It was recently my birthday, and as I teeter ever more precariously on the precipice of being 40, a conflux of events (i.e. being trapped in my house largely alone by both the pandemic and local weather) allowed me to have another musing that I decided to turn into full article form. In the last month or so I went through a marathon of 7^th console generation (X360/PS3) titles, some of which were replays of old favorites, others ones that I never got to back in the day. At the end, I realized that this generation is now removed and distinct enough to have its own retro feel/style, and indeed nostalgia. Agreed upon to have lasted roughly 11 years, from 2005-2016, it’s since been almost as much time removed from the 7^th Gen. In light of that, I feel the games of its time can be looked back upon from the shores of the present and retrospectively assessed. 

I’ll readily admit the SNES period (4^th generation as defined/agreed) was seminal for my sensibilities. Coinciding with my adolescent/teen years, by nature nothing can take away the profound influence of that era on myself. It was a time of legends, when Chrono Trigger, Link to the Past, Illusion of Gaia, Super Metroid, Mario World, and all those glorious monsters roamed the earthly realm of consoles, building monuments and constructing wonders in my pop culture mind. Their impressions are indelibly etched upon my formative gaming psyche and are firmly locked in place.

By the time of the 7^th Gen though, both the medium and I had a more robust history and were (relatively) more mature. 30 years on from its infancy and rise, the industry and discussion around games were evolving. It was possible at that point to start learning to appreciate and analyze games in a deeper, more critically thoughtful manner. Though they still assuredly employed a bevy of tropes/issues for good and ill, creativity overall was flourishing. Gaming was comfortably coming into its own and a new paradigm was forming, shifting organically as it advanced.  

Another factor to consider when viewed/played through the modern lens, is that on the technical side, the generation was in full swing. Developers, programmers, art designers, and all others who had a hand in those sections were familiar enough with the hardware’s workings to be able to fully take advantage of its capabilities. World/map/level size was comfortably manageable; functionally spacious but in most cases nowhere near approaching the later bloated overwrought design philosophy. Likewise, textures and backgrounds, the ephemera and guts of the game worlds, were more refined than ever, though not exactly photorealistic. They were undoubtedly “graphics” but no longer distracting/immersion-breaking in the way the previous pixels and polygons could be. Character models/animations/cut scenes were increasingly realistic and on the charmingly better side of uncanny valley, though still clearly fake and residually chunky/blocky in cases. Finally, running times for single-player experiences generally clocked in at a sweet spot of 10-15 hours (with increasingly more containing a multiplayer/online focus as those components rose to prominence.) Long enough to be substantial/satisfying but without demanding too intense or excessive a commitment from players.

On the other side of production, writing and story arcs pushed innovative and fulfilling narratives, elevating characters out of simplified one-dimensional territory. While a majority leaned somewhat ‘cinematic,’ they were not necessarily attempting a 1:1 ratio to television and movies. Rather, they utilized elements that best served the plot and strove to fuse with familiar/established game mechanics. Voice acting was becoming more professional and fluid while still retaining a (sometimes purposeful) stiltedness. It was grounded and believable enough to sell the action/emotion despite sometimes ending up just a little too much or not enough to achieve that little extra. That description itself is ungainly, but it is the best way I can put into words. The overall feel is difficult to describe academically, but like pornography, you know it when you see it and when it works, or doesn’t.

All that to say that development processes, technology, and imagination combined seamlessly in the best examples of 7^th Gen works. When everything was humming in tune and firing on all cylinders, the effect was like nothing else that could be attained in other media, creating that ‘future is now!’ mood. If I could point to a specific title, Alan Wake would be my clutch case. It melds the live action segments, acting and writing with the best of the mechanical/technical/performance methods of the era into a perfectly paced plot and riveting gameplay.

This balanced combination served to influence and spearhead an ushering in of a new direction/vision in games. Keeping in mind too the indie scene was still very fresh. While beginning to burgeon, it wouldn’t be for another generation and a half or so that the scene would start to fully bloom and eventually explode. There were certainly a handful of releases throughout which we’ll see reflected below, but at least at the time, it was the higher profile gourmet items that were yet at the forefront.

