2004: The Greatest Year In Gaming 

07 was very close: BioShock, Crackdown, Halo 3, Mass Effect, Modern Warfare, Assasins Creed, God of War 2,. We don't get years anywhere close to that now.

2004 and 2007 hold a very special place in my heart

late 90's to the mid 2000s was the golden era of gaming, its a shame how far things have fallen.

Wish younger people understand how much these games revolutionized not just gaming but media as a whole.making video game earn respect as a real art foam..

Metal Gear Solid, Half Life 2, Halo 2 and WoW all in the same year? Huge

Dude i was 19 years old in 2004, between 1997 & 2009 i would say was the Best Years of Gaming. Miss those Days, playing with the Homies on Lan Partys, being Young & Free... not much to care of but Gaming & Smokin Bud, & ordering Pizza, watching Movies, LOL thats some Nostalgia right here!

Man, I feel like this video really takes me back to 2004...

While 2004 is prob my closest runner up, the undisputed best year in gaming is 1998: Metal Gear Solid, Ocarina of Time, Half Life, Star Craft, Abe's Exodus, Banjo-Kazooie, Crash Bandicoot 3, Spyro, Parasite Eve, Mario Party, Gex: Enter the Gecko (that alone wins it, lol), Tomb Raider 3, Sonic Adventure, MediEvil, Street Fighter Alpha 3, Wario Land 2, Xenogears and so much more. These aren't just outstanding, groundbreaking games, they are games that literally created or pioneered their respective genres and changed the industry as a whole.

Awesome video. I turned 10 in october 2004 and got a GBA SP and Pokemon Fire Red for my birthday. Those were the days...

2nd best year ever* The best is undoubtedly 2001: GTA III, Gran Turismo 3, Halo, Metal Gear Solid 2, Max Payne, Silent Hill 2, Luigi's Mansion, Super Smash Bros Melee, Devil May Cry, SSX Tricky, Final Fantasy X, Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 3, Ico, Conker's Bad Fur Day, Jak & Daxter, Sonic Adventure 2, Shenmue 2, Baulder's Gate: Dark Alliance, Return to Castle Wolfenstein, Myst III Exile, Onimusha, Super Monkey Ball, Ace Combat 4, Soul Reaver 2, Advance Wars, Legend of Zelda Oracle of Seasons, Phantasy Star Online, Paper Mario, Red Faction, Twisted Metal Black, Golden Sun, Pikmin, Zone of the Enders.....and many more I've missed and hands are hurting from typing all the greatness 😅

I was born in 2004, but I have fond memories of Playing Rollercoaster Tycoon 3 growing up. That came out in 2004, and despite the outdated graphics It’s still a solid title for the time and even today, especially with its waterpark and zoo dlc, as well as its mod support.

Great video and a great year! I would love to see something like this for my favorite year for games, 2007. Mass Effect, Bioshock, Halo 3, Uncharted, Cod4, Assassin's Creed, Portal, The Witcher, TF2, Rock Band, Crysis, HL2: Ep 2, Guitar Hero 3, Skate, Metroid Prime 3, Super Mario Galaxy, The Orange Box, and God of War 2, all came out in 2007. It was a great year for new IPs that carried on for a long time, along with some sequals that are considered some of the best in their respective series.

I was born in 04 but my brothers was born in early 90s so I grew up watching everything from game cube and first Xbox

Two games that I would add to the list: Star Wars Knights of the Old Republic II: The Sith Lords Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War Amazing games that defined my love for those franchises. This was truly the year wheen I fell in love with gaming. Edit: Just googled that San Andreas and KOTOR 2 came out on the PC in 2005. For us PC gamers, I guess that 2005 is the peak year.

what a FREAKING amazing year for gaming, my GOODNESS!!. Metroid prime 2 echoes, half life 2, counter strike source, dragon quest 8, doom 3, halo 2, ratchet and clank up your arsenal, kotor 2, world of warcraft AND GTA san andreas all came out the same FREAKING YEAR????? Again, my goodness!!

I was a college student in 2004 and I will admit it was hard getting to class when San Andreas came out. My roommates and I put in some real time playing GTA, MGS3, Gran Turismo 4 and NFS Underground in particular. Those are four of my favorite game franchises and I think we got the best in each franchise at this time, with the exception of NFS. Most Wanted is king for them. I can still remember playing GT4 while listening to Green Day's American Idiot all day long.

It’s crazy that 2004 was 20 years ago

God, this era. I could weep for what we’ve lost.

