Timelines of Games

[Luca]

I have a question for you and I need time to work it out, myself, so I thought I'd make a topic for it. If you were to make a timeline of games, not necessarily the most popular game by year, but the games that most defined you and your gaming life in those years, what would they be?

Mine is like... I'm not sure but it probably starts with:
1997 - Freddi Fish Maze Madness
1998 - Frogger (PC adventure game)
1999 - Centipede (PC Adventure Game)
2000 - Bubble Bobble (NES)
etc. I'll have to think about the rest of my list.

[Emily]

I love this! I've put together something, but it might be edited as I think of other things. I think it should give a pretty good idea of me, though. You can really see the difference once I moved out on my own, and had the ability to get more than one game per year.

Pre-1996: A blur of Super Mario World, Mario Paint, and Sonic The Hedgehog games (mostly 3 & Knuckles)
1996-1998: Super Mario 64
1999: Ocarina of Time/Pokemon Gold
2000: Ocarina of Time/Banjo Tooie
2001: Majora's Mask/Animal Crossing
2002: Majora's Mask/Halo: Combat Evolved
2003: Knights of the Old Republic/Sonic Adventure 2: Battle/Tales of Symphonia
2004: The Wind Waker/TES: Morrowind
2005: TES: Morrowind
2006: TES: Oblivion
2007: Twilight Princess
2008: Mass Effect/Fable II
2009: Dragon Age: Origins/Tales of Vesperia
2010: Mass Effect 2/Fable III
2011: Halo: Reach/Battlefield 3/TES: Skyrim
2012: Mass Effect 2/League of Legends
2013: Minecraft/League of Legends
2014: Minecraft/League of Legends/Dragon Age: Inquisition
2015: League of Legends
2016: Pokemon: Moon/Fire Emblem: Conquest/Animal Crossing: New Leaf
2017: Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild
2018: Pillars of Eternity 2: Deadfire/Divinity: Original Sin 2

[Rea]

I don't even know.

1990-95ish  (yes I was a baby)--Doom, Quake, Pilotwings (God I hated it but), this one gun game I can't remember the name of, BOMBERMAN OMFG, Mario and KIRBY, Rollercoaster Tycoon, SimAnt,
1996--. . . Book of Mormon PC game (shut up, finding that bunny WAS THE BOMB), Age of Empires I and II, Warcraft I and II (until we weren't allowed to play it anymore because of the loincloths. *eyeroll*
Frogger at some point (More the music than anything--I would literally put the CD in my CD player because that worked and listen to the soundtrack over and over =.=;;;)
1998-2004?--Ocarina of Time, Mario Party 1, 2, and 3, Yoshi's Story
2001-2005?--Windwaker, Harvest Moon: Magical Melody, Four Swords, PAPER MARIOOOOO

2014?--Minish Cap
2017?--LoZ: Between Worlds

I played a lot more as a kid apparently . . .

[El]

This is a super fun idea! Reminiscing on all the games I’ve experienced was such a trip and as you can see by the size of this post I get very invested hehe.

Managing to assign years to games was a big challenge though, especially considering how much of it is just a blur of good times: what is time anyway? (So take all those dates with a pinch of salt but I tried my best.) I had no idea I had soooooo many game memories either but it quickly became evident once I started listing just how hard it’d be to select just a handful! And I still ended up with loads and refused to pick one per year hahahaha… ha… Oh woe is me.

Before I show my own list though there is a disclaimer you should know about me: I have, and still do, spend a lot of my time watching people play games rather than play them myself. That’s not to say I don’t play games too! But in much of my childhood especially I have fond memories of my gamer mum’s adventures, a past-time which has now carried over onto Youtube Let’s Plays and Twitch streams.

Some of these games I have only seen played.
Some I have played myself.
Some I am still playing or replaying!
Some I have played myself and seen played.
Some I haven’t even seen completed, yet have stuck with me.
Some I have little attachment to but I played the hell out of so they deserve a spot.

Let’s begin!


