Most Influential Games (in your opinions)

[EzraPound]

Everquest was the first really successful MMO. MMOs led to change in how games are viewed and did wonders for social interaction within games. They also brought the idea of smaller regular fees for games, something that changed gaming economic structures.

...Ultima Online did the MMORPG schtick first, with success. Still, I think it's worth debating whether EQ or Ultima Online is more influential.

Trespasser did indeed do physics first, but it was so poorly implemented that it failed to have an effect on anything. In order for something to be influential, it needs to be effective and to have a positive effect on the rest of gaming. I think it's fair to say that Trespasser didn't really have any effect on the gaming landscape.

I basically agree, though I think the sole fact that Trespasser inspired Gabe Newell means it had some effect on the gaming landscape - just not as much as HL or HL2.

Chalk it up as one of the underappreciated, albeit flawed, gems of the nineties.

Halo is not a influential FPS apart from being a good console FPS. Were Doom,Half Life and GoldenEye 64 are much more influential.

I'm not a big fan of Halo, but I would differ: Halo popularized - not invented - sprawling outdoor maps, limited-weapon carrying, rechargeable health, and frequent employment of vehicles, and you could see the industry-wide shift towards Halo knock-offs after it was released. So if it's not a tenth the game GoldenEye was, it's similarly influential.

GTA seems more like a honorable mention to me, not the father of a genre, like Dune 2 for example.
Also I'm not sure the Hulk counts. Yeah it's a free-roaming gameworld, but free-roaming already existed before GTA. The Elder scrolls comes to mind.

Yes, except GTA III was the clear influence on 90% of the sandbox games coming out after its release - which were alot more than before, I might add - and not Elder Scrolls, surely owing in part to the disparity between their commercial success.

So I'd say it's alot more than an honourable mention - more like top twenty most influential titles ever.

Pitfall
Super Mario Bros.
Space Invaders
Pacman
Pong
Final Fantasy [VII]
Doom [or Halo/Halo 2]... also Goldeneye for starting the whole console FPS in infancy
Defender
Street Fighter 2
Virtua Fighter
Super Mario 64
Zelda: Ocarina of Time
Metal Gear - Not MGS
Populous
Sonic the Hedgehog
Tetris
Dune II

There's alot to add here (and get Halo 2 off that list!):

OXO - 1951 - tic-tac-to, and the first computer game ever.

Tennis for Two (similar to Pong)- 1958 - first game built on analag rather than computer hardware.

Spacewar! - 1961 - since it featured physics, an interfance, etc., many argue that this university-designed game is actually the first video/computer game ever.

pedit5 - 1974 - first dungeon crawl video game ever, and was built on the PLATO engine. Had a major influence on text-based games like NetHack, that in turn spurred the creation of Ultima & Wizardry, which in turn led to more visual adventures like Ultima III & Dragon Warrior.

Adventure - 1976 - the first adventure game ever, and the basis for the name of the genre. God, the latter point alone should ensure it a spot.

Mystery House - 1980 - the first visual adventure game ever. Without this, there's no King's Quest, no Monkey Island, no Myst.

Ultima & Wizardry - 1980 & 1981 - Wikipedia cites Ultima as the "first definitive commercial computer RPG" and an "important and influential turning point for the development of the genre." Wizardry is atleast as significant - we're talking about the genesis of RPGs as we know them, not FF7.

Ultima III: Exodus - 1983 - this is the first visual RPG that's obviously a progenitor to Dragon Warrior, FF, etc. Without it, they wouldn't exist.

Dragon Warrior - 1986 - the first frickin' popular JRPG, which makes it more influential than FF7 I would think.

Pole Position - 1982 - popularized racing games, and is the first title that's easily recognizable as being part of the genre.

Donkey Kong - 1981 - this is considered the first platformer, in the sense that it clearly resembles later designs like Pitfall! and SMB. Definitely deserves a spot on the list.

Karate Champ - 1984 - was the first fighting game identifiable as such, and Capcom took their cues from Data East when they built Street Fighter & Street Fighter II - only surpassing them obviously with the latter.

Kung-Fu Master - 1984 - is the first beat 'em up, and was a major influence on Double Dragon for the NES, which leads me to...

