Do you remember the "Golden Age" of PC Gaming?

UnleadedRev

1999 - 2005....

Back then MMORPGs were something new, unlike now where each MMO is just a clone of a clone using the same old tired game design framework.
Even though back then MMORPGs like EQ and Vanilla WoW pale in comparison technically and visually to their modern counterparts; back then they were still considered epic. because it was a total novelty to be able to play "anything" with so many "Human Players".

Each of us would wait in sheer pain counting the days off until "Official Release", and hound the heck out of the store employee's with the same question of "Did you receive it yet?"
Then as each player ether received or did not receive their game, would then return to the forums with either "I GOT MY COPY!", "Gamestop Fail", "Best Buy says not till next week WTF?", "Walmart has them!", etc etc experiences.

Although it was sometimes one extreme or the other, i.e. happy you got the game or sad you did not, it sure was EXCITING!
Also, it was hysterical and fun as heck!
The forums would give reviews of stores and tell about either "pimply" faced "stoners" not giving a hoot, to really cool store employee's letting them get their game copy a day early.
Those are all just some examples.

Unfortunately these days, we now have had and still have the "endless" Kickstarters, Founder Programs, Early Access, Pre-Alpha Access, Alpha Access, Beta Access, etc etc etc, where we all pay extra money to play unfinished, unpolished games, and then talk about how poor they are and/or how the game is nothing like what was marketed to us in order to get our money.

Regardless, of how good or bad the final release of the game is, most players end up having lost their enthusiasm, get burnt out, or just lose interest.
Even those players with good experiences, will still pale in comparison to the "total rush and excitement" of the now extinct "Official Release Day" and getting your hands on a finished product, regardless of whether it be digital or a physical copy.

I truly feel bad for the younger PC Gamers who never got to experience excitement and fun of anticipating and participating in a good old REAL OFFICIAL RELEASE DAY.
And not the forever ongoing "give us your money to test this POS" for us and we ignore your feedback anyway.

Although to a degree it is really cool to participate in the testing of games in development via any of the previous mentioned access programs, especially if the game is in your favorite game universe etc.....still, IMHO I would rather have it back the way it was.

Rusque

This has less to do with the games themselves are more about distribution and marketing. The internet and digital distribution are largely responsible for the shift you're discussing, and all the versions of early access are basically just drip marketing so build and maintain hype for as long as possible. The old model of "work hard and hope you made a game people liked, then wait for reviews" is great for players/consumers, but it was a losing scenario for studios. The new model of "hype it, get paid, release something that isn't quite what was hyped" works in favor of the companies much more.

SEANMCAD

to me the 'golden era' is now because of games like Kerbal Space Program, 7 days to die and many many others 

CrazKanuk

Lol, yeah, I remember the good ole midnight releases. We used to call them recruitment events, lol. Our guild had a bunch of locals, friends from work, etc., so any sort of expansion or release was an opportunity to mingle with people, maybe have them come play a character on your server, etc. Now the game is downloaded in the amount of time it would take me to drive home from the store. 

As far as mechanics go. It's easy to argue that all MMOs are the same, the same way any game is the same. Every FPS is a COD clone. Every Platformer is a Mario clone. Every RTS is a Starcraft clone. So on and so forth. People tend to focus on the game at a high level in comparison to other games, but then when you ask what they want in a game, they become VERY detailed, very low-level. The reality is that many MMOs are similar, but few are actually copy/pasta. I think people get turned off by MMOs that seem familiar and overlook features and characteristics that make them unique. 

Oh, and as far as EA goes, I tend to agree. I have no problems with companies doing it, but I think it does dull your overall experience. That's why I don't, generally, play alphas or betas anymore. I'll wait, thanks. However, I will still back crowdfunding and EA programs.

SEANMCAD

Robokapp said:

Sierra and Westwood...never forget.

HA!

Sierra < Squad or The Fun Pimps by huge margin

Kopogero

Yes, many things do look "Golden" when compared with garbage. After enjoying gaming more than most around here the fact nothing new has been interesting enough to open my wallet since January 11th, 2011 says a lot. More importantly before DC Universe Online Aion was the last new game I bought which was around 2007. Maeby something in between I just can't remember.

World of Warcraft and EVE with Guild Wars 1 carried the MMO genre from 2004 to 2010. After 2011 all we've seen is cash grabs.

CrazKanuk

SEANMCAD said:

Robokapp said:

Sierra and Westwood...never forget.

HA!