I was 9 in 2004 and I still remember getting Tony Hawk's Underground 2, Halo 2 and Mortal Kombat Deception all on Christmas. I'm pretty sure these games came out within a month of each other.

One of the greatest platformers in my opinion came out in 2004, Sly 2! Such a great time and the peak of the series in my opinion

I miss the early 2000s era. The games, shows, movies, commercials 😭

Somebody create a Time Machine so we can all go back to the days where video games were once awesome.

Great video mate. I bought a new graphics card for my PC in 2004 (an ATI x800 Pro) specifically because of the new games coming out, the advancements in graphics that year was huge - HL2 and Doom especially. Seeing those games for the first time on my PC monitor was jaw dropping. As for Unreal Tournament, I've probably lost entire years of my life to playing that XD

Even sports games were amazing in 2004. It’s crazy how we got NFL Street, 1 Fight Night 2004 NBA Live 05, Madden 05, THUG 2, WWE Smackdown vs Raw and NFL Street 2 all in the same year it was truly a golden age you had to live through.

Painkiller and Far Cry were such bangers too.

You made great use of the editing style G4 used back then - very authentic! :D

The title of this video made me so happy to see. I have been telling my wife about this gen of gaming and how important it was to me. It's funny because 8 times out of 10 the games i have been remembering and reminiscing were 2004. There were so many great games in 2004. '02-'06 was PEAK. Love your channel bro, thank you for doing what you do.

Brings back some good memories i was 17 in 2004 time flys great vid ❤

Damn... Every year or two I do a re-run of NFS Underground 2, one of the best OSTs to this day still has a place in my car stereo's USB. Gran Tursimo 4's OST chimes in my headphones during work. And from time to time I launch a WH40k Dawn of War session - albeit Dark Crusade, but still. 2004 will live on in my heart.

I was 15 in 2004, and let me tell you, i would do literally ANYTHING to go back even for a day to live through that era again 🥲, an ocean full of incredible memories now, truly was a magical time back then, i could write an essay here on how amazing everything was in the early 2000s but let’s just leave it on magical ❤ And the gaming was special. Taking care of your burned discs for the PS2 and playing on a small CRT while relying on your local gaming magazines bcs there was no RU-vid or internet or any of that shit was…🤤……….❤……….👑

Underrated youtuber needs more recognition.

such a nostalgia trip, nice video!

6th gen gaming truly was the peak

UT2004 for life! Great video and editing man.

2004 might be my second favorite gaming year, but my heart will always belong to 2001. * Xbox release + Halo * Gamecube release + Melee (and Pikmin) * GBA release * MGS2 * GTA 3 * THPS 3 * Ico * Silent Hill 2 * Final Fantasy X * Devil May Cry * Gran Turismo 3 * Ace Combat 04 * Weaker year for PC but still had Civ 3, Max Payne, and collection of solid expansion packs (Baldur's Gate 2, Diablo 2, Red Alert 2)

good stuff. this video essay feels like a part of gaming magazine dvd that came out in january and recapped the whole previous year

I was 3 years old back then on my dad's computer and the world was so mysterious and vast

6th Gen Consoles will probably remain the greatest console generation for years to come. God, I wish I could go back.

This video is fire man reminds me the early G4 Tech years 😢 you throw me back I’m still out here playing my PS2 and Xbox

Awesome video man thanks for your hard work

Some other games, maybe not quite as impactful but still have to be noted: Far Cry, The Sims 2, Star Wars Battlefront, Star Wars: Knights of The Old Republic 2, Rome: Total War, Fable, Vampire: The Masquerade - Bloodlines, Warhammer 40K: Dawn of War, Prince of Persia: Warrior Within. And I'm just talking about the things I played as a PC gamer, I never had consoles. 2004 was absolutely the most stacked year in gaming, there is no doubt about it.

How did bro not mention Shin Megami Tensei: Digital Devil Saga or Vampire the Masquerade: Bloodlines

2008 was another crazy year! GTA 4, Fallout 3, Gears 2, Fable 2, Smash Bros Brawl, Left 4 Dead, World At War, etc.

Fantastic video man, very thorough.

I teabagged lots of folks in Halo 2 😹😹

Not it wasn't. 2007 was the best year of gaming. That year launched more legend-status games and spawned legend-status franchises. Assassin's Creed, Uncharted: Drake's Fortune, Halo 3, Team Fortress 2, Crysis, Mass Effect, Bioshock, Skate, Portal, Half-Life 2 Episode 2, God of War 2, The Witcher. And gems like Super Mario Galaxy which is considered the best Mario game (iirc), Call Of Duty 4: Modern Warfare and more i surely don't recall right now. The ones from 2004 don't even compare to this.

