five most influential games of all time (1 Viewer)

[JamesH]

I think GTA3 definately deserves a spot, as it's probably the only game in this new generation of consoles that has really affected the direction gaming is going. GTA3 is basically the poster child for spontaneous, free form gameplay, which is really the only innovation consoles have seen lately. Previously, open ended games were generally confined to the PC, and GTA3 proved that this type of game could sell to a console audience, and sell amazingly. Subsequently, we've seen MANY developers attempt to emulate it, but none have surpassed it.

For older games, I give the nod to Super Mario Bros., Super Mario 64, Zelda 1, and Dragon Warrior 1.

 

[Brian-W]

Well, there are definitely more than 5 influential games, and it is highly subjective (I'd rather see a list of 10-20 with actual reasons why people believe they are influential).

However, one of the king mothers of influential games is Adventure on the Atari 2600. The game that introduced "Easter Eggs" which practically all secrets in games (and DVDs no less) are known by.

 

[Kieran Coghlan]

Pong
Space Invaders
Zork
Flight Simulator
Wolfenstein-3D

And one game I'd just like to mention, 'cause it seems hardly anyone remembers it: "Hard Drivin'" by Atari. It was an arcade-only game (AFAIK) but was way ahead of its time, IMO. One of the most realistic driving simulations ever, IMO. Steering wheel, and brake pedal both had active AND REALISTIC feedback, and it had a very realistic clutch and stick-shift.

But I don't think it was all that "influential".

 

[JamesH]

I would agree that for the Current generation of Games, GTA3 is one of the most influential but really it also borrows on so many other previous concepts. It does many of them well and did spur the sales of many PS2's.

I think that starts to get into the difference between innovative and influential though. There are plenty of games that innovate more than GTA3, but how many of them have shifted the direction gaming is going? For example, Magic Pengel has some brilliant new ideas, but I don't see any developers rushing to copy them.

After some more thought, I'd also say Devil May Cry is a very influential game. It is basically a textbook for anyone who wants to make the feel of the old 2-D action games come across in a 3-D setting. Even Konami itself cloned DMC wholesale when it tried to make a successful 3-D Castlevania. When a company with as much talent as Konami can't find a better way to do something, you know a game has been pretty damn influential.

 

[Brian-W]

GTA isn't revolutionary, but is influential in that it showed you could:

A) Do something so over the top and not socially acceptable but become incredibly popular and sell a gazillion units and...

B) Even though it's an Mature rated game (Wal Mart and a host of other retailers won't carry Mature rated games), with the limited retail avenues it still sold a gazillion units.

Which is leading other publishers and designers to do 'risky' (in the retail and public eye) games.

 

[Nicholas A. N.]

Brian I know there are much more than just 5 really influential games but I just wanted to limit it because if I said 10-20 games you'd be amazed by how many games you'd see that they just happened to like and not really pertaning to this thread but you're free to put as many you want.

 

[Kieran Coghlan]

Someone ought to go through the thread and tally the votes....

NOT IT!

 

[NickC]

-Pong

-Super Mario Brothers 3

-Mario 64

-Return to Castle Wolfenstien

-Grand Theft Auto 3

-Mortal Kombat/Street Fighter

 

[AlexanderS]

Since there are so many consoles to choose from Im going to stick to Arcade games.

Street Fighter 2 - Spawned fighting games as we know it

Mortal Kombat - First really violent game and spawned the use of blood and guts

PacMan - The gold standard. The fact that its still fun to play today tells you something

Donkey Kong - First ever platformer

Golden Tee - Even though I despise golf and this game in general, its in every single sports bar and resturant in the country. Pretty good coverage there.

I'd also like to throw in a special vote to a game that everyone knows but nobody ever mentions: "Where in the world is Carmen Sandiego". Think about it, in the early 90's this game was on most all computers in every school that had them. Think of how many people played this game? Probably the first game to combine learning and computers in a fun manner. Much better than the green monster with the big nose that ate the math problems. That game sucked.

 

[Christ Reynolds]

Donkey Kong - First ever platformer

what about pitfall, that came out pretty early too. i'm sure you are right, but i'm not sure which came out first.

CJ

 

[DaveGTP]

Word munchers was awesome.

