History AudienceAlienatingEra / VideoGames

* {{Sega}} was the first to fall. After the {{Dreamcast}} proved to be TooGoodToLast, they went third party. However, the quality of their games began to decrease; a lot of their old [=IPs=] were discontinued, and they began producing more and more [[TheProblemWithLicensedGames licensed games]]. However, what made them infamous was the continuing downward spiral of ''SonicTheHedgehog''; after two-well recieved but still flawed installments on the Dreamcast, the Blue Blur began to appear in games that focused more on gimmicks and [[{{Narm}} Narmfully]] DarkerAndEdgier storylines, reaching its nadir in ''SonicTheHedgehog2006''. It took Sonic four years to [[VideoGame/SonicColors recover]] from its tattered reputation.
* SquareEnix had a rocky start, as well: after ''FinalFantasyTheSpiritsWithin'' bombed, Square nearly went bankrupt and merged with longtime rival Enix. While this saved the company, fans began getting fed-up with a downward trend in the quality of Square's flagship title, ''FinalFantasy''. By the end of the decade, ''Final Fantasy'' had gone from one of the most adored franchises in existence to the target of ridicule by many; meanwhile, ''DragonQuest'' became a sleeper hit outside of Japan's borders, and ''KingdomHearts'' received reviews that stood with the golden age of ''Final Fantasy'' in praise. However, Square has become a code word for games that focus more on pretty cutscenes than actual play.

* If E3 2012 has shown us anything so far, it's that the industry is still in the growing pains of the Dork Age. All the usual buzzwords are being bandied about: grim, gritty, edgy, and--worst of all--"realistic." To elaborate, both sides of the Pacific are in very different Dork Ages. Japan used to dominate the gaming industry; however, somewhere around the middle of the sixth console generation, they started to lose ground as Western developers began to [[GrowingTheBeard grow the beard]] while Japan had just shaved it after the PSX and PS2 era was pretty much what was described by the buzzwords. Many once-successful series fell to the wayside, and {{Nintendo}}, already hurting from a loss in the fifth generation thanks to Sony's {{Playstation}}, was now seeing their console, the {{Gamecube}}, pummeled sales-wise by the Playstation2 and Microsoft's {{Xbox}}. There was also the {{Sega}} {{Dreamcast}}'s failure. Many say it was because of the perception that Nintendo only made "kiddy" games, and gamers increasingly preferred DarkerAndEdgier fare. While Nintendo massively recovered starting in the Seventh generation (and this was despite them having some real competition in the handheld market they once dominated), Japan's developers experienced a massive drop in quality. Giants like {{Nintendo}} still exert a lot of influence today, but others were not so lucky. {{Sega}} was the first to fall. After the {{Dreamcast}} proved to be TooGoodToLast, they went third party.
* However, the quality of their games began to decrease; a lot of their old [=IPs=] were discontinued, and they began producing more and more [[TheProblemWithLicensedGames licensed games]]. However, what made them infamous was the continuing downward spiral of ''SonicTheHedgehog''; after two-well recieved but still flawed installments on the Dreamcast, the Blue Blur began to appear in games that focused more on gimmicks and [[{{Narm}} Narmfully]] DarkerAndEdgier storylines, reaching its nadir in ''SonicTheHedgehog2006''. It took Sonic four years to [[VideoGame/SonicColors recover]] from its tattered reputation. SquareEnix had a rocky start, as well: after ''FinalFantasyTheSpiritsWithin'' bombed, Square nearly went bankrupt and merged with longtime rival Enix. While this saved the company, fans began getting fed-up with a perceived downward trend in the quality of Square's flagship title, ''FinalFantasy''. By the end of the decade, ''Final Fantasy'' had gone from one of the most adored franchises in existence to the target of ridicule by many; meanwhile, ''DragonQuest'' became a sleeper hit outside of Japan's borders, and ''KingdomHearts'' received reviews that stood with the golden age of ''Final Fantasy'' in praise. However, Square has become a code word for games that focus more on pretty cutscenes than actual play. Perhaps the most abrupt example of this is the sad story of {{Capcom}}. Once beloved for its [[LongRunner long-running]] franchises ''ResidentEvil'', ''VideoGame/MegaMan'' and ''StreetFighter'', and home of some appraised new [=IPs=] such as ''AceAttorney'' and ''{{Okami}}'', they were going strong during the latter half of the decade, with {{Retraux}} ''Mega Man'' titles and a successful relaunch of ''Street Fighter'' under their belt, and the long awaited [[MarvelVsCapcom3 third installment of]] ''MarvelVsCapcom'' on the horizon. Then Keiji Inafune, who [[{{Determinator}} tirelessly]] masterminded Mega Man's blockbuster sequel on his own time and did the same for their current generation hit ''DeadRising'', left Capcom, clearly fed up with upper management and having recently declared the Japanese development community stagnant. Despite frequent promotion via art contests, ''[[MegaManLegends Mega Man Legends 3]]'' was unceremoniously canceled, and various other titles in the series (i. e. Mega Man Universe) would follow suit. They also spelt the death knell for ''AceAttorney'' by rendering it NoExportForYou, and killed off Clover Studios. Now Capcom is hated by many as the Japanese ElectronicArts. And NIS bringing ChouJigenGameNeptune only proved to aggravate the average joe on wondering how something so terrible can have such a huge fanbase compared to it's previous games RecordOfAgarestWar and CrossEdge.
*** Meanwhile, the Western industry is in a different kind of Dork Age: After the success of DarkerAndEdgier fare encouraged by gamers who loudly disparaged anything remotely kiddy, it has become a glut of big name titles almost exclusively RatedMForManly. While the quality of the gameplay is often high, the [[RealIsBrown sameyness]] of the graphics and the grotesque excesses of sex and violence are hardly mature and bring to mind TheDarkAgeOfComicBooks. One can pin the seeds of this Dark Age in games such as ''{{Halo}}'' and ''VideoGame/GrandTheftAuto'' - however, those two are not where the excesses began (Although many feel that Grand Theft Auto 4 fell down the chasm right into the Dork Age). Extremely {{Grimdark}} fare such as Sony's ''GodOfWar'' and Microsoft's ''GearsOfWar'' were both highly successful and endlessly [[FollowTheLeader copied]]. Some gamers have grown sick of the endless grimdark, but due to how [[RatedMForMoney successful]] such franchises are due to many gamers buying into it hook, line and sinker, this Dork Age is unlikely to end any time soon. For a quick dose of irony, go watch the ZeroPunctuation review of Halo 3. Yes, that's a complain about it being too bright and colorful. Your brain is now broken. Even some venerable franchises such as ''{{Castlevania}}'' and ''DevilMayCry'' have received grimdark revamps from Western devs, to mixed reactions. To make matters worse, Sony ''actively went out of their way'' to make their devs work on gritter, more realistic games after ''GodOfWar'' proved to be a hit. Some, such as ''{{Uncharted}}'', have not gone too far to the Grimdark side and remain fun. ''InFamous'', while rather dark, has never gone any higher than a T-rating. However, both franchises have effectively taken all the time Naughty Dog and Sucker Punch need for their [[JakAndDaxter older]] [[SlyCooper franchises]] away. Meanwhile, Insomniac's exceedingly grimdark ''ResistanceFallOfMan'' was greeted with a "meh" from the gamer community (Which gotten even worse when it had a LightAndSofter MoodWhiplash as it killed the franchise completely), and they returned to lighter fare with ''RatchetAndClank'' to far more praise.

* ''VideoGame/RockBand's'' "hardcore" fan base often think 2012 is a dork age for their DownloadableContent. Most of the new releases now come in threes and with only one Pro Guitar/Bass upgrade, and a not insignificant amount of them are from the (often late) TurnOfTheMillennium and TheNewTens which they stereotypically consider "crappy". (Nothing really exiting for them was released minus an Music/IronMaiden 6-pack and a Music/{{Slayer}} pack.) Plus, they are often considered "too easy".