Unreal Tournament 2k4 was an absolute trip, you had to be there. Great video

The 6th generation in general was the best generation for video games. I honestly think video games have already peaked in that generation, especially in the years 2004-2005. That two year run was insane. Resident Evil 4 Metal Gear Solid 3 Ninja Gaiden Black Half Life 2 Halo 2 San Andreas Devil May Cry 3 World of Warcraft Shadow of the Colossus God of War Dragon Quest VIII Chaos Theory Metroid Prime 2 Civilization IV Unreal Tournament Battlefield 2 and many more. The fact that all of these games came out months from each other is ridiculous.

Dude you absolutely KILLED this video. Fire content coming from a small creator!

This was great! Please do one for the year 2007! There would be so much to cover!!

Man I love your channel. Keep inspiring us

good shit bro keep it up!

I usually siff through long videos, but this vid was so well made, i sat down & watched it. Dope video my guy 👌👏 Man we really didnt know how good we got it, getting all these dope games back in the day. It was just normal to get bangers & hit games every few months. Now we can barely get any decent games nowadays 😅

Love your videos 😊

What a good ass retrospective vid! Takes me back when everything was ok😢

My favorite games back in mid 2000s were Halo 1@2, and Call of Duty European assault on Original XBOX. On a nice 65 in big screen tv.

The fact that Half-Life 2 is not even in the thumbnail is a testament of how great that year was indeed.

Great video 👍🏻👍🏻 a real trip down memory lane I have played and enjoyed these games back in the day I would love to see remasters of Burnout Takedown and Def Jam FFNY though that won't happen it was a fun era of gaming

Good video, even if I am a little too young to relate to some of these being your childhood games (for me the Skylanders and Batman: Arkham games are very nostalgic).

Halo 2 launch was a historic moment.

Damn i should've known someone else would make this video haha. When it dawned on me the titles that came out this year my first thought was to make a video on it, but I'll just watch yours instead lol. Good job!

2004 was great, but nothing, NOTHING compares to the absolutely behemothian peak of gaming that was the year 1998. We got: Ocarina Of Time, Metal Gear Solid, Half-Life, Starcraft, Pokemon R&B, Grim Fandango, Resident Evil 2, Thief, DDR, Parasite Eve, Banjo-Kazooie, Klonoa, Panzer Dragoon Saga, Fallout2, Baldur's Gate, Xenogear, Mario Party, Rainbow Six, MediEvil, Oddworld: Abe's Exoddys, FF Tactics, Soul Calibur, Myth 2, Gran Turismo, Tekken 3... and many, many others! But in general, 1995-2005 was the absolute Golden Age of all video games. It's been endless decline since then.

it is insane the amount of high regarded titles came out in 04 alone, and then getting RE4 in Jan of 05, and then Star Wars BF2, Shadow of the Colossus later in 05'

saving wow for last... couldn't help but smile

Ridick: Escape from Butcher Bay was seriously underated and is now a cult classic. It was among the first FPS games to show your own body when you looked down, VERY immersive and cinematic game. Graphicaly very impressive at the time, almost on par with Doom 3 graphics

opening this video with such a banger as ut2004 fills me with joy

Another game that I completely forgot came out in 2004, star wars battlefront! So much time spent playing that back in the day, love the video! Looks like im gonna boot up the good ole PS2

Man, what a stacked year. I was in trade school at the time so I played most of these when they were brand new. WoW was the big one, i'm watching this video while I play Classic right now

2004/05 gamins finest hour

It’s debatable 1998 and 2007 were also amazing

I miss 2004 so much. Alot of was more nostalgia based for me as i was only 6. But i got my ps2 for my bday that year and a copy of Spiderman 2 the videogame for it. And i remember how much that game blew my young self away.

I'm glad I grew up in this the n64/ps2 generation.

I'm so glad you also got to experience Def Jam fight for ny man. Also one of my favorites of all time and is always my go to when it comes to emulating. We can only hope for a third installment. Ive seen some tease from the Def Jam twitter but thats it.

