This (Console) Generation's Cultural Touchstone

[thetoddo]

So, with this generation winding down I've gotten to thinking (I admit I was influenced by the "Top 10 of this Generation" thread) about what game or games from the current generation will be considered the most significant when viewed from a few years down the line.

Each console generation has certain games that stand above the others not just for being good or fun games, but for pushing the envelope or trying something completely new, and thus are even now still held in esteem even if they have been surpassed to the point where the game itself would be considered unplayable by today's standards. Some examples from the past:

Goldeneye (N64): Almost single-handedly started the splitscreen multiplayer FPS genre, which is still going strong as console online multiplayer.

Final Fantasy VII (PS1): The marriage of well rendered CGI cutscenes with an RPG of (at the time on consoles) unheard-of size and depth.

So. What do you all think will be the games that we will look back on as significant to gaming as a whole?

For me I'd have to give it to the Mass Effect Trilogy, not so much for what was accomplished (or failed to accomplish, but that's another 50 threads on this forum alone) as what they showed was possible with characterization and carryover from game to game. Love it or hate it, we'll likely be talking about it 10 years from now as the first of its kind.

I'd also put TellTale's The Walking Dead in there, but I think it remains to be seen if it will be remembered just as a great game or as the revival of the adventure genre.

 

[scorptatious]

Probably Bioshock. The game had a pretty big impact as a whole with it's imaginative world, iconic enemies in the form of Big Daddies, and that ONE scene.

I would assume COD4 would be up there to, as it was a pretty huge success that spawned a bunch of games afterwards. Or was it another COD game that did that? I don't know, I never really played the games.

 

[Maximum Bert]

What are Goldeneye and FFVII considered unplayable now? I still play the latter regularly while I am sure I could still play Goldeneye and have a lot of fun if I bothered to set up my N64.

Anyway for this gen it would have to be a game that sold lots so its well known and generally considered to be mainstream and good sooooo

COD4 and Wii play I guess thats the only two that fit for me although I dont think it will be quite like FFVII or Goldeneye or Super Mario Bros or Ocarina etc mainly because its been dragged on and now people are starting to tire of seeing it sullying its memory.

The two that will always stick in my mind from this gen will be Valkyria Chronicles and Xenoblade Chronicles both of which are underplayed especially the sublime Valkyria Chronicles now its destined forever to be a cult classic instead of a full blown classic.

 

[thetoddo]

Didn't mean to imply Goldeneye or FF7 were unplayable now, when I wrote that bit I was considering putting Resident Evil 2 into the mix and going back and playing that game was torturous for me a few months back. Don't get me wrong, it's one of my favorite games ever but the controls take me out of the game now just due to what I have come to expect from a modern game.

 

[songnar]

Easy.

Farmville.

No, really, think about it. That's where the direction of our next generation is sprinting even as we speak. No other game had previously done so well at micro-transactions before.

 

[b.w.irenicus]

Didn't mean to imply Goldeneye or FF7 were unplayable now, when I wrote that bit I was considering putting Resident Evil 2 into the mix and going back and playing that game was torturous for me a few months back. Don't get me wrong, it's one of my favorite games ever but the controls take me out of the game now just due to what I have come to expect from a modern game.

I actually consider neither of the three as unplayable today (yeah, RE2 takes some getting used to, but I'm still fine with it, as pure gameplay was never Resident Evils selling point and the rest is still there).

But to stay on topic:

I'd say Call of Duty 4 (for better or worse), as it spawned numerous imitators. Then ther is Bioshock with its iconic aesthetics. And of course the mother of cover-based shooters, Gears of War (yeah I know there way some obscure PS2-titel before that )