* If E3 2012 has shown us anything so far, it's that the industry is still in the growing pains of the Dork Age. All the usual buzzwords are being bandied about: grim, gritty, edgy, and--worst of all--"realistic." To elaborate, both sides of the Pacific are in very different Dork Ages. Japan used to dominate the gaming industry; however, somewhere around the middle of the sixth console generation, they started to lose ground as Western developers began to [[GrowingTheBeard grow the beard]]. Many once-successful series fell to the wayside, and {{Nintendo}}, already hurting from a loss in the fifth generation thanks to Sony's {{Playstation}}, was now seeing their console, the {{Gamecube}}, pummeled sales-wise by the Playstation2 and Microsoft's {{Xbox}}. There was also the {{Sega}} {{Dreamcast}}'s failure. Many say it was because of the perception that Nintendo only made "kiddy" games, and gamers increasingly preferred DarkerAndEdgier fare. While Nintendo massively recovered starting in the Seventh generation (and this was despite them having some real competition in the handheld market they once dominated), Japan's developers experienced a massive drop in quality. Giants like {{Nintendo}} still exert a lot of influence today, but others were not so lucky. {{Sega}} was the first to fall. After the {{Dreamcast}} proved to be TooGoodToLast, they went third party.\\
\\
* However, the quality of their games began to decrease; a lot of their old [=IPs=] were discontinued, and they began producing more and more [[TheProblemWithLicensedGames licensed games]]. However, what made them infamous was the continuing downward spiral of ''SonicTheHedgehog''; after two-well recieved but still flawed installments on the Dreamcast, the Blue Blur began to appear in games that focused more on gimmicks and [[{{Narm}} Narmfully]] DarkerAndEdgier storylines, reaching its nadir in ''SonicTheHedgehog2006''. It took Sonic four years to [[VideoGame/SonicColors recover]] from its tattered reputation. SquareEnix had a rocky start, as well: after ''FinalFantasyTheSpiritsWithin'' bombed, Square nearly went bankrupt and merged with longtime rival Enix. While this saved the company, fans began getting fed-up with a perceived downward trend in the quality of Square's flagship title, ''FinalFantasy''. By the end of the decade, ''Final Fantasy'' had gone from one of the most adored franchises in existence to the target of ridicule by many; meanwhile, ''DragonQuest'' became a sleeper hit outside of Japan's borders, and ''KingdomHearts'' received reviews that stood with the golden age of ''Final Fantasy'' in praise. However, Square has become a code word for games that focus more on pretty cutscenes than actual play. Perhaps the most abrupt example of this is the sad story of {{Capcom}}. Once beloved for its [[LongRunner long-running]] franchises ''ResidentEvil'', ''VideoGame/MegaMan'' and ''StreetFighter'', and home of some appraised new [=IPs=] such as ''AceAttorney'' and ''{{Okami}}'', they were going strong during the latter half of the decade, with {{Retraux}} ''Mega Man'' titles and a successful relaunch of ''Street Fighter'' under their belt, and the long awaited [[MarvelVsCapcom3 third installment of]] ''MarvelVsCapcom'' on the horizon. Then Keiji Inafune, who [[{{Determinator}} tirelessly]] masterminded Mega Man's blockbuster sequel on his own time and did the same for their current generation hit ''DeadRising'', left Capcom, clearly fed up with upper management and having recently declared the Japanese development community stagnant. Despite frequent promotion via art contests, ''[[MegaManLegends Mega Man Legends 3]]'' was unceremoniously canceled, and various other titles in the series (i. e. Mega Man Universe) would follow suit. They also spelt the death knell for ''AceAttorney'' by rendering it NoExportForYou, and killed off Clover Studios. Now Capcom is hated by many as the Japanese ElectronicArts.\\
\\
** Meanwhile, the Western industry is in a different kind of Dork Age: After the success of DarkerAndEdgier fare encouraged by gamers who loudly disparaged anything remotely kiddy, it has become a glut of big name titles almost exclusively RatedMForManly. While the quality of the gameplay is often high, the [[RealIsBrown sameyness]] of the graphics and the grotesque excesses of sex and violence are hardly mature and bring to mind TheDarkAgeOfComicBooks. One can pin the seeds of this Dark Age in games such as ''{{Halo}}'' and ''VideoGame/GrandTheftAuto'' - however, those two are not where the excesses began (Although many feel that Grand Theft Auto 4 fell down the chasm right into the Dork Age). Extremely {{Grimdark}} fare such as Sony's ''GodOfWar'' and Microsoft's ''GearsOfWar'' were both highly successful and endlessly [[FollowTheLeader copied]]. Some gamers have grown sick of the endless grimdark, but due to how [[RatedMForMoney successful]] such franchises are due to many gamers buying into it hook, line and sinker, this Dork Age is unlikely to end any time soon. For a quick dose of irony, go watch the ZeroPunctuation review of Halo 3. Yes, that's a complain about it being too bright and colorful. Your brain is now broken. Even some venerable franchises such as ''{{Castlevania}}'' and ''DevilMayCry'' have received grimdark revamps from Western devs, to mixed reactions. To make matters worse, Sony ''actively went out of their way'' to make their devs work on gritter, more realistic games after ''GodOfWar'' proved to be a hit. Some, such as ''{{Uncharted}}'', have not gone too far to the Grimdark side and remain fun. ''InFamous'', while rather dark, has never gone any higher than a T-rating. However, both franchises have effectively taken all the time Naughty Dog and Sucker Punch need for their [[JakAndDaxter older]] [[SlyCooper franchises]] away. Meanwhile, Insomniac's exceedingly grimdark ''ResistanceFallOfMan'' was greeted with a "meh" from the gamer community (Which gotten even worse when it had a LightAndSofter MoodWhiplash as it killed the franchise completely), and they returned to lighter fare with ''RatchetAndClank'' to far more praise.

However, the quality of their games began to decrease; a lot of their old [=IPs=] were discontinued, and they began producing more and more [[TheProblemWithLicensedGames licensed games]]. However, what made them infamous was the continuing downward spiral of ''SonicTheHedgehog''; after two-well recieved but still flawed installments on the Dreamcast, the Blue Blur began to appear in games that focused more on gimmicks and [[{{Narm}} Narmfully]] DarkerAndEdgier storylines, reaching its nadir in ''SonicTheHedgehog2006''. It took Sonic four years to [[VideoGame/SonicColors recover]] from its tattered reputation. SquareEnix had a rocky start, as well: after ''FinalFantasyTheSpiritsWithin'' bombed, Square nearly went bankrupt and merged with longtime rival Enix. While this saved the company, fans began getting fed-up with a perceived downward trend in the quality of Square's flagship title, ''FinalFantasy''. By the end of the decade, ''Final Fantasy'' had gone from one of the most adored franchises in existence to the target of ridicule by many; meanwhile, ''DragonQuest'' became a sleeper hit outside of Japan's borders, and ''KingdomHearts'' received reviews that stood with the golden age of ''Final Fantasy'' in praise. However, Square has become a code word for games that focus more on pretty cutscenes than actual play. Perhaps the most abrupt example of this is the sad story of {{Capcom}}. Once beloved for its [[LongRunner long-running]] franchises ''ResidentEvil'', ''VideoGame/MegaMan'' and ''StreetFighter'', and home of some appraised new [=IPs=] such as ''AceAttorney'' and ''{{Okami}}'', they were going strong during the latter half of the decade, with {{Retraux}} ''Mega Man'' titles and a successful relaunch of ''Street Fighter'' under their belt, and the long awaited [[MarvelVsCapcom3 third installment of]] ''MarvelVsCapcom'' on the horizon. Then Keiji Inafune, who [[{{Determinator}} tirelessly]] masterminded Mega Man's blockbuster sequel on his own time and did the same for their current generation hit ''DeadRising'', left Capcom, clearly fed up with upper management and having recently declared the Japanese development community stagnant. Despite frequent promotion via art contests, ''[[MegaManLegends Mega Man Legends 3]]'' was unceremoniously canceled, and various other titles in the series (i. e. Mega Man Universe) would follow suit. They also spelt the death knell for ''AceAttorney'' by rendering it NoExportForYou, and killed off Clover Studios. Now Capcom is hated by many as the Japanese ElectronicArts.\\