Double Dragon - 1987 - refined and popularized beat 'em ups, responsible for inspiring a slew of 8 and 16-bit games such BattleToads, the TMNT series, etc.

Super Mario Bros. 3 - 1989 - upped the ante for platformers to the extent that every single 16-bit entry in the genre was basically just trying to catch it: even the flexibility in the environments featured in Sonic, for example, seems like a paean to this title, and the ability to fly obviously resonated through the industry.

Tecmo Super Bowl - 1991 - the first sports game with, y'know, real rosters and stuff that a modicum of success. Without TSB it's unclear whether there ever would've been EA Sports as such.

Diablo - 1996 - not my favourite game, but it invented the point n' click RPG subgenre which eventually led to Baldur's Gate, etc. I would say it has to be on the list.

System Shock 2 & Deus Ex - it's hard to say which did more, but the two-punch combo of Deus Ex and System Shock 2 is essentially responsible for the introduction of RPG elements to shooters (or vice-versa, if you prefer).

Grand Theft Auto III - 2001 - popularized sandbox games; antiquated level-based design; not even worth discussing further.

- SimCity (SNES). Completely redefined what the term "game" meant to me in 1992. My message board handle is a legacy of this game.

Seconded since it was the first "build-shit" game and influenced RTS, Dark Cloud, everything, etc. but the real significant version is the 1989 build for computers.

 

[SimuLord]

Games that influenced me personally? In something resembling chronological order:

- Pac-Man. Got me into gaming way back in 1982 (I was five.)
- Contra. Mastering this game with my brother cemented gaming, particularly "hardcore" gaming, as an obsession in 1989.
- SimCity (SNES). Completely redefined what the term "game" meant to me in 1992. My message board handle is a legacy of this game.
- Aerobiz. It's a game about running a business? And it's FUN? It plus its sequel introduced me to the tycoon genre in 1993-94.
- Sid Meier's Civilization. In the summer of 1994 three things happened. I got my first serious girlfriend, I lost my virginity, and I learned that computers are for gaming. All due to the same girl.
- Caesar 2. Found it in a bargain bin around the time I bought my first home PC of my adult life (2000). Plebs were needed.
- Rome: Total War. Bought it on release day in 2004. Mind: Blown. Still playing it five years later and looking forward to buying Empire on Tuesday night.

 

[SsilverR]

tekken 5

Tekken 5 pfft
Tekken 3 is where its at!

nah .. i was a kid when i played tekken 3 ... bad things happened around me while i was playing that game now everytime i see it i associate it with that incident XD .. tekken 3 can never be a good game for me hahaha

 

[joystickjunki3]

There's alot to add here (and get Halo 2 off that list!)

Why would I take Halo 2 off the list when it influenced gaming as much as it has. Online gaming for consoles might not have exploded the way it did w/o it. If you can convince me that it was not influential at all, then I will remove it.

Awesome additions in the rest of the post, though.

 

[fenrizz]

Doom [or Halo/Halo 2]... also Goldeneye for starting the whole console FPS in infancy

Or Halo? OR HALO?!?! that truly is a slap in the face!
/facepalm

Are you in favor of Halo being on the list, or are you saying that it's insulting to put DOOM and Halo on the same, or a similar, level?

It's insulting to place Doom and Halo on the same (or similar) level in my opinion.
I'd rather see Wolfenstein 3D there

 

[GonzoGamer]

A bunch.
There's even some good ones (Hulk UD, Crackdown, Mercenaries, Godfather, Saints Row 2....) which is why I said it's one of the most influential games of all time. The OP asked what games we think had a big impact in gaming and GTA3 had a huge impact. What's the confusion?

GTA seems more like a honorable mention to me, not the father of a genre, like Dune 2 for example.
Also I'm not sure the Hulk counts. Yeah it's a free-roaming gameworld, but free-roaming already existed before GTA. The Elder scrolls comes to mind.

Sure.
There were plenty of freeroaming games long long before GTA3 (like pretty much every RPG) but you have to admit that after the success of GTA3, that style (particularly the 3rd person sandbox) became quite a trend. The OP wasn't asking who invented what, but what had a big impact and GTA3 had a big impact on the industry. I didn't say GTA3 introduced anything or even did anything the best (which it didn't), just that it had a huge impact.