Sierra < Squad or The Fun Pimps by huge margin

Is this even for real? Two companies who have essentially released one game each? Not to mention one of them just got torn a new asshole for a horrible console port? I'm assuming sarcasm. Either that or you're too young to remember 5 1/4 floppy disks. 

flizzer

I consider the present the golden age of PC gaming.  We have lots of great games to play right now.  

Loke666

I would say the golden years was 95-99 instead, your era was when games started to get easier and more similar to eachhothers.

96: Civilization II, Quake, The Elder Scrolls II: Daggerfall, Meridian 59, Tomb Raider, Diablo
97: Dungeon Keeper, Star Wars: X-Wing vs. TIE Fighter, Ultima Online, Fallout, Total Annihilation, Age of Empires, Wing Commander: Prophecy, Quake 2
98: StarCraft, Warhammer: Dark Omen, Commandos: Behind Enemy Lines, Gran Turismo, Unreal,  Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six, Fallout 2, Grim Fandango, Half-Life,  Baldur's Gate
And those are just some of them (with focus on what I enjoyed myself).

00-05 are rather the fall of PC gaming where games were made for the people that just a few years back thought all gamers as hopeless nerds instead of "golden years" for gamers.

I agree on 99 though, so I didn't bother listing the games from it. But 00-05 had nowhere near as good games and far more sequals then original ideas. 

UnleadedRev

Ahhhh Westwood Studios "Command and Conquer Generals"!

rawfox

Computers are cool nowadays eh guys ?^^
When i was young ...

Yeah i remember the excitement as all this high tech was absolutely new.

When im old, we have nano transistors the size of a molecule.
In the next 10-20 years all our electronic hardware becomes a million times faster.
VR will matter mutch more then today and we are already on the way to become some kind of hybrid-beings, living here - and there.

Maybe we can make it off planet for real, to populate the universe, before we destroy ourselfs over and over again.

laserit

Guess it all depends when you were born.

For me its the 1970's and the 1980's when you had to put two bits into a machine down at the arcade.

Asteroids, Missile Command, Wizard of War, Galaxia, Space Invaders, Donkey Kong, Gauntlet and many many more.

Gaming was a very social thing back then, you went out and gamed. All those arcades are long gone but then again they're kind of making a comeback in a modern way with these gaming lounges.

edit: speaking about an age thing, I guess I missed the "PC" part of the topic

Kyleran

Title is misleading, while I would put the golden age of MMORPG's in this time frame, for me the golden age of PC gaming was 1988 to 1993 in the first era of RPG's such as Wizardry, Might and Magic, SSI D&D Gold box Editions and new strategy titles such as Dune 2. 

Then there was a bit of a lull around 1994 (especially in RPG's) until Diablo launched on Dec 31st, 1996 and sort of revitalized the genre and gave rise to all the great Black Isle Studio titles such as Developed. Fallout 2 (1998) Planescape: Torment (1999) Icewind Dale (2000) Icewind Dale: Heart of Winter (2001) Icewind Dale: Heart of Winter - Trials of the Luremaster (2001) Icewind Dale II (2002).  Can't forget Half-Life/Half Life 2 in this era and many more I've failed to mention.

While Arena launched in 1994 (bring the 1st golden era to an end IMO), and Daggerfall in 1996, (Battleguard/Redspire etc) Bethesda didn't really hit their stride until 2002's Morrowind, which is about the same time I quit playing single player RPG's so I did'n't really get to experience the "magic" of it along with Oblivion and Skyrim.  (I did try the latter, wasn't for me)

So for me the 2nd golden age ended with my transition to MMORPG;s, but I'm sure there were some great titles in the 2002 -2010 era as well.

SEANMCAD

CrazKanuk said:

SEANMCAD said:

Robokapp said:

Sierra and Westwood...never forget.

HA!

Sierra < Squad or The Fun Pimps by huge margin

Is this even for real? Two companies who have essentially released one game each? Not to mention one of them just got torn a new asshole for a horrible console port? I'm assuming sarcasm. Either that or you're too young to remember 5 1/4 floppy disks. 

yes its absolutly real,  Kerbal Space Program is better than anything Serriea released other than maybe No One Lives Forever. people tend to hold an overly exaggerated un-thought out affection to their childhood

Flyte27

UnleadedRev said:

1999 - 2005....

