NationStates Jolt Archive

For the gamers around here, I have a very serious question for you (well...sorta).

What do you think was the most influential video game ever created. Some may say Tetris or Space Invaders, many may say Pong.

In my opinion however, I think the most influential game would have to have been the first "Legend of Zelda" for the original Nintendo Entertainment System (NES).

My logic for this is the sheer complexity of the game for its time. Most games back in the day had very simple premises, go from "A" to "B" or shoot "C". The Legend of Zelda on the other hand had far more depth. You still had to go from "A" to "B" (you still see that today), but in order to do so, you needed to collect "C", or switch on "D" or eliminate "E". But in order to do that, you needed to complete sidequest "F" and so on and so forth. Let us not forget the imfamous "Lost Woods" that tended to stump gamers for days, even weeks.

There's my two cents, now you.

Grand Theft Auto

Cause you know I totally want to go around shooting random people, hijacking cars, blowing up cars, running over random people, shooting the police, shooting the SWAT, shooting the FBI, shooting the National Guard, hijacking tanks, hijacking Apache Attack Helicopters :D, and blowing up random things again.

Not necassarily in that exact order, however, that's the way it just happened :D

Cya guys later, I have to go reinact all those things in real life because I saw it in a video game.

I think super mario bros (NES) has had quite an impact. Just imagine how popular the whole series is. It's still really addicting.
You're right about the meaning of simplicity. You just can't play some hard RPG or something when you're tired.

I'm going to say The Sims, because just when you thought that some video games might be good for you, one comes along designed to SIMULATE a REAL LIFE.

I know I've been hitting barrel throwing monkeys over the head with a huge hammer ever since Donkey Kong. I'm sick ... I really need help ... I just ... can't ... stop!

Grand Theft Auto

Cause you know I totally want to go around shooting random people, hijacking cars, blowing up cars, running over random people, shooting the police, shooting the SWAT, shooting the FBI, shooting the National Guard, hijacking tanks, hijacking Apache Attack Helicopters :D, and blowing up random things again.

Not necassarily in that exact order, however, that's the way it just happened :D

Cya guys later, I have to go reinact all those things in real life because I saw it in a video game.

lol, thats wicked

I know I've been hitting barrel throwing monkeys over the head with a huge hammer ever since Donkey Kong. I'm sick ... I really need help ... I just ... can't ... stop!

Don't be ashamed. Most of those monkeys have it coming.

Zelda was the logical offspringof the old Infocom games. Remember Zork? or Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy (must get both Tea and No Tea simultaneously to finish the game)? (or even dungeon hack?)

IMO the most influential game, the one that hd the most influence on the industry, was whichever FPS ID developed. I think it was Wolfenstein, but certainly Doom. (Wolfenstein had Nazi issues...)

The entire FPS genere (the single largest genre IIRC) owes its existence to ID.

I still play Doom (I & II & a zillion wads) on my PDA.

I think it was Pong. It was the first gameworth buying. :headbang:

Whichever FPS ID developed. I can't remember if it was Wolfenstein or Doom. (I think Wolfenstein was first)

The entire FPS genere (the single largest genre IIRC) owes its existence to ID.

I still play Doom (I & II & a zillion wads) on my PDA.

That would be Doom, Id's masterpiece. Wolfenstien was first however, and is THE original FPS in my opinion.

Tie:

Super Mario Bros. and Legend of Zelda

If not for the success of these two games, the video game industry might have been dead by 1990

Atari was struggling big-time, and at that time Nintendo had no competition for its NES.

It produced such greats as Mario, Zelda, 1942, Castlevania, Tecmo Bowl and Excitebike.... the success of these games (and others), led by Mario and Zelda, probably saved the industry.

My logic for this is the sheer complexity of the game for its time. Most games back in the day had very simple premises, go from "A" to "B" or shoot "C". The Legend of Zelda on the other hand had far more depth. You still had to go from "A" to "B" (you still see that today), but in order to do so, you needed to collect "C", or switch on "D" or eliminate "E". But in order to do that, you needed to complete sidequest "F" and so on and so forth. Let us not forget the imfamous "Lost Woods" that tended to stump gamers for days, even weeks.

