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[Spank-A-Thon]

Okay, serious discussion time folks. This one is going to require you lot to do some serious thinking and justification in your posts.

What I would like you to do is to pick a game, and explain why you feel it has in some way revolutionised gaming. I'd like to see some level of detail here. I don't wanna read stuff like 'GTA rocks man'.

What features did the game bring that were new or innovative? Maybe the game was simply excellent in execution such that it perfected existing ideas. Maybe it spawned (or popularised) a whole new genre of games....

Here's mine...

For me, one of the most influential games ever was called 'Defender' by Williams. For those who don't know about it, it was an arcade machine released in the early 80's and was ported to most, if not all, 8-bit computers. And it was the difinitive shoot-em-up...

Defender introduced a couple of concepts that were brand new to the gaming world - and these concepts definitely changed the face of gaming.

Perhaps the biggest concept was that 'Defender' introduced a game world. No longer was the player restricted to a single screen - in Defender, the screen scrolled. All of a sudden, the player had more to worry about other than what he could see. By making use of the radar (another first for gaming too), the player had to keep tabs on what was happening in other parts of the game world and respond accordingly.

This was a massive change from that of the millions of Space Invader derivatives - and coupled with the very quick gameplay - left a lot of gamers very confused... Defender became a game for the hardcore. A Defender expert, sublimely creating an amazing spectacle of vector colour, was something to watch indeed. Defender was the loudest, fastest and most colourful game of it's era. And did I mention the smart bombs? It was also the first game to have a smart bomb!!!

This is why I feel Defender changed the face of gaming. Now you tell me yours...

- S

[Capoeira]

Well I'm not quite sure if this a reply you're looking for. But does anyone remember a game for Sega Dreamcast called Caution: Seaman? It was a game where you grow your own fish out of scratch. And as it matures into a grown fish, you can talk to it with a microphone that comes with a game. I would have thought this game would have been a pioneer towards similar games. However this particular game wasn't as big a hit was it was in Japan.

[trunks69420]

Allright, this probably sounds a little cliche', but i will say it anyways. Metal Gear Solid. This game is one of my all time favorites for many reasons. The innovative gameplay, the revolutionary graphics(at the time ), and character development.

For me, until MGS, i was used to the platformer games that had no real story and you just bounced around from level to level in a mindless existence. MGS made me think, strategise, and made me want to play over and over again. I hope this is the kind of stuff that you were looking for, this is just my opinion to all you snake haters out there!

[BlackThornn]

Command & Conquer: Tiberian Dawn (the first one)

There are.. frankly more reasons I think this game was one of, if not the most revolutionary game in the industry. If memory serves it was the first real RTS, so there is a good point right there, in addition it was the first game to have tactical action going on between two sides that were actually different. Sure, rescource gathering was a little bit simplistic, but the units and strategies employed by either the Global Defense Initiative or NOD were truly diverse, and there were a couple of uber-strats rather than there being just one, so even when the game was years old there was still diversity. I could be building a mass of differing tanks and then go storming into my NOD opponent's base only to be swarmed by massive numbers of cycles that picked off half my tanks before being squashed themselves.

Wow. Off-track much? ..Anyway.. That is what I believe was the most revolutionary game out there, it redefined the gaming industry even with just the onslaught of clones that came afterward.. it was not perfect but C&C is one of the most fun games out there even now. Probably could be considered lame reasons, but gimme a break, I haven't had my coffee yet.

[kupoartist]

The single most influential game, in my opinion is ID Software's DOOM. It is widely considered to be the father of all the FPS genre, and all the games in the entire genre definatley have a lot to thank it for. It also started the entire Multiplayer scene off. True, Online RPGs (mostly MUDs) had been around for ages, but only the pointy-hatted beardy-weirdy peoples. DOOM made multiplayer gaming popular over networks, and generally created a second Genre almost by accident.

The only game i'd say DOOM has to answer to, would be Ultima Underworld (worked on by System Shock and Deus Ex guy Warren Spector dontcha know ^_^), simply because of Doug Church's groundbreaking First-Person 3d engine, that was effectivly the predecessor to all others (true, Wolfenstein 3D was out at the same time, but UU had an engine that was about 30 generations ahead : a fact seen again when System Shock 1 is compared to DOOM.) But neither UU or Shock1 are as groundbreaking as DOOM : DOOM single-handedly made PC gaming popular whereas the other two i've mentioned were hardly played by anyone. Fools ^_^

Oh and C&C did a similar task, in the way it made PC gaming more popular and helped establish the RTS genre (the genre was actually started by another Westwood game : Dune 2). But it loses out to DOOM beacause it came after it.

[GaseousSnake]

My first Pick would have to be the First Mario game.This game really revolutionised platform games by introducing elements of most gaming genres.IMO it formed the basis for all the platformers of today.

