Current Generation Memories

[Maxx]

So with this generation of consoles is finally coming to an end, I figured we should discuss some of our favorite memories of the current generation.

This was a special generation, as I'm pretty sure for most of us, it was the first opportunity for us to play with other EWBers on a large scale. Sure, the original Xbox had Live and Halo 2, but this generation offered so much more. Throughout the lifespan, I've transitioned from playing with IRL friends to playing almost exclusively with EWBers. So what were your favorite games, moments and memories?

For me, my favorite game of the generation was Left 4 Dead, I had so much fun with the utter chaos those games brought with them. Ruki, Rocksta and myself comprising The Undefeatables, never losing a game of Vs. I remember when Ellis, Ruki and maybe Toe all got killed by a fallen tree that a tank smacked into us. I remember Toe attacking witches with reckless abandon. The impenetrable fridge. The Angry Up the Scot achievement. I've still got stuff in my warning log from that particular night.

[EWB's Best Poster.]

I think my favourite memory was switching to HD while playing a game. The shift in resolution... It was magic.

Also the joy of simpler games. Little big planet, journey, every day shooter. Something about knowing I could have the hardcore of xbox and the purity of nintendo in one system hooked me.

[Schlitzbrille]

One of my very first memories of this generation of consoles came with GTA 4. Literally just got the game along with my 360, doing the first mission, and as I was rounding the corner past Roman's taxi depot, some poor schmuck crosses the road and ends up being ran over.

Ridiculously simple memory, yes, but still one I look back on with reasonable amusement.

Also, playing Bad Company and the mission where you spend most of the level going solo. Favorite part of the game for me.

[Plubby]

Being the first time I jumped in on consoles and thus was exposed to gaming on a screen larger than 20 inches, the snowmobile escape scene from MW2 was one of my best memories. In fact I remember which I had a "quick go before dinner" after purchasing MW2 and then it was 9:30 before I knew it.

Other fun memories include Hotel California on Guitar Hero, the experience that was Heavy Rain, and learning football through NCAA games.

[King Ellis]

L4D memories: Making the haloheadfire name literal.

[Sousa]

The part in the Water Temple where you walk into the room with the pool and then you walk over an island in the middle and your reflection disappears and WHOA GUYS IT'S SHADOW LINK.

Wait what generation is this again?

[TKz]

First time playing through Uncharted was pretty awesome, great introduction to what this gen was going to be capable of. Then there was Metal Gear Solid 4, which was glorious in HD. First real experience of a previous franchise entering this generation and it nailed it.

Then I'd probably also mention when I got pretty addicted to Modern Warfare 2. First time really playing a multiplayer FPS online without horrible lag, such an awesome experience. It's a shame it's all gotten diluted by the sixty duplicates of the game they've released.

After that... probably Ni no Kuni? First JRPG I've played since FFX that really captured me in any way. That's like... 10 years.

[VerbalPuke]

Elder Scrolls Oblivion provided me with a lot of fun about a month after I got my X-Box 360, this is late 06. I just remember thinking "Holy shit, this is amazing" when I first broke out of the prison and saw the outside world the first time. The game blew my mind with how big and pretty it all was. I want to say my first quest was reuniting Gilbert and Reynald Jumaine in Chorrol and Cheydinhall, it was so much fun, especially then when I had time and money living with my folks. I could say the same for Fallout 3 as well, I was laid off for a week when my wife and I had first got our condo and I spent that week playing the hell out of Fallout 3 while she was gone. I had a ton of fun with those two games, probably as much as I'd ever had with any single player game.

The thing for me is, I'll probably be living off of PS3 memories for a few years as I don't see myself getting a next generation console for a few years. My interest in games is waning and the time to play them is less with having kids. I'll probably get a PS4 eventually, but I figure the PS3 is still good enough to keep me busy for quite some time.

[Baddar]

The graphics on Uncharted (which I bought blindly when I saw it in Asda one afternoon) stunned me, and that was before I had even upgraded to a HD tv. Everything looked so vibrant.