Back then MMORPGs were something new, unlike now where each MMO is just a clone of a clone using the same old tired game design framework.
Even though back then MMORPGs like EQ and Vanilla WoW pale in comparison technically and visually to their modern counterparts; back then they were still considered epic. because it was a total novelty to be able to play "anything" with so many "Human Players".

Each of us would wait in sheer pain counting the days off until "Official Release", and hound the heck out of the store employee's with the same question of "Did you receive it yet?"
Then as each player ether received or did not receive their game, would then return to the forums with either "I GOT MY COPY!", "Gamestop Fail", "Best Buy says not till next week WTF?", "Walmart has them!", etc etc experiences.

Although it was sometimes one extreme or the other, i.e. happy you got the game or sad you did not, it sure was EXCITING!
Also, it was hysterical and fun as heck!
The forums would give reviews of stores and tell about either "pimply" faced "stoners" not giving a hoot, to really cool store employee's letting them get their game copy a day early.
Those are all just some examples.

Unfortunately these days, we now have had and still have the "endless" Kickstarters, Founder Programs, Early Access, Pre-Alpha Access, Alpha Access, Beta Access, etc etc etc, where we all pay extra money to play unfinished, unpolished games, and then talk about how poor they are and/or how the game is nothing like what was marketed to us in order to get our money.

Regardless, of how good or bad the final release of the game is, most players end up having lost their enthusiasm, get burnt out, or just lose interest.
Even those players with good experiences, will still pale in comparison to the "total rush and excitement" of the now extinct "Official Release Day" and getting your hands on a finished product, regardless of whether it be digital or a physical copy.

I truly feel bad for the younger PC Gamers who never got to experience excitement and fun of anticipating and participating in a good old REAL OFFICIAL RELEASE DAY.
And not the forever ongoing "give us your money to test this POS" for us and we ignore your feedback anyway.

Although to a degree it is really cool to participate in the testing of games in development via any of the previous mentioned access programs, especially if the game is in your favorite game universe etc.....still, IMHO I would rather have it back the way it was.

This is a good point, but it went even further to the point people were more involved in the games then they were in other aspects in life.  It is the passion of the players that made the difference.  I don't know that it was always a healthy passion, but it was a lot of fun.  Sometimes things that are unhealthy are fun.  I remember sitting at working calculating how I was going build x character.  I made a lot of alts in Everquest and tried many different zones trying to find acceptable leveling spots.  For me progression was difficult in those games.  Often I would die and lose the progress I had made.  This meant planning your character, the way you want to play, and the route you took meant a lot.  For a person who soloed a lot it was a difficult time finding the right race/class and safe enough spots to level in.  I often did the same thing in single player games like Baldur's Gate 1 and 2.

holdenhamlet

I'm sure someone could write a psychologocal master's thesis on how more choice and more availability can actually make you less happy.

It's like when I was a kid, watching a few channels on TV was fun.  Then came cable and 1,000 choices and suddenly none of them are good.  Now I have modern internet and access to pretty much any show or movie I want, and I end up watching none of them, instead tuning into Twitch, which is kind of a simulation of old network TV... lol.

But nonetheless just because there were fewer choices and less availability resulting in more excitement when you actually did get your hands on something decent, I don't think the gaming genre was better back then.

Loke666

Kyleran said:

Title is misleading, while I would put the golden age of MMORPG's in this time frame, for me the golden age of PC gaming was 1988 to 1993 in the first era of RPG's such as Wizardry, Might and Magic, SSI D&D Gold box Editions and new strategy titles such as Dune 2. 

Then there was a bit of a lull around 1994 (especially in RPG's) until Diablo launched on Dec 31st, 1996 and sort of revitalized the genre and gave rise to all the great Black Isle Studio titles such as Developed. Fallout 2 (1998) Planescape: Torment (1999) Icewind Dale (2000) Icewind Dale: Heart of Winter (2001) Icewind Dale: Heart of Winter - Trials of the Luremaster (2001) Icewind Dale II (2002).  Can't forget Half-Life/Half Life 2 in this era and many more I've failed to mention.

While Arena launched in 1994 (bring the 1st golden era to an end IMO), and Daggerfall in 1996, (Battleguard/Redspire etc) Bethesda didn't really hit their stride until 2002's Morrowind, which is about the same time I quit playing single player RPG's so I did'n't really get to experience the "magic" of it along with Oblivion and Skyrim.  (I did try the latter, wasn't for me)

So for me the 2nd golden age ended with my transition to MMORPG;s, but I'm sure there were some great titles in the 2002 -2010 era as well.

