Next Generation has posted the Ten Greatest Years in Gaming. Among them is the best year of my life, 1996. Everything about that year was awesome. The PSX. The Saturn. WipEout, NiGHTs, Virtual On! and Saturn Bomberman (on the Saturn). Still playing Snatcher on my Sega CD (and being able to buy it for $30 from a newsgroup trader). Millennium and X-Files on a lethal Friday night lineup that will never be topped. Partying with $20 on a weekend night and coming home with change. An entourage of friends. My first new car. Trainspotting. The best music of any generation.

Most important – the freedom to enjoy it all.