Nostalgia for Early 2000's gaming

Plies

Plies

GAF's Nicest Lunch Thief and Nosiest Dildo Archeologist
So, confession time - I guess I'm a quite a bit to the younger end of the gaming spectrum here on GAF, being 26, but the majority of my nostalgic video games comes from the early 2000's.
Play Station 2 and Game Cube and original Xbox. Games like Super Mario Sunshine, Jak and Daxter, Star Fox: Adventures, and seemingly forgotten games like Kya: Dark Legacy and Herdy Gerdy.

To a degree, I feel like this era's overlooked as far as nostalgia goes, and it makes sense if the majority of people involved in the industry didn't grow up in that time, but it always struck me as strange when people listed pixel-art side-scrollers as nostalgic. And it got me thinking - is there an untapped market there?

Supposedly the majority of developers are in their 30s and 40s, so I guess it makes sense that they'd overlook the nostalgia factor of this era, but honestly I can't help but think how ecstatic I would be if "retro" game developers started catering to that, instead.
There are only so many times I can replay Sly Cooper before getting bored - but an active genre of gaming that returned to those bright, cartoony, often quirky and awkward but somehow charming style of games that I remember from back then. Oh, and the beach themes of this era were fantastic! ☺️
 
Definitely try out the Ratchet and Clank series, it's one of the best 2000s era games

Ratchet and Clank
Ratchet and Clank Going Commando
Ratchet and Clank Up your Arsenal
Ratchet and Clank Deadlocked
Ratchet and Clank Future Tools of Destruction
Ratchet and Clank Quest for Booty
Ratchet and Clank A Crack in Time
Ratchet and Clank Into the Nexus
Ratchet and Clank Rift Apart

It starts getting really good starting from Going Commando too, the first game on the list might be a bit hard to get into.
 
The start of the PS2/Cube/Xbox era was one of my favourite gaming periods - even if I was only able to enjoy them in my friend's home and rental stores.
 
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Hawk The Slayer said:
Definitely try out the Ratchet and Clank series, it's one of the best 2000s era games

Ratchet and Clank
Ratchet and Clank Going Commando
Ratchet and Clank Up your Arsenal
Ratchet and Clank Deadlocked
Ratchet and Clank Future Tools of Destruction
Ratchet and Clank Quest for Booty
Ratchet and Clank A Crack in Time
Ratchet and Clank Into the Nexus
Ratchet and Clank Rift Apart

It starts getting really good starting from Going Commando too, the first game on the list might be a bit hard to get into.
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I only played a small handful of the R&C games but I was very surprised at how funny the dialogue and script was. Like I never really experienced much comedy video games and what humor any had, it was just dumb humor. But R&C has some really witty jokes in their story
 
Rentahamster said:
Is it because those seem "too" old, from your perspective?
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It's more of contemporaries who have nostalgia for an era so far back.
I'm not saying there's a line in the sand to be drawn as far as nostalgia goes, because I understand everyone has different levels of exposure. I find it interesting, is all.
Obviously that might sound a bit hypocritical, but .. 😆
 
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Plies said:
It's more of contemporaries who have nostalgia for an era so far back.
I'm not saying there's a line in the sand to be drawn as far as nostalgia goes, because I understand everyone has different levels of exposure. I find it interesting, is all.
Obviously that might sound a bit hypocritical, but .. 😆
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Yeah that's kind of what I mean. Like how Grunge or Punk might sound "retro" to us, but disco, blues, or rockabilly might sound too ancient.
 
Gen 6 is one of the GOATs, game didn't take forever to make, they weren't super expensive to develop, and they were pushing boundaries.

My fav gen, overall.

Had a Dreamcast, GameCube, Xbox, and PS2.
 
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Plies said:
It's more of contemporaries who have nostalgia for an era so far back.
I'm not saying there's a line in the sand to be drawn as far as nostalgia goes, because I understand everyone has different levels of exposure. I find it interesting, is all.
Obviously that might sound a bit hypocritical, but .. 😆
Click to expand...
I'm 30+ and I have nostalgia for when I was a kid and played NES, SNES, N64, PS1, PS2, PC and DOS games. I'm nostalgic about playing KotOR in ny teens. I also have nostalgia for when I was 20+ and played Wind Waker for the first time. Heck, I even have nostalgia for when I played RDR2 for the first time about 3 years ago.

Not to mention with books I have nostalgia for stories written in the 18th and 19th century and the atmosphere those had. Religious people can feel nostalgic reading about events taking place thousands of years ago.

I also have nostalgia for music that was created decades and centuries before my birth.

