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[Vyse]

So when I joined this forum in 2004, this is what was going on:

2004 saw many sequels and prequels in video games, such as Madden NFL 2005, NBA Live 2005, ESPN NBA 2K5, Tony Hawk's Underground 2, WWE Smackdown! vs. Raw, Doom 3, Dragon Quest VIII, Gran Turismo 4, Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas, Half-Life 2, Halo 2, Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater, Myst IV: Revelation, Ninja Gaiden, PokémonFireRed/LeafGreen/Emerald, Everybody's Golf 4 (Hot Shots Golf Fore!), Prince of Persia: Warrior Within, and World of Warcraft.

New intellectual properties included Fable, Far Cry, FlatOut, Killzone, Katamari Damacy, Monster Hunter, N, Red Dead Revolver, SingStar, and Sacred.

The Nintendo DS was also launched that year.

Not that shabby!

 

[wvnative]

2003-2004 was absolute peak for me. Not just games either, but other media as well. What a time to be alive at 10 years old.

 

[Syphon Filter]

2004 rivals 1998 as the best years in gaming.

 

[Danny Dudekisser]

I always thought that 2004 was a little overrated in terms of the quality of output, but I can't deny that there were a ton of great games. Compare 2004 to any year in the last decade, and the number of standout, big budget hits back then is kind of astounding.

Ninja Gaiden was the best game that year, for the record.

 

[HL3.exe]

So when I joined this forum in 2004, this is what was going on:

2004 saw many sequels and prequels in video games, such as Madden NFL 2005, NBA Live 2005, ESPN NBA 2K5, Tony Hawk's Underground 2, WWE Smackdown! vs. Raw, Doom 3, Dragon Quest VIII, Gran Turismo 4, Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas, Half-Life 2, Halo 2, Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater, Myst IV: Revelation, Ninja Gaiden, PokémonFireRed/LeafGreen/Emerald, Everybody's Golf 4 (Hot Shots Golf Fore!), Prince of Persia: Warrior Within, and World of Warcraft.

New intellectual properties included Fable, Far Cry, FlatOut, Killzone, Katamari Damacy, Monster Hunter, N, Red Dead Revolver, SingStar, and Sacred.

The Nintendo DS was also launched that year.

Not that shabby!

Yep, forgetting the cult-hit GOAT's though:

• Vampire The Masquerade Bloodlines
• The chronicles of Riddick: Escape from Butcherbay.

 

[near]

Not a bad year for games, but I feel like the following years 2005-2007 were significantly better. I specifically remember 2006.

 

[Syphon Filter]

Not a bad year for games, but I feel like the following years 2005-2007 were significantly better. I specifically remember 2006.

not even close, 2007 maybe somewhat close but still not as good as 2004.

 

[kutthoat5150]

Agreed, peak PC gaming year. Great time to see the huge tech improvements for PC while being able to read about upcoming releases the following years such as FEAR and Crysis that made it even better. I'd bet 90%+ of PC gamers did some type of major upgrade in 2004.

 

[Bloobs]

 

[Badlucktroll]

We musn’t forget Silent Hill 4: The Room.

 

[West Texas CEO]

An incredible lineup, for sure.

 

[nush]

just missing out that year,

 

[Judge Magister]

Played almost only on PC back then. I remember buying Far Cry and Splinter Cell PT along with Broken Sword Sleeping Dragon (2003) for PC.

 

[ShirAhava]

2004 was a low point for me gaming started to shift in a direction I had/have zero interest in that year.

MGS3 was an exception and Halo 2 was fun but that was about it I was playing a lot of 2000-2002 stuff from that gen still

I hate RE and Half Life so those releases ment nothing to me

Sega (as a home console maker) is dead, Sammy bought a majority of SEGA, Arcades are dead. yeah 2004 was kind of a lull before next gen hype really kicked off.....I remember me and my group of friends playing a lot of PSX jrpgs that year

 

[Danjin44]

You forgetting Shin Megami Tensei III: Nocturne which also came out in 2004.

 

[kunonabi]

My top 50 is dominated by 1999 so that's what everything else gets compared to.

