Gaming Anniversaries - Now Celebrating Consoles of March

I've always put important gaming dates in the birthday thread but I think with this anniversary, I can for one look back on and talk a bit about and hope in time we can get some chat out of other great games and our memories of them.

Today is the 20th anniversary of Tomb Raider for the Sony PlayStation


I didn't play what was going to be a Saturn exclusive to many years later on a actual Saturn.

So my first taste of Tomb Raiding was on the PS1 like for most people and was the very first game I played on my very own PS1 after going to rent the game from the video shop (the good old days when no one cared about age ratings).

I know some of you are older and me but seeing a game like Tomb Raider now celebrated its 20th anniversary does make me feel old, especially when you see on your facebook the kids form work say their old as they've just turned 18 and I'm like Tomb Raider is older you.

Good thread - one anniversary just came into my mind:

Mario Kart DS is nearly 11 years old. That's crazy, it still feels like yesterday when we'd set up games to play on the old forum.

And while MK8 has an exceptionally produced soundtrack, I really miss the rather synthesised feel of MKDS's music. The credits music in particular is far from anything I'd expect from MK8's celebratory big band feel: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N6SmC9fHj8k

I remember playing Tomb Raider on a friend's PC what must have been 20 years ago.

For me, 2017 has some big anniversaries. Goldeneye for one, but also games like Need for Speed 2 and Theme Hospital. I got an N64 in Xmas 98 so 1997 I was still PC gaming.

The fact that the DS is over a decade old is mad. And that the Wii is weeks away from being 10 itself. That 360/PS3/Wii gen really did go on for a while, and could have gone on longer to be honest.

Yeah this month in some regions both the PS3 and Wii will be 10 years old, that generation for me went on far to long for my liking but did make me want the PS4 more than in previous generations.

I don't get how people say the last gen went on too long, look back at the last proper year or 2 and they were hitting their stride with banger after banger. They changed gen and the quality dipped pretty much immediately. I'm not saying they haven't got going again now, but when the power limit is hit I think they get much more creative and I'd have happily kept on the PS3 for many more years.

The PS3 from what we saw did seem to be finally reaching the potential of the cell processor and the promised 10 year life cycle and consoles always do seem to have something great at the end of the generation and sometimes the next generation console is out as well like when God of War 2 came out for PS2 like the month after PS3 launch.

It's the other two that really need to be replaced both had dried up of quality first party games and things like GTAV really struggled to run on the 360 which for me should have had its day in 2010 when it was 5 years the average between generation's in till now and not when it 8 years old running on 10 year old technology.

And if that happened would this generation be in a better place but of course we would maybe looking at replacing this generation if we changed earlier last gen, which may of happened if it wasn't for the financial crisis.

masofdas wrote:

It's the other two that really need to be replaced both had dried up of quality first party games and things like GTAV really struggled to run on the 360 which for me should have had its day in 2010 when it was 5 years the average between generation's in till now and not when it 8 years old running on 10 year old technology.

Considering how long it took the PS4/Xbox One to offer something that couldn't have been done on last-gen hardware (Witcher 3), I don't agree. With Metal Gear Solid V and Rise of the Tomb Raider appearing on last-gen too (Shadows of Mordor too), the main benefit of moving on earlier would be scale, scope and some prettier textures. There's also an argument to be made for the 360 receiving better games 2010 onwards - the likes of Red Dead Redemption and Skyrim for a start. As Crumpy Andy says, games like Xenoblade Chronicles on the Wii and GTA V elsewhere, are that generation's best titles. Restriction breeds creativity.

MGSV that started development for last gen consoles, Rise of the Tomb Raider isn't on last gen and only just come out for PS4 after the year exclusive deal on Xbox One, Shadow of Mordor doesn't have the nemesis system on last gen and that's the thing that made that game so great from people tell me.

I reckon Witcher III could have been done on PS3 with cutbacks and if you wanted to go even further back as you can look up the likes of The Last of Us demake on PS1, so has gaming really moved on from scale, scope and some prettier textures and takes this week the PS4 Pro comes out what's its selling point scale, scope and some prettier textures (its sold out in the UK already, so people want that) and same goes for the Scorpio (Which I still think will be a new system not a enhanced version).

This is a thing we will never know as you can say all theses great games after 2011 (5 year avg after all 3 were on the market in at least one region) which we had up in till the current gen but if we had have changed would we be saying how great the games on the PS4ONE were as we would be maybe looking at replacing them soon (MS must be reading this).