[Esjay]

It would have to be the original Legend of Zelda for the NES/famicom. It was an incredible game for it's time. It was one of the first games to have an alternate quest, equippable items, a currency system, and a built in save feature, making passwords obsolete. It had plenty of secrets and depth, and yes, even a storyline, altough it was a bit cliche. Without the Legend of Zelda, we may never have seen the birth of Final Fantasy

[Mercury Shadow]

Originally posted by Esjay
It would have to be the original Legend of Zelda for the NES/famicom.

Hell yeah Esjay! You stole mine though But you pretty much summed it up.

[Esjay]

lol, sorry man. But it was a great game, wasn't it? I remember that game was the first one that ever made my parents tell me that I was obsessed with gaming...lol

Other than Legend of Zelda, there was the original Metal Gear. It had an excellent storyline (if it had been CORRECTLY translated that is), and obviously, it spawned the excellent gameplay that is the backbone to MGS1 and MGS2 ^_^

[Sword 4 Hire]

Probably FFVII...this game was a real eye opener to many. It's probably the best Final Fantasy in the series and it really helped RPG's everywhere get the recognition they deserve. The all new cutscenes and the 3D sprites...the incredible story and memorable characters...this game is probably the best RPG to date in my opinion.

[Esjay]

wait, I have another game that changed the face of gaming, and I'm surprised that I didn't mention it in my first post. When this game first came out, there was NOTHING else on the north american market like it, and almost everyone loved it....yes, I'm talking about Parappa the Rapper. When it first came out for the PSX, I picked it up and there was NOTHING like it, it actually invented a new genre of gaming, the 'music' genre. Whenever someone would ask me what type of game it was, instead of being able to simply say what genre it was, I had to explain the entire game. There may be a lot of people I know that think Parappa is lame, but without the Hip Hop Hero, awesome games like the DDR series may never have existed...PTR actually invented a genre, as did Zelda and Mario...that's pretty impressive in my book

[BowevelJoe]

Goldeneye definantly was one, it changed FPS forever, damn it was awsome, i dont think i have put that many hours into any other game lol

anothe would have to be Halo, although new it has changed FPS forever also, everything about it has went to the next level..i am hoping that we will see more and more improvements in this genre of games in the future!

Pong changed everything, it was basically the beginning of gaming so to speak. They made special TV sets that had this game built into it with little paddles to move around the bars on the screen. (im talking about "console" gaming here Lol)

As for shooters, the first one that had "mesmerizing graphics" and just kicked ass all around would be none other than Wolfenstien 3D, that game kicked major ass for its time, and it still does, if you can stand the graphics X_x lol, anyways as you see i am into the shooter genre...


as for platformers, mario wasnt the one who started it all, he had a bit of help from good ol donkey kong...

and another game that changed everything was Tetris, a highly addictive little bugger it was. Also pac man, no telling how many quarters were spent in those machines lol...

ok, i better stop before i write a book....

[kupoartist]

Originally posted by BowevelJoe
Goldeneye definantly was one, it changed FPS forever, damn it was awsome, i dont think i have put that many hours into any other game lol

anothe would have to be Halo, although new it has changed FPS forever also, everything about it has went to the next level..i am hoping that we will see more and more improvements in this genre of games in the future!

I'll agree that these games are pretty awesome, but I don't see how the particuarly influenced, or will influence their genres. When Goldeneye came along, it didn't redefine the FPS genre at all. It just perfected the old ways of doing it (a la' Quake). I'd say Half-Life was more influential than Goldeneye, but neither really show signs of that much influence in FPS', especially when compared to DOOM (or to a lesser extent, W3D for its engine, Quake for its Deathmatch or Counter-Strike for its teamwork and Realism.). As for Halo, only time will tell. But it does have the handicap of being a console game. The Mouse and Keyboard Rule ^_^

[BowevelJoe]

counter strike and realism? ehh, that game is far from being realistic Lol... ahh, i would say that Goldeneye did influence FPS, it raised the bar for other FPS, you didnt see any FPS with the effect that you shoot them in the arm, they hold thier arm in pain, you shoot em in the leg, they grab thier leg, you shoot em in butt and they hold their butt in pain etc etc, it really did influence FPS alot, most FPS only had the You shoot em in the head and they die in one shot, and i can tell that you arent much of a console gamer ah well, PC FPS are kick ass because of the multiplayer support...4 people is good, but split screen is annoying...

Half life was fluential though, it raised the bars for PC gaming, and i was kinda trying to stick to console...

[kupoartist]

hehe... I suppose if you put the Goldeneye arguement that way, it was kind of influential.... Shame the natural progression was Soldier of Fortune (crap... crap....)

BTW, the PC 007 game(there i go again with the PC bias ^_^) looks very good....