 

[bjj hero]

What about final fight? A scrolling beatem up whos charecters had different play styles. Its the first game I played quite like that. The fast one, the one good with weapons and a meat head wrestler with extra throws and a spinning lariat. A token wrestler has been in every fighting game ever since.

More interestingly it influenced real life. In FF Hagar was a pro wrestler who became mayor. Life immitated art when pro wrestler Jesse the Body Ventura became the governor of minnesota.

 

[joystickjunki3]

Doom [or Halo/Halo 2]... also Goldeneye for starting the whole console FPS in infancy

Or Halo? OR HALO?!?! that truly is a slap in the face!
/facepalm

Are you in favor of Halo being on the list, or are you saying that it's insulting to put DOOM and Halo on the same, or a similar, level?

It's insulting to place Doom and Halo on the same (or similar) level in my opinion.
I'd rather see Wolfenstein 3D there

I just don't understand all the hate towards Halo. Regardless, hate it or not, it was very influential. And if you (meant ambiguously) can't admit that, then I guess it's ok for me to say that the PlayStation 2 wasn't influential or good.

 

[fenrizz]

Doom [or Halo/Halo 2]... also Goldeneye for starting the whole console FPS in infancy

Or Halo? OR HALO?!?! that truly is a slap in the face!
/facepalm

Are you in favor of Halo being on the list, or are you saying that it's insulting to put DOOM and Halo on the same, or a similar, level?

It's insulting to place Doom and Halo on the same (or similar) level in my opinion.
I'd rather see Wolfenstein 3D there

I just don't understand all the hate towards Halo. Regardless, hate it or not, it was very influential. And if you (meant ambiguously) can't admit that, then I guess it's ok for me to say that the PlayStation 2 wasn't influential or good.

It's mostly that it's so amazingly overrated.
What exactly did it influence?

 

[veloper]

GTA seems more like a honorable mention to me, not the father of a genre, like Dune 2 for example.
Also I'm not sure the Hulk counts. Yeah it's a free-roaming gameworld, but free-roaming already existed before GTA. The Elder scrolls comes to mind.

Yes, except GTA III was the clear influence on 90% of the sandbox games coming out after its release - which were alot more than before, I might add - and not Elder Scrolls, surely owing in part to the disparity between their commercial success.

So I'd say it's alot more than an honourable mention - more like top twenty most influential titles ever.

This isn't so much about elder scrolls, but rather about the number of games influenced by GTA3.
Even if we count all the games you and GonzoGamer listed (True Crime, Saint's Row, The Getaway, Scarface, The Godfather, Spider-Man, The Hulk, Crackdown, Mercenaries), that's still a far less than a truly influential game.

Here comes Dune II again, the first RTS ever to feature the winning combination of base building + resource gathering + unit tiers, with an incomplete list of games that copied the same idea:

total annihilation, warcraft, starcraft, C&C, spellforce, age of empires, cossacks, supreme commander, empire earth, three kingdoms, fate of the dragon, dragon shard, settlers 3, populous 3, battle for middle-eath, warlords battlecry, warrior kings and most of these followed by their own sequels.

That's not even adding those RTSes to the list that deviated a bit from the Dune2 concept, though were arguably still influenced by it (like for example Majesty, battlezone, kohan, dungeon keeper or homeworld).

GTA3 cannot compare to that. A game like Doom can.
(yeah GTA3 can make the top 20, but I wouldn't reckon the top 10)

 

[joystickjunki3]

Doom [or Halo/Halo 2]... also Goldeneye for starting the whole console FPS in infancy

Or Halo? OR HALO?!?! that truly is a slap in the face!
/facepalm

Are you in favor of Halo being on the list, or are you saying that it's insulting to put DOOM and Halo on the same, or a similar, level?

It's insulting to place Doom and Halo on the same (or similar) level in my opinion.
I'd rather see Wolfenstein 3D there

I just don't understand all the hate towards Halo. Regardless, hate it or not, it was very influential. And if you (meant ambiguously) can't admit that, then I guess it's ok for me to say that the PlayStation 2 wasn't influential or good.

It's mostly that it's so amazingly overrated.
What exactly did it influence?