We will never know, its the same like what would the games industry be like if Nintendo and Sony didn't have a bust up, Sony and MS did do that partnership with laptops and MS never entered the console market, what if SEGA and MS had partnered on the Xbox, what if there wasn't a market crash in the 80's and the financial crisis a few years ago, which many say is why we did have such as long generation.

I just know I was ready for the Wii U back in about 2010 and I've said elsewhere in a thread about the Wii U, I feel it came out at the wrong place at the wrong time and I'd been happy to have a replacement for the Xbox 360 before 2013 maybe November 2011 would have been good.

I don't agree with you on Witcher Mas, look at the "quality" of Witcher 2 and you'll see them hitting their limit on consoles, 3 shines for its extra power.

gjones wrote:

(Shadows of Mordor too)

This is an interesting one, as Shadow of Mordor was severely impaired on the other consoles. The nemesis system, which is what made that game, could only run on PS4 and XBox One.

masofdas wrote:

Rise of the Tomb Raider isn't on last gen and only just come out for PS4 after the year exclusive deal on Xbox One

Yes it is...



Given our different gaming habits however, I understand why you were ready to move on. You have the new systems, the PS VR and purchase new releases often. I'm content picking up last-gen titles on 360 and Wii, as they have such rich, diverse libraries that I'd be happy playing through them for years to come, and there's been very little to tempt me towards a PS4 outside of PES online with friends, and the arrival of Shenmue 3.

Depending on how affordable the Switch is, I may convert to being a last-gen gamer (is that a thing?).

gjones wrote:

Depending on how affordable the Switch is, I may convert to being a last-gen gamer (is that a thing?).

It is now! However, as the Switch is a successor to a current gen console, the next gen will arriveoh no I've gone cross-eyed.

Personally, whilst I was ready for the Wii's generation to be over, I wasn't ready for the Wii U.

gjones wrote:

masofdas wrote:

Rise of the Tomb Raider isn't on last gen and only just come out for PS4 after the year exclusive deal on Xbox One

Yes it is...



Given our different gaming habits however, I understand why you were ready to move on. You have the new systems, the PS VR and purchase new releases often. I'm content picking up last-gen titles on 360 and Wii, as they have such rich, diverse libraries that I'd be happy playing through them for years to come, and there's been very little to tempt me towards a PS4 outside of PES online with friends, and the arrival of Shenmue 3.

Depending on how affordable the Switch is, I may convert to being a last-gen gamer (is that a thing?).

It did so well I didn't even notice it come out on 360. Yeah nothing wrong with that, we've said to Balla with the PS3 it has a fantastic library of games and can play PS1, PS2 games as well. So why wouldn't you go for that as there are thousands of games to play, I'm no different I had to wait to get a PS1 and a PS2 that I was playing the best games from the generation before still like a FFIX.

I've said before that my love for Xbox went in about 2010 with MS moving way from what made the OG Xbox and 360 so good to more casual market, that I would like lot have seen the new hardcore console around then.

This has lead some analysts to believe due to the last gen being so long, why the PS4 and Xbox One had some of the best launchs ever and why the PS4 continues to out pace the PS2 and the Xbox One at one point out pacing the 360 (I say at one point as MS no longer put out numbers) due to the demand of people wanting a new console and sales have the last gen have dropped off a cliff.

@Andy yeah sure 3 shines on the current gen, but could it have been done. Who knows, I can point to a demake of The Last of Us a late PS3 game which pushed the system and we know what it would be like on PS1 and from a gameplay perspective its rather close, the difference is the looks.  

Could any gen go on longer yeah sure or could any gen be shorter again yeah, this is like I said we don't know. I can tell you my opinion and what a lot of other think, as well which include top people of companies which have said the this gen would have come sooner if not for the financial crisis.

This why Nintendo have always been great they try new gameplay mechanics or new ways to play then just lets make it look better.

fronkhead wrote:

Good thread - one anniversary just came into my mind:

Mario Kart DS is nearly 11 years old. That's crazy, it still feels like yesterday when we'd set up games to play on the old forum.

And while MK8 has an exceptionally produced soundtrack, I really miss the rather synthesised feel of MKDS's music. The credits music in particular is far from anything I'd expect from MK8's celebratory big band feel: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N6SmC9fHj8k

I really vividly remember getting that on a Christmassy Saturday afternoon in Ayr, but I'm surprised (and, truthfully, a bit saddened) by the fact that Mario Kart DS is eleven years old. Looking back, it's a very important game.