[Benji]

Properly playing online for the first time. Not a struggle like I had with PC games because of connection speeds or computer speeds, but just literally jumping into RDR with Baddar and having a fantastic time for months on end. I distinctly remember first loading into the landscape and riding towards one another for the first time near a bridge.

[Baddar]

I didn't enjoy playing any game with anyone else more. That was so much fun.

[Colly]

Few of mine:

The classic moment where I went round to my brothers very early on in PS3s life cycle to find he still hadn't bought an HDMI lead. Idiot. He'd probably still be playing in standard def now.

One amazing 3 way game of Goldeneye on the Wii, where with seconds remaining and down by a point I threw some kind of bomb/grenade thing wildly into nowhere in particular, only for it to land directly between my two mates strafing round each other and giving me the win as the timer hit zero.

Otherwise its just being well behind on everything and not really minding. I will finish Assassins Creed 1 one day!

Also, never playing Baddar at Pro Evo. Don't feel bad, I never get to play anything these days.

[Baddar]

We tried arranging it.

We'll do something on PS4 one day!

[Summers]

Entire online run of COD: World At War. The other CODs I've played less so. But that one more so.

Gears 3 battling that fucking Beserker.

Winning Division 1 of Pro Clubs.

The Mass Effect trilogy. Best overall gaming experience and adventure I've had.

[Colly]

We tried arranging it.

We'll do something on PS4 one day!

When I buy one in two years time...

My London job should finish in January so might be a bit more available after that, not bought the new one though. Been playing it with my brother occasionally mind, its not half as bad as I'd heard, rain or no rain.

[Baddar]

I haven't got 2014 either, just an updated 2013 file.

[Skummy]

I've barely ever played online, it doesn't interest me in the slightest. So that doesn't shape my memories of this "generation" one bit.

For me...it's a lot to do with the Wii, I suppose. The Wii helped me rediscover, and to define, my love of Nintendo, and to make me realise exactly what it was I loved about video games and why. It made me realise that, first and foremost, they're supposed to be fun. So I guess in many ways, for me, this generation was one of retrospection rather than any great forward leaps.

Aside from that, there are some games that I saw as potentially massive steps forward, particularly the last Tomb Raider game, and games that I feel will be unduly forgotten in time, such as Last Story, which I feel should be recognised as one of the Top Ten, if not Top Five, Japanese RPGs of all time.

[9 to 5]

Gears 3 battling that fucking Beserker.

Oh man, that took us forever. Felt soooo good once we had finished that part.

[Gazz]

Going 0-20 online on UFC undisputed.

Then losing a knock down, drag out fistfight against Srar on GTA.

[METALMAN]

The only games I really like are open world games where you can wander around and do nothing IN HISTORY.. And as far as I'm aware they didn't exist before this generation. I had a PS2, but I only really used that for sports games.

I was actually quite late in getting a current generation console. I got a PS3 in 2011. Before that there was a five year period where I barely played games at all, so I've got to credit the PS3 with getting me back into it a little bit.

Anyway, I liked the nice big open worlds that some games provided. I like games with a bit of freedom that aren't strictly linear. And historical if possible. I was most impressed with the concept of the Assassin's Creed games. I enjoyed Brotherhood the. It's but liked a few others and the new one looks like it will be good too. Red Dead Redemption did a similar job, as did GTAs IV and V.

Those were the main ones. In this period I really lost interest in sports games, with the exception of World Cup 2010. That was a really well done game, with a great sense of occasion. I held onto that one.

I also liked Rock Band. I only ever had the guitars, but it was fun (and still is) whenever I have a couple of friends over.

Those are pretty much all the games I played and enjoyed. It's a small number, but they were each good enough to make the PS3 thoroughly worthwhile for me. I know this is a generation that will be defined by the plethora of first person shooter games, but I found those enormously dull. I never bought one.

So yeah, that's all of them apart from my favourite game, and my defining one of this generation: LA Noire.

I know a lot of people were disappointed this, and I can understand why, but I also think if people had a bit of patience and approached it without expecting GTA: 1947 they would have found it incredibly rewarding. It's far more immersive than any game I've ever played and it was fantastic to play an open world adventure game that didn't revolve around shooting and killing.