Is 2017 officially THE best year in gaming history?

To me, it is. All the planets somehow aligned.

The amount of good games that have already come out and, likely, will come out this year is astounding, to say the least.

I've been closely following the gaming industry since at least 2004 and to my memory this is the best year, at least in this 13 year period. Actually, as we all know, 2016 was supposed to be the year, but all the games got delayed into 2017 and now (I don't wanna jinx it) they seem to be actually coming out. Even games like Andromeda, that everybody was so sure will get pushed back. EACH MONTH we see GOTY contenders come out.

Does any other year come close? I remember 2010 having a lot of hits come out. If you gonna say "yes", please list as many good games from that year as you can.

It looks to be a very good year, but it's a bit early for this thread. If the entire holiday season sucks and there is nothing amazing to play I'd hesitate to still be excited about 2017. The first quarter of 2017 is definitely an extremely strong portion of the year though, you're right about that.

Until future notice, 1999 will remain the reigning champion:

Super Smash Bros, Silent Hill, FFVIII, FFVI (N.A. release), Sid Meier's Alpha Centuri, Everquest, Baldur's Gate, Counter-Strike, System Shock 2, Suikoden II, Homeworld, Age of Empires II, Chrono Cross, Quake III Arena, and Planescape Torment. And that's barely scratching the surface.

2017 does look like a really good one too though.

ETA: Actually 1998 may be even better (Ocarina of Time, Metal Gear Solid, Starcraft, etc.), but I prefer the 1999 releases personally.

I loaded up the GB forums to post this very topic myself. If 2017 had a combo meter then, right now, it would be maxxed out.

No doubt the strongest 1st quarter of all time. Hopefully this keeps up but, hey man, even if it doesn't; plenty of super-high quality games to keep you going til winter.

Number of interesting games for me this year so far: 0.

So nah. 2016 with DOOM, Overwatch, Battlefield 1, Titanfall 2 and Devil Daggers though...

But seriously, it's been a good allround lineup so far except for shooters (and I don't we'll get that many big shooters this year anyway). Hopefully STRAFE will be good.

@fezrock: Mentioning Q3A and not Unreal Tournament? Bold. (although Q3A > UT99)

if the fall games fell fresh than yeah, if the they by the same then no

No. Good lord no.

1998. Pokemon Red/Blue, Ocarina of Time, Banjo-Kazooie, Starcraft, Metal Gear Solid, Half-Life, Resident Evil 2, Fallout 2, Baldur's Gate, Grim Fandango, Xenogears, Suikoden 2, Marvel vs Capcom, Final Fantasy Tactics, Unreal, Star Ocean: The Second Story, Mega Man Legends, Dance Dance Revolution.

And that's just to name a few.

Of course not. Something subjective like this can't be qualified with the term 'official'.

2016 was the best year for videogames so far. If 2017 will be what I think it will be, it'll be even better for me. Way too early to tell of course. So far, I only have Nioh and Zelda that are great. That's a pretty great start, but if those remain the only two great games this year then it will be far worse than 2016.

Waaaay too early to make that call.

Anyway, let me tell you about 1993:

• Day of the Tentacle
• Sam and Max Hit the Road
• Gabriel Knight: Sins of the Fathers
• Link's Awakening
• Master of Orion
• Myst
• Doom
• Mega Man X
• Gunstar Heroes
• Duke Nukem II
• etc...

Big thanks to all who listed games!!

Almost any given year in the 90s begs to differ, but this year does have a chance to be preeeetty damn good.

2017 is definitely one of the best ever already and does have likely the best 1st quarter ever.

It's not better than 98 though, most of the great games now are in comparatively fewer genres.

I think it is shaping up well for sure. The only big game I'm dying for are Mass Effect , Red Dead 2, God of War (if it doesn't slip). I am looking forward to is smaller stuff like Vampyr and Detroit: Become Human too because I have always liked David Cage games on a few levels. As far as surprise, that I hope turn out well? An Insomniac Spider-Man game could be great if it doesn't she moves to next year.

@gundogan: Yeah, I should've mentioned UT. I guess that's my (very old) biases subconsciously coming back to me.

I'm of the opinion that games are much better now than they used to be. This year is off to an amazing start, I just hope it keeps up!

I wish I would have kept a log of all of the topics for the last 8 years declaring the current year the best and/or worst year in gaming history.

I think this is way too subjective, but I hope each year is the best year ever and these discussions can be had. 2015 was huge for me with Bloodborne, Witcher 3 and Mario Maker and I hope people can say that for themselves this year with what looks like a stellar slate of games :)

Its certainly a heck of a start for 2017 to kick off this way with all the quality games that have came out, especially Japanese games (BOTW, Nioh, RE7, Yakuza 0 and Nier Automata coming out tomorrow). Is it the best year? We'll wait and see, but there are some very promising titles poised for release in 2017 like Super Mario Odyssey, Red Dead Redemption 2, Tekken 7, Shadow of War, Gran Turismo Sport and many more.