1999~2001

• The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time (N64)
  
• The Legend of Zelda: Majora’s Mask (N64)
  
• Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind (Xbox)

2002~2005

• The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker (Gamecube)
  
• Skies of Arcadia Legends (Gamecube)
  
• Lost Kingdoms I & II (Gamecube)
  
• Tales of Symphonia (Gamecube)
  
• Soul Calibur II (Gamecube)
  
• Eternal Darkness: Sanity’s Requiem (Gamecube)
  
• Resident Evil Zero (Gamecube)
  
• Resident Evil 1 [Remake] (Gamecube)
  
• Animal Crossing (Gamecube)
  
• Pokemon Colosseum (Gamecube)
  
• Harvest Moon: A Wonderful Life (Gamecube)
  
• Fable (Xbox)
  
• Jade Empire (Xbox)
  
• Shenmue II (Xbox)
  
• Silent Hill 2 (Xbox)
  
• Silent Hill 4: The Room (Xbox)
  
• The Sims (PC)
  
• Tenchu: Wrath of Heaven (Xbox)
  
• Halo 2 (Xbox)

2006~2011

• The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess (Gamecube)
  
• Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion (Xbox 360)
  
• Fable II (Xbox 360)
  
• Dragon Age: Origins (Xbox 360)
  
• Dragon Age II (Xbox 360)
  
• Lost Odyssey (Xbox 360)
  
• Devil May Cry 4 (Xbox 360)
  
• Dynasty Warriors 7 (Xbox 360)
  
• Okami (Wii)
  
• The Sims 2 (PC)
  
• The Sims 3 (PC)
  
• Animal Crossing: Wild World (Nintendo DS)
  
• Pokemon Pearl (Nintendo DS)
  
• Yo-Jin-Bo (PC)
  
• Crisis Core: Final Fantasy VII (PSP)
  
• Final Fantasy III (Nintendo DS)

2012~2013

• Silent Hill 3 [Remastered] (PS3)
  
• Animal Crossing: New Leaf (Nintendo 3DS)
  
• Fire Emblem Awakening (Nintendo 3DS)
  
• Hakuoki: Memories of the Shinsengumi (Nintendo 3DS)
  
• Heavy Rain (PS3)

2014~2016

• Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney (Nintendo 3DS)
  
• Fire Emblem Fates: Conquest (Nintendo 3DS)
  
• The Evil Within (PS3)
  
• The Last of Us (PS3)
  
• Anniversary no Kuni no Alice (PC)
  
• The Wolf Among Us (Steam)
  
• [Telltale’s] The Walking Dead (Xbox 360/One)
  
• Amnesia: Memories (Steam)
  
• Life is Strange (Xbox One)

2017

• The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild (Wii U)
  
• Persona 4 (PS Vita)
  
• Persona 5 (PS4)
  
• Mystic Messenger (iOS)
  
• Hakuoki: Kyoto Winds (Steam)
  
• Hakuoki: Edo Blossoms (Steam)
  
• OZMAFIA!! (Steam)
  
• Nameless ~The one thing you must recall~ (Steam)
  
• The Men of Yoshiwara: Ohgiya (Steam)
  
• Collar x Malice (PS Vita)

2018

• Life is Strange 2 (Steam)
  
• Dragon Age: Inquisition (PC)
  
• The Council (Steam)
  
• Vampyr (Steam)
  
• Ikemen Revolution ~Love & Magic in Wonderland~ (iOS)

If I don’t stop here I don’t think I’ll ever stop, this is already a monster! Ramble -OVER-

[Natalie]

This is a great thread. I missed this kind of content.

I couldn't break it down by year, but I made a loosely linear timeline that starts from 1996 (when I was first old enough to meaningfully play games and remember things) and stretches through the present. There are probably a few missing and a few included that are of less importance, but every game here has a story behind it, and I might someday write at length about a few of them.