The reason I don't consider late 80s a PC golden age is that I had an AMiga at the time and so did most other gamers I knew. A lot of the early PC games were just ports from Amiga and C-64 (there was a small company we know today as Blizzard who started out porting Amiga games to mention one).

Having 96-99 as the golden years to me might of course be due to the fact that I didn't do computer gaming 91-95 so I have missed a lot there, could be there should be a few more years before that but most gamers did not play on a PC in '88 so having it as a golden year is just wrong.

And Diablo was never seen as a RPG at the time. "Action game" was more or less the term, it had close to zero interaction besides lan play and vendors. Still a great game though, and bloody hard.

laserit

Loke666 said:

Kyleran said:

Title is misleading, while I would put the golden age of MMORPG's in this time frame, for me the golden age of PC gaming was 1988 to 1993 in the first era of RPG's such as Wizardry, Might and Magic, SSI D&D Gold box Editions and new strategy titles such as Dune 2. 

Then there was a bit of a lull around 1994 (especially in RPG's) until Diablo launched on Dec 31st, 1996 and sort of revitalized the genre and gave rise to all the great Black Isle Studio titles such as Developed. Fallout 2 (1998) Planescape: Torment (1999) Icewind Dale (2000) Icewind Dale: Heart of Winter (2001) Icewind Dale: Heart of Winter - Trials of the Luremaster (2001) Icewind Dale II (2002).  Can't forget Half-Life/Half Life 2 in this era and many more I've failed to mention.

While Arena launched in 1994 (bring the 1st golden era to an end IMO), and Daggerfall in 1996, (Battleguard/Redspire etc) Bethesda didn't really hit their stride until 2002's Morrowind, which is about the same time I quit playing single player RPG's so I did'n't really get to experience the "magic" of it along with Oblivion and Skyrim.  (I did try the latter, wasn't for me)

So for me the 2nd golden age ended with my transition to MMORPG;s, but I'm sure there were some great titles in the 2002 -2010 era as well.

The reason I don't consider late 80s a PC golden age is that I had an AMiga at the time and so did most other gamers I knew. A lot of the early PC games were just ports from Amiga and C-64 (there was a small company we know today as Blizzard who started out porting Amiga games to mention one).

Having 96-99 as the golden years to me might of course be due to the fact that I didn't do computer gaming 91-95 so I have missed a lot there, could be there should be a few more years before that but most gamers did not play on a PC in '88 so having it as a golden year is just wrong.

And Diablo was never seen as a RPG at the time. "Action game" was more or less the term, it had close to zero interaction besides lan play and vendors. Still a great game though, and bloody hard.

I think the term "PC" was corrupted by that Apple series of commercials

For me, PC will always mean "Personal Computer"

I remember making the switch from Amiga to DOS and  a 286, It sure didn't feel like an upgrade at first  

Velifax

Obviously this is too subjective. My golden era was during the release of Jedi knight dark Forces 2 and descent and Heroes of Might and Magic 2 + 3.

Gaendric

My golden era is between 1980 and now.
Always had great games to play.

CrazKanuk

SEANMCAD said:

CrazKanuk said:

SEANMCAD said:

Robokapp said:

Sierra and Westwood...never forget.

HA!

Sierra < Squad or The Fun Pimps by huge margin

Is this even for real? Two companies who have essentially released one game each? Not to mention one of them just got torn a new asshole for a horrible console port? I'm assuming sarcasm. Either that or you're too young to remember 5 1/4 floppy disks. 

yes its absolutly real,  Kerbal Space Program is better than anything Serriea released other than maybe No One Lives Forever. people tend to hold an overly exaggerated un-thought out affection to their childhood

Yeah, and games that they're currently fascinated with. However, that doesn't make the studio that made the game godly. I mean it's a great game, but there are developers even right now which are doing more impressive work than either of those two developers (Squad or The Fun Pimps) combined. 

Either way, completely subjective, I suppose. However, if you like KSP though, you should try to pick up a copy of Starflight 2.

Mendel

Golden Age of PC gaming?  I thought you meant Empires and Zork and a copy of Rogue that you can't quite remember when or where you got it.

Or even the Silver Age when Gold Boxes, Civilization I, Master of Orion and stacks of others were vying for our attention.

All long before MMORPGs appeared to consume all my time.

CrazKanuk

holdenhamlet said:

I'm sure someone could write a psychologocal master's thesis on how more choice and more availability can actually make you less happy.

