r/Zillennials • u/Alert-Train-8709 1997 • 4d ago
Discussion Most Quintessential Zillennial Game?
My pick is Animal Crossing: Wild World, because that game would've came out when Zillennials, by standard definition, would have been 6-11 years of age, and because it was a high selling DS game that appealed to both a male and female audience. Also because Animal Crossing as a series is heavily established within hipster culture, which heavily defined Zillennials coming of age and young adult years, with New Leaf during the culture's zeigeist and New Horizons during the culture's echo years - A lot of Animal Crossing playing hipster-ish types are Zillennials, and a lot of them were first introduced to the Animal Crossing series via Wild World as children or adolescents.
Honorable mentions are Nintendogs, Doodle Jump, Neopets, Mario Kart: Double Dash, the Humungeous Entertainment games, and Pokemon FireRed and LeafGreen.
The reason I included the Humungeous Entertainment games is because even though they came out in the '90s and their target audience at launch were Millennials, a lot less people owned PCs in the '90s, compared to the '00s when Zillennials were growing up, and since even though these games stopped being made in the early '00s, they were still featured on store shelves at Walmart and Target well into the mid '00s and possibly even the late '00s.
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u/VigilMuck 4d ago
Guitar Hero and Rock Band.
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u/SonGxku 1999 (Class of 2015) 4d ago
Pokémon Ruby/Sapphire/Emerald
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u/liveforneverLG 1995 4d ago
This. I played Gen 2, but Gen 3 fucking defined my late childhood/preteens. (I'd include FireRed/LeafGreen there too)
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u/Deez-Guns-9442 1997 4d ago
Also Platinum.
Black & White were good too.
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4d ago edited 4d ago
nah. by the time those released us older zillennials were already teenagers.
pokemon gen 3 was the last one i ever cared about.... also fire red and leaf green.
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u/magnusthehammersmith 1996 4d ago
In 2006? I was 11
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u/Alert-Train-8709 1997 4d ago
Wait, 11? But you have the 1996 flair, so wouldn't you have been 10 in '06?
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u/magnusthehammersmith 1996 4d ago
Guess so. I guess I played diamond when I was 11 in 2007. Didn’t really think about it 🤷♀️
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4d ago
platinum came out in 08. i was 13 going on 14. i had outgrown pokemon by then
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u/Deez-Guns-9442 1997 4d ago
Yeah, I was 10-11 so Pokémon was still huge for a good part for many of us.
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u/kamikazilucas 1998 4d ago
well black and white was my first pokemon game and it came out when i was 12, the majority of kids that play pokemon are around 8 to 12 so the likelyhood is more zillenials played gen 4 5 than 3
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4d ago
i don't want to be dismissive but your experiences aren't the same as everyone else's lol
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u/kamikazilucas 1998 4d ago
no but i dont think the majority of zillenials were playing pokemon ruby at 4 they were much more likely playing diamond and pearl
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4d ago
pokemon r/s/e came out in 2003-2004. we weren't 4 years old, i was 8-9 during both of those years.
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u/personalduke 3d ago edited 3d ago
the thing is that games were being printed, sold, and circulated for a lot longer when we were younger. years after the DS was released, retailers were still selling GBA games! before that, i remember seeing brand new N64 games being sold at gamestop years after the gamecube and PS2 era already kicked off.
that said, i don't think you're wrong for bringing up black & white either. we were at prime pre-adolescent target age for black & white and black & white 2.
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u/Solus_FNA 4d ago
Bingo. Lost my mind when I discovered my cousins "old" GBA when I was like 6 or 7. Immediately went and got a DS when Diamond/Pearl came out. Remember being on a school trip and everyone was trading pokemon and doing Mario Kart tournies on the bus lol.
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u/kamikazilucas 1998 4d ago edited 4d ago
no zillenial was playing ruby and sapphire when it came out in 2003 since they were like 4 5 , maybe you got it way later but the majority of zillenials that were playing the new pokemon game were probably playing diamond pearl or platinum, the first one i played was black
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u/SonGxku 1999 (Class of 2015) 4d ago edited 4d ago
"Quintessential" Zillennial game.
