The video game industry has been going strong for decades now, becoming the largest entertainment industry in the world. As video games have gone through their growing pains to become the world’s top form of entertainment, fans have been treated to a number of years that stand out as particularly noteworthy in the industry.
Sometimes these years are remembered fondly for the impact they had in terms of how games are made, and sometimes they’re remembered for having a high volume of quality game releases. Other times, fans have high praise for certain years in gaming because they ushered in new consoles and other innovations. There are many things that can make any given year in gaming great, but some of the best years have a little of everything.
Here are the biggest and best years in video game history so far.
While the video game industry first really started taking off in the 1970s, 1980 was one of its first peaks. The Atari 2600, one of the first-ever home video game consoles, was given a significant second-wind with the launch of Space Invaders, propelling it to become one of the most-wanted items on the market. The best gaming experiences in 1980 couldn’t be found sitting in front of the TV, though, but rather at arcades, where the superior version of Space Invaders continued to be quite successful. Pac-Man also hit arcades in 1980, becoming one of the most successful video games ever made and a franchise all its own, spawning cartoons, cereal deals, and more, showing that video games had widespread, mainstream appeal like few expected.
Video games were hot in the early 1980s, but then the video game crash of 1983 brought everything to a halt. The video game market was flooded with shovelware, lackluster titles that were hurried out to make a quick buck with no regard to their quality, with one of the most notorious of these being E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial. E.T. was so bad that many of its unsold cartridges ended up buried in landfills.
Then in 1985, Nintendo released its new home console, the Nintendo Entertainment System, outside of Japan. The NES was like a shot in the arm for the video game industry in North America, launching alongside a slew of titles that would be looked back on as absolute classics. This includes the original Super Mario Bros. game, which launched one of gaming’s biggest and longest-running franchises ever, not to mention innovated an entire genre, influencing countless games for decades to come.
The 16-bit era of gaming had many top-tier gaming releases, but no single year really stands out from that era, with all of the excitement spread out fairly evenly. In 1996, Nintendo’s 16-bit console the Super Nintendo Entertainment System gave way to the Nintendo 64, which joined Sony’s previously-released PlayStation as revolutionary devices that saw gaming jump from 2D to 3D.
Not only was 1996 a massive year for video games in terms of innovative new hardware, but it was also huge for its high-quality game releases as well. Super Mario 64 in particular was massive, drawing the blueprint of how 3D games should control, while some of gaming’s most treasured franchises were also established in 1996. This includes Capcom’s survival-horror mainstay Resident Evil, as well as the classic Tomb Raider franchise starring Lara Croft.
The PlayStation 1 and the Nintendo 64 really started hitting their stride in 1997, which saw the release of some of the generation’s defining games. On Nintendo 64, the big release of 1997 was GoldenEye 007, which became one of the most beloved multiplayer shooters of the time, and firmly established the N64 as a multiplayer machine. On PS1, the big game was Final Fantasy 7, the first main series Final Fantasy game to skip a Nintendo console, and a game that is widely considered to be one of the best ever made. These two games alone make 1997 a banner year, but there were plenty of other critically-acclaimed titles that released in 1997 as well, maintaining a 90s hot streak that would continue into the next year.
If 1997 was great for the fifth generation of consoles, then 1998 took things to the next level. 1998 was a great year for Nintendo, with The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time hitting the N64 and becoming one of the highest-rated video games ever made. Not only that, but the company breathed new life into its Game Boy handheld with the launch of Pokemon Red and Blue outside of Japan. The impact the Pokemon franchise has had on gaming alone would make 1998 one of the most significant years in gaming history, but the releases didn’t stop there.
PlayStation fans were able to get their hands on Metal Gear Solid in 1998, which revitalized an old Konami franchise and made huge strides for storytelling in video games. The original Spyro the Dragon game also dropped in 1998, giving the PS1 even more must-have titles and helping it become a hugely successful console.
PC gamers weren’t left out in the cold either. In fact, 1998 saw the release of the original Half-Life video game, which helped propel Valve into becoming a PC gaming juggernaut, and started one of the most-acclaimed FPS franchises ever. Starcraft from Blizzard also released in 1998 and became a hugely popular real-time strategy game, influencing a number of copycats for years to come.
Similarly to how the original PlayStation hit the scene just before the Nintendo 64, Sony’s PlayStation 2 arrived a bit earlier than the GameCube and Microsoft’s Xbox. New console launches are always exciting, especially since Microsoft was brand new to the console gaming market and people didn’t really know what they could expect from the Xbox. Luckily, the Xbox launched with its killer app right out of the gate in the form of Halo: Combat Evolved. PS2 and GameCube also had some of their biggest game releases as well in 2001, with Grand Theft Auto 3 launching on the PS2 and changing the face of the industry forever, and GameCube getting the benchmark fighting game Super Smash Bros. Melee, whose popularity persists to this day.
