Do they actually exist?

So we're coming off 2023 which has largely been considered an instant classic in gaming. Everywhere you turn the year just came up big whether it was first party games, sequels to long dormant franchises, fantastic remakes etc. it delivered.

By comparison, 2023 makes other years look bad, but would you say for example 2022 was a bad year? Were you not entertained by Elden Ring, Ragnarok or the various Nintendo releases?

It just seems like no matter what there's always at least a 10 or so quality titles and everyone always has something to look forward to in this space.

So the question is...

Was there a year that sticks out to you as the worst? What made it the worst for you and was it really THAT bad or just a sliding scale?

I'm struggling for an answer, but off the top of my head I'll pick the year I got out of gaming: 2008.

My interest had been waning for several years but 08 in particular didn't have a ton drawing me in, and what drew me in turned out to be disappointing.

I was really looking forward to SUDA's follow-up to Killer 7, so No More Heroes was high on the docket. However the PAL version was censored since we didn't have an R rating and it took away all the visual stimulation that really took the game up several notches.

The arrival of a new GTA is always such a huge event and I remember being really excited by all the details the game was going to add. However the game suffers from a lot of issues that plague other Rockstar titles - a glaciel beginning where you have to unlock everything piece by piece that they ended up losing me really early on. Since you start off in a run-down part of Liberty City, the game just looked really ugly and it wasn't until years later I really got to appreciate how the game improves the longer you go. Still, I never got around to playing any of the DLC although that's all anyone talks about in regards to GTA IV (base game was so so, but the DLC was fantastic).

Even big Nintendo games like Mario Kart and Brawl ultimately just felt same ol same ol. By the time Brawl hit, there was already a malaise surrounding the game and I'm remember playing it a few hang outs and just not being as into it as Melee.

Never bothered with Nuts and Bolts - I was never into the Gummi Ship sections of Kingdom Hearts and this just felt like an entire game of that. Really not a whole lot else that came out that year appealed to me either.

So that's my answer but I could easily see the counter-argument of 'dude Dead Space!, Valkyria Chronicles!, Fallout 3!, Burnout Paradise!, Haze!

Okay maybe not Haze or even Too Human for that matter which was another game I'd been looking forward to since the dying days of the N64.

So I guess for me it comes down to my own personal interest and certain games not living up to expectations. Was there a year like that for you, or are you like Blindy and just love everything and everyone?

I'd say 1983.

Even though it had some great games like Spyhunter and Dragon's Lair, 1983 was the year that very nearly, killed the video game industry here in North America.

83 is the correct answer, but was anyone actually into video games when that year hit and experienced it? Or is it just in hindsight?

Jan 4, 2024 4:37:29 GMT Big Pete said:

83 is the correct answer, but was anyone actually into video games when that year hit and experienced it? Or is it just in hindsight?

Hindsight.

Jan 4, 2024 4:40:35 GMT CM Punk'd said:

Jan 4, 2024 4:37:29 GMT Big Pete said:

83 is the correct answer, but was anyone actually into video games when that year hit and experienced it? Or is it just in hindsight?

Hindsight.

So I'm curious, out of all the years you've been participating in this hobby, what sticks out as the worst from your experience?

No wrong answers, I'm just curious to see how others evaluate it.

Jan 4, 2024 4:45:27 GMT Big Pete said:

Jan 4, 2024 4:40:35 GMT CM Punk'd said:

Hindsight.

So I'm curious, out of all the years you've been participating in this hobby, what sticks out as the worst from your experience?

No wrong answers, I'm just curious to see how others evaluate it.

Worst from experience?  You're probably right about '08, outside of GTA and Burnout.

Jan 4, 2024 3:12:23 GMT Big Pete said:

So I guess for me it comes down to my own personal interest and certain games not living up to expectations. Was there a year like that for you, or are you like Blindy and just love everything and everyone?

Non-objectively I fell out of gaming favor around the time I went to college as I was occupied with my studies for a couple of years. I would seldomly play a JRPG here and there but I didn't have the means to acquire a PS3 or XBOX360 or a Wii so at best, I had a 3DS until I mercifully got a PS3 around the time of The Last Of Us 1 just before 2013 so I would say those years don't resonate with me. That's like 2007-2012. However, looking back....some of those years were really good.

For my tastes, 2007 was a super weak year. Off the top, only Persona 3 FES was the only game that really stuck with me out of the listing I saw....and even that is a remaster of Persona 3 Vanilla with a new mode. The rest I either didn't play or care for. I also felt this was a lull for PS3 games, but again I didn't have a PS3 at this time. Looking at the top game from this system at the time, R&C: Tools of Destruction was simply subpar at best upon revisiting that game. 

Jan 4, 2024 14:05:22 GMT Blindy said:

Jan 4, 2024 3:12:23 GMT Big Pete said:

So I guess for me it comes down to my own personal interest and certain games not living up to expectations. Was there a year like that for you, or are you like Blindy and just love everything and everyone?