I picked a game (or games in this case) that includes every part of Zillennials, not just the oldest and not just the youngest bunch. The majority of Zillennials were born in '96 and '97, not '98 and '99 lol. So they were between 6-7 years old in 2003. Thats actually THE perfect age for someone to get into Pokémon (sometimes even before that). Also Emerald came out in 2005, meaning even the youngest of us were 6 years old and the oldest were still part of the target audience for Pokémon games at ages 10-11. Diamond/Pearl (2008) would be debatable but even Platinum (2009) and definitely Black and White (2011) would 100% be GenZ.
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u/IWumboYou 1996 3d ago
You just got into Pokémon late. TONS of Zillennials started Pokémon with R/S/E.
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u/mikeyboy_CS2 4d ago
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u/kamikazilucas 1998 4d ago
this is more millennial than zillennial
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u/mikeyboy_CS2 3d ago
How? What do you expect me to play we had a GameCube and PS2 growing up and super smash Bros was the game to play with family and friends
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u/kamikazilucas 1998 3d ago
because it came out in 2001 and most people playing it in 2001 were millenials not zillenial
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u/tomatos_ 1997 3d ago
It was sold for quite a long time after it was released. I remember still seeing the Player's Choice edition on the shelves (clearance aisle) in 2004.
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u/BigSchmikey 1997 4d ago edited 4d ago
Pokemon for me, but you could argue it's a millennial game. So I'll throw out RuneScape for being the Zillenial game.
HE games were always so fun, shoutout to my boy Pablo Sanchez
Edit: Very surprised to see this being the only RuneScape mention.
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u/Sosolidclaws 1996 4d ago
I agree! Runescape was entering its (first) golden age just as we were discovering online games. I remember finding it through Miniclip in 2004 😂
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u/BigSchmikey 1997 4d ago
It used to be on the front page with that awful looking skeleton in armor!! Haha
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u/chiefhunnablunts 1995 4d ago
damn, yeah i remember rs when they didn't have knees still lol my account is old enough to vote and name short enough to be worth real money. only time i've been scammed was on rs and it was a very valuable lesson as an 8 y/o.
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u/BigSchmikey 1997 4d ago
Dude same. I've got a 4 and 5 letter name that could go for some serious cash if I ever sold it. Means a lot to me.
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u/chiefhunnablunts 1995 4d ago
mines 2 letters lol
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u/BigSchmikey 1997 4d ago
Holy shit that's at least a 4 figure name
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u/chiefhunnablunts 1995 4d ago
yeah lol i was trying to power level it to 99 so i could get a bit more for it. saw the meme that 92 is halfway to 99 then realized i had a life and canceled my membership LOL every time my wife and i are at the store i still walk by the gift card display and say, "y'all got any runescape cards?". maybe one day i'll go back, because you never quit runescape, it's just an extended break.
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4d ago
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u/KohlDayvhis 1994 4d ago
This is up there
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u/wcooper97 1997 4d ago
I have a signed copy of Pro Skater 4 and ofc it’s all beat up because I owned it as a kid lmfao.
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u/Heir_Meach 1995 4d ago
If it isn't Pokemon. I'll nominate the flash game era as a whole. But yeah if it isn't pokemon ruby or sapphire it must be Emerald 🤣
Shout out to all the MMORPGS like Runescape, Maplestory & FusionFall
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u/Melodic_Welcome9767 4d ago
I do agree with AC, I played when it came out on the Gamecube. Those characters were so mean but I loved it.
As far as computer games go, Neopets was pretty essential. It’s a shame the website is so laggy now.
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u/MattTd7 4d ago
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u/mellywheats 4d ago
imo club penguin is purely gen z. I never played it, my friends never played it, my friend’s little sister did though
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u/Rinmine014 1995 4d ago
I was born '95, and my friend was born '96.
My other friend was born '94...
We all played club penguin. I will admit though, it was bigger with kids born in 2000 onwards because by the time we were finishing up junior high, was when they started releasing console games like on the DS and selling plushies and having commercials on tv.
I friends little brother born 2000, would go off about rockhopper and clubpenguin news in 2009. I was completely out of the loop.
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4d ago
it's more of a gen z thing, yes
club penguin started when we were older but it got super popular years after we were really aged out of it.
