The 10 Most Important Video Games

[wraggster]

via kotaku (http://kotaku.com/gaming/history/the-10-most-important-video-games-243544.php)

Henry Lowood, the curator of the Stanford University History of Science and Technology Collections, announced this past week a list of the 10 Most Important Video Games of All Time. This game canon has been created to preserve to cultural and historical significance of gaming. The list is a result of a collaboration between Lowood, Warren Spector, Steve Meretzky, academic researcher Matteo Bittani and gaming journalist Christopher Grant from Joystiq, and represents the games we must protect at all costs...our cultural artifacts.

Spacewar! (1962)
Star Raiders (1979)
Zork (1980)
Tetris (1985)
SimCity (1989)
Super Mario Bros. 3 (1990)
Civilization I / II (1991)
Doom (1993)
Warcraft (Series) (1994)
Sensible World of Soccer (1994)

The games all represent firsts for lasting genres, such as adventure games, multiplayer, FPS, story-driven RTS, et cetera. Each gamer is required to save these titles to a microchip embedded in the base of their skull in order to preserve our gaming heritage.

[Solidsnake3000]

ok this is very of topic but does any one know how to use rapidshare or mega upload for an unlimited about of time pm me if u know how the reason iam posting this is when u post on a new thread your answers come faster you know

[gelon]

Pong?

[zorbas]

myst?

[fatdad]

wolfenstein 3d , space invaders , asteroids, pong, grandstand lightgun game on the home console, outrun....way more important than the list above...first full 3d game, first lightgun game , racing game with multiple routes , the other 3 had the biggest worldwide impact of any arcade machine......then again what doe's a professor know that a old gamer doesn't..lol

[Cloud_35]

There are no graphic adventures there....

Nobody likes 'em now? I guess there should be a place for at least one of LucasArts' classic ones. Like Sam N' Max, Monkey Island. Maybe even one Broken Sword. Anyway I loved zork :) one of my favorite txt games (after The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, of course :D). Doom. What can I say? There's almost no console with a port of it. Good list, you're, i'm gonna buy that chip u say now :rofl:.

[gdf]

seriously: Zelda OOT. It set the standard of adventure games. I'd also say that Oblivion is a standout title, purely for the sheer size. FFVII. Castlevania.

[woods05]

Loz : oot

[Tron_Fan]

Lists like this are useless, because no one will ever agree to the "best of" or "most influencial" video games. I am certainly not going to ever think "Sensible Soccer" as a very influencial game.

[Broadus]

Heh, are they serious with the microchip thing?
Anywho, I'd have to say I completely agree with that, except for the games that I'm not familiar with so I can't say anything about them.
I might argue against the "Doom" thing, as Wolfenstein 3D came before Doom, though Doom was a lot more popular than Wolfenstein 3D by my recollection, especially with its multi-layered environments.

[aznflameboy]

wat happened to Zelda or Pokemon? LOL Those were like my all time fav RPGs and it should make this list also. I agree w/ tetris though. Its still as addictive. LOL

[JKKDARK]

omg this is an horrible list

[wolfpack]

even though wolfenstein came before doom, id still say doom should be on the TOP of that list... plus i want to make an addition to that list... TOONSTRUCK!

[Ziim]

This list is mostly BS! The big one missing is Mario 64. How the F#@k can you leave out the game that ushered in the 3D era???? How many games have been based off of it? This list is crap and it shows that the D#@k weeds dont know jack about gaming, PERIOD!

[Shadowblind]

Wolfenstein came before doom, but encompassed extremely little to what the entire FPS genre has became. Doom, I say is the absolute perfect FPS for that list! :)

[Basil Zero]

I think this list is meant for the OLD OLD OLD Classics and not like LOZ OoT.

But out of the entire list, i would agree with Super Mario Bros.