It's definitely on pace , so far .

Meh, last year started just as strong and there was a wider variety of games. I think every year is the best year ever for gaming history.

Its at least looking pretty darn incredible so far.

Only if we get a remaster of the original NieR

The officials have officially officiated it.

It's definitely the year of the consoles. Nioh, Horizon, Persona 5, Red Dead 2, (Zelda & Mario Odyssey for the switch). I've played more PS4 this year than I ever have since I got it some 2 years ago.

I dunno, there's a reason most people have answered this question with 1998 since 1998.

Gotta wait for Mario to come out bro.

Don't forget Destiny 2! Right guys? Guys?

the only one i recognize as being sort of a drag semi recently is 2014, and even that had its share of gooduns. been a while since they came this hot and heavy, though.

but don't worry, we all already decided mass effect: andromeda will be terrible so that will break the streak.

Do ppl think Mario Odyssey is actually coming out this year? I'm looking at that trailer and thinking there is no way.

It's March. I mean, there's a lot of good games out now, and more to come, but let's pump the brakes and see what the rest of the year holds first. :) For all we know, all of the rest of the big anticipated releases this year could be, well, bad. Personally, I am super excited for both Mass Effect: Andromeda and whatever Destiny 2 is, but I also know that they could both fall way short of my expectations.

I agree it's been a real strong year so far, excitingly so, but we have 9 and 3/4 more months to go. :D

Gotta let the other three quarters of the year go by before we can make that call, duder.

...but seriously, 1998 was such a landmark year in video games. You can still feel the influence that Half-Life, Ocarina of Time, and Metal Gear Solid had on video games, those games codified a lot of the storytelling and gameplay devices we take for granted these days. I don't think 2017 is going to be another year like that in video games, although I also think the medium has matured to a point where we won't see such a year again.

WRONG.

Everyone knows (or should know) the finest year in gaming history was the year Midtown Madness 3 came out.

It can't officially be the best year of anything. It isn't done. I don't know where this year will fit. Since 2015, we've been in a real, rich vein of quality. Indies are bringing some interesting projects to the table and the big hitters are swinging well.

I know I'm gonna get some hate for this but I'm just gonna say it- I think 1998 was the best year for gaming

I mean, it's March. Still plenty of time for things to just fall to shit, best not to jinx it.

Just wait a while and see how many people change their tunes on games like they always do.

There are no games officials, so there can be no official best year.

Density in game releases doesn't always mean a good year for games but I'd be lying if I said this year is off to a bad start....cause its not...its been fucking great so far.

Also it's hard to disagree with wynnduffy here...

@liquiddragon: that's gameplay and they showed a wide variety of locations/weird anthropromorphic people mannequins in new donk city. i have faith and we'll probably see more around weed3.

also more like midtown madness pee.

I mean, Shenmue 3 and Bloodstained could still land this year and be tragic. I wish I could say something on Yooka-Laylee but time transpired against us. :(

Why would you get hate for that? I mean, of course people might not agree, but I don't think any sane person is gonna say that '98 isn't at least a contender for best year in gaming.

But, I digress. 2017 is certainly off to one hell of a start and Fall looks like it's shaping up to be a bloodbath as well...that is assuming they deliver of course. CoD is apparently "going back to it's roots," Assassin's Creed took some time off and is going to Egypt, and one would hope Bungie learned their lesson with Destiny 1 and that Destiny 2 will deliver on everything that the original promised and more. And don't forget about Red Dead. MvC Infinite, Mario, Divinity, Ace Combat, Sea of Thieves, Crackdown 3, Yakuza Kiwami, and every other game supposedly scheduled for this year.

2017 is fucking absurd.

@babychoochoo: I was joking.

I will say it has been a very strong start for 2017.

@ripelivejam: Right, I wasn't suggesting it wasn't gameplay and it certainly looks like an ambitious title but most of what they showed seemed like it needed a ton more work, definitely not something I expect to be released in 8-9 month. It's announcement reeked of a classic marketing tactic. "We got Zelda at launch and Mario right around the corner." Yeah...no. I've been on this ride too many times and I don't believe it for a second. If I was a betting man, we're looking at Spring '18 at the earliest but I'm leaning holiday '18. It looks cool though and I want to be wrong.

For me, it was 2004. Nothing's beaten that so far. 1998 comes in second. 2007 was pretty amazing too

@babychoochoo: Your lack of Andromeda-mentioning is jarring. It's as if you hate videogames all together.

There's never been a better year to be pl

WAAAAAY to early. It is poised to be one of the best years without a doubt just in the first few months, but 2004 and 1998 are hard to beat.

If the momentum does keep at this pace though I will absolutely consider it the best 12 month period in gaming, considering all the games people bring up in 1998 and 2004 were really just in the last 4 months.

The momentum for 2017 is much like the Atlanta falcons in the super bowl. First half is starting off ridiuclously well! However we all know what happened the second half....

But seriously. It's a good year!

It's the beginning of March my dude