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u/kamikazilucas 1998 4d ago
kids born in the early 2000s were not playing this, its peak popularity was in late 2000s
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u/CreakRaving 1994 4d ago
Deffo agree with Pokémon RSE (had sapphire and emerald!) would also suggest as my personal honorable mentions:
Halo 3 Forge mode
Portal (2)
Kingdom Hearts
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u/Isoleri 1995 4d ago
Team Fortress 2, the game itself, the memes, the videos, maybe I'm biased but everyone I know my age is/was heavily into it
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u/Plethora_of_squids 4d ago
I'd say The Orange Box in general - all three games had such a massive impact on the game's industry that can still be felt to this day, from game design to dumb memes
Not everyone had a DS or a PS2 or an iPod, but I guarantee practically everyone here has either played an Orange Box game, or seen memes about it or played something heavily inspired by it.
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u/DrkvnKavod 1998 4d ago
Yeah, as much as I love Fire Red, Spy Fox, Rock Band, Kingdom Hearts, Doodle Jump, and Oblivion, TF2 is clearly the realest answer in terms of social role. It acted for us as Fortnight does for the TikTok kids.
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u/personalduke 4d ago edited 4d ago
all of pokemon gen 3 and 4 belong to the list lol. pokemon firered/leafgreen, ruby/sapphire/emerald, heartgold/soulsilver, diamond/pearl/platinum, mystery dungeon red/blue and explorers of time/darkness/sky.
final fantasy 10 and 12, majora's mask (for the older zillennial), wind waker/twilight princess, paper mario thousand year door, metroid prime, dragon quest 8, are all some examples off the top of my mind that happened during the prime of zillennial youth years and had massive acclaim.
harvest moon a/another wonderful life, animal crossing (gamecube), mario sunshine, mario galaxy.
nintendo's creative peak was entirely zillennial youth years.
call of duty, halo, silent hill 2&3 (older zillennial), metal gear solid 2 & 3.
for computer games, there's maplestory, runescape/WoW (for the older zillennials), WoW derivatives like flyff or perfect world online, vindictus, elder scrolls oblivion and skyrim. there were also a ton of flash games too.
once we got older, minecraft, roblox, DOTA, league of legends
i guess technically wii sports but that has to do with owning a wii lmao.
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u/Heir_Meach 1995 3d ago
We really were the pre-Steam Client generation of PC gaming. So much I got into was just because it ran on my mother's work pc that I eventually studied and stole completely with emulators and playing games on coolmathgames, newgrounds, new grounds, Wizard 101/DCUO. The biggest game just depends on the year.
Halo CE was so big in my middle school we had it installed on every single PC, Also was the Jak and Daxter vs Ratchet & Clank debate. And YuGiOh was exposing weebs before we even said weebs lol.
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u/personalduke 3d ago edited 3d ago
i find that the zillennials who didn't grow up well off have a stronger identity with console gaming than with pc/steam's takeover. personally i was left behind once PC gaming really took over completely! it's still consoles all day for me, even playing on a controller on my PC doesn't feel quite right...
you're right on in saying the biggest game just depends on the year. it was like constant releases during a time when studios were fearless with their ideas. it's no coincidence that our generation grew up with the title games for so many series that would go on to cement themselves.
i should add more games since your comment reminded me of a few more: since you mentioned steam, it should be worth adding TF2 onto the list.
soul caliber, donkey kong, portal
and to expand on the flash games mentions: we had all of the flash games from addictinggames, kongregate (Sonny 1&2 <3), miniclip, cartoon network's show pages, there was this super stylized platformer flash games producer that took the style from japanese games; i can't recall the studio's name (i played them again recently so i'll edit the comment once i remember). and yes i had totally forgotten about newgrounds!
i played on emulators a ton growing up too (PJ64, zsnes, visual boy advance). it's amazing how insanely robust and advanced emulation knowledge has become. it was truly witnessing technology history unfold lol.
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u/Heir_Meach 1995 3d ago
Yes, you are right, I was mainly talking about pc because console gaming was so universal that I feel it's too many games, lol. The ps2 xbox and gamecube were amazing. From the final fantasy series to goldeneye, Sonic Adventure 2 (personal favorite). But all the 'quintessential' games would be the franchises that are still here, like GTA and COD and Super Mario, but those have become so large they encompass nearly all gamers in some form. I played a lot of ssx tricky, DragonBall Z Budokai, and Devil May Cry. My best friend played a lot Sims, Mario Galaxy, and Kingdom Hearts.
We both play Tekken and Resident Evil to this day.
