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[Plies]

What was the worst year for gaming ?

I'm not too sure actually, but I would say that 2014 as one of the worst year, as well as 2003.

It would be too easy to bring up 1983 as the worst year as that year is infamous , but I'm way too young and I did not even exist yet.

2014 for me was one of the worst because the new PS4 and Xbone titles were very underwhelming :
I remember being disappointed with the games being released that year, especially Watch Dogs.

Amusingly enough, it was the best year for Wii U owners as pretty much all the good games were released that year, but nobody owned one so who cares.

What's the tip on the iceberg though is the fact that Gamergate was born that year!
I'm honestly missing the days when gaming had no drama.
Definitively a bad year for gaming.

2003 was also a bad year for some because there were few new titles that year.
It just was underwhelming year according to my uncle, especially after the death of the N64, Dreamcast and the delayed launch of the GC, especially in Europe.



What's the worst year(s) in gaming for you ?

 

[kikkis]

2021. 2014 had dark souls 2

 

[Digital-Aftertaste]

Need I say more?

 

[Generic]

2025 because eveything became expensive as hell.

 

[TGO]

So 2003 was the worse year in gaming
Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time
Need for Speed: Underground
SOCOM II U.S. Navy SEALs
Max Payne 2: The Fall of Max Payne
Fatal Frame II: Crimson Butterfly
Manhunt
Resident Evil: Outbreak

Is trying to downplay previous years an attempt to make recent years look better?

yeah, not working

 

[Instant_Classic]

It's a top 5 contender.

 

[M.W.]

2007

 

[LavitzSlambert]

2014 was exceptionally weak I'd agree. Strongly disagree with 2003, it was an excellent year especially for Nintendo fans. Lots of great Gamecube and GBA games were released that year.

2011 doesn't belong on this list for Skyrim and Dark Souls alone.

 

[kunonabi]

2014 was good for me. Plenty of stuff on 3ds Wii U, MGSV, deception IV, and the witch and the Hundred knight put it ahead of a lot of years. Not best ever by any stretch but certainly not the worst.

 

[Walter Matthau]

Mario Kart 8
Bayonetta 2
Super Smash Bros Wii U
Hyrule Warriors
Captain Toad Treasure Tracker
Donkey Kong Country Tropical Freeze

All these and more on the worst selling console.

 

[IFireflyl]

1. 2014 – The Worst Year

• Wave of broken AAA launches.
  • Examples: Assassin's Creed Unity, Halo: Master Chief Collection, Driveclub
• Heavy monetization tactics ramped up.
• Widespread gamer distrust due to launch-day downgrades and performance lies.
• GamerGate controversy poisoned public discourse and media relations.
• Crunch and layoffs in major studios.
• Next-gen consoles (PS4/Xbox One) underdelivered in their first full year.

2. 2020 – The Pandemic

• COVID-19 delayed nearly every major game and development cycle.
• Major releases suffered from incomplete or buggy launches.
  • Cyberpunk 2077 is the most infamous example.
• E3 and other in-person events cancelled.
• Scalping and supply issues for next-gen consoles (PS5, Xbox Series X) pissed everyone off.
• Widespread reports of burnout and toxic crunch due to remote work stress and mismanagement.
  • I believe this impacted developers as well as gamers.

3. 2013 – The Sad Transition Year

• Disastrous Xbox One reveal hurt consumer trust.
  • Initially they stated there would be online check-ins and DRM, and for some reason they kept telling us the Xbox One was a multimedia device and not a bloody video game console.
• Poor launch lineups for both PS4 and Xbox One.
• The Wii U floundered, with low sales and unclear messaging. I liked the console myself, but it's not a secret that it flopped.
• Relatively big-name titles underperformed or disappointed.
  • Examples: Aliens: Colonial Marines, and SimCity with always-online DRM.
• Start of mainstream awareness of exploitative monetization practices.
  • Forza 5's aggressive microtransactions springs to mind.