The only downside about 2001 is that’s the year that Sega called it quits in terms of competing in the console gaming market. With the Sega Dreamcast struggling to compete with the other consoles, Sega discontinued it and decided to focus exclusively on software. While this was disappointing to many, the bright side is that this meant that Sega’s best games would soon start making their way to other platforms and become more widely available as a result.
A few years into the PS2, GameCube, and Xbox era, and all three consoles had well-established libraries full of great games. 2004 just added to the pile, though it’s notable for having two of the biggest game releases of the entire generation. Xbox fans got their hands on Halo 2, the hotly-anticipated sequel that helped innovate online multiplayer gameplay for console gamers, whereas the PS2 received Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas. A groundbreaking open world game, Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas took everything established in GTA 3 and Vice City to the next level, becoming one of the biggest, most commercially-successful game releases ever.
The PC also received two of its most important game releases in 2004, with World of Warcraft launching and never really relinquishing its spot as the premiere MMORPG. Half-Life 2 also released on PC in 2004, with many praising it as a revolutionary FPS thanks to its physics-based puzzles and innovative storytelling mechanics. Half-Life 2 was such a success that many fans are still holding out hope for a Half-Life 3, though it still has yet to materialize.
1998 is arguably one of the best years in gaming in terms of new releases, but 2007 certainly gives it a run for its money. 2007 saw some fantastic new IP established, including Assassin’s Creed from Ubisoft, BioWare’s Mass Effect franchise, the critically-acclaimed BioShock, and the PlayStation-exclusive Uncharted franchise, giving the PS3 one of its first must-have titles. Meanwhile, established IP also made a big splash, with Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare hitting the scene and becoming the online multiplayer game, as well as taking the Call of Duty franchise to new heights.
2007 saw PS3 get Uncharted, but Xbox 360 and Wii weren’t without their landmark releases. Halo 3 launched for the Xbox 360 in 2007, whereas the Wii received Super Mario Galaxy, which remains one of the highest-rated video games ever produced.
Meanwhile, console gamers were able to get their hands on one of 2004’s best games when Valve released The Orange Box. Long considered one of the best deals in gaming, The Orange Box gave console gamers access to not just Half-Life 2 and its post-launch expansions, but it also included access to the wildly popular online multiplayer game Team Fortress 2 (which would go on to inspire many other big games, including Blizzard’s Overwatch), as well as the classic puzzler Portal, establishing a new franchise in its own right.
Five years into a console generation and one would think that things would start getting stale. On the contrary, 2010 proved that the PS3, Xbox 360, and Wii all had plenty more to give. Some of the generation’s best games were released in 2010, with some highly-anticipated sequels like Mass Effect 2 and Super Mario Galaxy 2 hitting the scene. Rockstar Games delivered Red Dead Redemption in 2010 to critical acclaim, plus gamers also got to play the likes of God of War 3, Halo: Reach, Assassin’s Creed Brotherhood, and more. While 2010 wasn’t necessarily a great year in terms of new IP, it was a great year for high-quality gaming experiences in general, and with great new titles coming out regularly.
The momentum the gaming industry had in 2010 was carried over into 2011. It saw the launch of The Elder Scrolls 5: Skyrim, a game that’s still a part of the conversation today. Not only that, but 2011 saw the proper release of Minecraft, the sandbox game that has quickly become one of gaming’s top franchises ever. And just like Skyrim, Minecraft remains one of the world’s most-popular and talked-about video games.
In terms of hardware, Nintendo launched its 3DS handheld in 2011. The 3DS had a rough start at first, likely due to a combination of its relatively high asking price and a lack of noteworthy games. But while the 3DS didn’t take off initially, it would eventually become a wildly successful handheld like the original DS, and enjoyed many classic game releases of its own over the years.
2013 saw the launch of the PlayStation 4 and Xbox One, but neither console really launched with that compelling of a lineup. Instead the year is remembered for the final truly notable PS3 and Xbox 360 releases, including some of the biggest games of the generation to ensure that those consoles went out with the fanfare they deserved. PlayStation got The Last of Us, which persists as one of the top-rated games ever, whereas both consoles were treated to the likes of BioShock Infinite and the record-breaking Grand Theft Auto 5.
2013 was also when the Nintendo 3DS started to hit its stride in terms of quality game releases, with Nintendo’s handheld console seeing two of its most highly-rated game releases in the form of Fire Emblem: Awakening and The Legend of Zelda: A Link Between Worlds.
Following the financial disappointment that was the Wii U, a lot was riding on Nintendo’s newest console, the Nintendo Switch. A home console/handheld hybrid that has become one of the best-selling consoles ever, the Nintendo Switch came out swinging, launching with The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild. Later in 2017, the Switch was treated to the likes of Super Mario Odyssey, another landmark release that helped make the console an absolute must-have.
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