History Main / YearX

* [[Platform/PlayStation2 PS2]] game ''Seven Samurai 20XX''.

* ''The Cliffhanger: Edward Randy'' is an ''Franchise/IndianaJones''-style adventure game set in the '30s, stylized as 193X in-game. That said, finding the true year isn't too difficult. The Japanese version explicitly states it's September 14, and a calendar is shown with that day as a Friday. The only year of the 1930s where Sep. 14 was a Friday was 1934.

* ''Manga/SpiderMan J'' takes place in the year 200X.

* ''Literature/TreasureIsland'' takes place "in the year of grace 17--." (Various clues in the text narrow it down to somewhere between 1758-65.)

Setting is important in storytelling, especially when you want to tell what time period that story takes place in. The easiest way to do this is to simply state what year the story takes place in... However, being [[TwentyMinutesIntoTheFuture too exact]] may sometimes narrow down flexibility. So in order to pinpoint the time and keep it vague at the same time, writers like to give the century number, but replace the year and decade with X.

* "Literature/TheHound1924": Some days into getting haunted by the Dutchman, the narrator gives the date as "the night of September 24, 19––".

* In ''Literature/LifeTheUniverseAndEverything'', Ford and Arthur time travel from the prehistoric past to the year 198--.

* ''VideoGame/TwentyXX'' goes so far as to put it in the name, just in case anyone didn't look at the blue platforming robot and think of ''Franchise/MegaMan''.

* Parodied with ''19YY'', a ShootEmUp MiniGame from the UsefulNotes/NeoGeo CD ''ADK World''.

* ''Falsion'', a 3D ShootEmUp by Creator/{{Konami}} for the [[UsefulNotes/NintendoEntertainmentSystem Famicom]], is set in 21XX.

** While ''VideoGame/EarthBoundBeginnings'' was originally set in 1988, it was changed to an unspecified point in the early '80s in the English release, before then being listed as 198X in the [=eShop=] description for its UsefulNotes/VirtualConsole release.

* [[UsefulNotes/PlayStation2 PS2]] game ''Seven Samurai 20XX''.

** ''VideoGame/ShinMegamiTenseiNINE'' for the UsefulNotes/{{Xbox}} is set in (a possibly {{alternate|Timeline}}) 202X, focusing on the survivors of the nuclear holocaust caused by [[spoiler:Ambassador Thorman]] in the original ''Shin Megami Tensei''.

* The original ''VideoGame/StreetsOfRage'' games for the UsefulNotes/SegaGenesis are set in 199X. ''Streets of Rage 4'' [[TimeSkip jumped ahead ten years]] to partially reflect the SequelGap between ''3'' and ''4'' (which was almost ''three times'' as long at 26 years).

* UsefulNotes/{{Xbox}} game ''Zombies and Pterodactyls 20XX''.

* PlayedForLaughs in VideoGame/MobileSuitBaba, which, according to the intro, takes place in the year ''X0XX''.

* ''Literature/TreasureIsland'' takes place "in the year of grace 17--."

* The ''VideoGame/{{WarioWare}}'' games take place in 20XX.

* Parodied in ''Manga/ExcelSaga'' during its ''Manga/FistOfTheNorthStar'' parody episode, which begins with an announcer starting to declare the year as 199X before he's interrupted by a chorus of people telling him that "199X" has already come and gone (it was already 2000 when the episode first aired.) The next time the announcer states the year, he retcons it to "The year 2000...X!"

* ''Manga/FistOfTheNorthStar'' is set a few years after a nuclear war destroyed the world in "[=199X=]". Series protagonist Kenshiro was born in the similarly vague year 197X.

* In ''Manga/MarchComesInLikeALion'', the year is revealed to be 20XX on Nikaidou's New Years postcard. Averted in the anime, where it's indicated to be 2007 and 2008 via background calendars.

* In ''TabletopGame/HaltEvilDoer'', the Near-Future Dystopia (think ''ComicBook/Marvel2099'') is sometimes referred to as taking place in 20XX. Sometimes heroes from the present might learn the actual year, but then they return to the present and change things, and it's XX again. Similarly, the Future of Wonders (think ''ComicBook/LegionOfSuperheroes'') is sometimes called 2XXX.

** Though unconnected to the previous numbered installments, ''VideoGame/ShinMegamiTenseiIIINocturne'' is set in Tokyo, 20XX.

* ''WebAnimation/DeathBattle'': "ComicBook/{{Ultron}} vs. [[VideoGame/MegaManX Sigma]]" mocks ''Franchise/MegaMan''[='=]s use of this trope in the latter's rundown.

* In the Philippines the colloquial phrase "19-''kopong-kopong''" generally indicates "a long time ago". Precisely when is usually unspecified, but some online sources will make a more specific case by pointing out that ''kopong'' is an Old Tagalog word for "zero", hence, the year 1900.\\\

** Former fan game and current SpiritualSuccessor ''VideoGame/{{Oddity}}'' is set in 197X.

** The first ''VideoGame/MajinTensei'' takes place in 202X, decades after international tension in the late 90s turned incredibly violent. Subsequent entries in the ''Majin Tensei'' series would forgo this trope, with 1995's ''[[VideoGame/MajinTenseiIISpiralNemesis Spiral Nemesis]]'' [[NextSundayAD being set in 1996]] and 1997's ''VideoGame/{{Ronde}}'' [[ExtyYearsFromNow being set in 2008]].

** Lesser-known ''SMT'' spin-off ''VideoGame/GitenMegamiTensei'' has this as part of its backstory, with the year 199X seeing Tokyo destroyed by [=ICBMs=] in what would later be known as the Great Cataclysm (i.e. the events of ''VideoGame/ShinMegamiTenseiI''). Humans are forced to go underground and live in fallout shelters to survive not only the ensuing nuclear apocalypse but also demons running amok on the surface, with the game picking up roughly twenty years down the road.
** ''VideoGame/ShinMegamiTenseiImagine'', the series' [[MassivelyMultiplayerOnlineRolePlayingGame MMORPG]] offshoot, takes place in 203X.

* While not using "Xs", ''VideoGame/KirbySuperStar'' 's final subgame in the original takes place in the year ??? (or some time after it). The UpdatedRerelease has it take place in ???? instead.

* ''Franchise/ShinMegamiTensei'':
** ''VideoGame/ShinMegamiTenseiIIINocturne'' is set in Tokyo, 20XX.
** There's also ''Shin Megami Tensei 20XX'', [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin which happens to takes place during the year 20XX]].

** Lesser-known ''SMT'' spin-off ''VideoGame/GitenMegamiTensei'' has this as part of its backstory, with the year 199X seeing Tokyo destroyed by [=ICBMs=] in what would later be known as the Great Cataclysm. Humans are forced to go underground and live in fallout shelters to survive not only the ensuing nuclear apocalypse but also demons running amok on the surface, with the game picking up roughly twenty years down the road.

Not to be confused with ExtyYearsFromPublication, which is about future dates or intervals being nice round numbers, often based on the work's own release date. Compare SpellMyNameWithABlank, which is similar but with names or locations.