4. 2007 – The Monetization Turning Point

• Beginning of widespread microtransactions in full-priced games which would later morph into loot boxes.
• Over-commercialization became entrenched in AAA game design.
  • Mandatory DLC, limited "complete editions", et cetera.
• Crunch culture stories began gaining traction.
  • Example: Rockstar's "100-hour weeks".
• Many annualized sequels with minimal innovation.
• DRM issues began to piss off PC players.
  • Anyone remember SecuROM? *shudder*

5. 2012 – The Forgotten Year

• Late-stage console fatigue with the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 showing their age and few groundbreaking releases.
• Wii U launched with terrible third-party support and poor marketing.
• GaaS models started to kick off, with more games demanding constant online presence.
• Few genre-defining hits, and the entire gaming industry felt creatively stagnant outside of the indie scene.
• Continued studio closures and layoffs.

 

[Fbh]

Mario Kart 8
Bayonetta 2
Super Smash Bros Wii U
Hyrule Warriors
Captain Toad Treasure Tracker
Donkey Kong Country Tropical Freeze

All these and more on the worst selling console.

Was just going to say. 2014 was amazing on WiiU lol

Tropical Freeze and Bayonetta 2?!?!
2 goats right there

 

[analog_future]

1. 2014 – The Worst Year

• Wave of broken AAA launches.
  • Examples: Assassin's Creed Unity, Halo: Master Chief Collection, Driveclub
• Heavy monetization tactics ramped up.
• Widespread gamer distrust due to launch-day downgrades and performance lies.
• GamerGate controversy poisoned public discourse and media relations.
• Crunch and layoffs in major studios.
• Next-gen consoles (PS4/Xbox One) underdelivered in their first full year.

2. 2020 – The Pandemic

• COVID-19 delayed nearly every major game and development cycle.
• Major releases suffered from incomplete or buggy launches.
  • Cyberpunk 2077 is the most infamous example.
• E3 and other in-person events cancelled.
• Scalping and supply issues for next-gen consoles (PS5, Xbox Series X) pissed everyone off.
• Widespread reports of burnout and toxic crunch due to remote work stress and mismanagement.
  • I believe this impacted developers as well as gamers.

3. 2013 – The Sad Transition Year

• Disastrous Xbox One reveal hurt consumer trust.
  • Initially they stated there would be online check-ins and DRM, and for some reason they kept telling us the Xbox One was a multimedia device and not a bloody video game console.
• Poor launch lineups for both PS4 and Xbox One.
• The Wii U floundered, with low sales and unclear messaging. I liked the console myself, but it's not a secret that it flopped.
• Relatively big-name titles underperformed or disappointed.
  • Examples: Aliens: Colonial Marines, and SimCity with always-online DRM.
• Start of mainstream awareness of exploitative monetization practices.
  • Forza 5's aggressive microtransactions springs to mind.

4. 2007 – The Monetization Turning Point

• Beginning of widespread microtransactions and loot boxes in full-priced games.
• Over-commercialization became entrenched in AAA game design.
  • Mandatory DLC, limited "complete editions", et cetera.
• Crunch culture stories began gaining traction.
  • Example: Rockstar's "100-hour weeks".
• Many annualized sequels with minimal innovation.
• DRM issues began to piss off PC players.
  • Anyone remember SecuROM? *shudder*

5. 2012 – The Forgotten Year

• Late-stage console fatigue with the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 showing their age and few groundbreaking releases.
• Wii U launched with terrible third-party support and poor marketing.
• GaaS models started to kick off, with more games demanding constant online presence.
• Few genre-defining hits, and the entire gaming industry felt creatively stagnant outside of the indie scene.
• Continued studio closures and layoffs.

All agreed except for 2007. No fucking way. 2007 is one of the best years in gaming history.

• The Orange Box
• Super Mario Galaxy
• Bioshock
• Portal
• Mass Effect
• Halo 3
• God of War II
• Call of Duty: Modern Warfare
• Metroid Prime 3
• Guitar Hero II
• skate
• Rock Band
• Team Fortress 2
• The Witcher
• STALKER: Shadow of Chornobyl
• Crysis
• Uncharted: Drake's Fortune

 

[Stephen Curry]

4. 2007 – The Monetization Turning Point

• Beginning of widespread microtransactions and loot boxes in full-priced games.
• Over-commercialization became entrenched in AAA game design.
  • Mandatory DLC, limited "complete editions", et cetera.
• Crunch culture stories began gaining traction.
  • Example: Rockstar's "100-hour weeks".
• Many annualized sequels with minimal innovation.
• DRM issues began to piss off PC players.
  • Anyone remember SecuROM? *shudder*

?????

