Recently, I made an article detailing my favorite game characters of all time. I listed the ten that influenced my life personally, and I got some interesting comments that made me think. Why talk about game characters that influenced me? A much more interesting article would be the most influential games of all time on the gaming industry! So for this article, I will not be taking any personal feelings into effect. This will all be based off of what I believe were (and still are) the industry’s defining moments in gaming history.
10. E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial (ATARI 2600; 1982)
Now, before all you die-hard gamers come at me with torches and pitchforks, hear me out.
For any of you who don’t know, E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial is considered by many to be the worst game of all time. It is one of the first games to be based after a movie, with Atari thinking that it could really cash in, thanks to the success of the film. Unfortunately, the game’s creator – Howard Scott Warshaw – was given only 5 weeks to develop it. As a result, the game was an unacceptable catastrophe: for instance, E.T. would fall into invisible pits. The game is cited as a major reason for Atari’s massive monetary losses between 1983 and 1984, as well as for the Video Game Crash of 1983. IF that didn’t prove the game’s failure, E.T. was such a horrendous game that millions of unsold and returned game cartridges were buried in a New Mexico landfill.
Now, why is this game on the list of most influential games? Quite simply, because game creators don’t want their game to be the next E.T. It set a benchmark for terrible games; and spurred developers to always try to make products better than it (which, unfortunately, does not always happen.)
9. Total Annihilation (PC; 1997)
The RTS (or Real TimeStrategy) game is one of the major game types being created today. At the top of the line, currently, are games like Starcraft and Age of Empires. However, the game that really spurred the RTS into being was Total Annihilation.
In Total Annihilation, which released just a month before Age of Empires, is a game about robots fighting other robots in a massive war. As is the norm, the player makes all sorts of infantry and workers to fight the opposing armies, and in the end, you hope to win the fight.
Unfortunately, unlike Starcraft and Age of Empires, this game doesn’t have tons of sequels. In fact, it’s almost fallen off the radar, until recently, when a sequel was kickstarted. But the important thing is, it started the RTS idea. As a matter of fact, tons of games started out as an RTS.
Since this game delved into the RTS idea, it deserves a spot on the top 10 most influential games.
8.) Resident Evil (PS; 1996)
Many people who played this game will fondly remember it as being extremely cheesy; for instance, it is one of the first games to implement live-action cutscenes (that were disastrously laughable), and the script was extremely cringeworthy.
However, as cheesy as the game was, players will also fondly remember being absolutely terrified. You are exploring a mansion infested with zombies and monsters, uncovering a conspiracy revolving around a virus. Zombie dogs burst through windows, zombies burst out of closets, a monster trying to eat you around every corner… yes, this game was absolutely terrifying, and is largely considered to be the birth of the “Survival Horror” gaming genre. Because of that, it makes my list of most influential games.
7. Goldeneye 007 (N64; 1997)
The N64 is considered by many to be the golden age of gaming (no pun intended here). Game after game came out that impressed gamers and still, to this day, the games hold up.
Goldeneye 007 is one of those fantastic games. It helped define the multiplayer genre of gaming. People may remember playing as Oddjob, throwing your bowler cap at Pierce Brosnan; or killing Sean Bean with your AK-47, adding to Sean Bean’s constantly rising death toll. Either way, most who played it remember it as an excellent multiplayer experience, and the industry will remember it as one of the main games that broguht multiplayer to the next level.
6. World of Warcraft (PC; 2004)
Multiplayer games have been taking the public by storm for quite some time now, but not all multiplayer games are “couch co-op” (or, in other terms, able to be played on the same system and TV). One of the highest-played forms of gaming is the MMORPG – Massively Multiplaying Online Role Playing Game.
Many games in this genre exist – Guild Wars, Elder Scrolls – but none hold a candle to the gaming legion known as World of Warcraft. WoW holds over 11 million gamers, which is a number that the best of gaming publishers wish to achieve. To give an example, The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time (one of the highest rated games of all time) sold only about 7.6 million copies worldwide.
World of Warcraft also has quite the interesting fanbase. Not only have players who met in-game gotten married, but kids and roadsigns have been named after in-game characters and locations.
This is the game that game companies strive to have the sales of, and other MMORPG’s strive to have the player count of.
