Even Square Enix Admits The PlayStation Era Was The ‘Golden Age’

Jason Schreier:

Seen at Square Enix's Final Fantasy party at PAX last week: these posters, complete with game names, dates, and monikers describing each era of the iconic RPG series.

As you can see, even Square Enix has some strong notions about when they got things right. (Although Final Fantasy VI should clearly be part of the Golden Age too.)

[Relientk77]

Well its true, that and Final Fantasy X on PS2

Final Fantasy VI - X are the best

[Ranma1]

This is what the timeline should have been:

http://i45.tinypic.com/rqya...

[tdogg06051991]

You should add FF XIII the lightning saga to that last one.

[BattleAxe]

Socom on the PS2 was the golden era of gaming, I'm not sure what the small minority of you are talking about.....including Square Enix.

[Ragnaarock]

I feel like "Great Depression" would be a more appropriate moniker as it follows the theme of a time period.

[SnotyTheRocket]

HEY, FFXIv is turning out rally good actually. I'm a current player, and it's very fun.

[NeXXXuS]

That image will forever live on my computer.

[SilentNegotiator]

@BattleAxe

SQUARE's golden age.

[miyamoto]

LoL although I love FF VI Imust admit PlayStation made gaming legit and mainstream and along with it JRPGs became mainstream too. Japan as always were caught off guard.

Cab drivers i knew were playing FF8 and Legend of Dragoon.

DDR was all over the place too. Motion Gaming at its best.

Oh glory days.

Question is:
Why can't Sony re-create the PS1 & PS2 phenomenon with a grand slam?

because everyone seems hell bent to stop that from happening...

[Tr10wn]

@SnotyTheRocket

You are the only player in it right?

[BinaryMind]

One could easily argue the Golden Age was actually FFI-XII.

[blumatt]

My favorite was FF 8 by far. Just my opinion.

[Snookies12]

FFVIII was indeed great, not sure what people's beef with it is... I used to not like it when it first came out, since it was a lot different than what I'd seen before in FF games. No treasures, cars, sort of futuristic, Squall with his inner monologue. Though after going back through a few times it really grew on me and it certainly holds a place with VI-X in terms of greatness.

[waltyftm]

It was mine too.

[AsimLeonheart]

My favourite as well. It was the first Final Fantasy that I played. Check my name. :-)

[x5exotic]

FF12 was awesome

[Welshy]

If it wasn't for games like MGS4 and the original Dead Space etc, this gen would've been a write-off tbh, nor do i like the look of the future.

pack on PS1 and PS2, if your game was broken, people just didn't buy it so there used to be incentive to get things right first time over.

Now with Day1 patches, online passes, season passes, stupid amounts of DLC that would've been on disc and part of the game on PS2 etc

Too many bad, anti-consumer, money grabbing tactics these days and so much less actual FUN. Next time i watch an expo to yet another dull FPS or cover shooter jumping on the boredom wagon to snore town, i might just smash my face off my desk til i pass out.

Gimme the Crash, MGS1-2, Tekken, Burnout etc days back ='(

[TheFallenAngel]

God of War 3 did it for me. That's the best game this gen. Also Resistance: Fall of Man introduced me to online and FPS games. I think this gen is one of the best. But I do miss the old PS2 and PS1 games. They were a bunch of different genres coming out. Not just FPS after FPS.

[MRMagoo123]

I know what you mean but there have been a few games worth while this gen at least but def the PS1 and PS2 eras were by far the best.

[A-Glorious-Dawn]

I agree, the simpleness of gaming has gone and given way to a plethora of commercial tactics..

But looking past that, there have been some true gems for me this gen; Uncharted series, Demons/Dark souls, Mirrors Edge, LBP,
Fallout 3 and others. There have been some incredible games out, I'm glad to be a gamer in this exciting time...

[GTRrocker666]

Give me a break... nostalgia much?

Have you went back and played some of those old games? This gen is the best. If those are the only two games that you thought were groundbreaking this gen you need to play more games or go back and play some of those old games ...

I dont even need to list all the amazing games this gen...

[fossilfern]

I agree though to be fair this generation started off well until they just took a sudden U-turn and have shafted us for the past 4 years! I have been increasingly frustrated with this generation and due to their tactics I have gone back to get games on the Snes, N64, Mega Drive, etc that I missed out on or never got round to finish and have been having ALOT of fun.