What kind of AI post is this. Was there even a single game in 2007 that had lootboxes?

 

[IFireflyl]

All agreed except for 2007. No fucking way. 2007 is one of the best years in gaming history.

• The Orange Box
• Super Mario Galaxy
• Bioshock
• Portal
• Mass Effect
• Halo 3
• God of War II
• Call of Duty: Modern Warfare
• Metroid Prime 3
• Guitar Hero II
• skate
• Rock Band
• Team Fortress 2
• The Witcher
• STALKER: Shadow of Chornobyl
• Crysis
• Uncharted: Drake's Fortune

To be clear, "worst" can mean several things. My reasonings for 2007 had nothing to do with game releases. Halo 3 consumed my life when it came out.

 

[L*][*N*K]

To be clear, "worst" can mean several things. My reasoning's for 2007 had nothing to do with game releases. Halo 3 consumed my life when it came out.

This whole thread is about worst year in terms of game releases

 

[HRK69]

1. 2014 – The Worst Year

• Wave of broken AAA launches.
  • Examples: Assassin's Creed Unity, Halo: Master Chief Collection, Driveclub
• Heavy monetization tactics ramped up.
• Widespread gamer distrust due to launch-day downgrades and performance lies.
• GamerGate controversy poisoned public discourse and media relations.
• Crunch and layoffs in major studios.
• Next-gen consoles (PS4/Xbox One) underdelivered in their first full year.

2. 2020 – The Pandemic

• COVID-19 delayed nearly every major game and development cycle.
• Major releases suffered from incomplete or buggy launches.
  • Cyberpunk 2077 is the most infamous example.
• E3 and other in-person events cancelled.
• Scalping and supply issues for next-gen consoles (PS5, Xbox Series X) pissed everyone off.
• Widespread reports of burnout and toxic crunch due to remote work stress and mismanagement.
  • I believe this impacted developers as well as gamers.

3. 2013 – The Sad Transition Year

• Disastrous Xbox One reveal hurt consumer trust.
  • Initially they stated there would be online check-ins and DRM, and for some reason they kept telling us the Xbox One was a multimedia device and not a bloody video game console.
• Poor launch lineups for both PS4 and Xbox One.
• The Wii U floundered, with low sales and unclear messaging. I liked the console myself, but it's not a secret that it flopped.
• Relatively big-name titles underperformed or disappointed.
  • Examples: Aliens: Colonial Marines, and SimCity with always-online DRM.
• Start of mainstream awareness of exploitative monetization practices.
  • Forza 5's aggressive microtransactions springs to mind.

4. 2007 – The Monetization Turning Point

• Beginning of widespread microtransactions and loot boxes in full-priced games.
• Over-commercialization became entrenched in AAA game design.
  • Mandatory DLC, limited "complete editions", et cetera.
• Crunch culture stories began gaining traction.
  • Example: Rockstar's "100-hour weeks".
• Many annualized sequels with minimal innovation.
• DRM issues began to piss off PC players.
  • Anyone remember SecuROM? *shudder*

5. 2012 – The Forgotten Year

• Late-stage console fatigue with the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 showing their age and few groundbreaking releases.
• Wii U launched with terrible third-party support and poor marketing.
• GaaS models started to kick off, with more games demanding constant online presence.
• Few genre-defining hits, and the entire gaming industry felt creatively stagnant outside of the indie scene.
• Continued studio closures and layoffs.

Oh that's the smell of AI alright

 

[Pimpbaa]

1983, not getting any more games for my Colecovision and not knowing why at the time.

 

[Plies]

All agreed except for 2007. No fucking way. 2007 is one of the best years in gaming history.

• The Orange Box
• Super Mario Galaxy
• Bioshock
• Portal
• Mass Effect
• Halo 3
• God of War II
• Call of Duty: Modern Warfare
• Metroid Prime 3
• Guitar Hero II
• skate
• Rock Band
• Team Fortress 2
• The Witcher
• STALKER: Shadow of Chornobyl
• Crysis
• Uncharted: Drake's Fortune

Yeah, the 2007 mentions are very strange , lol

Oh that's the smell of AI alright

 

[IFireflyl]

?????