~

On the subject of anniversaries, I'm in the mood for hauling myself down to CEX and picking up some early Wii games. The Wii is ten in the UK next month, which I find a bit mad right now, but we'll see how those games have aged. I just feel like going back to some of those games, is all. I suggested that as an idea earlier in the year, and I think I'm going to do something with it. I might just see what I can get for £10-£20, spent an lazy Sunday afternoon having a shot of all those old games again and maybe posting something here on the forum.

I'd love to read about that. I'm not a big fan of retro stuff, but the Wii is such very recent retro that I have a copy of Beat the Beat at my year-old flat. Anything that digs up some Wii games is good by me.

My Wii is knackered, but I'd absolutely love to read something like that Cappa. Colour me interested.

I liked the idea and was talking about doing it for the retro lets all play and for me that put the Wii to the wayside rather early, it be good to play and read about a bunch of the games.

NGamer Issue 4 anniversary is up next week which includes the first reviews/releases for the Wii. I know I'll be buying the likes of Eledees, Red Steel and Super Monkey Ball: Banana Blitz to throw myself in to Christmas 2006. You're not alone Cappa Did you own a Wii at launch? I bought a Wii in 2010 so I'm looking forward to a lot of early Wii games I've never played.

Nah, I got mine after the launch. Though I was buying NGamer, I wasn't all that arsed with gaming back when the Wii came out - there was just too much else going on in my life ten years ago, like articulating to uni, my nice wee job in retail, my social life, turning eighteen, and all that. I didn't bother pre-ordering it, or really have any plans to 'upgrade' from my GameCube. It wasn't until I played Wii Sports at a Hogmanay party that it really grabbed me by the bollocks. Thing was, by that time, in late December 2006, everybody was after a Wii. As soon as they were in stock in the local GAME/HMV/Games Centre/Blockbuster, they were out the door. In and out.

I finally got one by pure luck months later - for no good reason, I was kicking about my local GAME at the end of the day just having a butchers and I heard the staff discretely talking about a Wii delivery the next morning. I was in about it like a dug eating beetroot, gjones, I can tell you. I chanced it, and made sure that I was outside GAME that next morning well before opening, armed with about fifty GameCube and PS2 games. There was about a dozen folk waiting for one outside. That's mental when you think about it; a computer game console that had been out for almost six months, with a queue of folk waiting to buy it in a small seaside town. That's mad. Anyway, some folk left empty-handed, but not me - I was sorted. I had decimated my games collection in the process, true, but I was up a Wii with Wii Sports, SSX Blur and Sonic & The Secret Rings by the end of the morning. Quality.

Aye. I can't wait to throw myself back into this period too! I'll probably sit down with the idea this weekend. I've already got some games that I'll revisit  - stuff I've not played since the time. Might be shite, might be all right.

EDIT: One early Wii game that I know is still brilliant is Kororinpa. I rattled through it again earlier this year and I still rate it very highly. Wiki says that it launched with the console in Japan, and it came out here soon after. I think it even came out as a budget game. But its first class, and I urge you - and everybody else! - to seek it out.

Kororinpa is an absolute banger. I loved the little tricks you could do with the stage, and I remember pulling off a 5 second clear on a particularly long stage by flicking on its side and by pure luck manoeuvering the marble right to the goal from the start point. Oh, and panda ball for life.

Well it had to be done on what is the 10th anniversary of the PS3 launch in Japan.

Today marks the 15th anniversary of still the best Xbox made

masofdas wrote:

Today marks the 15th anniversary of still the best Xbox made

It was good, but better than the 360?

I was never that impressed with the first XBox. A few of my mates from school had one each, and I spent enough of my teenagehood playing stuff like Halo, Project Gotham Racing and Kung-Fu Chaos (?) round at their houses. All that time, and I didn't want an XBox of my own for a second. At the time, I didn't understand why it gained traction.

Yeah to me the 360 was the PS2 of its generation, really popular and had a few good years and exclusives but nothing really WOW! You just sort of had one as that's what everyone had and where you played FIFA, COD etc

The PS4 could fall into that same bracket if Sony's own studios don't start pumping out some quality games, which they'll hopefully be doing in 2017.

Now the OG Xbox, MS was new on the market and had to do deals and make their own series for them to stand out from the crowd which gave us so many great titles Halo, Halo 2, KOTOR, KOTOR 2, Jade Empire, Otogi, PGR 2, Crimson Skies, Jet Set Radio Future, Morrowind and I could go on.