During the last five days, we've been running a series of features looking at some of the best years in the history of video games. Our selected years--1993, 1996, 1998, 2004, and 2007--were chosen not only for the amount of outstanding games that were released within their calendar confines, but how important those games have subsequently become.
Now it's your chance to tell us your opinion. Which of those five years do you think is the best? Or have we completely gotten it wrong? If so, sound off in the comments below for what you think is the more deserving year.
Here's a recap of all of our Best Year in Gaming features:
Why 1993 Was the Best Year in Gaming
"Back in '93, arcades were still a pretty big deal, Jurassic Park confirmed that dinosaurs were real, and some of the most memorable franchises in video gaming were born. Console makers were racing to try and bring the arcade experience home with machines like the 3DO, the Atari Jaguar, and the Amiga CD32, but in the end, it was the experiences that mattered most. It's a lesson that still plays out today: it's not about what machine can push out the most pixels, it's about how good the games are."
Why 1996 Was the Best Year in Gaming
"In 1996, the industry landscape was forever altered with a handful of game-changing new franchises. It was a golden year for strong leading characters and equally strong new gameplay ideas, both from Japanese and Western studios. Icons that are now household names—including Lara Croft and Crash Bandicoot--were born in 1996. It was a good year to be a Mario fan as well, with still-beloved favorites from two branches of the franchise making their debut. Not to mention this was the year the world got Pokémon, a series that would reach dizzying heights of popularity nearly two decades later."
Why 1998 Was the Best Year in Gaming
"1998 was a year of firsts. The first narrative-driven shooter. The first three-dimensional Legend of Zelda game. The first modern stealth simulator. The first Japanese role-playing game that would drive us to catch them all. The first game to emulate cinematic techniques and direction. And the first RPG from a developer that has now become the genre's leader."
Why 2004 Was the Best Year in Gaming
"The early years of video gaming were defined by invention; 2004, by contrast, was about redefinition and refinement. Few of the year's standouts burst with wholly new ideas or introduced new genres. Instead, they set standards by which similar games would be judged in the decade to follow, and in the process, established themselves as masterpieces in their own right. You might call 2004 the year of the sequel, given the many high-profile follow-ups that iterated on the games that preceded them, but the successors that defined the year were hardly retreads. Not to mention, of course, the jewels that launched entire series' of their own, yet still shine even within the shadow of the games that followed."
Why 2007 Was the Best Year in Gaming
"2007 defined the seventh generation of consoles. This was the year that developers finally got to grips with the powerful new hardware of the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360, and delivered games that were bigger, brasher, and more spectacular than ever before. Enduring franchises like Assassin's Creed, The Witcher, and Uncharted all made their debut in 2007, while Nintendo Wii owners were treated to one of the greatest 3D platformers ever made in the form of the sublime Super Mario Galaxy."
Vote now in the poll below. Voting closes at 8am PT on January 5, 2015, and we'll tell you the results shortly after.
