The golden age of gaming in the ’90s

I was reading Babylonian's excellent interview with Greg Kasavin over at Bytejacker and one of the phrases Greg used kind of jumped out at me (the topic title).  I understand the context Greg is using in the interview but it got me thinking about what "the golden age of gaming in the '90s" means to me specifically and then about what it must mean to others, including newer or younger gamers.  What does it mean for you guys? 
 
I'll kick it off by saying that it wasn't until the end of the 90s that games really started to hit me emotionally.  Half-Life, Metal Gear Solid, most of all the Thief series all set the bar for story telling and presentation that still informs what I look for in games today.   
 
Final note, none of this is to say that gaming right now isn't awesome.  There's plenty happening that is advancing the art and craft of games.  It's more about what hit the right notes for you in the '90s?

It's hard to say, there's a lot of consoles in there in that were directly part of the 90's considering we're talking about everything after the Sega Genesis which was released right on the cusp of 1990, and then all the way up to anything before the release of the Sony Playstation 2.

I've grown up playing PC games, so I can't really comment much on the state of console gaming in the 90's, but man were there some great PC games. First I think of Quake, which I play still to this day (single player included--love running through Episode 4). I also still feel that Doom 2 is one of the greatest games of all time. I think id software peaked with Doom 2 and Quake--both made back to back, and both so good.
 I also played a lot of Unreal back then, and I think it's unfortunate that Epic abandoned the single player side of that series. Thinking back, in a pre-Half-Life world it was pretty amazing, with the Universal Translator messages adding some interesting narrative, the innovative weapons (I still remember being surprised that there wasn't a shotgun), and competent AI.  That being said, Unreal Tournament was great too.
Of course, Half-Life pretty much changed my life. That and its expansion pack Opposing Force showed me entirely new ways of what a game could be.
I also think of Thief and generally all of Looking Glass Studios' amazing titles. I'm a really big LGS fan, and am thankful that some of their greatness still lives on through Irrational Games.
 
Overall, PC gaming really was thriving in the 90s. FPSs have changed a lot since then, and though I definitely love Halo and Modern Warfare, I always find myself going back to Doom, Quake, and Unreal. I can't wait to relive some of that old school FPS greatness with Duke Nukem Forever.

The Dark Project and the Metal Age had such strong atmosphere and characters and story.  It's hard to think of any games that have influenced me more.  I shrieked out loud when I first heard Stephen Russell (Garrett's voice actor) in the Bioshock Infinite gameplay video as Booker DeWitt.  

PC gaming had a ton of awesome games in the 90s and alot of them turned out to be classics that even to this day, stand the test of time.

To me it reminds me when Japan was still making great games by the bucketload and PC gaming was still awesome.

The golden age of gaming in the 90's is, as Diamond said, when Japan was on a maza-fakkingu roll with their game releases and PC gaming was exploding with the advent of the first person shooter.
 
Fondest 90's gaming memories include:

• The SNES classics. No need to list anything; you people know what I'm talking 'bout.
• PS1/N64 titles such as MGS / LoZ:OoT
  
• PC games: id's DooM/Quake, Half-motherfucking-Life
  

Basically, all of the 90s were great for gaming. The 16-bit era represents the ultimate refinement of 2D, whereas the 32/64 bit era represents the beginning of the 3D perspective in gaming and all the revolutionizing that did. Oh, and it was still worth owning a PC for games.

I still consider the Super Nintendo responsible for the birth of modern game design. Before that almost everything was ported from arcades, and even the stuff that wasn't was still made with the arcade design philosophy.

Perhaps the very very late 90s (Half Life). But realistically I've been playing games since '92, and most of my favourites are in the last 6 years.

For me it really was the golden age. 
We had Earthbound (the greatest RPG ever made), Final Fantasy VI (the best in the series), and if you wanna talk about N64, let's talk about Body Harvest (so flawed, but yet so revolutionary for its time), Blast Corps (nothing like it before or since) and WWF: No Mercy. Now that last one might seem a LITTLE off, but pro-wrestling really hit it's peak in the late 90s/early 2000s, and that game really hit all the high marks. The story mode was actually interesting and engaging and the create-a-wrestler was CRAZY deep.

The 90s included Ocarina of Time, Half Life 2 and Starcraft. In fact, that was all one year, as a decade it has yet to be surpassed.

" The 90s included Ocarina of Time, Half Life 2 and Starcraft. In fact, that was all one year, as a decade it has yet to be surpassed. "

I thought the decade we are in now was the golden age of gaming? Or is it the silver age?

" The 90s included Ocarina of Time, Half Life 2 and Starcraft. In fact, that was all one year, as a decade it has yet to be surpassed. "

The '90s are where it's at in terms of gaming.  That was truly my Golden Age.  I'd love to go back.

The 90s for me was anything in the arcade.. As much as I enjoy the luxury of HD gaming at home these days, I sure miss noisy arcades

" @JoeRiccadonna:  It's the chocolate truffle age "

@Diamond said:

@JoeRiccadonna:  It's the chocolate truffle age

Yup, the age where pigs dig in the dirt and find rare, mouldy delicacies which are valued highly and sprinkled as dust over otherwise generic source of sustenance, making them far more appealling than their actual worth should.  Oh wait, you said chocolate...

" @SeriouslyNow said:

@Diamond said:

@JoeRiccadonna:  It's the chocolate truffle age

Yup, the age where pigs dig in the dirt and find rare, mouldy delicacies which are valued highly and sprinkled as dust over otherwise generic source of sustenance, making them far more appealling than their actual worth should.  Oh wait, you said chocolate...

I think that works pretty well.  I was thinking everything looks delicious but you never know what the filling is. "

I think what ever decade you first got introduced to is the golden age of video games.  Honestly most non sprite based Saturn, PS1, and N64 games look like shit and 90% of them flat out suck now.  Though quite a few Gameboy games, late era NES games, arcade, and 16 Bit games still hold up quite well.  Frankly I want to forget that non ironic FMV games ever existed.

I like where I am now. I don't want to go back. These last five years have been off the charts for me and the future holds so much promise. If the 90's were the golden age, I wouldn't be playing video games now. I looking at the future and see nothing but great things for gaming.

As a person born in '91 and got some good genesis games, then hit the Playstation, along with enjoying some PC games thanks to an older brother I have to agree.

Street Fighter 2 and Mortal Kombat kick started my obsession with the SNES after having been one of the first to adopt the SEGA Master System in NZ, thanks Mum and Dad! I then discovered Super Mario Kart and Super Star Wars and my pop culture preferences were decided.
 
A few years later I was introduced to my favorite genre, survival horror with Resident Evil and there was no looking back!
 
Wasn't till I played Mass Effect 2 that those feeling returned!

'98:  Half-Life, StarCraft, Ocarina of Time, Metal Gear Solid, Rainbow Six, Baldur's Gate, Grim Fandango, Fallout 2...
 
No noughties year can claim a haul like that imo.  '07 is the only year worth talking about.
 
(editted for making sense)