Now the developers are interested in what sells and that is shooters or just dumbed down games to make it more "Accessible". This is why I like CDProjekt Red, free DLC, a PROPER mature game, fantastic gameplay and story telling. These guys brought me right back to the old days of PC RPGs and I loved every second of Witcher 1 and 2.

[gintoki777]

I'm going to hurt Square-enix

[showtimefolks]

well if sony plans ahead right and launch ps4 with a great launch price and great software support than PS era can be all over again. I think people don't realize just how expensive ps3 was at launch compare to now yet it was still selling well. Now imagine ps3 launch price $299 or $349 and where would sony be sitting right now?

sony as a company became very arrogant so it was a wake up call when ps3 didn't succeed early on. And since than thyey have become one of the best gaming companies IMO, just look at all the new IP's and exclusives along with the fact they are about to release 2 huge Ip's towards the end of this gen

they have always taken more risks look at ICO,SOTC to heavy rain and now beyond 2 souls. While games like Ratchet and clank don't sell millions at a time yet sony still supports it for its core fans.

I will always have a special place for sony just like NES has a special place in my heart from nintendo.

One thing we all agree on is competition never hurts so sony needed a wake up call and look at Vita launch price to launch software sony has learned a lot and i think they will have a much better launch for ps4 in fall 2014.

[GrahamGolden]

it was indeed expensive....650 euros at launch

650 euros FFS...this + xbox 1 year and a half headstart hurt the ps3 alot...

but they did catch the xbox and will surpass it worldwide sales later on

they had their lesson guarantee...they wont do the same mistakes they did with the ps3

[andibandit]

You people are holding on to the past. The next generation will be won by whoever can sway the casual crowd. Nintendo did ot out of the blue this generation. This time it wont be motion gaming as athe driving force. A large userbase is necessary to draw in developers and will allow for more original games as developers wont be as pressured to stay with mainstream games to make a profit.

[linkratos]

I would say from SNES to PS1 was the golden age. SNES had amazing RPGs in addition to great other stuff, Genesis was fantastic, and the N64/PS1 speak for themselves. Not saying the PS2-Wii era has been worse or better, but something is different about gaming. I'm glad we have these distinct eras in the medium.

[humbleopinion]

Actually, the proper trope "golden age of RPGs" is referring to the late 80's and early 90's on the PC where SSI released their gold box engine and tons of successful games on it (hence the name "golden"):
http://www.gamasutra.com/vi...

The years following the golden age were even better, with games like Diablo, Elder Scrolls, and the black isle / bioware games expanding and reinventing the genre. Obviously, you needed to have a PC to experience these, as console RPGS started turning a bit formulaic following the genre defining Chrono series.

[blahblah346]

More like IV-XII.

[Kortin]

Yeah, when it came to storyline. But when it comes to battle mechanics, XII was the best. I seriously teared up when I knew that I was released from those glass shatter grind days.

[Caffo01]

@ Tr10wn

There are a lot of players actually.. and if you're going to try 2.0 when it comes out ( if you even know what 2.0 is) i think you'll be surprised.

[OMEGAZONE]

Correction 7 to 12 are the best.
Everything else is forgettable.

[dragonrage00]

you clearly havent played vi...

[sofresh412]

I think Final fantasy VII deserves to be in the best's.

[2pacalypsenow]

Playstation era was the best in console gaming IMO . And the Quake era was the best in PC

[arabiensoldier]

....I LOVE VIDEO GAMES :)

[Blacktric]

I'm more of a turtles guy myself.

http://www.youtube.com/watc...

[blumatt]

I just watched that. Lmao. Hahaha. I think the kid might have been not all there.

[Carl_Shocker]

Modern Era...big picture of Lightning

Should of just been called the "Mistake" Era instead

2009-2011 they screwed up with each title...I mean how do you do that when everything in the Golden Age was gold.

I find it funny how they seem to notice their problem yet still feel the need to shove Lightning or anything FF13 related down our throats ...yet the one thing with want, Versus, we don't hear about.

[Gamer-Z]

I know its like they don't want to give us what we want but instead give us what we don't want and then they get mad and wonder why the game didn't sell like COD.

[tordavis]

Games with lightening keep selling millions. It makes business sense.