* Meanwhile, the Western industry is in a different kind of Dork Age: After the success of DarkerAndEdgier fare encouraged by gamers who loudly disparaged anything remotely kiddy, it has become a glut of big name titles almost exclusively RatedMForManly. While the quality of the gameplay is often high, the [[RealIsBrown sameyness]] of the graphics and the grotesque excesses of sex and violence are hardly mature and bring to mind TheDarkAgeOfComicBooks. One can pin the seeds of this Dark Age in games such as ''{{Halo}}'' and ''VideoGame/GrandTheftAuto'' - however, those two are not where the excesses began (Although many feel that Grand Theft Auto 4 fell down the chasm right into the Dork Age). Extremely {{Grimdark}} fare such as Sony's ''GodOfWar'' and Microsoft's ''GearsOfWar'' were both highly successful and endlessly [[FollowTheLeader copied]]. Some gamers have grown sick of the endless grimdark, but due to how [[RatedMForMoney successful]] such franchises are due to many gamers buying into it hook, line and sinker, this Dork Age is unlikely to end any time soon. For a quick dose of irony, go watch the ZeroPunctuation review of Halo 3. Yes, that's a complain about it being too bright and colorful. Your brain is now broken. Even some venerable franchises such as ''{{Castlevania}}'' and ''DevilMayCry'' have received grimdark revamps from Western devs, to mixed reactions. To make matters worse, Sony ''actively went out of their way'' to make their devs work on gritter, more realistic games after ''GodOfWar'' proved to be a hit. Some, such as ''{{Uncharted}}'', have not gone too far to the Grimdark side and remain fun. ''InFamous'', while rather dark, has never gone any higher than a T-rating. However, both franchises have effectively taken all the time Naughty Dog and Sucker Punch need for their [[JakAndDaxter older]] [[SlyCooper franchises]] away. Meanwhile, Insomniac's exceedingly grimdark ''ResistanceFallOfMan'' was greeted with a "meh" from the gamer community (Which gotten even worse when it had a LightAndSofter MoodWhiplash as it killed the franchise completely), and they returned to lighter fare with ''RatchetAndClank'' to far more praise.

Meanwhile, the Western industry is in a different kind of Dork Age: After the success of DarkerAndEdgier fare encouraged by gamers who loudly disparaged anything remotely kiddy, it has become a glut of big name titles almost exclusively RatedMForManly. While the quality of the gameplay is often high, the [[RealIsBrown sameyness]] of the graphics and the grotesque excesses of sex and violence are hardly mature and bring to mind TheDarkAgeOfComicBooks. One can pin the seeds of this Dark Age in games such as ''{{Halo}}'' and ''VideoGame/GrandTheftAuto'' - however, those two are not where the excesses began (Although many feel that Grand Theft Auto 4 fell down the chasm right into the Dork Age). Extremely {{Grimdark}} fare such as Sony's ''GodOfWar'' and Microsoft's ''GearsOfWar'' were both highly successful and endlessly [[FollowTheLeader copied]]. Some gamers have grown sick of the endless grimdark, but due to how [[RatedMForMoney successful]] such franchises are due to many gamers buying into it hook, line and sinker, this Dork Age is unlikely to end any time soon. For a quick dose of irony, go watch the ZeroPunctuation review of Halo 3. Yes, that's a complain about it being too bright and colorful. Your brain is now broken. Even some venerable franchises such as ''{{Castlevania}}'' and ''DevilMayCry'' have received grimdark revamps from Western devs, to mixed reactions. To make matters worse, Sony ''actively went out of their way'' to make their devs work on gritter, more realistic games after ''GodOfWar'' proved to be a hit. Some, such as ''{{Uncharted}}'', have not gone too far to the Grimdark side and remain fun. ''InFamous'', while rather dark, has never gone any higher than a T-rating. However, both franchises have effectively taken all the time Naughty Dog and Sucker Punch need for their [[JakAndDaxter older]] [[SlyCooper franchises]] away. Meanwhile, Insomniac's exceedingly grimdark ''ResistanceFallOfMan'' was greeted with a "meh" from the gamer community, and they returned to lighter fare with ''RatchetAndClank'' to far more praise.

* The makers of the MMO ''VideoGame/StarWarsGalaxies'' decided it wasn't successful enough, so they came up with the New Game Experience, which involved massive changes to the game mechanics, combat system, character classes, and pretty much everything else, in the hope of attracting a whole new demographic. The result was an existing player base that was thoroughly (and vocally) pissed off, a new player base that never materialised, and a huge drop in subscriptions (not officially admitted, but confirmed by user-written in-game surveying tools before the company caught on and disabled the tools). Other [=MMOs=] have dome similar things on a less spectacular scale, but SWG's NGE is the infamous example everyone points to. One of the ''major'' reasons for this is that the developers changed the way one becomes a Jedi. Originally, players had to find holocrons and master whatever class tree it said to master, then the player may luck out and become a Jedi, or would receive another holocron. This, naturally, would be a grind. The New Game Experience let players start as a Jedi. Not only did this mean that everyone picked to be a Jedi and avoiding every other class, it also futzed with the canon and royally pissed off those people unlucky enough to have had to master ''every'' class to become a Jedi. You had many thousands of Jedi when there were no Jedi other than Yoda and Luke at the time it takes place in the official storyline. Just how bad is it? [[StarWarsTheOldRepublic A new Star Wars MMO]] handled by ''KnightsOfTheOldRepublic'' developer {{Bioware}} and set in the [=KoToR=] timeline has since been announced.

* The ''VideoGame/LeisureSuitLarry'' series entered a DorkAge with the games starring Larry Lovage (''Magna Cum Laude'' and ''Box Office Bust'').
** Worth noting that Al Lowe, the series' creator, isn't involved with either of them. Judging by his site, he'd be more than happy to give them advice, and is also more than happy he wasn't involved when the games bombed.

* The early {{Nintendo 64}} era was something of a DorkAge for Nintendo. The overly long development of the N64 caused some Super NES gamers to jump ship to PlayStation, and the decision to use expensive proprietary cartridges instead of discs caused developers to jump ship, too (most infamously {{Squaresoft}}, whose ''FinalFantasy'' series was a Nintendo mainstay until ''FinalFantasyVII''). While Nintendo's first-party games on the N64 were as awesome as ever, there simply weren't enough of them to go around. The system launched with ''two'' games total, and it only had about one new release a month. So if you were tired of playing ''VideoGame/SuperMario64'' for the umpteenth time, your choices in early 1997 were ''{{Pilotwings}}'' and ''Cruis'n USA''. That was pretty much it. The Nintendo 64 gained something of a reputation for releasing three unique and groundbreaking games a year, and absolutely nothing else.\\
\\
This wasn't helped by Nintendo's historic lack of support for third parties only getting worse. One big selling point of the N64 hardware was custom microcode, but Nintendo never released information on how to use it, fearing it would be copied by their rivals. Among other groin-punches, they also patented using the N64 pad's C-buttons to control an in-game camera, meaning every non-Nintendo game had a shitty camera system, and continued in their usual habit of forcing studios to {{Bowdlerise}} in-game content to be more 'family friendly'; for example, forcing ''PerfectDark's'' 'Adrenaline Pills' to become 'Combat Boosts', and ''VideoGame/DukeNukem'''s steroids powerup to become 'Vitamin X'.

