When you have games like Bioshock, AC2, Max Payne 3, Portal 2, Left 4 Dead 2, Mass effect 2, New Vegas, Gears trilogy, Arkham City, etc.

Answer is easily yes, also that jump in graphics was crazy

Halo 3 to GTA V
insane generation tbh

crazy to me how ps5 already outsold ps3 but has zero games

The golden era is always gonna be the one you grew up with

Ps1-Xbox-64-Dreamcast era

Yeah and it's easily the case imo

PS2 era had some absolute bangers don't get me wrong, PS1 has less titles + early 3D hasn't held up as well in a lot of cases

But PS3/360 had games being made, not everything needed to be some gigantic open world slop like we get now, huge graphics jump, online gaming emerging

How many times 360/PS3 era games are still being remade on newer systems shows it too

The thing is it has most those games in the post above

If you zoom out ps5 has like 200 classics to play

360 was the peak of online gaming for sure. PS2 was the peak in general

xbox is ps2 era

For sure

The games that era set the trends in terms of gameplay mechanics and genres for the next two eras

• Soulslikes
• Story driven action adventure (Uncharted 2 specifically set the blueprint that a lot of games in this genre follow. These types of games made Sony very popular this gen)
• Choice driven narrative games (Heavy Rain)
• Ubisoft open world game formula
• GTA5, arguably the most popular game in each generation

Peak PS3 games aren't even super far off graphically from modern games, they also helped with setting standards in terms of art direction to build a creative product around evolving technology. Not as big of a jump from PS2 to PS3 compared to Ps1 to PS2, but noticeable nonetheless.

The one thing about that era is it was right before games become monetization scheme. Now if feels like you gotta spend a rack on a game to enjoy the full experience.

Yea because of online multiplayer

yes it was

It's crazy we didn't reach arcade level until the dreamcast

I say its less which gen, and more that gaming fell off a cliff in 2008

Historically surely the 90s and 00s are the golden age

Whichever era you prefer is different though

As much as i love the era since i was a child, games like halo 3 and mw2 destroyed the industry once companies all wanted their games to sell a billion f***in copies and marketed like blockbuster movies

That mixed in with the massive push to casual audiences, again i loved it since i was a kid but in the grand scheme of things it def f***ed the industry for a bit

Call of Duty mlg pro gamer, street fighter gaijin or Microsoft kinect user. The choice is yours late 2000s american gamer

GTA and Elder Scrolls got 2 generation gaps for their next game, potentially more

Orange Box was an incredible creation as far as value goes

PS1 era >>>>

maybe we're just older now and back then, games kinda defined your childhood / formative years.

i member when skins first dropped... crazy times