The Best Year in Gaming: The Northwest Conference, Part 1

Welcome back to our Best Year in Gaming March Madness bracket competition! Yesterday we polished off the Southeast Conference with matchups between 1996 and 2010 and 2002 vs. 2018. Both ended up being relatively close - particularly '96 vs. 2010. But as has been happening in the competition, it seems like the Goonhammer Patrons value video game releases over tabletop, and as a result, 1996 narrowly beat out 2010. Meanwhile 2002 came in swinging and knocked out 2018 and while it's definitely a higher seed I'll admit I thought 2018 might score the upset.

Results: 1996 and 2002 win

Today we’re moving onto the Northwest Conference, where our number 1 seed finally enters the competition.

VS.

We had a lot of patrons champion 2022 on the back of Elden Ring. It's a great game! It's nowhere near enough to stop 1998's inevitable run to the finals. 1998 is widely regarded as the greatest year in video games and it's no slouch in the tabletop space, either (though far from the best year in tabletop gaming). So expect to see 1998 move on without breaking a sweat.

VS.

Our second back-to-back competition, we're looking at the launch of the PS2 and the Dreamcast's best year up against the launch of the Xbox and Gamecube and a stronger year for the PS2. This is set to be a very tough matchup and I'm legitimately curious to see which year gets the nod to go on and be demolished in the sweet 16.

If you’re interested in voting on the outcome, head over to our Patreon and join our Discord server to vote. Otherwise, check back tomorrow for the winner and the next matchup in the competition.

This article is part of a larger series on the best year in gaming. For more years, click this link. Have any questions or feedback? Drop us a note in the comments below or email us at contact@goonhammer.com.

Tags: history | video games | board games | RPGs | Best Year in Gaming