Nice try but please select games released in one calendar year eg. 2007 or 2008 only.

OT: 1988 had some awesome classic games released that year. Probably never get as many classics released in one year.

1998 is the best year I remember.... Gran Turismo, MGS1, Xenogears, Zelda OoT, Tekken 3, Resident Evil 2, etc etc etc.

http://www.gamerankings.com/browse.html?site=&cat=0&year=2005&numrev=0&sort=0&search=

Is that 50?

Ninja Gaiden was released on March 1989 in USA.
MegaMan 2 was also 1989 in USA.
Final Fantasy 2 never made it to the USA for NES...

I won't bother with any other, you clearly have a mess with the dates...

I see you're really talking about japanese dates here, which is confusing for all of us trying to make a comparison.

Well, the Japan is games...

ok. well since you posted 30 games i will do the same.

1080 snowboarding

age of empire:the rise of rome

banjo-kazooie

baldur's gate

bushido blade 2

elder's scrolls: red guard

f-zero X

fallout 2

fatal fury

gauntlet legend

half-life

house of the dead 2

legend of zelda: ocarina of time

king's quest: mask of eternity

marvel vs. capcom

metal gear solid

metal slug 2

parasite eve

pokemon: red version

pokemon: blue version

resident evil 2

soul caliber

star ocean: the second story

starwars: rogue squadron

starcraft

starcraft: broodwar

street fighter alpha 3

suikoden 2

tekken 3

unreal

warhammer 40,000

xenogears

you just got pwned!!!

lol. these were all 1998 games and i forgot gran turismo

@Kantor:

About 40 of those 50 games are sequels and/or ports. 1988 had more original IPs, and its sequels were more unique than Skate 2 or Rock Band 2 or any of those other PS3 sequels. I will assume that since you just plagiarized Metacritic's top 50 PS3 games you either prefer sequels and ports, or you don't actually have your own tastes in video games. And since you only own 16 of those games and you failed to remove the horrible PS3 port of The Orange Box from the list, I will assume this is a joke post.

@Pristine20:

Why would you assume I only like oldschool games? In at least 50 threads I have confessed my love of Katamari Damacy and Portal, both original IPs with completely original gameplay, and neither retro nor Nintendo. I take it you don't read my posts, so I'll return the favor and stop reading yours.

The thread title asks if it was the best year of gaming THE WORLD has seen, not just the US.  I used some Japanese dates and some US dates, and pointed a few of them out.

I posted a metacritic list because of what you asked Pristine to do: name 50 games, not released in 1988, which are good. All of the games I listed (barring perhaps Far Cry 2) are good. I could easily name you 50 games which I have liked, not made in 1988, because I have never owned a game from 1988. But that would be too much work, so I'll name 20. From this gen alone.

1) Metal Gear Solid 4

2) BioShock

3) Killzone 2

4) Uncharted

5) Oblivion

6) CoD4

7) Ratchet and Clank Future: Tools of Destruction

8) Resistance 2

9) Prince of Persia

10) Unreal Tournament III

11) Soulcalibur IV

12) Battlefield: Bad Company

13) Gears of War

14) Gears of War 2

15) Halo 3

16) Fable II

17) Resistance Fall of Man

18) Warhawk

19) Saint's Row 2

20) GTA4

All of those games are very good, all are PS360 games, none are released in 1988.

2005 would have to be one of my favourites, with God of War, Shadow of The Colossus, and several others. But 1998 is the best overall, by quite a long way.