Re: Yet Another 'Best Year In Gaming' Thread

For a completely different take on the question, I'd like to suggest
1995 as a contender. Not because it necessarily had the best games...
but man, what a year to be a video gamer! Because I think we forget
how WILD those days were. There was just so much variety. How much?

Here is an (incomplete) list of systems that were getting new games
released in 1995:

Apple Macintosh
Atari Lynx
Atari Jaguar (and Jaguar CD)
Amiga CD32
IBM PC/Compatibles (with 3DFX released this year!)
Nintendo Gameboy
Nintendo Super NES
Nintendo Virtual Boy
Panasonic 3DO
Sega GameGear
Sega MegaDrive (Genesis) (& 32X)
Sega MegaDrive (Genesis) CD
Sega Saturn
SNK NeoGeo
Sony Playstation

And in addition to the actual platforms, 1995 was a great year for new
peripherals! Everything from the Microsoft Sidewinder joysticks to USB
to the short-lived BeBox were released that year. The first CD-R
drives for home-users, That awesome IBM laptop with the keyboard that
folded out. The ungainly Gravis Phoenix, and the VFX-1 VR headset!
Nothing seemed off the table in 1995!

Now, of course, this variety had its own problems: there were a lot of
duplicate games, and picking the wrong system could be a very
expensive mistake. But boy-oh-boy, there was such a FLURRY of games,
and such an radical change in hardware capability. Everyone
--developers and gamers alike-- was scrambling to keep up, to try to
experience all this new capability suddenly allowed the hobby.

Admittedly, the game's weren't always the best (although there were
some real bangers: "Wing Commander IV", "Earthworm Jim", "SimCity
2000", "NBA Jam TE", "Battle Arena Toshinden", "Hexen", "Dark Forces",
"Command & Conquer", "Mechwarrior 2", "Road Rash", "Heroes of Might &
Magic", "Marathon 2: Durandal", "Crusader: No Remorse" and more) but
it wasn't the games that made the year stand out. It was the hardware;
the wildness of the marketplace.

Does that make it the best year in gaming? I don't know, but I think
it certainly is reason for 1995 to be in consideration. Because it's
not *just* the games that makes the hobby fun.