This is an interesting topic I brought up with NerdyGamer and mwalker96 in my podcast, so I decided to share it here as a thread.

Which year would you say was the first modern year of gaming? 1991 or 1996? Or, do you think it was before, or after, or in between.

I myself would slightly go with 1991. Saving became a standard feature with the SNES and Super Mario World, and video games, in general, started to become way more in-depth and less like take-home arcades in that year. However, I can definitely see the case for 1996 being the first modern year as well since 3D gaming became standard that year, as well as analog sticks, with the N64 and Saturn's Nights into Dreams.

So what year has your vote?

1996, 3D games became more common by then including Mario also having it's first 3D game that year. Playstation also became big that year too.

I'd say that 2000 or 2001 was the first real year for modern gaming. While the 5th generation did introduce 3D gaming, it wasn't until the 6th generation when consoles began to have DVD players and better online capabilities. Also by then many developers had a MUCH better understanding of how gaming in the 3rd dimension should be. Specifically with games like Mario Sunshine, Wind Waker, Halo, Kingdom Hearts ect.

Neither. I'd start the modern era with the launch of PS2 in 2000 and or the rest of the 6th generation consoles in 2001. 1996 may have had 3-D gaming, but its quite antiquated to today's standards of game design and the graphics have aged terribly. Many GameCube, Xbox, & Dreamcast games, required having the right cables (like RBG cables) still look amazing today. PS2 games.... eh... not too much. Online gaming also became a lot more viable to use during the 6th generation with the launch of Xbox Live, and to a lesser extent Dreamcast's Dial Up Modem back in 99' & PS2's own Broadband adapter in 03'.

2001 is a contender for the first modern year (PS2 didn't come out till October 2000), 1997 is also a good contender as that is the first full year when gaming was in 3d and the 5th generation had taken full affect. I disagree with 1991 though, I do agree there some changes such as 16 bit gaming taking over and first person shooters first starting to pop up but, not enough to consider the "the first modern year for gaming". In my opinion, I think 2002 was the first full modern year for gaming meanwhile, 2001 was transitional.

2006 because that's when you had the 7th gen with HD graphics and online gaming becoming a huge selling point, as well as DLC and micro transactions.

Depending on how you define modern, Most people would look at the 5th generation as the generation that aged the worst due to 3D polygons being new, but as also the most transformative generation in gaming history because of gaming going from 2D to 3D.  We haven't had a big leap in gaming like that since the mid-90s, the closest thing I can see competing with that big of a leap is VR. I'll say 1995 as the first modern year of the 5th gen consoles had already come out by that point.

2007 was really the beginning of the modern era of gaming. 1996-2006 was gaming's middle ages, when 3D graphics were standard and story began playing a fair part in a title's appeal, but before online modes completely the industry and also before the ultra-dudebro zeitgeist swallowed up the industry totally.

2007 was really the beginning of the modern era of gaming. 1996-2006 was gaming's middle ages, when 3D graphics were standard and story began playing a fair part in a title's appeal, but before online modes completely the industry and also before the ultra-dudebro zeitgeist swallowed up the industry totally.


I'm with you #Infinity. 2007 makes complete sense which was one of the biggest years in the history of gaming ever especially when it came to 7th generation and online gaming. It seems like where gaming is even today in 8th generation we've been established in since the 360/PS3/Wii era.

Modern gaming as a mainstream business/entertainment medium started in 1986 when the Nintendo Entertainment System and Sega Master System were both released world wide. This is when gaming turned from being a fad to a serious hobby and entertainment medium along with literature, visual arts, and motion pictures.

Modern gaming in terms of technical capabilities started in 2006. The Xbox 360 and PS3 introduced HD gaming (to consoles at least) while the Nintendo Wii and DS introduced motion control and touch screen gaming. Online gaming became mainstream amongst console gamers.


I disagree though with the third generation and even the fourth, where video games were still seen "as toys" rather than an art. Yes, it started to really become profitable as a business, but gaming used cartridges and not optical discs like you saw beginning with Sega CD. That said, I'd still place it at the start of the 6th generation around the turn of the millennium, when in addition to console gaming, online gaming like MMORPGs started to become important. Rechargable batteries are also a feature of modern portable systems lack. But by an large, 1996 is a better answer for the purposes of this thread, and if this thread was started in 2008, would have been a definitive answer, but from the lens of a decade out, the fifth generation is seen much more nowadays as "classic", similar to how classic rock music moves forward in time in terms of its inclusiveness.

Neither. Modern gaming began when online games became the norm sometime in the mid-late 2000s.

1996, 3D games became more common by then including Mario also having it's first 3D game that year. Playstation also became big that year too.


I agree, 1996 felt more modern.

I agree, 1996 felt more modern.


Jessica if you and I knew each other in real life I would have loved to do N64 or PS1 tournaments with you! 

Jessica if you and I knew each other in real life I would have loved to do N64 or PS1 tournaments with you!


Oh N64!...definitely!  :) :)