* If E3 2012 has shown us anything so far, it's that the industry is still in the growing pains of the Dork Age. All the usual buzzwords are being bandied about: grim, gritty, edgy, and--worst of all--"realistic." To elaborate, both sides of the Pacific are in very different Dork Ages. Japan used to dominate the gaming industry; however, somewhere around the middle of the sixth console generation, they started to lose ground as Western developers began to [[GrowingTheBeard grow the beard]]. Many once-successful series fell to the wayside, and {{Nintendo}}, already hurting from a loss in the fifth generation thanks to Sony's {{Playstation}}, was now seeing their console, the {{Gamecube}}, pummeled sales-wise by the Playstation2 and Microsoft's {{Xbox}}. There was also the {{Sega}} {{Dreamcast}}'s failure. Many say it was because of the perception that Nintendo only made "kiddy" games, and gamers increasingly preferred DarkerAndEdgier fare. While Nintendo massively recovered starting in the Seventh generation (and this was despite them having some real competition in the handheld market they once dominated), Japan's developers experienced a massive drop in quality. Giants like {{Nintendo}} still exert a lot of influence today, but others were not so lucky. {{Sega}} was the first to fall. After the {{Dreamcast}} proved to be TooGoodToLast, they went third party. However, the quality of their games began to decrease; a lot of their old [=IPs=] were discontinued, and they began producing more and more [[TheProblemWithLicensedGames licensed games]]. However, what made them infamous was the continuing downward spiral of ''SonicTheHedgehog''; after two-well recieved but still flawed installments on the Dreamcast, the Blue Blur began to appear in games that focused more on gimmicks and [[{{Narm}} Narmfully]] DarkerAndEdgier storylines, reaching its nadir in ''SonicTheHedgehog2006''. It took Sonic four years to [[VideoGame/SonicColors recover]] from its tattered reputation. SquareEnix had a rocky start, as well: after ''FinalFantasyTheSpiritsWithin'' bombed, Square nearly went bankrupt and merged with longtime rival Enix. While this saved the company, fans began getting fed-up with a perceived downward trend in the quality of Square's flagship title, ''FinalFantasy''. By the end of the decade, ''Final Fantasy'' had gone from one of the most adored franchises in existence to the target of ridicule by many; meanwhile, ''DragonQuest'' became a sleeper hit outside of Japan's borders, and ''KingdomHearts'' received reviews that stood with the golden age of ''Final Fantasy'' in praise. However, Square has become a code word for games that focus more on pretty cutscenes than actual play. Perhaps the most abrupt example of this is the sad story of {{Capcom}}. Once beloved for its [[LongRunner long-running]] franchises ''ResidentEvil'', ''VideoGame/MegaMan'' and ''StreetFighter'', and home of some appraised new [=IPs=] such as ''AceAttorney'' and ''{{Okami}}'', they were going strong during the latter half of the decade, with {{Retraux}} ''Mega Man'' titles and a successful relaunch of ''Street Fighter'' under their belt, and the long awaited [[MarvelVsCapcom3 third installment of]] ''MarvelVsCapcom'' on the horizon. Then Keiji Inafune, who [[{{Determinator}} tirelessly]] masterminded Mega Man's blockbuster sequel on his own time and did the same for their current generation hit ''DeadRising'', left Capcom, clearly fed up with upper management and having recently declared the Japanese development community stagnant. Despite frequent promotion via art contests, ''[[MegaManLegends Mega Man Legends 3]]'' was unceremoniously canceled, and various other titles in the series (i. e. Mega Man Universe) would follow suit. They also spelt the death knell for ''AceAttorney'' by rendering it NoExportForYou, and killed off Clover Studios. Now Capcom is hated by many as the Japanese ElectronicArts. Meanwhile, the Western industry is in a different kind of Dork Age: After the success of DarkerAndEdgier fare encouraged by gamers who loudly disparaged anything remotely kiddy, it has become a glut of big name titles almost exclusively RatedMForManly. While the quality of the gameplay is often high, the [[RealIsBrown sameyness]] of the graphics and the grotesque excesses of sex and violence are hardly mature and bring to mind TheDarkAgeOfComicBooks. One can pin the seeds of this Dark Age in games such as ''{{Halo}}'' and ''VideoGame/GrandTheftAuto'' - however, those two are not where the excesses began (Although many feel that Grand Theft Auto 4 fell down the chasm right into the Dork Age). Extremely {{Grimdark}} fare such as Sony's ''GodOfWar'' and Microsoft's ''GearsOfWar'' were both highly successful and endlessly [[FollowTheLeader copied]]. Some gamers have grown sick of the endless grimdark, but due to how [[RatedMForMoney successful]] such franchises are due to many gamers buying into it hook, line and sinker, this Dork Age is unlikely to end any time soon. For a quick dose of irony, go watch the ZeroPunctuation review of Halo 3. Yes, that's a complain about it being too bright and colorful. Your brain is now broken. Even some venerable franchises such as ''{{Castlevania}}'' and ''DevilMayCry'' have received grimdark revamps from Western devs, to mixed reactions. To make matters worse, Sony ''actively went out of their way'' to make their devs work on gritter, more realistic games after ''GodOfWar'' proved to be a hit. Some, such as ''{{Uncharted}}'', have not gone too far to the Grimdark side and remain fun. ''InFamous'', while rather dark, has never gone any higher than a T-rating. However, both franchises have effectively taken all the time Naughty Dog and Sucker Punch need for their [[JakAndDaxter older]] [[SlyCooper franchises]] away. Meanwhile, Insomniac's exceedingly grimdark ''ResistanceFallOfMan'' was greeted with a "meh" from the gamer community, and they returned to lighter fare with ''RatchetAndClank'' to far more praise.

* ''VideoGame/RockBand's'' "hardcore" fan base often think 2012 is a dork age for their DownloadableContent. Most of the new releases now come in threes and with only one Pro Guitar/Bass upgrade, and a not insignificant amount of them are from the (often late) TurnOfTheMillennium and TheNewTens. Plus, they are often considered "too easy".

* ''VideoGame/RockBand's'' "hardcore" fan base often think 2012 is a dork age for their DownloadableContent. Most of the new releases now come in threes and with only one Pro Guitar/Bass upgrade, and a not insignificant amount of them are from the (often late) TurnOfTheTheMillenium and TheNewTens. Plus, they are often considered "too easy".

* While it is true ''{{Warcraft}}'' fans [[UnpleasableFanbase are quick to hate]] almost any [[TheyChangedItNowItSucks new development]], the Burning Crusade's plot deserves a mention for the sheer amount of frustrating and blatant {{retcon}}ning and character changes.
** ''Wrath of the Lich King'' is seen as one as well, but due to gameplay-based reasons rather than story-based reasons.
** With ''Cataclysm'' both of these are now being stated as [[GoldenAge Golden Ages]] and the current expansion is the Dork Age. There are already people people claiming the next expansion is a Dork Age for having Pandas, and proclaimed to be great expansion because of the Pandas.
* A variant: ''MonkeyIsland2'' ended in such an [[MindScrew impenetrably baffling fashion]] (The last part of the game takes place in [[spoiler:the maintenance tunnels of an amusement park, and the undead antagonist turns out to be Guybrush's brother in a mask, and the whole escapade was AllJustADream - ''OrWasItADream'']]) that its sequel, ''VideoGame/TheCurseOfMonkeyIsland'', {{retcon}}ned the previous game's final confrontation into something a bit easier to follow. However, status quo wasn't necessarily restored because ''Monkey Island 2'''s ending was ''bad'' - it's more that after Ron Gilbert left the series, no one knew where he was planning to go with this revelation, and he has no intention of telling anybody.
** It's far more likely that it was just the final absurd twist in a game full of them than any sort of deep statement about the characters.
* The makers of the MMO ''VideoGame/StarWarsGalaxies'' decided it wasn't successful enough, so they came up with the New Game Experience, which involved massive changes to the game mechanics, combat system, character classes, and pretty much everything else, in the hope of attracting a whole new demographic. The result was an existing player base that was thoroughly (and vocally) pissed off, a new player base that never materialised, and a huge drop in subscriptions (not officially admitted, but confirmed by user-written in-game surveying tools before the company caught on and disabled the tools). Other [=MMOs=] have dome similar things on a less spectacular scale, but SWG's NGE is the infamous example everyone points to.
** One of the ''major'' reasons for this is that the developers changed the way one becomes a Jedi. Originally, players had to find holocrons and master whatever class tree it said to master, then the player may luck out and become a Jedi, or would receive another holocron. This, naturally, would be a grind. The New Game Experience let players start as a Jedi. Not only did this mean that everyone picked to be a Jedi and avoiding every other class, it also futzed with the canon and royally pissed off those people unlucky enough to have had to master ''every'' class to become a Jedi. You had many thousands of Jedi when there were no Jedi other than Yoda and Luke at the time it takes place in the official storyline.
** Just how bad is it? [[StarWarsTheOldRepublic A new Star Wars MMO]] handled by ''KnightsOfTheOldRepublic'' developer {{Bioware}} and set in the [=KoToR=] timeline has since been announced.