 

[Hookshot]

A lot of that is nowhere near peak of their franchises.

WOW, HL2, San Andreas and Snake eater are the most notable games. Monster Hunter starting is a milestone now but lets not pretend the first one made a dent in the west.

 

[willothedog]

Epic game, especially on XLB.

 

[Laptop1991]

Really good year for games but for me, Half Life 2 that was 2004, even though it came out later in the year.

 

[Hookshot]

Really good year, for games but for me, Half Life 2 that was 2004, even though it came out later in the year.

HL2 is great. Wow was November and probably the biggest and most important game of that year whether people like it or not due to what it became and created. San Andreas was the GTA snowball gaining pace rapidly.

 

[Zarak]

Never forget Joint Operations: Typhoon Rising played the shit out of it with friends. Was a fantastic multiplayer shooter.

 

[bobone]

I would like to add Dawn of War. That took over my whole floor in my freshman dorm.

Also, Ratchet and Clank UYA, Paper Mario TYD, KOTR 2, Ace Combat 5, Total War Rome, NFS Underground 2, Unreal Tournament 2004.

I have no idea how I got any work done that year.

Even if 2004 wasnt the best year of all time. You have to admit it was incredible. And nothing in recent memory even comes close.

 

[near]

This thread is starting to remind me of how long we had to wait for games to get localized. We suffered heavily here in the EU.

 

[Bonfires Down]

Well, unfortunately I never played it but seems many consider it the best in the franchise.

 

[RAIDEN1]

Who knew 2004 was a better time in gaming than in 2024, where you get half baked, buggy games on arrival, or totally not finished, or you have to pay extra for a "seasons pass" for equivalent to DLC, or the fact that you had more diversity in the tennis, soccer, arcade, arena then you have now....

 

[Roronoa Zoro]

Ratchet and Clank at the peak of their powers. Jak too. Sly too! Good times

 

[Romulus]

Still blows my mind seeing that run on the OG Xbox. They had dynamic resolution lol

 

[ToneyJ]

Late 90s Early 00s are peak gaming.

 

[Aesius]

When I think of 2004 in gaming I always think of Far Cry 1 on PC, which released March 2004:

It's hard to overstate how fucking incredible this looked back then. This was a year and a half before the Xbox 360 launched. Visuals of this quality were out of this world. Crysis was arguably even more impressive in 2007, but again, the 360/PS3 were already out. There were somewhat comparable visuals.

But Far Cry 1 was going up against PS2 and Xbox 1 shit. It looked like it came from 10 years in the future.

 

[GamesDontSuck]

2004 is the best year in gaming.

 

[TGO]

2003-2004 was absolute peak for me. Not just games either, but other media as well. What a time to be alive at 10 years old.

And with that you made me feel older, I would have been 22, 12 years older than you.

 

[Vyse]

Was thinking we were talking about all of these amazing ground breaking games back then. Seems we spend more time today talking about game flops.

 

[SlicedBread3]

Sad not to see these two bangers get mentioned:

 

[Hookshot]

Sad not to see these two bangers get mentioned:

If burnout 3 was 2004 then it becomes the best year ever. Why Paradise got ported to Switch but not the pick up and play greatness of 3 is my biggest mystery in gaming.

 

[SHA]

Silent Hill 4: The Room

 

[SirKicksalot]

Doom 3 is the one I ended up playing the most. It aged better than Far Cry and HL2.

Battle for Middle-earth is another one I return to often, usually whenever I watch the movies around Christmas.

 

[Romulus]

When I think of 2004 in gaming I always think of Far Cry 1 on PC, which released March 2004:

It's hard to overstate how fucking incredible this looked back then. This was a year and a half before the Xbox 360 launched. Visuals of this quality were out of this world. Crysis was arguably even more impressive in 2007, but again, the 360/PS3 were already out. There were somewhat comparable visuals.

But Far Cry 1 was going up against PS2 and Xbox 1 shit. It looked like it came from 10 years in the future.

I played the PC version, but I thought the original Xbox port was really good for what it was. There were a couple of sandbox levels that surprised me that it seemed to really go for what the PC version was doing the entire game.

