The fact that there's a generation of gamers out there right now who got into the medium after the sixth generation of consoles (PS2, Xbox, GameCube) weighs on my mind sometimes. I'm of the opinion that those of us who were gaming throughout the sixth gen, regardless of one's age at that time, are fortunate to have experienced it while it was happening.
Don't get me wrong. This past gen has been rather great, overall, and the new generation that has just begun seems to be heading in a good direction as well. We arguably have more quality games to choose from across a wide variety of genres and platforms now than we ever have before. That said, the sixth gen marked the end of an era of games being complete packages that were finalized the moment they were pressed to disc. So many of the business models and shady practices that enthusiasts like us tend to bemoan today (e.g. microtransactions, massive day 1 patches, games shipping in a broken state, freemium, GaaS shenanigans, etc.) simply did not exist during the sixth gen. They couldn't have, mainly because that was the last time during which consoles did not allow downloadable patches/updates for games.
This picture shows up a lot online when discussing the PS2's legendary library, and this was only one year into its historic run.
In my view, the sixth gen of consoles and especially PS2's dominant run during that time was a remarkably prosperous time for gaming. The output from first-, second-, and third-party developers back then was simply astounding both in terms of quality and quantity, and development costs and timelines at that time occupied a sweet spot that allowed for AA to exist while giving AAA games the budgets that they needed to really push boundaries as well. Every genre under the sun was well served throughout the sixth gen, and usually across multiple installments of many beloved franchises. Yes, back then a developer could release 2-4 mainline entries of a successful AAA franchise within a single console generation.
To this day I love buying the occasional PS2 game online and adding it to my library because every game is exactly how it always was. A complete product that remains unchanged since the day it was mastered. I often worry about the state of playing and/or collecting games from the seventh gen onward down the line since so many of them rely on first-party servers and online patches to even function properly. For a lot of modern games the version of a game that's on the disc is practically worthless compared to what the game ends up being after a year's worth of patches and updates that might someday become unavailable.
A somewhat recent haul from a retro game store in Naples, FL.
Having lived through the sixth gen during my high school and college years, I can certainly recognize that nostalgia plays a role here. After all, those were some of the most carefree years of my life in terms of gaming, so of course the games of that time are going to resonate that much extra with me. But I think that the unique strengths of that generation of consoles are quantifiable and undeniable even when you remove personal nostalgia from the equation. It was a time before a sea change that brought with it both positives and negatives, and as such it marked the end of an era of traditional games retail that I miss in a lot of ways but am grateful that I got to experience firsthand.
Don't get me wrong. This past gen has been rather great, overall, and the new generation that has just begun seems to be heading in a good direction as well. We arguably have more quality games to choose from across a wide variety of genres and platforms now than we ever have before. That said, the sixth gen marked the end of an era of games being complete packages that were finalized the moment they were pressed to disc. So many of the business models and shady practices that enthusiasts like us tend to bemoan today (e.g. microtransactions, massive day 1 patches, games shipping in a broken state, freemium, GaaS shenanigans, etc.) simply did not exist during the sixth gen. They couldn't have, mainly because that was the last time during which consoles did not allow downloadable patches/updates for games.
This picture shows up a lot online when discussing the PS2's legendary library, and this was only one year into its historic run.
In my view, the sixth gen of consoles and especially PS2's dominant run during that time was a remarkably prosperous time for gaming. The output from first-, second-, and third-party developers back then was simply astounding both in terms of quality and quantity, and development costs and timelines at that time occupied a sweet spot that allowed for AA to exist while giving AAA games the budgets that they needed to really push boundaries as well. Every genre under the sun was well served throughout the sixth gen, and usually across multiple installments of many beloved franchises. Yes, back then a developer could release 2-4 mainline entries of a successful AAA franchise within a single console generation.
To this day I love buying the occasional PS2 game online and adding it to my library because every game is exactly how it always was. A complete product that remains unchanged since the day it was mastered. I often worry about the state of playing and/or collecting games from the seventh gen onward down the line since so many of them rely on first-party servers and online patches to even function properly. For a lot of modern games the version of a game that's on the disc is practically worthless compared to what the game ends up being after a year's worth of patches and updates that might someday become unavailable.
A somewhat recent haul from a retro game store in Naples, FL.
Having lived through the sixth gen during my high school and college years, I can certainly recognize that nostalgia plays a role here. After all, those were some of the most carefree years of my life in terms of gaming, so of course the games of that time are going to resonate that much extra with me. But I think that the unique strengths of that generation of consoles are quantifiable and undeniable even when you remove personal nostalgia from the equation. It was a time before a sea change that brought with it both positives and negatives, and as such it marked the end of an era of traditional games retail that I miss in a lot of ways but am grateful that I got to experience firsthand.
