When people think of 2000s gaming, it's hard not to think of many of the decade's worst ideas. The obsession with motion control gimmicks and all the grey and brown games from the early HD era are the first thing that some people might think of. Missteps aside, there was much more to the 2000s era of gaming.
As gaming entered the HD era, the industry began growing in terms of offering more complex games, and telling more complex stories. It was a good time for the industry, where every console publisher saw major success in one way or another. And while not every trend should resurface to the same level, it's time for at least a few of them to make a comeback.
10 Portable Consoles Being A Common Occurrence
The 2000s were the height of portable consoles’ power. Between consoles like the Game Boy Advance, then later the Nintendo DS and PlayStation Portable, the idea of carrying a console in one’s pocket was never more loved. Though Nintendo would release the 3DS in the early 2010s, it never reached the popularity of the original console.
Meanwhile, the PlayStation Vita is one of those cult classic consoles like the Dreamcast that only true hardcore fans are passionate about. The 2010s mostly left consoles for phones, but given the popularity of the Switch Lite and Steam Deck, it’s obvious there’s potential for portable consoles to make a return.
9 3D Fighting Games Having A Presence In Gaming
Everyone thinks fighting games were revived with the release of Street Fighter IV in 2008. But fighting games were still constantly being put out in the early 2000s; it’s just that most of them were in 3D.
The Tekken series and Soulcalibur both ran the fighting game world during this period, and it felt like 3D fighters were the future for a time. And while that time is long gone now, it would be nice to get to a point where 3D and 2D fighters were equally viable, rather than 3D fighters being more of a gimmick.
8 Rocking Out With Friends On Classic Rock Songs
Activision released both Guitar Hero and Rock Band in the 2000s, introducing a world of virtual karaoke where friends could shred to their favorite songs with their friends. Unfortunately, they also continued releasing these games, complete with their expensive additional accessories, long after the rock banding was over.
But it's not as if there wasn’t an audience; they were just over-served. These days, it’s entirely possible to serve this audience by adding songs. This would be much cheaper than creating a completely new game to buy every year and expecting people to shell out for a new fake guitar.
7 Sports Games Beyond The Realistic Titles
Remember when sports games were more than just simulations of NBA and NFL? At some point, Electronic Arts and 2K Games took over the sports market, and now everything’s just a replica of sports fans can already watch in season.
But in the 2000s, sports games could be creative. Fans could get titles like NBA Street and NFL Street, which embraced a more arcade-like nature to the sport. Games like this could still be successful today, so long as the developers embraced that they wouldn’t be as huge.
6 The Presence Of Open City Games
Rockstar took gaming to new heights when they released Grand Theft Auto III in 2001. The open-world game suddenly became a household name for gaming alongside titles like Mario and Sonic. The series’ popularity and critical success even resulted in a string of open-world city games that tried to copy Grand Theft Auto’s style.
Most successful were the developers at Luxoflux, who got the True Crime franchise off the ground by differentiating themselves from GTA. These days, the only company trying to move in the same lane is Ubisoft with Watch_Dogs, a franchise that’s inconsistent at best.
5 Local Multiplayer Being Expected Rather Than A Bonus
In the ‘90s and early 2000s, split-screen co-op was the best way to do multiplayer on console. It’s amazing this was so successful given how much smaller televisions were on average back then, but multiplayer games were huge regardless. These days though, far too many developers abandon local multiplayer to focus on online.
It’s understandable, as adults frequently have friends all across the country. But players shouldn’t have to convince developers to include local multiplayer on PvP games. It should come standard with every game for kids and couples who like gaming together.
4 Simulation Games At The AAA Level
In the 2000s, simulation games had their own place within the AAA space. The Sims became a massive hit amongst casual and hardcore fans, while titles like Deus Ex and even BioShock were some of the most acclaimed titles of the 2000s.
These days, while there are plenty of sim games, most of them exist in the indie space. While this means sim fans still have some place to turn, it would be wonderful to have sim games with the level of polish that the average AAA title gets.
3 Shooters That Weren't Afraid To Be Realistic
During the 2000s, PlayStation and Xbox launched a host of first-person shooters. The popularity of Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare inspired developers to make their own games, which caused all the brown and grey shooters. Now while no one wants that bland color palette to make a return, things could stand to be a bit more realistic.
These days, most popular shooters are like Fortnite or Apex Legends, with Call of Duty mostly doing the realistic FPS. However, there’s room for at least one other solid shooter that doesn’t involve double jumps and warp pads.
2 The Presence Of Colorful 3D Platformers
The early 2000s were the last time 3D platformers were plentiful in the AAA space. Mario and Sonic were still at the top of their game, but franchises like Spyro and Jak also came along. Platformers have been a mainstay of gaming for decades, but as gaming became more “serious,” the cartoon mascots were somehow forced out.
These days, the platforming genre has been on the rise through indies and a few titles like Insomniac’s Ratchet and Clank or Activision’s latest Crash, but it's not enough.
1 Developers Having Their Own Kart Game
Racing games in the 2000s were about more than just creating a realistic driving simulator. In that era, there was room for all types of racing titles, from arcade racers to kart games. It’s this kind of variety that racing fans would undoubtedly love to see make a comeback.
Games like Rocket League have already proven a market for more with cars than just racing sims, and even Forza Horizon 5’s Hot Wheels DLC is highly-anticipated. Ultimately though, the more variety there is in gaming, the better gaming can be for other gaming fans.