22 years ago... Mortal Kombat officially courted controversy
21 years ago... Doom popularized FPSs
There had been other first-person shooters before Doom, but the demon-blasting original so thoroughly established the genre that, for a time, all subsequent shooters were referred to as Doom clones. And if youre still calling games like Titanfall a Doom clone, we commend your consistency.
That same year: The X-Files premiered.
20 years ago... Warcraft began
Long before the franchise enslaved millions in its MMO world, Warcraft was the newest game from a small developer named Blizzard. Back then, people knocked the game for its similarities to Warhammer, which only the grumpiest of old men continue to do today.
That same year: Justin Bieber was born.
19 years ago... the inaugural E3 was held
The first ever Electronic Entertainment Expo happened in Los Angeles in 1995, and the mega-show started with the type of epic news gamers have come to expect from the event. The original E3 marked the true start of a new generation of gaming, with both Sega and Sony making major announcements for their upcoming consoles.
That same year: O.J. Simpson was found not guilty.
18 years ago... the N64 and Super Mario 64 were released
While Sony was popularizing CD-ROM tech, Nintendo stuck with cartridges with its 64-bit machine, which would end up being a costly choice. Super Mario 64 launched alongside the system, and many still regard it as the greatest launch game ever released.
That same year: eBay.com went live.
17 years ago... Duke Nukem Forever got announced
Duke Nukem 3D was a cutting edge title at one point, and the franchise's many fans were hyped when Duke Nukem Forever was first unveiled. The game went through more than a decade of delays, at one point was even outright cancelled, and finally got pushed out the door in 2011 to lukewarm reviews.
That same year: Titanic was king of the world.
16 years ago... Pokemon invaded America
Pokemon had come out in Japan two years earlier, but it wasnt a global phenomenon until the games and anime launched simultaneously in the US. The pocket monsters were everywhere in 1998, becoming the billion dollar industry it still is today.
That same year: President Clinton was impeached.
15 years ago... Super Smash Bros. was released
Company-wide crossover games are big business now, but back in 1999, Nintendo had doubts that Super Smash Bros. would even be popular outside of Japan. The simple fun of seeing Nintendo mascots beat the crap out of each other caught on fast, earning the franchise some of the most dedicated fans in gaming.
That same year: Lance Armstrong won his first Tour de France.
14 years ago... Final Fantasy IX got all nostalgic
After the steampunk and emo entries of VII and VIII, old school Final Fantasy fans were given the retro-flavored treat of Final Fantasy IX. The game was a throwback to the series earliest entries, though now this tribute is just as old as the games it celebrated were at the time.
That same year: George W. Bush was elected.
13 years ago... Sega quit doing hardware
The Dreamcast was a promising system, and one of the first to recognize the importance of online gaming, but Sega killed the system--along with all its console gaming business--in 2001. The company found a degree of success as a third-party publisher, but its most loyal fans wish the company had never given up the console market.
That same year: The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring was released.
