, especially compared to today. Man. What a time to be a gamer.

I spent the 80s as a kid, and the 90s as a young adult. Talk about hitting the sweet spot.

 

[reinking]

It was the 90's for me. A lot of experimentation was going on during that time with consoles like PlayStation, 3DO, Neo Geo and Atari Jaguar. On the PC side games like Diablo, Neverwinter, Myst and the birth of modern MMORPGs. While I would not trade modern gaming to go back to those days, I am glad I got to experience them.

 

[StreetsofBeige]

90s was the best for so much great stuff. But also you got a lot of sketchy shit especially all the junky FMV CD-rom games and if you had a weak PC it was bad. Have fun running a 3D game in software mode without a 3D card.

But the 90s....Genesis, SNES, PS1, PC, awesome arcade games. That's what I played.

 

[Gambit2483]

Jet Set Radio,
Jet Set Radio Future,
Splinter Cell 1-3,
God of War 2,
Perfect Dark,
TimeSplitters 2,
Wind Waker,
Mario Galaxy,
Crazy Taxi,
Soul Calibur 2,
Street Fighter 4,
Virtua Fighter 5,
Dead or Alive 3,
Halo 1-3,
Resident Evil 4,
REmake,
Metal Gear Solid 2-4,
GTA Vice City,
GTA San Andreas,
GTA4,
Prince of Persia: Sands of Time,
Maximo,
Maximo vs Army of Zin,
Ratchet & Clank 1-3,
Jak 1-3,
Deus Ex,
Urban Cheos Riot Response,
Batman: Arkham Asylum,
Silent Hill 2-4,
Conker's Bad Fur Day + Remake,
Metroid Prime,
Otogi 1+2,
Ninja Gaiden 1+2,
Fable 1+2,
Modern Warfare 2,
Lego Star Wars 1+2+Complete Saga,
Jedi Knight 2,
Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 2-4,
Tony Hawk's Underground 1+2,
Tony Hawk's American Wasteland,
Need for Speed Underground 2,
Bayonetta (yes it counts due to the 2009 JP release),
Devil May Cry 1+3+4,
Oninusha 1-4,
Resistance,
Soul Reaver 2,
Blood Omen 2,
Project Gotham Racing 1-4,
Super Smash Bros. Melee
...
..
.
Darksiders narrowly missed it by being released on January 2010...

but yeah, the 2000s easily win for me.
I bet I'm missing some super obvious ones too, but there are just so many titles that make it IMO the best decade for gaming.
and it's the decade where 3D gaming became fully fleshed out.

I could make a list just as good with just as iconic and fun games from the 90s, especially during the early and late 90s.

It's honestly a tie between the 90s and 2000's for me.

One thing is clear though, the output nowadays pales in comparison to what we were getting back then...and no that's not nostalgia talking

 

[SHA]

90's, there was no such thing as fanboys back then , everyone loves PCs , PC was the hottest topic back then , I also saw my friends play Playstation, I liked how it differs from PCs in a good way , back then I decided to skip the ps1and buy the ps2 at launch.

 

[TylerD]

I started the 90s at 5 years old going from NES -> SNES -> N64, with PC also in there, Gameboy, Gameboy Pocket, Gameboy Color, Sega GameGear and playing lots of Genesis and Dreamcast and Playstation over at various friend's houses. Easy choice with the most free time and full summer breaks without a car and no high school football sapping summer free time yet.

 

[Sidney Prescott]

Surprisingly, the 2020's I feel like. I say that because I discovered Bloodborne and Dark Souls, and honestly they are probably in my Top 5 games now. Bloodborne might even be Top 3.

Before that, I would have said 2000's and I'm definitely not short of great memories with how much I loved the PS2.

 

[nightmare-slain]

i've been playing games since ~1994 but 2010-2020 was my favourite decade. the mid/late 90s was fun and so was the 00's but 10-20 was the best time. There have been loads of great games since 2020 and more coming up. So i guess I enjoy most years but 2010-20 is what stands out most to me.

 

[Inanilmaz]

90s alone because the birth of Pokemon, 2000s very close second.

 

[Lumpyoatmeal]

Cuarto

 

[Captain Toad]

I could make a case for every decade since the 80s. Gaming was great when i was a kid in the 80s and it's been awesome up to now.

As a gamer, I was born at the perfect time.

 

[nemiroff]

I tried to vote all of them..

80 90 00 10 22.. I never had a bad decade of videogames in my life.

Hmm, best one though.. I guess it has to be the decade I started with an Amiga 500 (1988?) and then after a while moved on to PC. What's that, the 80-90s then. ..and 2020s because I have too much fun right now.

 

[NightmareFarm]

00s

 

[Gorgon]

90s. Basically coming out from the Commodore Amiga in the middle 80s into the early 90s for PC gaming. No intersection at all with console gaming either, they were separate worlds, unlike today. I did play on my friend's PS2, but my first console was a PS3 in the 2000s, which complemented my PC gaming at the time. Great times, I don't think I'll ever get back the magic of the 90s in gaming for me.

 

[MonkeyClaw36]

'95-2005 = much greatness

THIS!

Arcade games were bang on, home consoles started to show muscle, quality releases, no DLC shit ahhhh the memories!!

 

[German Hops]

1995-2005 was pure gaming bliss. It's hard to choose between 90 s and 00s

 

[German Hops]

98 alone was S tier.

Aye, 1998 is factually the greatest year in gaming history.

 

[Amory]

Has to be the 2000s (PS2) era. In 2003 I was old enough to get a job and finally had a way to reasonably buy my own consoles/games.

PS2 had such an amazing library, man. Seemed like every month there'd be a new game to rave about at the high school lunch table. Even sports games were good back then.

 

[Rubik8]

Heavily skews to the decade where I had the most free time and just enough money to buy what I wanted.

 

[Dr. Suchong]

1983.
But seriously, 1990s, and it's not even close.

 

[rapid32.5]

1995-2005 Everyone was kicking ass, devs and platform holders: PC, PS, ND, MS, Sega.

 

[EverydayBeast]

Todays games are huge and that’s part of their success.

 

[BlackTron]

90's are really undisputed king of when things actually happened and came out, but the best time to actually be gaming was early 2000s.

90's stuff was as there for the taking as it is today, but it was still fresh. While getting 2nd gen 3D which was still being made with 90s design ethos by the same people before things really started changing. GC/PS2/Xbox was really the final arc of 90's video games.

 

[NotMyProblemAnymoreCunt]

2000s all the PS1, PS2 JRPGs

Plus DS and PSP JRPGs

XBOX 360 had a great variety of genres when it comes to games

Overall other than the JRPGs content, there were lot of bangers from The Big 3.

Okami
Windwaker
Knights of The Old Republic
God of War 1 and 2
Shadow of The Colossus
Jade Empire
Halo 4 (I'm being a troll)
Bioshock


I really miss those days

Gaming is so different nowadays