My point is, don't be too "short-minded" when it comes to time. Gaming is such a young hobby, but with an incredibly rich history so we should be able to be nostalgic about everything about it. :)
 
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Instant_Classic said:
Gen 6 is one of the GOATs, game didn't take forever to make, they weren't super expensive to develop, and they were pushing boundaries.

My fav gen, overall.

Had a Dreamcast, GameCube, Xbox, and PS2.
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I didn't have a Dreamcast but I had the all the other systems that Gen

Sixth Gen was definitely something magical. Back in the Sixth Gen, developers were headed by gamers who wanted to make games for gamers. Plus the increase in budget made it Gaming Golden Age

Even the Gamecube and Xbox had lot of memorable experiences. That whole Gen had so many great games across all 4 platforms

I started gaming when the first Playstation came out but it wasn't until the Playstation 2 Era where I started to play and finish more games. So yes it's also nostigia

It's just not the same now
 
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Plies said:
To a degree, I feel like this era's overlooked as far as nostalgia goes, and it makes sense if the majority of people involved in the industry didn't grow up in that time, but it always struck me as strange when people listed pixel-art side-scrollers as nostalgic. And it got me thinking - is there an untapped market there?
Click to expand...

I don't think the era's that overlooked (literally Sony's best era), it's just not enough of a time gap yet to be the dominant decade to be nostalgic about yet. The 90s is starting to get its treatment like the 80s did, and guaranteed the 2000s will.

I'm a decade older than OP, and I'd still regard the PS2 as the best generation if we're looking back. It was that perfect time where 2D games were still going, 3D games got past the awkward but cool novelty of the 90s, and we got a great mix of cool games at reliable budgets. 360 era and onward we started to see the slow creep of genres die out that couldn't perform at high budgets (RTS, arcade sports games, 3D platformers), DLC and micro-transactions enter, multiplayer games needed to be endless services, and studios start to water their IP down.

Most of my emulation time going back to old games I've already played or catching up on what I missed, is exactly the early 2000s. Tons of cool games, and inevitably as younger devs build out indie studios they're going to make more games that hearken back to 2000s trends. Even just Space Marine 2 and Stellar Blade in big-budget space are 2000s era games down to the base aesthetics.
 
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Plies said:
So, confession time - I guess I'm a quite a bit to the younger end of the gaming spectrum here on GAF, being 26, but the majority of my nostalgic video games comes from the early 2000's.
Play Station 2 and Game Cube and original Xbox. Games like Super Mario Sunshine, Jak and Daxter, Star Fox: Adventures, and seemingly forgotten games like Kya: Dark Legacy and Herdy Gerdy.

To a degree, I feel like this era's overlooked as far as nostalgia goes, and it makes sense if the majority of people involved in the industry didn't grow up in that time, but it always struck me as strange when people listed pixel-art side-scrollers as nostalgic. And it got me thinking - is there an untapped market there?

Supposedly the majority of developers are in their 30s and 40s, so I guess it makes sense that they'd overlook the nostalgia factor of this era, but honestly I can't help but think how ecstatic I would be if "retro" game developers started catering to that, instead.
There are only so many times I can replay Sly Cooper before getting bored - but an active genre of gaming that returned to those bright, cartoony, often quirky and awkward but somehow charming style of games that I remember from back then. Oh, and the beach themes of this era were fantastic! ☺️
Click to expand...

If you are 26 now how did you play PS2/Gamecube/Xbox games with nostalgia when you were like....2yrs old by then. And by the time you were at least 6-8yrs old, PS3 and 360 were already a few years old :pie_thinking: And no, the nostalgia is not overlooked from this era as PS2 was until recently the highest selling console ever. All the best games and sequels we have today come mostly from that period.
 
The 2000s were my favourite period of gaming easily. I was growing up along with my friends in those early teens into adulthood, which came in the 2010s, enjoying and sharing all those magical experiences together, as well as this being the age of the internet, growing along with this. It was just a magical time all round because of everything always constantly growing and changing at such a rapid pace.
 
Plies said:
And it got me thinking - is there an untapped market there?

Supposedly the majority of developers are in their 30s and 40s, so I guess it makes sense that they'd overlook the nostalgia factor of this era, but honestly I can't help but think how ecstatic I would be if "retro" game developers started catering to that, instead.
There are only so many times I can replay Sly Cooper before getting bored - but an active genre of gaming that returned to those bright, cartoony, often quirky and awkward but somehow charming style of games that I remember from back then. Oh, and the beach themes of this era were fantastic! ☺️
Click to expand...
The thing you are searching for has already started appearing more within the indie scene. Search for the tags "3D, Retro" in steam for these experiences.
 
tbh, i am still fond of old games in that era as well. the transition before fully HD is kind of interesting. even older MH2, FFX, GT4, Genji, still looks great in this day because they are using proper textures and clever tricks. and the era are extension of older era of genre invention in end of 80s through 1999. so they are like middle road between retro and newer games. lot of bad games of course, but genre starter also comes from there (not real starter, but who popularized)
 
It was a great period and I really loved the Gamecube. It had awesome games and even some great third party games. The Naruto games for example were amazing on that console, the fourth game was awesome and my friend imported it. I also had imported Battle Stadium and Bleach GC, good times !