What kind of AI post is this. Was there even a single game in 2007 that had lootboxes?

What I meant was that 2007 was when the business model behind loot boxes started taking shape. You had full-priced games experimenting with microtransactions and DLC in ways that weren't common before. It wasn't loot boxes yet, but it was the start of that mindset. Monetizing beyond the base purchase, slicing content, and conditioning players to spend more over time. While I didn't make that clear, the point was more about the direction things were heading than the specific mechanics being in place. I edited my post to reflect this.

This whole thread is about worst year in terms of game releases

The question was, "What was the worst year in gaming?" It wasn't, "What was the worst year in gaming in terms of game releases?" The OP even mentioned GamerGate which has nothing to do with game releases.

 

[Magic Carpet]

The years that consoles first tried to transition to 3D were the worst years in Video Gaming history.
1996 and all the awful visuals months after.

 

[IFireflyl]

Yeah, the 2007 mentions are very strange , lol

Are you serious? I thought I hit all of the important details for what I considered to be the worst years in gaming, and in a very concise readout.

The monetization in 2007 sucked. About a year before that Oblivion had kicked off the horse-armor DLC, and 2007 had microtransactions becoming more prominent. The Xbox Live Marketplace was pretty aggressively expanded. You could buy avatars, themes, weapon skins, et cetera.

The non-innovative annualized sequels was pretty self-explanatory, I thought. NBA Live 08, Madden 08, Medal of Honor: Airborne, Need for Speed: Prostreet, Tony Hawk's Proving Grounds - all of these games felt like copy-pasta's from previous iterations.

EA and other publishers started using SecuROM DRM, and a year later that would blow up in their face.

What about my 2007 response is strange other than saying it had loot boxes (which I already edited)?

 

[Guilty_AI]

the worst year in game is 2043, mostly due to the great sky hole event

 

[Plies]

Are you serious? I thought I hit all of the important details for what I considered to be the worst years in gaming, and in a very concise readout.

The monetization in 2007 sucked. About a year before that Oblivion had kicked off the horse-armor DLC, and 2007 had microtransactions becoming more prominent. The Xbox Live Marketplace was pretty aggressively expanded. You could buy avatars, themes, weapon skins, et cetera.

The non-innovative annualized sequels was pretty self-explanatory, I thought. NBA Live 08, Madden 08, Medal of Honor: Airborne, Need for Speed: Prostreet, Tony Hawk's Proving Grounds - all of these games felt like copy-pasta's from previous iterations.

EA and other publishers started using SecuROM DRM, and a year later that would blow up in their face.

What about my 2007 response is strange other than saying it had loot boxes (which I already edited)?

Ya good, I'm just saying 2007 had a legendary lineup of great games.
It's typically a fondly remembered year from those who've experienced it.

 

[TGO]

2014
Dark Souls II
Alien: Isolation
The Evil Within
Wolfenstein: The New Order
Titanfall
Middle-earth: Shadow of Mordor
Assassin's Creed Unity
The Motherfuckering P.T. demo

2011
The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim
Uncharted 3: Drake's Deception
Batman: Arkham City
Gears of War 3
L.A. Noire
Deus Ex: Human Revolution
Dead Space 2
Dark Souls
Assassin's Creed Revelations
The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword
Dead Island
Crysis 2
Battlefield 3

2009
Batman: Arkham Asylum
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2
Assassin's Creed II
Demon's Souls
Uncharted 2: Among Thieves
Bayonetta
Resident Evil 5
Killzone 2

2006
The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion
The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess
Ōkami
Bully
Hitman: Blood Money
Final Fantasy XII
Gears of War
Dead Rising
Tomb Raider: Legend
Rainbow Six: Vegas
Splinter Cell: Double Agent
Rule of Rose
God Hand

Those are the years you listed as the worse and 2014 is the weakest.
And the years continue to get weaker as time went on.
I mean look at some of those titles, and that's in one year...a apparently bad year at that.