[Qrphe]

PlayStation era was definitely the best era so far of console RPGs. I also played the best PC RPGs around those years too.

[vortis]

The late SNES through PSX era was pretty sweet for gaming overall on any platform.

Most companies already know this just like most gamers already know this.

FFVI - IX, Baldur's Gate, Fallout, Parasite Eve, etc,. etc. Games rocked back then.

[ritsuka666]

I agree , rpgs in this days sucks compared the golden age of PS1/PS2 era.... =/

[cpayne93]

The late 90s were the golden era for gaming in general.

[srcBFMVBMTH]

Miss those days :,'(

[FinaLXiii]

past cant be relived however the games can. =)

[srcBFMVBMTH]

:,')

[b_one]

IS, not WAS - Playstation IS Golden Age

[Jadedz]

Not when you're speaking within the terms of "3rd party exclusives"
The PS1/PS2, had the software content on "lockdown." Big 3rd party exclusive titles, came often and frequent on the two consoles I mentioned above.

[b_one]

3rd party is 3rd party, look at customer support from a gamers perspective

[Tetsujin]

I'd say SNES/Genesis is golden age, ps1 was the twilight (no pun) years

[frjoethesecond]

Genisis/megadrive sucked.

[vortis]

It was a mix.

Technically 1991 - 2001 was the ACTUAL golden era.

But a lot of the awesome, genre moving games came during the mid to late 90s when the PS1 was peaking.

[ShaunCameron]

Nope. WAS sounds about right. It was the era when Sony had all its bases covered. The PS3 doesn't compare to the PS1 or PS2 in anything besides technology.

[Straightupbeastly]

I remember staying up all night before x-mas knowing a ps1 was under that tree. I worshipped it. I played crash bandicoot, cool boarders and ridge racer until my hands went numb.

I knew the roads on ridge racer so well I could time each turn perfectly and hit it without slowing down. So much fun

[Relientk77]

I remember getting a PlayStation for my birthday, it was the best birthday gift I ever got

[LOL_WUT]

Ah, cool boarders good times.

[guitar_nerd_23]

Hell yeah!

I loved that mode on 2 where you had to get to 100 tricks in order to unlock the secret characters.

[torchic]

I remember playing Sled Storm like that. it was literally the perfect game, didn't have a single fault.

I would go to this one track, select the most number of laps possible and race all night long.

[cee773]

i got one off the streets of chicago in 97 for $40 a lady and a fellow were just walking down my block with it advertising it one of the best days eva

metal gear solid
tekken 2 or 3(whichever on debuted eddy gordo)
vigilante 8
crash bandicoot 1&2
ridge racer
fighting force
nba live
knockout kings
triple play

were the first games me and the bro's had good times!

eventually we had to turn the console upside down we played it so much till the lens died:)

[insomnium2]

LOL same for me. Played it upside down for years.

[STIKUP ARTIST]

So, you bought yours off a couple of crack heads? They always have the best deals.(@ post below. )

[cee773]

i got one off the streets of chicago in 97 for $40 a lady and a fellow were just walking down my block with it advertising it one of the best days eva

metal gear solid
tekken 2 or 3(whichever on debuted eddy gordo)
vigilante 8
crash bandicoot 1&2
ridge racer

were the first games me and the bro had good times!

[HarvesterOSarow]

I road my bicycle along the back roads picking up pop cans for three days to get my Playstation. After probably 8 hours of work I had mad 101 dollars.

Thanks for littering along I-96 people of Michigan, I appreciate it!

[FinaLXiii]

Golden indeed Square Enix THEN CORRECT THINGS!!

[Xperia_ion]

I'll never forget my first PSone game Jet Moto 2, Sony bring that IP back man.

[wishingW3L]

my first PS1 game was Parasite Eve. XD

[Septic]

Mine was Tomb Raider.

[problemchild84]

Twisted Metal 2 for me, along with Destruction Derby 1

[Griffin4871]

Problem is that after FFX, the games started getting super serious (to the point where it's annoying), and the characters have lesser development, which was worse in FFXII. I literally knew nothing about the characters except they wanted to overthrow a tyrant.

What happened to comic relief? Cait Sith's randomness. Zell getting on Squall's nerves. Zidane and Steiner bickering. All the funny was raped and we're left with drama movies, because all 13 seems to be.

[wishingW3L]

I liked FFXII though, just not as much as the other ones from the PS1.