It's like when I was a kid, watching a few channels on TV was fun.  Then came cable and 1,000 choices and suddenly none of them are good.  Now I have modern internet and access to pretty much any show or movie I want, and I end up watching none of them, instead tuning into Twitch, which is kind of a simulation of old network TV... lol.

But nonetheless just because there were fewer choices and less availability resulting in more excitement when you actually did get your hands on something decent, I don't think the gaming genre was better back then.

I think it's more about technical achievements than anything else. I always use this story about my son. He was downloading something from steam that was like 5 GB. So he's sitting there and I'm leaning over him and he's like, "So how long is it going to take?" and I was like, "15 minutes..." and for me I'm all giddy like "Holy fuck!! That's insane!" and his response was "Really?????" I literally wanted to punch him in the face. 

I don't know that there is that same level of technical marvel in the past 5 or 10 years. Think about it. The Internet is a little over a decade old (mainstream). Same goes for Broadband. Same with Smartphones. Same with gaming. There has been a tech spike over the last 20 years. For those who can recall what baud rates even meant, it's probably the equivalent to driving a horse-drawn carriage one day and a fucking car the next. Not gonna lie, it's kinda mind-blowing stuff. Not that I would expect younger people to get it. I had a professor in college who would talk about vacuum tubes and the computers that took up full rooms and could dim the lights in a 3 block radius because of their power draw, and I was like, "Dude! You're fuckin' old!" So I get it. However, I don't think we've seen that same significance in the past 5 or 10 years. Have we? Maybe some younger peeps can shed some light on why this is the golden age of gaming we're in. Maybe there are some missed opportunities. 

holdenhamlet

CrazKanuk said:

holdenhamlet said:

I'm sure someone could write a psychologocal master's thesis on how more choice and more availability can actually make you less happy.

It's like when I was a kid, watching a few channels on TV was fun.  Then came cable and 1,000 choices and suddenly none of them are good.  Now I have modern internet and access to pretty much any show or movie I want, and I end up watching none of them, instead tuning into Twitch, which is kind of a simulation of old network TV... lol.

But nonetheless just because there were fewer choices and less availability resulting in more excitement when you actually did get your hands on something decent, I don't think the gaming genre was better back then.

I think it's more about technical achievements than anything else. I always use this story about my son. He was downloading something from steam that was like 5 GB. So he's sitting there and I'm leaning over him and he's like, "So how long is it going to take?" and I was like, "15 minutes..." and for me I'm all giddy like "Holy fuck!! That's insane!" and his response was "Really?????" I literally wanted to punch him in the face. 

I don't know that there is that same level of technical marvel in the past 5 or 10 years. Think about it. The Internet is a little over a decade old (mainstream). Same goes for Broadband. Same with Smartphones. Same with gaming. There has been a tech spike over the last 20 years. For those who can recall what baud rates even meant, it's probably the equivalent to driving a horse-drawn carriage one day and a fucking car the next. Not gonna lie, it's kinda mind-blowing stuff. Not that I would expect younger people to get it. I had a professor in college who would talk about vacuum tubes and the computers that took up full rooms and could dim the lights in a 3 block radius because of their power draw, and I was like, "Dude! You're fuckin' old!" So I get it. However, I don't think we've seen that same significance in the past 5 or 10 years. Have we? Maybe some younger peeps can shed some light on why this is the golden age of gaming we're in. Maybe there are some missed opportunities. 

Not sure if there's really been a big change recently.  Things have gotten a lot faster though, both with the internet and computers in general.  I made a thread recently arguing that this is the best era for PC gaming and I believe that.

But the OP is talking about a time when games were released mostly in brick and mortar stores, and there were few of them available.  He remembers this time fondly because there was an excitement about actually getting your hands on something decent.

My argument is that the products weren't necessarily better or even necessarily that good, but when there was few available and you had to go out of your way to get them, they seemed better.

Same goes for TV shows, movies, porn- basically any kind of entertainment.  It seems better if it's harder to come by.  But it's not necessarily actually better.

I'm sure there's some way to quantify the level of excitement produced from exclusivity, or the lack of excitement produced from wide availability.  If there isn't, like I said, I'm sure there's a master's thesis to be written about it.

CrazKanuk

holdenhamlet said:

CrazKanuk said:

holdenhamlet said:

I'm sure someone could write a psychologocal master's thesis on how more choice and more availability can actually make you less happy.