2004, 2007, 2010… all epic years. Original COD on PC came out in 2003 and its expansion pack came out 2004 united offensive - changed the FPS one man army to being a part of a team formula forever

awesome video! the nostalgia trip is real. also whats the song you have playing form the very beginning of the video? thank you ^-^

I still remember playing Halo for the first time, man that was crazy. Felt kind of like everything changed after that

U left couple great games of 2004 Bro... I think 4 sure u Play Fable and Far Cry . And GG platformers like Jak 3 , Ratchet and Clank 3 , Sly 2 and Prince of Persia Warrior within . Anyway great list thanks 4 sharing with us, that was real back to best year in gaming. Ty Bro

*Fable, GTA:SA, Def Jam FFNY, NFL2K5 and NBA2K5 are still the best games I've ever played in my life* 👍

Great video! You forgot about Tekken 5 though!! I really miss the old days of gaming though too, and I've been spending a lot of time emulating PS2 games and such to make up for it. I hope we get another PS2 level renaissance of gaming in the future!

fantastic video bro! it really brought me back to the old days. this year is so stacked that you forgot the sims 2, lmao

Prince of Persia Warrior Within came out the same year too. I miss this era so much, I was 13 in 2004. It really was a magical time, lightning in a bottle. It was way way before battle royales, season passes, and micro transactions. I really did enjoy and miss the 7th generation as well.

I had the original Xbox ,this was the last generation me and my friends got together playing multiplayer on split screen.But this generation would be the last time with my friends as we all moved on and became parents..I still game online but wish friends did.

I was still in elementary school back then, and could only experience these games through game magazines. If only I could go back and experience them firsthand.

Amazing video .. he hit all the right spots

I was only 2 in 04 but need for speed underground 2 was my GAME - popping it in my GameCube, riding around while jamming out to lean back those were the days

2004 I was working at Game Time in Oklahoma City. Amazing year for games.. peak of gaming I’d even say.

I agree this year was the most important year for games, you have so many classics. Half Life 2, V:tm Bloodlines, GTA San Andreas, Rome: Totla war and World of Warcraft.

1998 (has to be the definite greatest year in gaming) Ocarina of Time Metal Gear Solid Golden Eye 007 Gran Turismo Pokemon Red/Blue Final Fantasy VII Tekken 3 Half-Life Resident Eil 2 NFL Blitz

Oh man that unreal tournament footage brought me back in time 😂

UT and Quake Arena (and that time in general) was when MP shooters hit their stride. Broadband finally becoming widespread was huge. It was so exciting going from single player shooters, which were old hat by then, to playing against other people - what a concept MP was when you had lived in an insular, solitary world for your whole life to suddenly having a portal into a war party right in your own bedroom. That transition only happens once and it's over, never again, until a radically new thing comes along like transporters or holodecks or some shit and probably won't see that in our lifetimes. That and Napster, it was a mind-blowing good time and most of the crappy shit from social networking and echo chambering hadn't hit yet.

Man, I was just 7 or 8 in 2004, now I'm 27 with a blue-collar job. So many fond memories of video games back then. Games like GTA San Andreas, WWE Smackdown! vs. RAW, MK Deception, Metal Gear 3, Crash Twinsanity, Burnout 3, Tony Hawk's Underground 2, NFS Underground 2, Def Jam Fight For NY & 007 Everything or Nothing. I would trade anything just to be a kid again. Plus, video games back then are well-made, no-glitches, no game-passes, no live service, no DLC's, no wokeness & for real gamers, not white men-hating, fascists like Sweet Baby Inc, Chris Kindred & Anita Sarkessian etc. 2004 > 2024

It sucks I was 2 years old and didnt get the chance to play these when they came out. Glad I got to go back and play them now! All great games and had an amazing time! (Half- Life 2 got me through high school!!!)

2004 had sooo many dope games on every system it was crazy good times

Unreal Tournament 2004 just hits hard, what a game & it's a disgrace how quality a game like that is now as forgotten as it is. Only real ones know

I'm in my 40s. Gaming is better now than ever. You don't even need to buy games, so many are free to play. We miss our younger selves more than the games. As much as I loved Mario and Sonic, I would play those games for an hour then get bored.

Amazing video.

Dang my boy, your taste in video games is super mainstream. Not mad at it though, it was definitely a golden age. The DS and PSP also dropped in 2004, and one of my favorites, Zelda: the minish cap. All adding to your point.

1998, 2004, 2007, and 2011 were the best years in gaming history

here for the algorithm, cool video

2004 was awesome for games. I laughed my butt off when I saw people saying 2023 was "the greatest year for gaming." My first thought was, "How low have standards fallen?" And my second thought was, "What terrible standards are being set for younger people who genuinely believe that 2023 was a good year for games?"