5. The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time (N64; 1998)
If it isn’t the highest rated game of all time, it’s definitely one of the highest. Garnering over 10 perfect scores from professional reviewers, this is the game that set a new standard for how good games can be. Its level of depth, its size, the number of sidequests and memorable characters- ask anyone who played it and you will most likely hear about how good it is, even if they rage about the dreaded Water Temple.
Even though its graphics are incredibly dated (since it came out in 1998), it looks incredibly good for its time, and still holds its own today. Gamers constantly replay the game, re-experiencing their glory days as Link. While E.T. is the game that publishers strive not to be, Ocarina of Time is one of the games that publishers hope to be.
With the release of Ocarina of Time, a new depth was added to the creation of games. While “Sandbox” (open world) games existed before Ocarina, they were few and far between, but Ocarina really proved that they could be done well and correctly. After Ocarina, the sandbox game has soared.
4. Minecraft (PC; 2009)
Over the years, ‘Sandbox’ games have taken the world by storm, but there is no game with a world as fully explorable as Minecraft. You can literally completely explore the entire world, AND completely take it apart, brick by brick, forming it into the world you want it to be. You can create cities, mansions, castles, villages, floating islands… anything you want, and the creator just keeps adding more stuff.
It’s easily one of the most creative games ever made. The graphics and design are incredibly simple, but the creator of the game has made, in the last 3 years, so much money that his bank accounts were frozen due to the government thinking he was laundering money.
The game has sold more than 15 million copies and has branched out to the Xbox 360, and soon the PS3. These are the numbers that games want to sell, and this game holds the depth that accurately describes getting your money’s worth.
3. Half-Life 2 (PC; 2004)
“Wake up, Mister Freeman. Wake up, and smell the ashes…”
With the release of the first Half Life in 1998, in-depth story was introduced to First Person Shooters. However, with the release of Half Life 2, physics were added to the fray with the Source engine.
And luckily, the physics engine worked. If it hadn’t worked, who knows how long it would have taken for real-life physics to enter the gaming industry? Not only did the game have a great story and compelling characters, but the physics added new problem solving elements to games, as well.
The game was a knock-out success, earning only high praise from professional reviewers (including an impressive 11/10). It revolutionized First Person Shooters as we know it and is today still taken as a model when creating new games.
2. Bioshock Infinite (PC, PS3, Xbox 360; 2013)
Without giving anything from the exemplary story line away, Bioshock Infinite is quite possibly the greatest game ever conceived, according to Google and tons of articles.
Why is this? Quite simply, the game combines excellent game play, fantistic story, and successfully involves a jaw-dropping twist that masterfully meshes together in an experience that literally does not let you put the controller down (I know of several people, myself included, who played it in one sitting).
No game has ever made such a mass conglomeration of gamers think at the end, either putting or throwing their controllers down and then freaking out, trying to discover how the ending actually makes sense, which it does. Never has a game involved an Escort Mission so perfect that it didn’t have you shouting curses at the person you were trying to protect. Never has a game been made that was so…
Well. The reader gets the point. It’s a good game. No, a great game, that in the future will be looked back upon as a game that revolutionized the entire gaming industry, from its game play to its story telling. It is a game that absolutely, 100% should not be missed.
1. Pong (Arcade; 1972)
And here is where it all began: Pong. A simple game of ping pong, where two players bat a ball back and forth. This is the game that hit the world by storm, and launched the video game industry.
What can be more influential than the game that launched a global hobby? A version of the game that could be purchased and brought home to play on televisions was released in 1975. Only 10 years later, the NES (Nintendo Entertainment System) was released to the public. Without the release of Pong, it would have taken much longer for the gaming industry to take off. If Pong hadn’t been a success… well, this list may not have been made.
Runner Ups:
Halo: Combat Evolved (Xbox, 2001)
Released in 2001, it took the world by storm and reinvigorated the multiplayer aspect in games. The story is engaging, and the graphics were top-notch for its time.
Adventure (Atari, 1979)
Not only was Adventure the first game to feature as easter egg (something hidden in the game that gamers who love to explore can discover), but this easter egg was also the first set of credits ever featured in a game. Before Adventure, game creators didn’t have their names appear in any credits. With Adventure, one disgruntled employee changed all that, creating an extra room that showed the names of all the creators.
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