[DragonPimpsta]

i think this is a good top "10" list... im sure some of those games mentioned in replies would be in top 50 maybe... only one i dun agree with is that soccer game, prolly cuz ive never even heard of it.. just cant imagine a soccer game being important to gaming =/ unless it introduced some new general sports things that everyone uses now

[robocelot]

My 10 most influential (in no particular order):

-SpaceWar (and Computer Space)
-Pong
-Space Invaders
-Donkey Kong (or Hard Hat Mack, if you prefer computers)
-Elite (yes, over Star Raiders)
-Doom (it wasn't the first but it was the one that made people take notice of FPS's)
-Sim City (tied with Populous, with Civ a very close second)
-Grand Theft Auto (the original, though I must give honorable mention to Hunter)
-Ultima IV (RPG with goals other than hack/slash)
-Colossal Cave (Zork is derived from the old mainframe game CC, so by all rights you should go to the source)

Honorable mentions:

-Rogue (which led to Hack, Nethack, Apshai, Agaband, Diablo, etc)
-Dragon's Lair (crap game but introduced the concept of FMV and cutscenes, and yes -- I know Astron Belt was first)
-Pirates!
-Alone in the Dark (survival horror and a huge boost for suspense/horror games in general)
-The Softporn Adventure (M rated games, and Leisure Suit Larry is a graphical re-make of Softporn)
-Mortal Kombat ('realistic' graphics, media outrage)
-M.U.L.E. (how many games are 4-player simultaneous party games these days?)
-Any original multiplayer BBS door games (the predecessor to MUDS, which then begat MMORPG's)
-Half Life (tied with Marathon -- adds story and depth to the rather shallow FPS genre. Of course Marathon begat Halo...)
-Prince of Persia (I was also considering Karateka, an earlier game by Mechner, but I think the original PoP had more far reaching influence, most notably Tomb Raider)

[Joe88]

omg this is an horrible list

nods in agreement

[mario64champ]

very poor top ten...very much agree with whomever said myst

[lightningdude]

I can't believe the original Legend of Zelda didn't make the list. I agree with SMB 3, but no Zelda! Someone must pay!

[wind_mill]

IMO The First Super Mario game was a much bigger milestone than the third. THAT game set the standard for all platformers that came out after it.

And yes , im surprised Zelda OOT didnt make the list!

[GPF]

I'd move Zork to #1 , favorite all time adventure game for me. I prefered Quake 1 to Doom., the List missed a lot of classic retro games on that list M.U.L.E , 7 Cities of Gold and a lot of other c64 classics :)

Troy(GPF)

[souLLy]

I know it's relatively modern, but no Mario64? What 3D game hasn't that influenced?

[look]

dont need 10

pong (the daddy)
chuckie egg
kick off
yeaar kung fu or international karate
renegade

[Yungblaqs]

so what the hell happened to streets of rage 1 + 2 + 3?? those were great games....

[robocelot]

so what the hell happened to streets of rage 1 + 2 + 3?? those were great games....

Great games they may be, but how influential were they in the long run?

I would be more tempted to cite Double Dragon (or even Final Fight) as being the most influential side scrolling beat 'em up.

[BoiAzure]

Ok, I don't mean to gripe with this list, but since this seems the place... :)

How on Earth can they credit the 3rd installment of a *clearly* already popular game with being a "first" for a lasting genre? (SMB3) Seriously, I'd sooner give that credit to the original Donkey Kong than to Super Mario Bros. 3. That would be like crediting Halo as the grand daddy of the FPS genre.