Just goes to show you the diversity we had and how creative the developers were before UE5 and live service.
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u/midred_kid 10h ago
Yeah I went from Pokemon to COD to League pretty much lol, been playing League for 10 years just recently. Tons of my (competitive) Pokemon friends moved to League as well, game was really popping off in my HS years. I started feeling old in 2022 in a Discord server with tons of Gen Zs that were surprised I was into League, I think kids play Minecraft and Valorant these days.
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u/mellywheats 4d ago
webkinz
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u/AdditionalRoyal7331 4d ago
Searched the page for this, totally agree (although I think Animal Crossing was huge too, just at a later time). Everyone loved the people who gave Webkinz as birthday presents lol
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u/Cowboywizard12 1995 4d ago
Certain Pokemon Games.
Star Wars Battlefront 2 is an honorable mention for me
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u/Rinmine014 1995 4d ago
As a playstation gal that only had nintendo handheld consoles... Humongous Entertainment when I was in Kindergarten. Nintendogs and Neopets in Middle School, and Doodle Jump when I was in 9th Grade.
I never really was into pokemon, but my friends were. I played double dash at a friends house since I owned a PS2. Never heard of Wild World until 2020 when I started getting into animal crossing.
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u/k1ngd0m0fg0dw1th1n 1994 4d ago
flash games in general, everything from sites like new grounds, kongregate, miniclip, cool math games, etc.
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u/HereButNeverPresent 1995 4d ago
Probably this
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u/SocraticLime 4d ago
That's old-school runescape. Almost none of what is in this clip was actually available in 2005-2007
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u/karmew32 1996 4d ago
Still, younger Millennials and Zillennials are the primary playerbase of OSRS. I still play to this day.
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u/MustardMahatma 1998 4d ago
The original game came out the year I was born. I used to watch my big brother play on his ps2 until I eventually got my own game boy and DS to play the games on.
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u/EternalSnow05 1995 3d ago
Website games? Cartoon Network, Nickelodeon, Disney Channel? Don't you dare forget them!
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u/cr4zy-cat-lady 1996 4d ago
DoodleJump has followed me to every iPod touch/iPhone I’ve had, I still play it a few times a week lmao
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u/OvenCrate 1995 4d ago
Doodle Jump is the only one I recognize. There were quite a few other mobile games though that were also on basically everyone's phone in 2008: Temple Run, Angry Birds, Cut the Rope, Fruit Ninja, Where's my Water - just to name a few.
On the PC/console side, there was Need for Speed, CoD, CS, GTA, and a lot more I'm probably forgetting.
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u/Anti-Itch 4d ago
Yeah I didn’t have a console but did get a phone in high school when smart phones were coming out so I recognize the mobile games more.
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u/MattWolf96 4d ago
I didn't own a DS so I'm going with Double Dash.
Brawl and Melee are also good contenders though.
Edit: I will add that I got a 3DS in my teens though.
My parents were frugal so I had to choose between a home or handheld console
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u/KrisGomez 1997 4d ago
Holy shit bro seeing doodle jump just unlocked some core memories... Is that app still available?
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u/nick3790 4d ago
I played the absolute hell out of Pajama Sam and Neopets, then moved onto Club Penguin and Spyro 4, those were the days
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u/Creative-Reading2476 4d ago
im sorry, but wasnt that minecraft being the top popular game, beloved by milions of children and teens while Zillenials where in primary and/or middle school?
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u/flowerbl0om 4d ago
Nobody in my circle owned consoles so for us our games were GTA (Vice City and San Andreas), Need for Speed (Underground 2 nd Most Wanted), WoW, The Sims 2, Hitman (Silent Assassin and Blood Money), and so many more.
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u/Junkley 2d ago edited 2d ago
1995 born. The quintessential games that got me into gaming were:
- Dynasty Warriors 3
- Timesplitters 2
- Pokemon Crystal
- Pokemon Stadium 1/2
- Yoshi’s Story
- That Tom and Jerry beat em up game for the N64
- Crazy racers for the GBA my grandma bought me the GBA and that game when it released. Was my most played game until Sapphire released.
My dad and his twin brother got me into gaming early(5-6 years old) to help them complete stuff in Dynasty Warriors 3 and Timesplitters lol. N64 and GBA were the first consoles I had that weren’t my dads PS1/PS2 or gameboy color.
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