* In the late 1990s, {{Konami}} farmed out the development of the ''{{Contra}}'' series to Hungarian developer Appaloosa, resulting in the creation of the series' two PlayStation installments ''Contra: Legacy of War'' (which also saw release on the SegaSaturn) in 1996, and ''C: The Contra Adventure'' in 1998. Both games were critically panned when they came out and Konami even canceled plans to localize the first of the two titles in Japan after the negative reception it received, which makes one wonder why they would give Appaloosa a second chance.
** Made all the worse by the fact that ''Legacy of War'' was relying on a [=3D=] glasses gimmick for sales. We're talking '50s B-Movie red/blue cardboard glasses here. Oh, and massively derailing existing characters and canon, considering these followed on from ''Contra: Hard Corps'', one of the more story-heavy ''Contra'' games, it did not go well.
*** It should be noted that both games are explicitly [[CanonDiscontinuity exiled from the Contra canon]].

* ''KingOfFighters'' fans generally look at the period of time Eolith was handling the games (KOF 2001 and 2002) as a Dork Age. The way 2001 plays is in general more glitchy and gimmicky than any other incarnation of the series, and is in general a mess. The music for these games has been compared to the sounds of robots farting among other things and Eolith introduced a few of their own character designs. When SNK [[BackFromTheDead reclaimed the wheel]] as SNK Playmore, among the first things they did was to [[{{Retcon}} wipe several elements from 2001 right out of the canon]], including a whole character (also a blatant CaptainErsatz of [[Manga/{{Akira}} Tetsuo]]) and one [[KilledOffForReal death]].
** To give ''2002'' some credit, it's still one of the most played versions in the series competitively, and even after the release of ''2002: Unlimited Match'' you'll still see some original ''02'' tournies being played. Now, ''2001'' on the other hand? Uh...

* ''VideoGame/DeusExInvisibleWar'' was Warren Spector's entry into a Dork Age, and immediately lost his accumulated industry and fan respect. He's managed to bounce back some, which is better than other developer/producers have been able to do (anyone remember [[VideoGame/{{Daikatana}} John Romero]]?) but still hasn't regained his former stature. Because of lingering rancor, ''{{Thief}} 3'' received less fair critical reviews than it deserved, and Spector hasn't been invited to return for ''Thief 4'', currently in pre-production.
** He may have found a rehabilitation of his image in the unlikely vessel of a [[EpicMickey Mickey Mouse game]], though its mixed reception (and Spector's claims that negative reviewers "misunderstood" the game) didn't make for the reputation resurrection that was hoped for.

* The SegaSaturn period was the dark ages for Sega in the West, along with the late [[SegaGenesis Genesis era]]. In Japan it is a well-known and loved console but in the West it is considered a failure due to poor marketing, a lack of [[NoExportForYou exports]], no ''Sonic The Hedgehog'' main games, and fierce competition. The SegaDreamcast out shined the Saturn, but in the end it faded too in the West.. In Japan it went on until around 2007.
** SEGA's dark age as a whole really began with the [[OtherSegaSystems Sega 32X]]. While the Sega CD could be considered just as bad, it's more of an EnsembleDarkHorse nowadays due to a few gems (SonicCD, Snatcher, {{Lunar}}) among massive amounts of shovelware, but the 32X really kicked off Sega's mismanagment in the west. Then the Saturn's surprise launch came along with [[{{Vaporware}} Sonic Xtreme]] stuck in DevelopmentHell, and then Sega hired [[TheMillstone Bernie Stolar]]...yeah, things didn't really go well for them at all until they went third-party, considering the Dreamcast was TooGoodToLast.

* If E3 2012 has shown us anything so far, it's that the industry is still in the growing pains of the Dork Age. All the usual buzzwords are being bandied about: grim, gritty, edgy, and--worst of all--"realistic." To elaborate, both sides of the Pacific are in very different Dork Ages.
** Japan used to dominate the gaming industry; however, somewhere around the middle of the sixth console generation, they started to lose ground as Western developers began to [[GrowingTheBeard grow the beard]]. Many once-successful series fell to the wayside, and {{Nintendo}}, already hurting from a loss in the fifth generation thanks to Sony's {{Playstation}}, was now seeing their console, the {{Gamecube}}, pummeled sales-wise by the Playstation2 and Microsoft's {{Xbox}}. There was also the {{Sega}} {{Dreamcast}}'s failure. Many say it was because of the perception that Nintendo only made "kiddy" games, and gamers increasingly preferred DarkerAndEdgier fare. While Nintendo massively recovered starting in the Seventh generation (and this was despite them having some real competition in the handheld market they once dominated), Japan's developers experienced a massive drop in quality. Giants like {{Nintendo}} still exert a lot of influence today, but others were not so lucky...
*** {{Sega}} was the first to fall. After the {{Dreamcast}} proved to be TooGoodToLast, they went third party. However, the quality of their games began to decrease; a lot of their old [=IPs=] were discontinued, and they began producing more and more [[TheProblemWithLicensedGames licensed games]]. However, what made them infamous was the continuing downward spiral of ''SonicTheHedgehog''; after two-well recieved but still flawed installments on the Dreamcast, the Blue Blur began to appear in games that focused more on gimmicks and [[{{Narm}} Narmfully]] DarkerAndEdgier storylines, reaching its nadir in ''SonicTheHedgehog2006''. It took Sonic four years to [[VideoGame/SonicColors recover]] from its tattered reputation.
*** SquareEnix had a rocky start, as well: after ''FinalFantasyTheSpiritsWithin'' bombed, Square nearly went bankrupt and merged with longtime rival Enix. While this saved the company, fans began getting fed-up with a perceived downward trend in the quality of Square's flagship title, ''FinalFantasy''. By the end of the decade, ''Final Fantasy'' had gone from one of the most adored franchises in existence to the target of ridicule by many; meanwhile, ''DragonQuest'' became a sleeper hit outside of Japan's borders, and ''KingdomHearts'' received reviews that stood with the golden age of ''Final Fantasy'' in praise. However, Square has become a code word for games that focus more on pretty cutscenes than actual play.
*** Perhaps the most abrupt example of this is the sad story of {{Capcom}}. Once beloved for its [[LongRunner long-running]] franchises ''ResidentEvil'', ''VideoGame/MegaMan'' and ''StreetFighter'', and home of some appraised new [=IPs=] such as ''AceAttorney'' and ''{{Okami}}'', they were going strong during the latter half of the decade, with {{Retraux}} ''Mega Man'' titles and a successful relaunch of ''Street Fighter'' under their belt, and the long awaited [[MarvelVsCapcom3 third installment of]] ''MarvelVsCapcom'' on the horizon. Then Keiji Inafune, who [[{{Determinator}} tirelessly]] masterminded Mega Man's blockbuster sequel on his own time and did the same for their current generation hit ''DeadRising'', left Capcom, clearly fed up with upper management and having recently declared the Japanese development community stagnant. Despite frequent promotion via art contests, ''[[MegaManLegends Mega Man Legends 3]]'' was unceremoniously canceled, and various other titles in the series (i. e. Mega Man Universe) would follow suit. They also spelt the death knell for ''AceAttorney'' by rendering it NoExportForYou, and killed off Clover Studios. Now Capcom is hated by many as the Japanese ElectronicArts.
** Meanwhile, the Western industry is in a different kind of Dork Age: After the success of DarkerAndEdgier fare encouraged by gamers who loudly disparaged anything remotely kiddy, it has become a glut of big name titles almost exclusively RatedMForManly. While the quality of the gameplay is often high, the [[RealIsBrown sameyness]] of the graphics and the grotesque excesses of sex and violence are hardly mature and bring to mind TheDarkAgeOfComicBooks. One can pin the seeds of this Dark Age in games such as ''{{Halo}}'' and ''VideoGame/GrandTheftAuto'' - however, those two are not where the excesses began (Although many feel that Grand Theft Auto 4 fell down the chasm right into the Dork Age). Extremely {{Grimdark}} fare such as Sony's ''GodOfWar'' and Microsoft's ''GearsOfWar'' were both highly successful and endlessly [[FollowTheLeader copied]]. Some gamers have grown sick of the endless grimdark, but due to how [[RatedMForMoney successful]] such franchises are due to many gamers buying into it hook, line and sinker, this Dork Age is unlikely to end any time soon. For a quick dose of irony, go watch the ZeroPunctuation review of Halo 3. Yes, that's a complain about it being too bright and colorful. Your brain is now broken.
*** Even some venerable franchises such as ''{{Castlevania}}'' and ''DevilMayCry'' have received grimdark revamps from Western devs, to mixed reactions.
** Sony ''actively went out of their way'' to make their devs work on gritter, more realistic games after ''GodOfWar'' proved to be a hit. Some, such as ''{{Uncharted}}'', have not gone too far to the Grimdark side and remain fun. ''InFamous'', while rather dark, has never gone any higher than a T-rating. However, both franchises have effectively taken all the time Naughty Dog and Sucker Punch need for their [[JakAndDaxter older]] [[SlyCooper franchises]] away. Meanwhile, Insomniac's exceedingly grimdark ''ResistanceFallOfMan'' was greeted with a "meh" from the gamer community, and they returned to lighter fare with ''RatchetAndClank'' to far more praise.
----