[Snookies12]

XII had a good system and was fun... However the story was just so convoluted and boring to me. I honestly have played through the game THREE times and STILL don't know what the hell is happening. Pretty bad considering I have all of the Kingdom Hearts plot down despite its convoluted-ness that a lot complain about lol!

[ScubbaSteve]

The main problem was that Vaan was presented as your main character and ends up having nothing to do with the plot of the game. I've heard various stories about how he was never even intended to be the main character but his presence in the game diluted the story because you instinctively try to imagine it from his point of view.

Ashe or Basche would have been the wiser choice for main character and I still imagine Ashe as Lightning's prototype they're pretty similar.

[C0MPUT3R]

We had such a perfect thing going with the PSX & PS2. Then some company decided to take a dump in the punch bowl.

[beerkeg]

We had a golden age with the n64 as well. Golden Eye, Ocarina of Time, Mario 64, Banjo Kazooie. All great games, and there were loads more. It was a great time for gaming all round really.

[Snookies12]

MISSED PERFECT DARK! D:

Lol, I spent hundreds of hours on multiplayer to get to Rank 1 on that game. Ahhh... Good times...

[Unlimax]

You always used to be a Golden gift for gamers playstation ~

I swear.. if square make a 3rd Sequel for Parasite Eve series ( Not The 3rd Birthday ) . . . I ... I .. "Speechless" .

[GrahamGolden]

if they do a new one EXPECT a horror cove shooter....sad but true

[Unlimax]

What if the opposite happens .. Do you think they will copying Capcom footsteps ~

[unworthyBOZO]

God how I miss old school Final Fantasy speaking of which they should remake chrono trigger for PSN and XBL they have done it for the majority of the FF on portables, A CT remake with enhanced graphics and trophy's, would be awesome.

[DEATHxTHExKIDx]

Personally its VI-IX for me as I can't stand Tidus. XII just no. XIII I'm fine with but it defintly isn't up to par with PSone era final fantasys. Hopefully XV and onwards square can get it together.

[dragonrage00]

funny how everyone bitches about how stupid the characters were in xiii (and they are right), yet they were ok with tidus.

[guitar_nerd_23]

PlayStation 1 era, is generally still where all my true favorites are.

Final Fantasies
Oddworld
Metal Gear Solid
Tomb Raider
Breath of Fire
Xenogears
Tekken (hasn't really evolved significantly since)
Soul Blade (same as tekken in evolution)
Time Crisis

etc

Ahhh nostalgia.... and all those games still hold up pretty well today for me.

The experiences you can create with 33 MHz of RISC clock cycle and 2 megabytes of ram... ridiculous.

[belac09]

xenogears! FTW!

[PersonMan]

Years from now, people will be saying right now was the golden age.

[matgrowcott]

"Not like today. They're just pushing graphics today. I remember spending weeks during the summer holidays just walking from one side of the wasteland to the other in Fallout 3. Me and my brother knew Resident Evil 5 like the back of our hands, we worked every evening after school to get that platinum trophy. And who remembers that airport level in MW2? Oh boy, I spent some hours there."

Yup, being a child at a certain time definitely helps you paint over the cracks, folks. For every gem there was some robot battler that glitched every time you hit the start button (and in my experience it was usually on the Saturn...)

[xXtremeHDGamerXx]

I loved the PlayStation era it gave me great games like

Metal Gear Solid
Syphon Filter
Syphon Filter 2
Syphon Filter 3
Test Drive 5
Tesr Drive 6
Driver 1
Driver 2
Gundam battle assault
Gundam battle assault 2
WWF Smackdown! games
WCW games

and many more.

I still love PlayStation to this day. Long Live Play! ;D

[PersonMan]

I loved the PlayStation 3 era. It gave me great games like.

Uncharted 2
Uncharted 3
Infamous 2
Grand Theft Auto 4
Red Dead Redemption
Max Payne 3
Killzone 3
Skate 1
Skate 2
Skate 3
Just Cause 2
Prototype 2
Portal 1
Portal 2
Rayman Origins

[Neo-Axl]

This is the Sound, & The Heart of Gaming for me.
http://www.youtube.com/watc...

[Freakazoid2012]

LMAO.. PS fanboys... Trying so hard to credit Sony for every little thing in gaming.

