Top 10 Years in Gaming History

#10: 2011

An important transitory year for gamers, in 2011 the seventh generation of gaming was winding down. In order to keep gamers from losing interest in systems that had been around for about half a decade, developers took the games’ content in new directions, with titles like “Skyrim” and “Portal 2” which were among the best of the era. It was also the year of User Generated content with “LittleBigPlanet 2” continuing it’s predecessors success, and “Minecraft” was also given a complete release this year, taking sandbox gaming to new levels. And finally, portable gaming was given a new dimension with the release of the Nintendo 3DS.

#9: 2004

In 2004 Nintendo changed the handheld market when they released the original iteration of the DS, with it’s notable innovation making a touch screen on handheld systems mainstream. 2004 was perhaps one of the biggest years for PC games, when the revolutionary “Half-Life 2” finally came out, as well the MMO which is still dominating the industry a decade later; “World of Warcraft,”. Of course, home consoles also saw many high profile releases too, including the long awaited sequel “Halo 2” and the infamously popular “GTA: San Andreas”.

#8: 1980

Video games were just beginning to come into their own in the early eighties, slowly turning from a fad to a full blown industry. Iconic arcade hits from the prior decade, including “Space Invaders,” arrived on the early home console the Atari 2600. At the same time many of what are referred to today as retro classics appeared in arcades around the world, including popular titles like; “Pac-Man,” “Missile Command,” and “Centipede.” Game makers pushed the limits of the technology and the results were nothing sort of extraordinary.

#7: 1997

1997 proved to be one of the most diverse years ever in video gaming. The Nintendo 64 saw the release of “Goldeneye 007” which brought First Person Shooter Multiplayer to consoles, as well as the space epic “Star Fox 64”. The Playstation made waves big time, with the release of one of the most beloved JRPG’s of all time “Final Fantasy VII.”, “Castlevania: Symphony of the Night” gave 2D gaming a new lease on life by giving us the Metroidvania genre. And on PC, two of the biggest franchises today made their humble debuts with the release of the original Fallout and Grand Theft Auto.

#6: 2001

Both Nintendo and Microsoft released new home consoles this year with the GameCube and X-Box respectively. Both systems began producing legendary games immediately, like GameCube’s “Super Smash Brothers Melee” and X-Box’s “Halo”. Rockstar completely changed the gaming scene the controversial and revolutionary “Grand Theft Auto III” bringing the Sandbox genre to the mainstream. 2001 is also notably perhaps the worst for old Sega fans, as it was this year that the Dreamcast was officially discontinued, and Sega left the console market for good.

#5: 1996

The arrival of the Nintendo 64, along with the still new PlayStation, made 1996 the year where blocky looking 3D games really began to have a noticeable impact on the industry with titles like “Super Mario 64” for the N64 and “Tomb Raider” for PlayStation. In this period of change, classic 2D games, like “Donkey Kong Country 3,” still frequently appeared, survival horror hit the mainstream with Resident Evil, along with a number of amazing shooters being released on PC and in arcades, notably with the return of “Duke Nukem” and the arrival of “Metal Slug.”

#4: 2013

2013 was a massive year for great games on all fronts, “The Last of Us,” gave us genuine thrills and emotionally hard hitting moments. “Bioshock Infinite” soured the series to new heights, “Grand Theft Auto 5” became one of the fastest selling games of all time, and “Assassin’s Creed 4: Black Flag” made pirates cool again. The 3DS also had a stellar year with the likes of “Fire Emblem: Awakening” and “Zelda: A Link Between World” highlighting the tip of a fantastic lineup. And most importantly; This year saw the PS4 and Xbox One released within a week of each other, joining the Wii U to kick off the 8th Generation of Gaming.

#3: 2007

Much of the modern landscape of video games can trace their roots back to this stellar year with a huge number of major franchises beginning, such as; “BioShock”, “Uncharted”, “Assassin’s Creed”, and “Mass Effect”. It was also a banner year for shooters with the conclusion of the original “Halo” trilogy and “Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare” changing the gaming landscape as we know it. Valve also released The Orange Box, which featured the iconic “Portal” and “Team Fortress 2” and Nintendo reinvented the platforming genre again with Super Mario Galaxy.

#2: 1985

Simply put, 1985 was the year that saved video games. Just two years earlier the industry had crashed due to an oversaturation of less than amazing games, but a large number of now classic games,like “Super Mario Bros.” brought the industry back from the brink in ‘85. It was also a banner year for both PC games and hardware, with the release of the Nintendo Entertainment System and the huge number of well-made games that came out for both consoles and computers.

Before we reveal our top pick, here are some honorable mentions:
1991
1994
2005
2010

#1: 1998

Everything seemed to go right for gamers in 1998, with almost every major company releasing a slew of iconic and influential games that still hold up today. Where to start? We’ve got the Action Adventure defining “Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time”, The Stealth Action AAA defining “Metal Gear Solid”, The First Person Shooter Defining “Half Life”, and The Real Time Strategy defining “Starcraft.” And then there’s “Pokemon Red and Blue” which started a cultural phenomenon. And we could probably fit “Spyro” and “Mario Party” in there while we’re at it. Most importantly these were the titles that proved that Video Games were a true modern day entertainment alternative to Films and Television, one that wasn’t going anywhere for a while.

Do you agree with our list? Which years do you think revolutionized gaming? For more enthralling top 10’s published daily be sure to subscribe to WatchMojo.com.