Halo was the first huge FPS to show that console FPSs weren't just dulled down PC experiences; they could actually be high quality. Massive influence w/ that recharging health thing too. Halo 2 made the online console gaming scene explode w/ life. I like the games, and I do think that they're overrated a massive amount. But I still enjoy them.

 

[mazdachris]

Apologies to anyone who has already mentioned it but I believe Parappa the Rapper for the PS was the first console beatmatching game and set the template for loads of following series including Guitar Hero and Rock Band.

Quake 3 Arena was probably the first game to demonstrate that a game could be created solely for the purpose of network/online competition. It got all of the elements together for absolutely top class online fun and is still just as good to play now as it was then. There aren't many games which can make the same claim.

 

[GuerrillaClock]

I know I've posted on this thread with this already but...
Elite!!
In terms of graphics, the open game design and an engine light years ahead of its' time, I'm struggling to think of a more influential game. It needs to be on this list, end of.

 

[sobaka770]

Halo is just a very good console shooter but it doesn't inspire anything because it's all been done and even better before it. With the amount of advertising put into the original game and overall very good quality of the product, no wonder it became so popular. It's like Call of Duty 4 - a great game, but in no case influential, because it's recycled ideas perfected to create a strong but forgettable game.

I didn't read the whole topic but oddly enough I didn't see World of Warcraft mentioned. Granted it's a pretty recent game, but it's a huge milestone of gaming, and it's impact is only getting bigger each day.

 

[mazdachris]

Halo is hugely popular, but really the award for influential console FPS must go to Goldeneye which really set the standard in terms of where you could take console FPSing (though I think one of the first console games to feature FPS elements may have been Jurassic Park on the SNES, and it was mostly these parts which actually made it notable).

Elite is an easy one to overlook because space sims (or whatever you want to describe that genre as) are not awfully popular right now. But definitely it spawned a whole slew of modern games from the same mould. One of my favourites was Freelancer, which is pretty much as close, I think, as any modern game has gotten to really recapturing what made Elite so good. Played multiplayer this is almost the perfect game.

 

[EzraPound]

This isn't so much about elder scrolls, but rather about the number of games influenced by GTA3.
Even if we count all the games you and GonzoGamer listed (True Crime, Saint's Row, The Getaway, Scarface, The Godfather, Spider-Man, The Hulk, Crackdown, Mercenaries), that's still a far less than a truly influential game.

Okay, stop being retarded. Tony Hawk, Spider-Man - almost every major franchise went back to the drawing board after GTA III because it antiquated level-based design and popularized sandbox gaming, becoming in the process one of the most influential games ever msde. What games did OoT influence? Because that's on the list, and its effect is alot subtler than GTA III's.

Also, as a recommendation: Virtua Cop, definitely. It was the first lightgun game with 3D polygons, and ushered in a new post-Duck Hunt generation of them (Time Crisis, House of the Dead, The Lost World, etc). that never would'be existed otherwise.

 

[FragKrag]

I agree. GTA III was much more influential than OoT. OoT was a great, great game (better than GTA III!), but not nearly as influential. If I had to pick a LoZ game, Link to the Past would be it.

 

[veloper]

This isn't so much about elder scrolls, but rather about the number of games influenced by GTA3.
Even if we count all the games you and GonzoGamer listed (True Crime, Saint's Row, The Getaway, Scarface, The Godfather, Spider-Man, The Hulk, Crackdown, Mercenaries), that's still a far less than a truly influential game.

Okay, stop being retarded. Tony Hawk, Spider-Man - almost every major franchise went back to the drawing board after GTA III because it antiquated level-based design and popularized sandbox gaming, becoming in the process one of the most influential games ever msde.

You already mentioned spider man. And no, not every game with an free-roaming game world is inspired by GTA3.
RPGs for one, are very unlikely to have been inspired by GTA3 in this respect, because there have been RPGs with open game worlds for decades now. Well known examples are the ultimas, the m&m and the ES series.

Convincing GTA3 clones is what you have to look for if GTA3 is really influential.

What games did OoT influence? Because that's on the list, and its effect is alot subtler than GTA III's.

Not on my list. Octarina of time is not an influential game at all.
Again, truly influential games get a clone following like Doom or Dune2.