Super Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island (SNES)
Humongous Entertainment games (Pajama Sam, Freddi Fish, Sock Works, etc.) (PC)
Mega Man 2 (NES)
ToeJam & Earl (Genesis)
Snow Bros. (NES)
Mendel Palace (NES)
Twisted Metal 2 (PSX)
The Dukes of Hazzard: Racing for Home (PSX)
BattleTanx: Global Assault (N64)
Banjo-Kazooie (N64)
Spyro 2: Ripto's Rage (PSX)
Vigilante 8: 2nd Offense (PSX)
Magic: The Gathering (TCG)
Super Smash Bros. Melee (GCN)
Animal Crossing (GCN)
Tomba 2: The Evil Swine Return (PSX)
Tony Hawk's Underground (GCN)
Sonic Adventure 2 (DC)
Shenmue (DC)
Pokemon Channel (GCN)
Road Trip (PS2)
Grand Theft Auto: Vice City (PS2)
The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker (GCN)
Goldeneye (N64)
Soul Calibur III (PS2)
Guitar Hero II (PS2)
Earthbound (SNES)
Portal (PC)
Team Fortress 2 (PC)
Super Smash Bros. Brawl (Wii)
The Dig (PC)
Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty (PS2)
Mirror's Edge (360)
The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion (360/PC)
Digital: A Love Story (PC)
Katawa Shoujo (PC)
NieR (360)
To the Moon (PC)
Freedom Planet (PC)
Mother 3 (GBA)
Donkey Konga (GCN)
Pokemon Mystery Dungeon: Explorers of Sky (DS)
Hyrule Warriors (Wii U)
Secret Little Haven (PC)

[Jens]

This is pretty difficult, to be entirely honest. I wouldn't be able to pick one game per year. Sometimes there were multiple games, or one game that has gripped me for longer than a year. Also, my memory is just plain bad.
Anyway, here goes:

1996-1999: Several edutainment games I don't remember the name of, Putt Putt Saves the Zoo, Jazz Jackrabbit 1 and 2, Lego Island, Soul Blade
2000: Super Mario 64, Banjo Kazooie, Mario Kart 64, Mario Party, Pokémon Stadium
2001-2002: Pokémon Stadium, Pokémon Yellow, Pokémon Gold (definitely the Pokémon period)
2003-2005: Ocarina of Time, Majora's Mask, Fire Emblem: Blazing Blade, Mario Kart: Double Dash, The Minish Cap, A Link to the Past, Super Smash Bros., Super Smash Bros. Melee., Tales of Symphonia
2006-2010: Soul Calibur 2 & 3, Fire Emblem: Sacred Stones, The Wind Waker, Oblivion, Knights of the Old Republic, Twilight Princess, Super Smash Bros. Brawl, Kingdom Hearts 2, The Godfather
2011-2013: Skyrim
2014: Vampire the Masquerade: Bloodlines, Mass Effect 1-3
2015: Crusader Kings 2
2016: Crusader Kings 2, Mount and Blade: Warband
2017: Crusader Kings 2, Doki Doki Literature Club
2018: Crusader Kings 2
2019: Crusader Kings 2
2153: Crusader Kings 3

The games I have come back to throughout the years were mostly those from the Zelda, Fire Emblem, Elder Scrolls and Pokémon series.

[Luca]

Mine is basically the same way, I'm guessing at a lot of these because there aren't really records that go back that far for me to consult, but the ones that stick out in my brain and approximately correspond to the most played games of those years are this:


1997 - Freddi Fish Maze Madness
1998 - Frogger (PC adventure game)
1999 - Centipede (PC Adventure Game)
2000 - Bubble Bobble/Super Mario (NES)
2001 - Age of Empires II
2002 - Age of Empires II
2003 - Age of Mythology
2004 - Age of Mythology
2005 - Geneforge 1 & 2 / RuneScape
2006 - Diablo II / Geneforge 4 / StarCraft
2007 - Diablo II / Warcraft / Dungeon Lords
2008 - World of Warcraft / Command and Conquer: Generals
2009 - EVE Online / Dawn of War:DC
2010 - Dawn of War:DC / Dungeon Siege II / Geneforge 1&2 again so my dad could see it this time.
2011 - Fable III / The Halo series, chronologically from Halo Wars to Halo 3. Since my dad wanted to see that, too.
2012 - CoD:MW1/2 / Civilization V
2013 - PlanetSide II / RIFT
2014 - Warframe
2015 - Warframe
2016 - Cities Skylines / Overwatch
2017 - Discord, I basically had zero gaming and spent every second chatting.
2018 - Rim World / Crusader Kings


Maybe RTSs have died out?