It's like when I was a kid, watching a few channels on TV was fun.  Then came cable and 1,000 choices and suddenly none of them are good.  Now I have modern internet and access to pretty much any show or movie I want, and I end up watching none of them, instead tuning into Twitch, which is kind of a simulation of old network TV... lol.

But nonetheless just because there were fewer choices and less availability resulting in more excitement when you actually did get your hands on something decent, I don't think the gaming genre was better back then.

I think it's more about technical achievements than anything else. I always use this story about my son. He was downloading something from steam that was like 5 GB. So he's sitting there and I'm leaning over him and he's like, "So how long is it going to take?" and I was like, "15 minutes..." and for me I'm all giddy like "Holy fuck!! That's insane!" and his response was "Really?????" I literally wanted to punch him in the face. 

I don't know that there is that same level of technical marvel in the past 5 or 10 years. Think about it. The Internet is a little over a decade old (mainstream). Same goes for Broadband. Same with Smartphones. Same with gaming. There has been a tech spike over the last 20 years. For those who can recall what baud rates even meant, it's probably the equivalent to driving a horse-drawn carriage one day and a fucking car the next. Not gonna lie, it's kinda mind-blowing stuff. Not that I would expect younger people to get it. I had a professor in college who would talk about vacuum tubes and the computers that took up full rooms and could dim the lights in a 3 block radius because of their power draw, and I was like, "Dude! You're fuckin' old!" So I get it. However, I don't think we've seen that same significance in the past 5 or 10 years. Have we? Maybe some younger peeps can shed some light on why this is the golden age of gaming we're in. Maybe there are some missed opportunities. 

Not sure if there's really been a big change recently.  Things have gotten a lot faster though, both with the internet and computers in general.  I made a thread recently arguing that this is the best era for PC gaming and I believe that.

But the OP is talking about a time when games were released mostly in brick and mortar stores, and there were few of them available.  He remembers this time fondly because there was an excitement about actually getting your hands on something decent.

My argument is that the products weren't necessarily better or even necessarily that good, but when there was few available and you had to go out of your way to get them, they seemed better.

Same goes for TV shows, movies, porn- basically any kind of entertainment.  It seems better if it's harder to come by.  But it's not necessarily actually better.

I'm sure there's some way to quantify the level of excitement produced from exclusivity, or the lack of excitement produced from wide availability.  If there isn't, like I said, I'm sure there's a master's thesis to be written about it.

You're not wrong. The distribution channels of today are far superior. It could actually be that crowdfunding and steam are some of the marvels that I was missing, I don't know. 

What you're suggesting is a double-edged sword, as you elude to. Quantity (today) doesn't equal quality, nor does a lack thereof (yesteryear). However, I think it's more than nostalgia. There were a ton of really good games. Something like Hillsfar is something I would classify as nostalgic for me. I remember being able to ride a horse to town and jump stuff on the way. That was mind-blowing. Game sucked, but that was awesome. There are few games these days which push the envelope. Back then, though, games and genres were being defined, so how could you do anything BUT be innovative? 

OH!!!! Actually, another marvel of the time are free engines. This is leading to much better accessibility for young developers. My son is currently learning Unreal! Fucking, Unreal! At our house! And I didn't have to pay $100k for a license! 

Kopogero

Loke666 said:

I would say the golden years was 95-99 instead, your era was when games started to get easier and more similar to eachhothers.

96: Civilization II, Quake, The Elder Scrolls II: Daggerfall, Meridian 59, Tomb Raider, Diablo
97: Dungeon Keeper, Star Wars: X-Wing vs. TIE Fighter, Ultima Online, Fallout, Total Annihilation, Age of Empires, Wing Commander: Prophecy, Quake 2
98: StarCraft, Warhammer: Dark Omen, Commandos: Behind Enemy Lines, Gran Turismo, Unreal,  Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six, Fallout 2, Grim Fandango, Half-Life,  Baldur's Gate
And those are just some of them (with focus on what I enjoyed myself).

00-05 are rather the fall of PC gaming where games were made for the people that just a few years back thought all gamers as hopeless nerds instead of "golden years" for gamers.

I agree on 99 though, so I didn't bother listing the games from it. But 00-05 had nowhere near as good games and far more sequals then original ideas. 

I have to disagree since before 2000 still the majority had dial up internet and these multiplayer games were mainly played over LAN. What you have is plenty of single players mentioned and just one MMO. If you are telling me that the golden age was before MMO's then you must be on something...

MMORPG's => everything else prior since they offered the best experience I can recall and I've played most of those games you mentioned and far more before that.