* While ''Warhammer40000''-based games made by Relic Entertainment (''Dawn of War 1 & 2, Space Marine,'' etc.) have been generally well-received, the ''DawnOfWar'' expansion that was farmed out to Iron Lore has received nothing but rancor. Canonically, the storyline of the previous expansion was a rousing success for the Spess Muhreens, while the campaign of the ObviousBeta that was ''Soulstorm'' is considered an [[OldShame embarrassing defeat that is spoken of only with great reluctance.]]

* The ''TonyHawksProSkater'' franchise fell into one hard with its final two games, ''RIDE'' and ''SHRED'', which attempted to revive the franchise by using a skateboard-shaped motion controller to simulate boarding movement. This failed to address any of the problems the series had been going through, and introduced several new ones. Both games failed as a result, and the ''Hawk'' franchise appears to be [[FranchiseKiller down for the count for good]].
** About to be revived by ''Tony Hawk Pro Skater HD.''

* The Electronic Entertainment Expo ({{E3}}) is widely believed to have gone through a dork age between 2007 and 2008. Once a Mecca for gamers the event was made invitation-only and attendance dropped from 60,000 down to a low of 5,000. As a result E3 went from being the ultimate expo in the video games to a low key event. It didn't help that the E for All trade show meant to replace it turned out to be a dud. Also to make things worse the announcements and game demo's E3 is know for were rather lacking in comparison to previous years. Fortunately the event has since been reopened to the gaming audience and recent E3's have been much more well received.

** Meanwhile, the Western industry is in a different kind of Dork Age: After the success of DarkerAndEdgier fare encouraged by gamers who loudly disparaged anything remotely kiddy, it has become a glut of big name titles almost exclusively RatedMForManly. While the quality of the gameplay is often high, the [[RealIsBrown sameyness]] of the graphics and the grotesque excesses of sex and violence are hardly mature and bring to mind TheDarkAgeOfComicBooks. One can pin the seeds of this Dark Age in games such as ''{{Halo}}'' and ''VideoGame/GrandTheftAuto'' - however, those two are not where the excesses began. Extremely {{Grimdark}} fare such as Sony's ''GodOfWar'' and Microsoft's ''GearsOfWar'' were both highly successful and endlessly [[FollowTheLeader copied]]. Some gamers have grown sick of the endless grimdark, but due to how [[RatedMForMoney successful]] such franchises are due to many gamers buying into it hook, line and sinker, this Dork Age is unlikely to end any time soon.

* The early {{Nintendo 64}} era was something of a DorkAge for Nintendo. The overly long development of the N64 caused some Super NES gamers to jump ship to PlayStation, and the decision to use expensive proprietary cartridges instead of discs caused developers to jump ship, too (most infamously {{Squaresoft}}, whose ''FinalFantasy'' series was a Nintendo mainstay until ''FinalFantasyVII''). While Nintendo's first-party games on the N64 were as awesome as ever, there simply weren't enough of them to go around. The system launched with ''two'' games total, and it only had about one new release a month. So if you were tired of playing ''VideoGame/SuperMario64'' for the umpteenth time, your choices in early 1997 were ''{{Pilotwings}}'' and ''Cruis'n USA''. That was pretty much it. The Nintendo 64 gained something of a reputation for releasing three unique and groundbreaking games a year, and absolutely nothing else.
** This wasn't helped by Nintendo's historic lack of support for third parties; one big selling point of the N64 hardware was custom microcode, but Nintendo never released information on how to use it, fearing it would be copied by their rivals. Among other groin-punches, they also patented using the N64 pad's C-buttons to control an in-game camera, meaning every non-Nintendo game had a shitty camera system, and continued in their usual habit of meddling with in-game content to be more 'family friendly'; for example, forcing ''PerfectDark's'' 'Adrenaline Pills' to become 'Combat Boosts', and ''VideoGame/DukeNukem'''s steroids powerup to become 'Vitamin X'.
* The ''SilentHill'' franchise is notorious for its horribly BrokenBase, but most fans will agree that the series peaked with ''SilentHill2'', and the existence of a franchise DorkAge is nearly-unanimous. The general summation of this is a reverence for "Team Silent" and a mistrust of the games in which this development team was not involved. The general consensus is that ''[[SilentHill4 Silent Hill 4: The Room]]'' is where the slide began, however, even though it was the last of the "Team Silent" entries. The recent ''SilentHillShatteredMemories'' has broken the fanbase further, between those convinced that the series remains mired in suck, and those who believe this new entry was fresh and compelling enough to possibly signal a revival of the franchise.

* ''MetalGearSolid2'' is widely considered the weakest of the franchise, centering mostly around a ReplacementScrappy and featuring [[GainaxEnding an ending that had a Cthulhu-like effect on most gamers' sanity]]. Whether or not it came perilously close to killing off the entire franchise, however, is debatable given that the game was still a critical and commercial success. The widespread belief that Hideo Kojima made it bad on purpose because he wanted to quit making games is also perpetuated by [=MGS2=]'s BrokenBase - Hideo has repeatedly insisted on stepping down as director, only to return time and again of his own volition to and turn out a spectacular effort like ''MetalGearSolidPeaceWalker''.
** A non-canonical example could be the game, Metal Gear 2: Snake's Revenge, an American follow-up to the original MetalGear game for the NES. The game not only completely changed Snake's character and his relationship to the franchise but also took the game that introduced the concept of *stealth* gameplay and turned it into a generic shoot-em-up.
* SonicTheHedgehog's history from November 2005 to January 2007 might be this with the releases of ''ShadowTheHedgehog'', ''VideoGame/SonicTheHedgehog2006'' and the [[PortingDisaster GBA port]] of the original [[VideoGame/SonicTheHedgehog Sonic]] game. Shadow's game was a spin-off that aimed for the DarkerAndEdgier crowd, with SoBadItsGood results. ''Sonic '06'' was hyped to be the Blue Blur's big comeback, but instead turned out to be a [[ObviousBeta glitchy mess]] topped off with yet another [[{{Narm}} unintentionally hilarious]] and convoluted storyline. [[CanonDiscontinuity Thankfully, the game's events are not part of Sonic canon and we never have to speak of it again]].
* The SegaSaturn period was the dark ages for Sega in the West, along with the late [[SegaGenesis Genesis era]]. In Japan it is a well-known and loved console but in the West it is considered a failure due to poor marketing, a lack of [[NoExportForYou exports]], no ''SonicTheHedgehog'' main games, and fierce competition. The SegaDreamcast out shined the Saturn, but in the end it faded too in the West.. In Japan it went on until around 2007.