FF7 might be Squares Golden Age but most experts consider the release of Space invaders to be the start of the Golden Age of gaming.

What exactly did Sony do other than let any company putbout any kind of game on their console? Nothing. For every great game like FF7 I can name 10 that are complete crap. Most of Sony's fanboys hate the Wii for that very reason but then want to excuse Sony for it because of blind nostalgia.

[Neo-Axl]

"LMAO.. PS fanboys... Trying so hard to credit Sony for every little thing in gaming."

Nope. Just the important parts ;)

[matgrowcott]

People remember only the games they played and in the order they played them. It's not anybody's fault that the majority of the people commenting here today will have mainly been enticed into asking for games that made it to magazine covers, friends and major reviews, but when they only played the best games on any given system (and with the advantage of being young enough not to care about little problems in the mid-tier games) it kind of skews the average somewhat.

EDIT: With that said, the PS consoles have and continue to change the face of gaming for the better.

[tordavis]

I disagree wholeheartedly. Golden Age = Atari/Colecovision era. Sega Genesis/SNES had better games than the PS1/PS2 era. Dreamcast changed the face of gaming. First console with online = changing the face of gaming. Plus, just about every game on the Dreamcast was quality. You can't say that about PS1/PS2.

[colonel179]

They were part of the Golden Age. Too sad they decided to destroy it this generation with their completely lack of support for Playstation.

[Jirachi]

I disagree Final Fantasy IV-VI should be on the golden era and FF7 should be off. FF 8-12 can be part of the "silver era" FFXIII/XIV can be the "Wtf were we thinking?" Era

[goldwyncq]

Another FFVII hater?

[Griffin4871]

You are one biased piece of shit.

[Jirachi]

Says the Final Fantasy VII fanboy.
It's ok for you to show you're bias but not me? Everybody has bias toward agaist something the difference between you and me is I'm not calling the first ff game i played the "best" purely because it was my first.

[Griffin4871]

FF7 fanboy? Make that FF fanboy period. It ain't just FF7 I like, kid.

[Jirachi]

I'm 28,last time i checked that isn't a kid by any stretch. But regardless how you feel if somebody called you bias for liking final fantasy more then another game?

[HarvesterOSarow]

@ Jirachi, Lower you say, "I'm not calling the first ff game i played the "best" purely because it was my first."

But your original comment says that it should be left off the list completely? If that doesn't show that you truly love FF VII a lot, yet don't want to be considered part of a crowd, I don't know what would. You were probably in love with that game for years (much like everyone), then when the internet started amassing this knowledge of fandom towards it, you had to shift your preference to a different title. So now you have to completely leave it off the list entirely. Grow up man, it's okay to like things other people like.

[tordavis]

BS! Final Fantasy VII, while a good game, was not as good as Lunar Silver Star or Eternal Blue. Everyone is entitled to their opinion. Most gamers who grew up during PS1 era and played FFVII say it was the best RPG they ever played. Too bad most of these kids never played the earlier FF games or other Non-Square RPG's.

[HarvesterOSarow]

The only statement about FFVII that should be realized as fact is that it single handedly shot the franchise above and beyond popularity. Regardless if you love it or hate it, it changed up the formula enough to warrant the biggest leap a final fantasy has made since FFIV.

[NotSoSilentBob]

Well at least Enix is willing to admit they messed up. It is a single step into repairing their image.

[abzdine]

well for me it's more Square Enix golden age cause they will never go back to that level of quality. Sony is still alive and kicking, all opposite of SE.

[smashcrashbash]

The Golden Age of gaming was when Sony, Nintendo and Sega were in the market together. That was the Golden Age of gaming.

@ Freakazoid2012 You are an idiot. Sony's systems contributed just as much as any other system did during their run. Most importantly they brought 150 million gamers to the gaming community, hosted and made some of the best games in history, showed the world that gaming wasn't only for kids once and for all, gave many developers the space to they needed to make games like GTA and gave us the double joystick the cornerstone of the way we play three dimensional games and FPSs today.

Not only that, they were the first few people who made their systems into multmedia devices instead of just simply a gaming machines a process many companies including Nintendo and Microsoft are doing now. Sony didn't do everything but you are nothing but a troll if you think they did nothing to further gaming.

[Shadonic]

I agree if they could go back to that style then they would be back on there track to greatness.