[Baboon]

My 10 most influential (in no particular order):

-SpaceWar (and Computer Space)
-Pong
-Space Invaders
-Donkey Kong (or Hard Hat Mack, if you prefer computers)
-Elite (yes, over Star Raiders)
-Doom (it wasn't the first but it was the one that made people take notice of FPS's)
-Sim City (tied with Populous, with Civ a very close second)
-Grand Theft Auto (the original, though I must give honorable mention to Hunter)
-Ultima IV (RPG with goals other than hack/slash)
-Colossal Cave (Zork is derived from the old mainframe game CC, so by all rights you should go to the source)

Honorable mentions:

-Rogue (which led to Hack, Nethack, Apshai, Agaband, Diablo, etc)
-Dragon's Lair (crap game but introduced the concept of FMV and cutscenes, and yes -- I know Astron Belt was first)
-Pirates!
-Alone in the Dark (survival horror and a huge boost for suspense/horror games in general)
-The Softporn Adventure (M rated games, and Leisure Suit Larry is a graphical re-make of Softporn)
-Mortal Kombat ('realistic' graphics, media outrage)
-M.U.L.E. (how many games are 4-player simultaneous party games these days?)
-Any original multiplayer BBS door games (the predecessor to MUDS, which then begat MMORPG's)
-Half Life (tied with Marathon -- adds story and depth to the rather shallow FPS genre. Of course Marathon begat Halo...)
-Prince of Persia (I was also considering Karateka, an earlier game by Mechner, but I think the original PoP had more far reaching influence, most notably Tomb Raider)


Now this guy knows his games! :)

I would also include: Pacman, Bubble bobble, Robotron etc etc.

Super Mario on the N64 does deserve to be up there though... this game was simply amazing when it first came out.

For me the most important game ever would have to be Street fighter 2! ...it has influenced so many other games and still holds it own to this day. Perfection! :)

[paladinja]

Are you all mad? How is no one saying 'STREETFIGHTER II' should be up there?!? I mean I know that all but the devout are sick of it by now, but that doesn't change the fact that the CAPCOM masters brought a level of head-2-head competition to the arcade scene that just didn't exist before! Seriously, for YEARS i knew that if I went down to (insert name of local corner store) at any given time of day or night, there'd be a 3-8 person pile-up of hardcore loiterers honing the craft of 25-cent-whoop@$$, ready to eat a hearty helping of my sonic booms! The game sparked the life of a genre that to this day still has global competitions. Perhaps they just couldn't decide on an incarnation?
*cough*hyperfighting*cough*
"sensable world of frigin soccer", PUH-LEEZ! Go outside and play MF soccer! But can I get some props for my digital fightclub?!??!

...(sigh)... i hate making good points in dead forums...
{echo}

[robocelot]

Now this guy knows his games! :)

I would also include: Pacman, Bubble bobble, Robotron etc etc.

Super Mario on the N64 does deserve to be up there though... this game was simply amazing when it first came out.

For me the most important game ever would have to be Street fighter 2! ...it has influenced so many other games and still holds it own to this day. Perfection! :)

Heh, you know... I keep coming back to that list with new games. :-) Pac-man was originally on my list and I removed it to make space for Ultima. In terms of far reaching influence I think Mario 64 and Half Life are possibly the two most important modern era games. It was a tossup between Street Fighter II and Mortal Kombat and I went for the latter mainly because of legacy of controversy, finger pointing and litigation MK has left us. I wouldn't be opposed to having both SFII and MK on the list though.

I think the hardest part of making up such a list (other than having to come up with only 10 games) is that you have to find a balance between those blockbuster games that changed the industry and spilled over into other media (like movies) and the lesser known titles that changed things behind the scenes. I specifically cited Activision's Hunter because it's one of those 'way before it's time' games that pretty much gave you the 3D free roaming jumping into vehicles experience a full decade before GTA III. It's pretty obscure and unknown today though. The king of all 3D free roaming games is Elite, which takes you back yet another full decade. So where do you draw the line?

I'm very tempted to add Metal Gear Solid and Snatcher to these lists, not that i'm a Kojima worshipper or anything, but I think these titles helped cement the games-as-cinema (and vice versa) revolution that we are currently in now -- where cutscenes are seamless with gameplay and multi layered stories with good character motiviation.

[Cap'n 1time]

Quake... Of course Unreal Tournament killed Quake... but Quake was a very important game.