 

[L*][*N*K]

The question was, "What was the worst year in gaming?" It wasn't, "What was the worst year in gaming in terms of game releases?" The OP even mentioned GamerGate which has nothing to do with game releases.

Is this a court deposition that everything have to be worded properly? It was clearly implied otherwise the poll had to be from the 1978 till last year

 

[Soodanim]

What year had the multiplayer codes when they tried to combat/capitalise on the 2nd hand market?

 

[NeoIkaruGAF]

Why is 1993 in the poll?

 

[kunonabi]

The years that consoles first tried to transition to 3D were the worst years in Video Gaming history.
1996 and all the awful visuals months after.

1996 was a killer year, what are you talking about?

 

[existensmaximum]

The years that consoles first tried to transition to 3D were the worst years in Video Gaming history.
1996 and all the awful visuals months after.

I agree, it was a sad and shitty gaming year for me personally. Early 3D is cancer.

 

[Dr.D00p]

PS360 era as a whole was dogshit, IMO.

It stifled the PC as a lead platform and most of the games on the two consoles looked and ran like dogshit. Low framerates, textures and resolutions.

Yuk.

 

[zaga]

I voted 2022 because in retrospect 2022 seems very quiet for gaming?

Stray was great. Kirby was great. Shredder's Revenge was great. But that's just 3 games.

(Eventually I need to check out Immortality and Norco... )

 

[Codes 208]

2021. 2014 had dark souls 2

So…it was the worst year ever.

 

[Ribi]

Gamergate wasn't real and didn't do shit stop

 

[xrnzaaas]

We had Alien Isolation, This War of Mine, Forza Horizon 2, The Evil Within and Driveclub in 2014. All incredible games and enough to call it great year (even if Driveclub needed additional months to improve its launch state).

Last year for me is a strong contender for one of the weakest ones. At the end of the year I couldn't pick a proper goty, because there weren't any games better than 8/10. Plus some promising titles ended as disappointments.

 

[wafflecioccy]

4. 2007

You're nuts!

 

[ZehDon]

Which year had The Master Chief Collection? 'cause it'll be fucking hard to top that.

 

[CashPrizes]

Yeah, 2014 and 2021 are probably the two worst.

1993 might be slightly weaker then 1992, and a lot weaker then 1994 which is a power house. But overall 1993 is pretty good, let me list the ways:
Phantasy Star IV
Gunstar Heroes
Rocket Knight Adventures
Shining Force 2 (that's like 4 of the top 15 Genesis games ever right there)
Aladdin on Genesis
Sonic CD (arguably best Sonic game)
Day of the Tentacle
X-Wing
Doom
Castlevania Rondo of Blood (arguably best Castlevania besides SOTN)
Mega Man X
Zelda: Links Awakening

I guess it was a weak year for Nintendo fans because NES was on it's last legs and year 2 of SNES was weaker then year 1. But a fantastic year for the Genesis and PC.

 

[Roufianos]

2014 was fucking dreadful. I remember my PS4 was just a FIFA machine.

 

[Signalis]

1. 2014 – The Worst Year

• Wave of broken AAA launches.
  • Examples: Assassin's Creed Unity, Halo: Master Chief Collection, Driveclub
• Heavy monetization tactics ramped up.
• Widespread gamer distrust due to launch-day downgrades and performance lies.
• GamerGate controversy poisoned public discourse and media relations.
• Crunch and layoffs in major studios.
• Next-gen consoles (PS4/Xbox One) underdelivered in their first full year.

2. 2020 – The Pandemic

• COVID-19 delayed nearly every major game and development cycle.
• Major releases suffered from incomplete or buggy launches.
  • Cyberpunk 2077 is the most infamous example.
• E3 and other in-person events cancelled.
• Scalping and supply issues for next-gen consoles (PS5, Xbox Series X) pissed everyone off.
• Widespread reports of burnout and toxic crunch due to remote work stress and mismanagement.
  • I believe this impacted developers as well as gamers.