* The ''SilentHill'' franchise is notorious for its horribly BrokenBase, but most fans will agree that the series peaked with ''SilentHill2'', and the existence of a franchise DorkAge is nearly-unanimous. The general summation of this is a reverence for "Team Silent" and a mistrust of the games in which this development team was not involved. The general consensus is that ''[[SilentHill4 Silent Hill 4: The Room]]'' is where the slide began, however, even though it was the last of the "Team Silent" entries. The recent ''[[SilentHillShatteredMemories Silent Hill: Shattered Memories]]'' has broken the fanbase further, between those convinced that the series remains mired in suck, and those who believe this new entry was fresh and compelling enough to possibly signal a revival of the franchise.

** SEGA's dark age as a whole really began with the [[OtherSegaSystems Sega 32X]]. While the Sega CD could be considered just as bad, it's more of an EnsembleDarkhorse nowadays due to a few gems (SonicCD, Snatcher, {{Lunar}}) among massive amounts of shovelware, but the 32X really kicked off Sega's mismanagment in the west. Then the Saturn's surprise launch came along with [[{{Vaporware}} Sonic Xtreme]] stuck in DevelopmentHell, and then Sega hired [[TheMillstone Bernie Stolar]]...yeah, things didn't really go well for them at all until they went third-party, considering the Dreamcast was TooGoodToLast.

*** {{Sega}} was the first to fall. After the {{Dreamcast}} proved to be TooGoodToLast, they went third party. However, the quality of their games began to decrease; a lot of their old [=IPs=] were discontinued, and they began producing more and more [[TheProblemWithLicensedGames licensed games]]. However, what made them infamous was the continuing downward spiral of ''SonicTheHedgehog''; after two-well recieved but still flawed installments on the Dreamcast, the Blue Blur began to appear in games that focused more on gimmicks and [[{{Narm}} Narmfully]] DarkerAndEdgier storylines, reaching its nadir in ''SonicTheHedgehog2006''. It took Sonic four years to [[SonicColors recover]] from its tattered reputation.

** Meanwhile, the Western industry is in a different kind of Dork Age: After the success of DarkerAndEdgier fare encouraged by gamers who loudly disparaged anything remotely kiddy, it has become a glut of big name titles almost exclusively RatedMForManly. While the quality of the gameplay is often high, the [[RealIsBrown sameyness]] of the graphics and the grotesque excesses of sex and violence are hardly mature and bring to mind TheDarkAgeOfComicBooks. One can pin the seeds of this Dark Age in games such as ''{{Halo}}'' and ''GrandTheftAuto'' - however, those two are not where the excesses began. Extremely {{Grimdark}} fare such as Sony's ''GodOfWar'' and Microsoft's ''GearsOfWar'' were both highly successful and endlessly [[FollowTheLeader copied]]. Some gamers have grown sick of the endless grimdark, but due to how [[RatedMForMoney successful]] such franchises are due to many gamers buying into it hook, line and sinker, this Dork Age is unlikely to end any time soon.

* There are ten years between Black Isle's ''{{Fallout 2}}'' and Bethesda Softworks' ''{{Fallout 3}}''. There are two ''Fallout'' games between them--Microforte's ''Fallout Tactics'' and Interplay's InNameOnly ''Fallout: Brotherhood of Steel.'' ''Tactics'' was a competent game that had severe issues with staying within the established continuity (in a world where World War III was brought on by a crippling energy crisis, many bases of have full drums of fuel just lying around more than a hundred years later, etc.); the same cannot be said of ''Brotherhood.'' Bethesda has proclaimed ''Tactics'' to BroadStrokes canon, while ''Brotherhood'' is full-on CanonDiscontinuity.

*** Perhaps the most abrupt example of this is the sad story of {{Capcom}}. Once beloved for its [[LongRunner long-running]] franchises ''ResidentEvil'', ''VideoGame/MegaMan'' and ''StreetFighter'', and home of some appraised new [=IPs=] such as ''AceAttorney'' and ''{{Okami}}'', they were going strong during the latter half of the decade, with {{Retraux}} ''Mega Man'' titles and a successful relaunch of ''Street Fighter'' under their belt, and the long awaited [[MarvelVsCapcom3 third installment of]] ''MarvelVsCapcom'' on the horizon. Then they unceremoniously canceled ''[[MegaManLegends Mega Man Legends 3]]'' and proceeded to screw over various other titles in the series. They also spelt the death knell for ''AceAttorney'' by rendering it NoExportForYou, and killed off Clover Studios. Now Capcom is hated by many as the Japanese ElectronicArts.

*** Perhaps the most abrupt example of this is the sad story of {{Capcom}}. Once beloved for its [[LongRunner long-running]] franchises ''ResidentEvil'', ''MegaMan'' and ''StreetFighter'', and home of some appraised new [=IPs=] such as ''AceAttorney'' and ''{{Okami}}'', they were going strong during the latter half of the decade, with {{Retraux}} ''Mega Man'' titles and a successful relaunch of ''Street Fighter'' under their belt, and the long awaited [[MarvelVsCapcom3 third installment of]] ''MarvelVsCapcom'' on the horizon. Then they unceremoniously canceled ''[[MegaManLegends Mega Man Legends 3]]'' and proceeded to screw over various other titles in the series. They also spelt the death knell for ''AceAttorney'' by rendering it NoExportForYou, and killed off Clover Studios. Now Capcom is hated by many as the Japanese ElectronicArts.

*** {{Sega}} was the first to fall. After the {{Dreamcast}} proved to be TooGoodTooLast, they went third party. However, the quality of their games began to decrease; a lot of their old [=IPs=] were discontinued, and they began producing more and more [[TheProblemWithLicensedGames licensed games]]. However, what made them infamous was the continuing downward spiral of ''SonicTheHedgehog''; after two-well recieved but still flawed installments on the Dreamcast, the Blue Blur began to appear in games that focused more on gimmicks and [[{{Narm}} Narmfully]] DarkerAndEdgier storylines, reaching its nadir in ''SonicTheHedgehog2006''. It took Sonic four years to [[SonicColors recover]] from its tattered reputation.

** Meanwhile, the Western industry is in a different kind of Dork Age: After the success of DarkerAndEdgier fare encouraged by gamers who loudly disparaged anything remotely kiddy, it has become a glut of big name titles almost exclusively RatedMForManly. While the quality of the gameplay is often high, the [[RealIsBrown sameyness]] of the graphics and the grotesque excesses of sex and violence are hardly mature and bring to mind TheDarkAgeOfComicBooks. One can pin the [{FranchiseOriginalSin seeds]] of this Dark Age in games such as ''{{Halo}}'' and ''GrandTheftAuto'' - however, those two are not where the excesses began. Extremely {{Grimdark}} fare such as Sony's ''GodOfWar'' and Microsoft's ''GearsOfWar'' were both highly successful and endlessly [[FollowTheLeader copied]]. Some gamers have grown sick of the endless grimdark, but due to how [[RatedMForMoney successful]] such franchises are, this Dork Age is unlikely to end any time soon.

** Japan used to dominate the gaming industry; however, somewhere around the middle of the sixth console generation, they started to lose ground as Western developers began to [[GrowingTheBeard grow the beard]]. Many once-successful series fell to the wayside, and {{Nintendo}}, already hurting from a loss in the fifth generation thanks to Sony's {{Playstation}}, was now seeing their console, the {{Gamecube}}, pummeled saleswise by the Playstation2 and Microsoft's {{Xbox}}. There was also the {{Sega}} {{Dreamcast}}'s failure. Many say it was because of the perception that Nintendo only made "kiddy" games, and gamers increasingly preferred DarkerAndEdgier fare. While Nintendo massively recovered starting in the Seventh generation (and this was despite them having some real competition in the handheld market they once dominated), Japan's developers experienced a massive drop in quality. Giants like {{Nintendo}} still exert a lot of influence today, but others were not so lucky...
*** {{Sega}} was the first to fall. After the {{Dreamcast}} proved to be TooGoodTooLast, they went third party. However, the quality of their games began to decrease; a lot of their old IPs were discontinued, and they began producing more and more [[TheProblemWithLicensedGames licensed games]]. However, what made them infamous was the continuing downward spiral of ''SonicTheHedgehog''; after two-well recieved but still flawed installments on the Dreamcast, the Blue Blur began to appear in games that focused more on gimmicks and [[{{Narm}} Narmfully]] DarkerAndEdgier storylines, reaching its nadir in ''SonicTheHedgehog2006''. It took Sonic four years to [[SonicColors recover]] from its tattered reputation.