 

[MattBu]

Word up to Reader Rabbit then.

 

[AlexanderS]

I still think Carmen Sandiego was the best. I can still hear that damn theme song.

 

[Alanna]

Hell no! Carmen Sandiego had NOTHING on the GREATEST most ass-kickingness EDUCATIONAL game of ALLLLLL time... OREGON TRAIL! Yes people, it was *THE* game that allowed you to KILL things at school. But it rocked even more because its the only game I know of where you could die of diarreah. Dysentry... oh yeah! Of course by the time I was in "Junior High" we had already hidden DOOM on the school PCs so it was all good.

 

[AlexanderS]

Christ, I totally forgot about Oregon Trail. Jesus I loved that game. Oregon Trail definately came first so I ammend my original statement. Oregon Trail was the hands down best. Screw Carmen, she was a bitch anyways.

 

[DaveB]

I'm surprised no one has mentioned a MUD yet, so I will:

The original MUD (Multi-User Dungeon/Dimension/Domain) by Roy Trubshaw (1979) was a text combat game where you could roam around interconnected areas and chat and stuff with other people conected by modem. It has spawned thousands of clones, also called MUDs, as well as various permutations known as MUCKs, MUSH's, MOO's, and of course MMORPG's. This form of highly addictive gameplay remains a powerful influence on video games both marketwise and in terms of development trends.

I guess I have to list four more now:

Pac-Man a new version of Pac-Man was released last month -- more than 20 years after its original release! It pulled gamers with pockets full of quarters into arcades and sold millions of Atari 2600's, despite its poor conversion from the arcade original.

Super Mario Bros. brought a whole new level of quality to video games in graphics and gamepley. Brought videogaming back to N. America after the crash. Spawned thousands of copycats over the years -- some of which were quite influential in their own right.

Donkey Kong -- 1980: arcades were full of space shooters. A recent college graduate at Nintendo Co. Ltd., Shigeru Miyamoto, who had previously done arcade cabinet art and a bit of graphics, introduced a whole new paradigm in gaming: the 2D platformer! Still one of the highest selling arcade games of all time.

Street Fighter 2 -- the arcade was at the brink of extinction in the early 90's. The glory days of the arcade, the late 70's to early 80's were long gone. Along came this little heraled game from Capcom which singlehandedly (literally!) saved the arcade from the brink of destruction and rejuvinated a dying industry. Also popularized the fighting genre beyond anyone's wildest expectations. Combo moves were not an intentional inclusion by the programmers, but now are fighter "must-haves."

Wolfenstein 3d -- the fps is born. Led to Doom, Quake, Half-Life, and thousands of others.

Oops, I'm already over 5, but I also wanted to mention:

The Legend of Zelda

Descent (first FULLY 3D game)

Rogue (1970) - Before ADOM, Angband, and Zork, there was Rouge!

John Madden Football - Trip Hawkins idea to make minimal changes, update roster, and sell same game year after year! Lots of money with minimal dev costs! How many have copied the idea since...

EDIT: fixed minor sp errors

 

[paul_v]

When was it released? 3D Monster Maze on the ZX-81 was also a fps, and released in 1981.

Dungeons of Daggorath was released in 1982 so I guess 3D monster maze was first =)

Here's a website that has screenshots of the game...


http://nitros9.stg.net/daggorath.html

 

[Fabricio Oda]

To me, the most revolutionary game ever is Elite. And I'm surprised nobody mentioned it here.

Smuggling drugs/slaves across the galaxy on your Cobra MKIII while looking for viper ships, learning how to dock on the space station and those other thing was truly amazing. People rave about GTA III and how it's open ended and up to you to do whatever you wanted. Well, Elite had that a long time ago!!

I even would say Elite was the first 3D game! Even if it was only basic lines!

I can only hope Elite ever become a MMORPG. No, not Earth and Beyound, but a real Elite game.

 

[Fabricio Oda]

Yes, Elite was computer game and not console. But still, it was pretty revolutionary! I remember, there was nothing like that at that time. The whole concept of the game was ahead of its time.

 

[Fabricio Oda]

I know. I didn't disagree with you on my previous post ...

I just tried to make clear that being 3d (first or not) was not the revolutionary portion of elite. The game concept was.