Non-objectively I fell out of gaming favor around the time I went to college as I was occupied with my studies for a couple of years. I would seldomly play a JRPG here and there but I didn't have the means to acquire a PS3 or XBOX360 or a Wii so at best, I had a 3DS until I mercifully got a PS3 around the time of The Last Of Us 1 just before 2013 so I would say those years don't resonate with me. That's like 2007-2012. However, looking back....some of those years were really good.

For my tastes, 2007 was a super weak year. Off the top, only Persona 3 FES was the only game that really stuck with me out of the listing I saw....and even that is a remaster of Persona 3 Vanilla with a new mode. The rest I either didn't play or care for. I also felt this was a lull for PS3 games, but again I didn't have a PS3 at this time. Looking at the top game from this system at the time, R&C: Tools of Destruction was simply subpar at best upon revisiting that game. 

I was getting out of gaming around the same time, but 07 was legendary.

Orange Box

Bioshock

Mass Effect

Mario Galaxy

God of War 2

Call of Duty IV

Uncharted

Assassin's Creed

Halo 3

Rock Band

I'm pretty sure Odin Sphere came out that year and games like Rogue Galaxy and Final Fantasy XII also made their way out. So you had big marquee games but even a bunch of smaller and more obscure titles coming through as well.

A personal favourite of mine was Mario Strikers Charged which was a blast to play during hang-outs. There was so much variety to team comps, it had way more personality than most Nintendo games and was arguably the best arcade football game out there.

'83...ET came out that year...nuff said

The year the Dreamcast died and Sega became just a third party publisher

Jan 5, 2024 21:53:29 GMT Neo Zeed said:

The year the Dreamcast died and Sega became just a third party publisher

I felt that 

I can't really add much, as I'm as casual as a casual gamer can be... but where does the PS3/XBOX360 era rate?

It's always felt like a bit of a " meh " era due to how successful and popular the PS2 was prior, the previous 90s console wars, also how impactful the original XBOX became and how great the PS4/XB1 era became by normalising online play.

Jan 5, 2024 21:53:29 GMT Neo Zeed said:

The year the Dreamcast died and Sega became just a third party publisher

Black Saturday

Jan 5, 2024 21:53:29 GMT Neo Zeed said:

The year the Dreamcast died and Sega became just a third party publisher

2001?

The year was stacked with releases with the PS2 finding it's stride and the launch of the X Box, GameCube and GameBoy Advance. Even the older systems like the PS1, N64 and Dreamcast were still pumping out good releases.

Jan 9, 2024 3:24:59 GMT Big Pete said:

Jan 5, 2024 21:53:29 GMT Neo Zeed said:

The year the Dreamcast died and Sega became just a third party publisher

2001?

The year was stacked with releases with the PS2 finding it's stride and the launch of the X Box, GameCube and GameBoy Advance. Even the older systems like the PS1, N64 and Dreamcast were still pumping out good releases.

Don't forget about the groundbreaking Grand Theft Auto III.

Jan 9, 2024 22:19:35 GMT CM Punk'd said:

Jan 9, 2024 3:24:59 GMT Big Pete said:

2001?

The year was stacked with releases with the PS2 finding it's stride and the launch of the X Box, GameCube and GameBoy Advance. Even the older systems like the PS1, N64 and Dreamcast were still pumping out good releases.

Don't forget about the groundbreaking Grand Theft Auto III.

Yeah, that was what I was implying with the PS2 finding it's stride since it was an exclusive to begin with. So many great games came out that year for the console like GTA III, Devil May Cry, Silent Hill 2, Jak and Daxter, Final Fantasy X, Metal Gear Solid 2, Gran Turismo 3, Ico, Klonoa 2, Ace Combat 4, Tony Hawk Pro Skater 3, Onimusha etc. and I can't think of any other console that comes close to challenging it.

Of course there's some discrepencies in terms of releases. It's one aspect that makes these 'game of the year/film of the year' discussions challenging because they vary by region. FFX was snuck out a week before Christmas in the US, barely qualifying it for the west. Meanwhile it came out in PAL regions, smack dab in the middle of May with new features.

Similarly January is usually considered a dead month for films in the US. Meanwhile in Australia it's typically where we receive all the critically acclaimed movies that came out the final quarter of the US. For instance the Holdovers came out on October 27th in the US, it's just making it's way over tomorrow in Australia (hold out for the System review). Similarly all around Christmas we've heard all about Iron Claw, which doesn't come out until another week down here. 

You could see how it would throw somebody like System off who watches a ton of movies in theatres each year.

Other than 83 like others pointed out, I find this hard to apply to video games.

Even now if you’re someone that gets a new game every week I’d say you’d still play a game released prior to the current year. Especially when the heavy hitters get released just before the new year. For example live service games like Fortnite that people still play but was a 2017 release.

I didn’t buy a PS3 on release with the ridiculous $1000 AUD price tag for example and a lot of games I didn’t get into long after their release.

So it’s hard to say a bad year when I know for sure I wasn’t only planning that years releases at any given time.