Ages of Video Games

After making my post on The Golden, Silver and Bronze Ages of Anime I started thinking about the same thing in regards to Video Games.  But my thoughts here aren't as deep though.

Video Games are an even younger medium then Anime and so frankly I think we're still in the Bronze Age.  Gaming still hasn't even reached a true Modern Age.

I'm going to go ahead and say the Golden Age began with the release of Pac-Man.  The Action Button YouTube Channel has a good video on Pac-Man breaking it down and documenting it's importance in Gaming History.  All I can add is that I'm a lifelong Nintendo Brand Loyalist and so me being willing to give the honor of being the Action Comics No.1 of Video Games to something that isn't a Nintendo First Party should really prove how strong the argument for it is.  But don't worry Donkey Kong can still be the Detective Comics No.27.

I'm next going to say that the Silver Age began in 1996.  For those of us who are card carrying Evangelists of The Church of Nintendo the importance of that year as ushering in a new era of Gaming is established first by Pokémon Red and Green then by Super Mario RPG and finally by the launch of the Nintendo 64 including Super Mario 64.  Meanwhile Kirby Superstar and Donkey Kong Country 3 were good swan songs for the side scrolling Golden Age.

But I'm also an Otaku, and in the world of Bishoujo Games 1996 saw in January the first Visual Novel Shizuku, then later the second Visual Novel Kizuato and the dating sim Welcome to Pia Carrot were released the same day.  It also had another important dating sim in Kakyuusei. Sakura Wars also left a big impact.  And then at the end of the year on the Feast of Stephen Elf dropped YU-NO A Girl who Chants Love at The Bound of This World a game who's impact on the culture can't be understated and the west's ignorance of it explains a lot of what we get wrong.

96 also had the first Persona Game.

For PlayStation fans however 1997 is the year that console finally made a name for itself with Symphony of Night, Mega Man X4, Final Fantasy VII, Final Fantasy Tactics and SaGa Frontier all coming out in one year.

For Bishoujo games it was an ultimately less important year then 96 but does put a few developments on what 96 started with To Heart completing the original Visual Novel trilogy, then Dosei being the first non Leaf Visual Novel and Moon being the first game from the team that would go on to create Key, and the launch of the Age studio.

Finally the current/Bronze Age of Video Games started with the Wii-U,/PlayStation 4/Xbox ONE generation.