3. 2013 – The Sad Transition Year

• Disastrous Xbox One reveal hurt consumer trust.
  • Initially they stated there would be online check-ins and DRM, and for some reason they kept telling us the Xbox One was a multimedia device and not a bloody video game console.
• Poor launch lineups for both PS4 and Xbox One.
• The Wii U floundered, with low sales and unclear messaging. I liked the console myself, but it's not a secret that it flopped.
• Relatively big-name titles underperformed or disappointed.
  • Examples: Aliens: Colonial Marines, and SimCity with always-online DRM.
• Start of mainstream awareness of exploitative monetization practices.
  • Forza 5's aggressive microtransactions springs to mind.

4. 2007 – The Monetization Turning Point

• Beginning of widespread microtransactions in full-priced games which would later morph into loot boxes.
• Over-commercialization became entrenched in AAA game design.
  • Mandatory DLC, limited "complete editions", et cetera.
• Crunch culture stories began gaining traction.
  • Example: Rockstar's "100-hour weeks".
• Many annualized sequels with minimal innovation.
• DRM issues began to piss off PC players.
  • Anyone remember SecuROM? *shudder*

5. 2012 – The Forgotten Year

• Late-stage console fatigue with the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 showing their age and few groundbreaking releases.
• Wii U launched with terrible third-party support and poor marketing.
• GaaS models started to kick off, with more games demanding constant online presence.
• Few genre-defining hits, and the entire gaming industry felt creatively stagnant outside of the indie scene.
• Continued studio closures and layoffs.

Can't you be original atleast? Have you become so lazy that you have to get an LLM to do your thinking and writing for you. This is all AI slop

 

[Mr Hyde]

Never had a bad year in gaming. There's always some good stuff to play.

 

[Shane89]

all post pandemic years.

 

[samoilaaa]

2014 is the year Thief franchise was butchered , i will never forget it

 

[The_Observer]

Not at all, just 2 games that felt "nextgen": Infamous Second Son and AC Unity. I'm sure there were others, but these games brought back hope after the launch that there was hope for the ps4 and xbo

 

[simpatico]

OP is obviously trolling. The best game of the 21st century was released in 2014.

 

[Fafalada]

Statistically speaking - these lists are less than anecdotal since 2014 onwards.
An average year this decade, has more games released than old-style 2-3 full generations of consoles (summing up all platforms) combined.

What we're really talking about here is filtered to hell through marketing budgets and public exposure - not any particular quality lens.
But sure - if the filter is kept on 'AAA releases' (which is itself a moving target as the budgets inflate every year and in 2001 such release often had lower production values than 'indie' releases do today), then there are clear variances - but that's an incredibly myopic/depressing view of gaming landscape...

Never had a bad year in gaming. There's always some good stuff to play.

But yea - basically this.

 

[Danjin44]

I can't say it's worse since it's the year I got Drakengard 3.

 

[cartman414]

Yeah, 2014 and 2021 are probably the two worst.

1993 might be slightly weaker then 1992, and a lot weaker then 1994 which is a power house. But overall 1993 is pretty good, let me list the ways:
Phantasy Star IV
Gunstar Heroes
Rocket Knight Adventures
Shining Force 2 (that's like 4 of the top 15 Genesis games ever right there)
Aladdin on Genesis
Sonic CD (arguably best Sonic game)
Day of the Tentacle
X-Wing
Doom
Castlevania Rondo of Blood (arguably best Castlevania besides SOTN)

I guess it was a weak year for Nintendo fans because NES was on it's last legs and year 2 of SNES was weaker then year 1. But a fantastic year for the Genesis and PC.

Oh it was way better.

 

[wafflecioccy]

Not at all, just 2 games that felt "nextgen": Infamous Second Son and AC Unity. I'm sure there were others, but these games brought back hope after the launch that there was hope for the ps4 and xbo

Killzone Shadow Fall felt next gen 100%

Huge graphics improvement over PS3

 

[March Climber]

The years that consoles first tried to transition to 3D were the worst years in Video Gaming history.
1996 and all the awful visuals months after.

I agree, it was a sad and shitty gaming year for me personally. Early 3D is cancer.

There are dozens of us.gif

This argument will never be won though because there are too many people with an almost maximum amount of nostalgia for those early 3D games.

Most of them were very low framerate and ugly, ripping away the peak-level of sprite art we were starting to get right before the shift happened.