Simple, fun games without the needless bullshit.
 
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cireza said:
It was a great period and I really loved the Gamecube. It had awesome games and even some great third party games. The Naruto games for example were amazing on that console, the fourth game was awesome and my friend imported it. I also had imported Battle Stadium and Bleach GC, good times !

Simple, fun games without the needless bullshit.
Click to expand...
playing-singleplayer-games-is-peacefull-v0-jus53hfwf3za1.jpg
 
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Looking back I have mixed feeling about the time.

On the one hand, lots of masterpieces like Shenmue, Gran Turismo 3, Tekken Tag Tournament, Metal Gear Solid 2, Resident Evil Remake, etc.

On the other hand, lots of games had rough animation, blurry textures and low frame rates.
 
So, what you're saying is that you want more games to use Y2K aesthetics? Blue skies, beaches. palm trees etc. etc.? Don't worry. A comeback is seemingly already brewing, albeit its coming from the indie scene.

I'm personally slightly nostalgic for the late 00's vibe. Felt like it was just ramping up until it got kicked its feet away from underneath it.
 
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It took me a while to finally get there, but I eventually owned all 3 consoles. So many of my favorite games of all time are from that era, it was a special mix of creativity along with business booming, the internet taking off, just overall a really exciting time to be a kid who loved games.
 
To me ps2 era is the best because it's the peak of gaming before smartphones, DLCs, social media and "politics". The ps3 gen, although good, was already affected.
 
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RetroGamingUK said:
2000




2001



Yeah, these were great times
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The DreamCast was absolutely terrible if you didn't like fighting games or arcade ports. I can't blame anyone for choosing to wait it out until 2001 for the main course.

DreamCast being awesome is one of those revisionist opinions you hear amplified on the internet a lot, when everyone I knew in real life in 2000 thought it was shit. Pick a sixth gen console, any console, and they ate better than a DreamCast player.
 
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Killer8 said:
The DreamCast was absolutely terrible if you didn't like fighting games or arcade ports. I can't blame anyone for choosing to wait it out until 2001 for the main course.

DreamCast being awesome is one of those revisionist opinions you hear amplified on the internet a lot, when everyone I knew in real life in 2000 thought it was shit. Pick a sixth gen console, any console, and they ate better than a DreamCast player.
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Yeah but it was great for people who DID like fighting games and arcade ports. Plus the first year of the ps2 really fucking sucked until gta3 came out (then the floodgate seemed to open).
 
Killer8 said:
The DreamCast was absolutely terrible if you didn't like fighting games or arcade ports. I can't blame anyone for choosing to wait it out until 2001 for the main course.

DreamCast being awesome is one of those revisionist opinions you hear amplified on the internet a lot, when everyone I knew in real life in 2000 thought it was shit. Pick a sixth gen console, any console, and they ate better than a DreamCast player.
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That's all great because I loved SegaMe arcade ports (mind blowing at the time) and quirky games.

PS2 was much better for action/adventure games, they complimented each other well and should have coexisted longer.
 
It's a tricky era for me since outside of the the dreamcast and and a few specific games on the GameCube and PS2 the generation was mostly depressing for me. It's really where the slide for a lot of my favorite franchises and genres began, not to mention the death of the dreamcast which really hurt, and by the time the next gen was starting I was actually losing interest in gaming altogether. It took the Wii and Super Mario Galaxy to get me back into games after how that gen developed.
 
PS2/GameCube/Xbox is the worst generation imo.

Xbox has the best of it with the Bioware and Sega exclusives.

Is OK to have nostalgia for, but just about every game genre was improved upon in the 360/PS3 era (except JRPGs). The Mass Effect and Dragon Age games are better then KOTOR and Jade Empire. Halo 3 and Call of Duty 4 are better then their counterparts on Xbox/PS2. Mario Galaxy blows Sunshine out of the water, etc .
 
I miss the arcade/futuristic racing games of that era (WipEout/Rollcage/Quantum Redshift/ExtremeG3) and the extreme sports stuff like skateboarding/BMX style games. Also helps the music featured in those games was a lot better back then.
Also remember when popular TV shows and movies would have their own console game adaption, instead of just a shovelware mobile game. Back in the PS2 era we had Simpsons Hit & Run, X-Files, The Sopranos, 24 and even Desperate Housewives.
 
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