*** Perhaps the most abrupt example of this is the sad story of {{Capcom}}. Once beloved for its [[LongRunner long-running]] franchises ''ResidentEvil'', ''MegaMan'' and ''StreetFighter'', and home of some appraised IPs such as ''AceAttorney'' and ''{{Okami}}'', they were going strong during the latter half of the decade, with {{Retraux}} ''Mega Man'' titles and a successful relaunch of ''Street Fighter'' under their belt, and the long awaited [[MarvelVsCapcom3 third installment of]] ''MarvelVsCapcom'' on the horizon. Then they unceremoniously canceled ''[[MegaManLegends Mega Man Legends 3]]'' and proceeded to screw over various other titles in the series. They also spelt the death knell for ''AceAttorney'' by rendering it NoExportForYou, and killed off Clover Studios. Now Capcom is hated by many as the Japanese ElectronicArts.
** Meanwhile, the Western industry is in a different kind of Dork Age: After the success of DarkerAndEdgier fare encouraged by gamers who loudly disparaged anything remotely kiddy, it has become a glut of big name titles almost exclusively RatedMForManly. While the quality of these titles is often high, the [[RealIsBrown sameyness]] of the graphics and the grotesque excesses of sex and violence are hardly mature and bring to mind TheDarkAgeOfComicBooks. One can pin the [{FranchiseOriginalSin seeds]] of this Dark Age in games such as ''{{Halo}}'' and ''GrandTheftAuto'' - however, those two are not where the excesses began. Extremely {{Grimdark}} fare such as Sony's ''{{GodOfWar}}'' and Microsoft's {{GearsOfWar}}'' were both highly successful and endlessly [[FollowTheLeader copied]]. Some gamers have grown sick of the endless grimdark, but due to how [[RatedMForMoney successful]] such franchises are, this Dork Age is unlikely to end any time soon.

* If E3 2012 has shown us anything so far, it's that the industry is still in the growing pains of the Dork Age. All the usual buzzwords are being bandied about: grim, gritty, edgy, and--worst of all--"realistic."

* The Electronic Entertainment Expo ({{E3}}) is widely believed to have gone through a dork age between 2007 and 2008. Once a Mecca for gamers the event was made invitation-only and attendance dropped from 60,000 down to a low of 5,000. As a result E3 went from being the ultimate expo in the video games to a low key event. It didn't help that the E for All trade show meant to replace it turned out to be a dud. Also to make things worse the announcements and game demo's E3 is know for were rather lacking in comparison to previous years. Fortunately the event has since been reopened to the gaming audience and recent E3's have been much more well received.

* The early {{Nintendo 64}} era was something of a DorkAge for Nintendo. The overly long development of the N64 caused some Super NES gamers to jump ship to {{PlayStation}}, and the decision to use expensive proprietary cartridges instead of discs caused developers to jump ship, too (most infamously {{Squaresoft}}, whose ''FinalFantasy'' series was a Nintendo mainstay until ''FinalFantasyVII''). While Nintendo's first-party games on the N64 were as awesome as ever, there simply weren't enough of them to go around. The system launched with ''two'' games total, and it only had about one new release a month. So if you were tired of playing ''VideoGame/SuperMario64'' for the umpteenth time, your choices in early 1997 were ''{{Pilotwings}}'' and ''Cruis'n USA''. That was pretty much it. The Nintendo 64 gained something of a reputation for releasing three unique and groundbreaking games a year, and absolutely nothing else.
** This wasn't helped by Nintendo's historic lack of support for third parties; one big selling point of the N64 hardware was custom microcode, but Nintendo never released information on how to use it, fearing it would be copied by their rivals. Among other groin-punches, they also patented using the N64 pad's C-buttons to control an in-game camera, meaning every non-Nintendo game had a shitty camera system, and continued in their usual habit of meddling with in-game content to be more 'family friendly'; for example, forcing ''PerfectDark's'' 'Adrenaline Pills' to become 'Combat Boosts', and ''DukeNukem'''s steroids powerup to become 'Vitamin X'.
* The ''SilentHill'' franchise is notorious for its horribly BrokenBase, but most fans will agree that the series peaked with ''SilentHill2'', and the existence of a franchise DorkAge is nearly-unanimous. The general summation of this is a reverence for "Team Silent" and a mistrust of the games in which this development team was not involved. The general consensus is that ''[[SilentHill4 Silent Hill 4: The Room]]'' is where the slide began, however, even though it was the last of the "Team Silent" entries. The recent ''[[SilentHillShatteredMemories Silent Hill: Shattered Memories]]'' has broken the fanbase further, between those convinced that the series remains mired in suck, and those who believe this new entry was fresh and compelling enough to possibly signal a revival of the franchise.

* The ''LeisureSuitLarry'' series entered a DorkAge with the games starring Larry Lovage (''Magna Cum Laude'' and ''Box Office Bust'').

* In the late 1990s, {{Konami}} farmed out the development of the ''{{Contra}}'' series to Hungarian developer Appaloosa, resulting in the creation of the series' two {{PlayStation}} installments ''Contra: Legacy of War'' (which also saw release on the SegaSaturn) in 1996, and ''C: The Contra Adventure'' in 1998. Both games were critically panned when they came out and Konami even canceled plans to localize the first of the two titles in Japan after the negative reception it received, which makes one wonder why they would give Appaloosa a second chance.

*** It should be noted that both games are explicitly [[CanonDiscontinuity exiled from the Contra canon]].

* The SegaSaturn period was the dark ages for Sega in the West, along with the late [[SegaGenesis Genesis era]]. In Japan it is a well-known and loved console but in the West it is considered a failure due to poor marketing, a lack of [[NoExportForYou exports]], no ''SonicTheHedgehog'' main games, and fierce competition. The SegaDreamcast out shined the Saturn, but in the end it faded too in the West.. In Japan it went on until around 2007.

* Sony had a little dork age in the mid-late 2000s, though they've appeared to have grown out of it recently. It started with the {{PSP}}, which, while being a success, never lived up to its expectations and was massively trounced by the inferior-seeming {{Nintendo DS}}. Then came the PS3's launch at [[MemeticMutation five hundred and ninety nine U.S. dollars]], its strange {{Dada Ad}}s, a controller that lacked rumble functionality, and limited exclusive games (most which turned out to be mediocre, anyway). It got so bad that Sony actually lost all its profits from the PlayStation and PS2's success. The PS3 eventually tossed away its growing pains around 2008 and is now finally catching up to the {{Wii}} and Xbox360's sales -- and with the PS2 '''still selling after eleven years on the market''', Sony could finally regain trust.

* The Electronic Entertainment Expo ({{E3}}) is widely believed to have gone through a dork age between 2007 and 2008. Once a Mecca for gamers the event was made invitation-only and attendance dropped from 60,000 down to a low of 5,000. As a result E3 went from being the ultimate expo in the video games to a low key event. It didn't help that the E for All trade show ment to replace it turned out to be a dud. Also to make things worse the anouncements and game demo's E3 is know for were rather lacking in comparison to previous years. Fortunatly the event has since been reopened to the gaming audience and recent E3's have been much more well received.

* ''KingOfFighters'' fans generally look at the period of time Eolith was handling the games (KOF 2001 and 2002) as a Dork Age. The way 2001 plays is in general more glitchy and gimmicky than any other incarnation of the series, and is in general a mess. The music for these games has been compared to the sounds of robots farting among other things and Eolith introduced a few of their own character designs. When SNK [[BackFromTheDead reclaimed the wheel]] as SNK Playmore, among the first things they did was to [[{{Retcon}} wipe several elements from 2001 right out of the canon]], including a whole character (also a blatant CaptainErsatz of [[{{Akira}} Tetsuo]]) and one [[KilledOffForReal death]].