Thus we arrive at the zenith, what I say is the sickest stretch, culminating in 2010-2011. These two years saw a slew of top notch releases that were critically/commercially acclaimed, and are to this day well-remembered, often appearing on ‘best of’ lists and perennially in remaster discussions/requests (some of which have gotten the treatment.) The titles released in this short spell contain the essence of the 7^th Gen, creating that specific nostalgic sense I mentioned above. Even if you may disagree with or dislike any of them, I submit that the gauntlet is so stacked that there’s bound to be some in there that one would be hard-pressed to admit aren’t due their credence. Let’s go through some highlights shall we, and tell me it’s not an incredible assortment.

2010: Mass Effect 2, Red Dead Redemption, Alan Wake (RDR and AW the same fucking day!) Fallout: New Vegas, CoD: Black Ops, Halo: Reach, Just Cause 2, Crackdown 2, Starcraft 2, God of War 3, Fable 3, Rock Band 3, Just Dance 2, Limbo, AC: Brotherhood, Super Meat Boy, Civilization 5, Bayonetta, Dante’s Inferno, Darksiders, Singularity, Dark Void, Rayman 2, Bioshock 2, Deadly Premonition, Heavy Rain, Metro 2033, Amnesia: The Dark Descent, Dead Rising 2, Scott Pilgrim vs. The Word, and Mafia II (both recently remastered.)

2011: Dark Souls, Skyrim, Batman: Arkham City, Minecraft (full release post-alpha,) Infamous 2, Deus Ex: Human Revolution, L.A. Noire, Portal 2, Witcher 2, Dragon Age 2, Dead Space 2, CoD: Modern Warfare 3, Killzone 3, Gears of War 3, Uncharted 3, Resistance 3, FEAR 3, Battlefield 3, Saint’s Row 3, Yakuza 4, AC: Revelations, Catherine, Alice: Madness Returns, Bastion, Dead Island, Shadows of the Damned, Duke Nukem Forever (I know, I know! but historically, it was this year) Terraria, Binding of Isaac, Driver: San Francisco.

While an argument could be had on the merits and details of each, that ’10 or ’11 don’t quite boast the oeuvre of its preceding/antecedent one, it’s a moot conversation in my opinion. This my friends is a goddamn epic horse race with some all-time big guns in both. No matter which in your opinion ‘wins,’ everybody gets paid out on the strength of the entire run. 

For reference and somewhat in the spirit of fairness, below is a briefer compilation of a few other high caliber titles from the 7^th Gen outside that two year stint:

Halo 3 2007
Bioshock 2007
GTA 4 2008
Uncharted 2: Among Thieves 2009 (i.e. the best one)
Fallout 3 2008
Batman: Arkham Asylum 2009
Dragon Age: Origins 2009
Borderlands 2009
AC II 2009
Dishonored 2012
Far Cry 3 2012
Last of Us 2013 (at the tail end leading into the next/8^th generation)

All great stuff, and accuse me of cherry picking as you will, but I maintain none of those years individually contain the breadth and wealth of 2010-11. Do the research and reply! And either way, my intent was to underscore/emphasize a larger argument: That this illustrious period set an immediately recognizable template for what came after, and that in some permutation persists to this day. Identifiable echoes of the era reverberate across the following generations and easily into the most recent turn.  

Having the luxury of looking back and being able to play a slice of these titles formulated and cemented my stance on that. If I were a betting man, which I am, I would advise you to also look out for an upcoming wave of remasters and/or indies that will attempt to capture the aesthetics and modes of the 7^th Gen. And that is not a bad thing by any means, as long as we qualify that with the ever-pertinent and infinitely applicable ‘when done right/respectfully.’

I hope you enjoyed traveling down this short memory lane and semi-prediction regarding the 7^th Gen with me. As always, do ship any comments etc. should you be moved to do so, and I’ll see you in the upcoming days of retro future past.

-Scott Thurlow