[Emily]

I'm going to do another one of these, but mostly because I like the way that El did hers. The way I'd originally interpreted the point of this thread, I tried to keep each year to the most influential games I'd played. Now I kind of want to do all of the influential games I remember playing, which might be a bit more weighted to certain years/year groups than others. And that's okay sometimes <3

So let's start early. When I was a kid, my parents bought a Sega Genesis for my sister and I to play. We would occasionally trade out for my uncle's SNES, and rent games for that for about half a year until we traded back. Despite this nice system being in place, we ended up not owning either of the systems, and I'm not entirely sure where they went. So, with apologies to the inaccuracies of year, I begin with:

~1993-1996, SNES/Genesis era:

• Sonic the Hedgehog 1-3 (& Knuckles)
• Aladdin
• Super Mario World
• Donkey Kong Country
• Mario Paint
• Super Mario Bros: The Lost Levels
• Super Mario RPG
• Chrono Trigger

1996-2001, N64 era:

• Super Mario 64
• Banjo Tooie
• Mario Kart 64
• Diddy Kong Racing
• Pokemon Snap
• Pokemon Stadiums 1, 2
• Pokemon Gold (on a friend's Gameboy)
• Starfox: 64
• Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time
• Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask

2001-2003, Nintendo Gamecube, Gameboy Advance era:

• Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets
• Legend of Zelda: Wind Waker
• Legend of Zelda: Oracle of Ages
• Legend of Zelda: Oracle of Seasons
• Sonic Adventure 2: Battle
• Super Smash Brothers: Melee
• Animal Crossing
• Tales of Symphonia
• Fire Emblem: Path of Radiance
• Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time
• Timesplitters 2
• Timesplitters: Future Perfect
• Soul Calibur 2
• The Sims 2

2003-2006, Xbox era

• The Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind
• Halo: Combat Evolved
• Halo 2
• Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic
• Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic 2: The Sith Lords
• Fable
• Jade Empire
• Psychonauts
• Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell
• Half Life 2

2006-2013, Xbox 360, Nintendo Wii era

• Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess
• Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword
• Super Smash Brothers: Brawl
• Fire Emblem: Radiant Dawn
• Tales of Vesperia
• The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion
• The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim
• Halo 3
• Halo 3: ODST
• Halo: Reach
• Fable 2
• Fable 3
• Fallout 3
• Fallout: New Vegas
• Battlefield 3
• Mass Effect
• Mass Effect 2
• Mass Effect 3
• Dragon Age: Origins
• Dragon Age 2
• Dishonored
• Bioshock
• Bioshock 2
• Bioshock Infinite
• Final Fantasy XIII
• Lost Odyssey

2010-2013, Introduction to PC gaming era:

• Terraria
• Minecraft
• Starbound
• League of Legends
• The Witcher
• The Witcher 2
• Starcraft 2: Wings of Liberty
• EVE Online
• The Orange Box (Half Life 2, Half Life 2: Episodes 1 and 2, Portal)

2014-Present, PC, Nintendo Wii U, Nintendo 3DS, Nintendo Switch era

• Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time 3D
• Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask 3D
• Legend of Zelda: Wind Waker HD
• Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess HD
• Legend of Zelda: Hyrule Warriors
• Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild
• Super Smash Brothers 4
• Mario Kart 8
• League of Legends
• Animal Crossing: New Leaf
• Pokemon: Moon
• Fire Emblem: Fates: Conquest
• Fire Emblem: Awakening
• Final Fantasy VII
• Final Fantasy VIII
• Final Fantasy IX
• Final Fantasy X/X2: HD
• Final Fantasy XI
• Final Fantasy XIII-2
• Lightning Returns: Final Fantasy XIII
• Final Fantasy XV
• Diablo 2
• Diablo 3
• Dragon Age: Inquisition
• Mass Effect: Andromeda
• Torchlight 2
• Danganronpa: Trigger Happy Havoc
• Danganronpa 2: Goodbye Despair
• Katawa Shoujo
• The Wolf Among Us
• Life Is Strange
• Elder Scrolls Online
• Star Wars: The Old Republic
• Dungeon of the Endless
• Divinity: Original Sin 2
• Undertale

[omnicrumb]

Hehe i read this and thought it would be fun to post one. It's very lackluster though!

Pre-2018:

• Minecraft
• Terraria

2020:

• Minecraft
• Undertale

2022:

• Minecraft

2024:

• Minecraft
• Among us knockoff
• Fall guys knockoff
• corru.observer

2025:

• Minecraft
• corru.observer
• Hylics

you may notice a trend...