 

[RaduN]

Oh...Snake Eater

The best of times, and i savoured every single second.

 

[Dacvak]

I can’t see “2004” and “gaming” in the same sentence and not post this:



It was the best of times, it was the best of times.

 

[Buggy Loop]

Half-Life 2

Was mind blowing back then

Also, can't ignore the biggest MMO phenomena ever, World of Warcraft released in 2004. If you weren't playing Half-Life 2 and then dip into World of Warcraft late at night in 2004, you were effectively living in a cave "gaming" wise.

Still, 1998 was a better year imo, too many best of their genre titles released that year. Castlevania SOTN, Zelda OOT, Metal Gear Solid, Resident Evil 2, Panzer Dragoon saga, Xenogears, Star Wars Rogue Squadron, while more PC centric it had a crazy year, Half-Life, Grim Fandango, StarCraft, , Thief, Fallout 2, Baldur's Gate, Shogo: Mobile Division, Falcon 4.0, Tom Clancy's Rainbow 6, Starsiege Tribes. Descent Freespace. Unreal

Nothing comes close to 1998 if you had a PC and consoles.

 

[Shake Your Rump]

2004 is the best year in gaming.

Someone honestly believes this when 1988-1999 exists?

 

[nial]

2004 was a good year, but not as good as people make it out to be. Not even in the same league as 1998 or 1999.
I would take some of the best games of 2024 over most of the stuff there.

Everybody's Golf 4 (Hot Shots Golf Fore!)

Also, this one was actually released in November 2003.

 

[Romulus]

2004 was a good year, but not as good as people make it out to be. Not even in the same league as 1998 or 1999.
I would take some of the best games of 2024 over most of the stuff there.

Also, this one was actually released in November 2003.

There's a conversation that's subjective here too. If we're talking about opinions then people don't need anyone's permission to say what the best year is. It can be fewer AAA games on the list but better quality in their minds. The only real was to say factual is number of games that scored X amount on Metacritic(or just averages) but that entire system changed so drastically from 1995-2005 its a worthless conversation. I personally feel 2004 was better than either year you mentioned, despite more games in the 90s. But you're not wrong either.

 

[rubik's dude]

In 2004, I remember riding home from Gamestop with the giant FFXI PS2 box, installing the HDD and network adapter, going through PlayOnline to register, download, and launch the game, all without a keyboard.

It was my first online game, and once I finally started playing, I got called a newb and was told to kms from some random passerby. I fell in love with the game instantly and played it all night until school the next day.

 

[nial]

There's a conversation that's subjective here too. If we're talking about opinions then people don't need anyone's permission to say what the best year is. It can be fewer AAA games on the list but better quality in their minds. The only real was to say factual is number of games that scored X amount on Metacritic(or just averages) but that entire system changed so drastically from 1995-2005 its a worthless conversation. I personally feel 2004 was better than either year you mentioned, despite more games in the 90s. But you're not wrong either.

I don't think anyone is wrong, that was all my opinion, of course. I just don't feel the need to put an 'IMO' here and there.
Well, you're only wrong if you think 2003, 2005 and 2006 were good years. runs

 

[Red Crayon Aristocrat]

My personal memory of 2004 is that most of that year was incredibly boring for games, the first 8 months of that year very little was coming out, summer of 2004 was a desert, a miserably boring time for gaming with only Escape From Butcher Bay like an oasis.

But then holiday season comes around and things go absolutely insane with the most games packed into one season that there's ever been, but I feel like younger generations see the list of "2004" games and forget how boring the first half was, with everything packed into the second.

 

[Romulus]

I don't think anyone is wrong, that was all my opinion, of course. I just don't feel the need to put an 'IMO' here and there.
Well, you're only wrong if you think 2003, 2005 and 2006 were good years. runs

Gotcha, just seemed you were going with a more direct approach when you mentioned people were "making 2004 better than it really was." One single game can seal the deal for them, no receipts needed

 

[GamesDontSuck]

Someone honestly believes this when 1988-1999 exists?

Mgs3, gta San andreas, Halo 2, vampire bloodlines, half life 2, doom 3, I could do on.

It was a power house of a year.