You never played Ultima, did you? I think there have been many influencial games. Ultima has to be one of them. Space Invaders, Asteroids, BattleZone and PacMan (which is 25 this month, I think) definitely shaped the market. Wing Commander and Wolfenstein Castle also did so later.

That would be Doom, Id's masterpiece. Wolfenstien was first however, and is THE original FPS in my opinion.

"Mein leben!"

I might just play that here in a bit. (Gotta love DOSBox)

That would be Doom, Id's masterpiece. Wolfenstien was first however, and is THE original FPS in my opinion.

Nuh-uh.

http://www.dosgamesarchive.com/download/game/3

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/8/84/2cat3d_3.png

For the gamers around here, I have a very serious question for you (well...sorta).

What do you think was the most influential video game ever created. Some may say Tetris or Space Invaders, many may say Pong.

In my opinion however, I think the most influential game would have to have been the first "Legend of Zelda" for the original Nintendo Entertainment System (NES).

My logic for this is the sheer complexity of the game for its time. Most games back in the day had very simple premises, go from "A" to "B" or shoot "C". The Legend of Zelda on the other hand had far more depth. You still had to go from "A" to "B" (you still see that today), but in order to do so, you needed to collect "C", or switch on "D" or eliminate "E". But in order to do that, you needed to complete sidequest "F" and so on and so forth. Let us not forget the imfamous "Lost Woods" that tended to stump gamers for days, even weeks.

There's my two cents, now you.

"Influential video games?" Kind of an oxymoron, isn't it?

The most influential game, in my opinion, has to be Wolfenstein 3D for the PC!

Why?

Well, simply because it was the first, first-person shooter game. It's the progenitor of all FPS's from the original Doom - which came out soon after Wolf - all the way up to Halo 2.

I still play it now and then, too ;)

Nuh-uh.

http://www.dosgamesarchive.com/download/game/3

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/8/84/2cat3d_3.png

Oh nyah! Picky picky!

Grand Theft Auto

Cause you know I totally want to go around shooting random people, hijacking cars, blowing up cars, running over random people, shooting the police, shooting the SWAT, shooting the FBI, shooting the National Guard, hijacking tanks, hijacking Apache Attack Helicopters , and blowing up random things again.

Not necassarily in that exact order, however, that's the way it just happened

Cya guys later, I have to go reinact all those things in real life because I saw it in a video game.

Damn you Joe Liberman. Damn you to Hell!

No way, the most influential video game ever is SpongeBob SquarePants-Battle for Bikini Bottom

I don't know, "Playboy Mansion" and "Dead or Alive Extream Beach Volleyball" could give the sponge a run for his money...

Oh nyah! Picky picky!

:D

I'd have to say Doom, Warcraft and Command and Conquer are the most influential. Doom wasn't the first FPS, and Warcraft and C&C weren't the first RTS games, but they were the ones that spawned thousands upon thousands of shitty clones. Ugh.

You never played Ultima, did you?

Ah, yeah. They basically spawned all computer RPG's. And almost nobody remembers them anymore.

An arcade game called "Warp Warp". As I recall, it was the first video game featuring a movable sprite of a walking, human-like figure that could 'shoot' at opponents.

Grand Theft Auto

Cause you know I totally want to go around shooting random people, hijacking cars, blowing up cars, running over random people, shooting the police, shooting the SWAT, shooting the FBI, shooting the National Guard, hijacking tanks, hijacking Apache Attack Helicopters :D, and blowing up random things again.

Not necassarily in that exact order, however, that's the way it just happened :D

Cya guys later, I have to go reinact all those things in real life because I saw it in a video game.
he's totally right

Its really hard to say. You can say certain classics, but Im not sure thats really fair. We are still in the very beginning of video games, we have to realize these are all the classics, basically.

Its really hard to say. If I was considering real time strategy one of the biggest parts of gaming, I would have to say starcraft. While not being particularly innovative, it was basically the staple of a perfect RTS, at least in balance, and livelyhood. There are other good ones, no doubt, but starcraft was the standard that everything afterward was held up to.

What if I thought MMORPG's were the biggest part of gaming? Everquest would certainly make it, for most of the same reasons as starcraft.

But I suppose my choice is the Battlefield series(1942/vietnam/2). While it too wasn't particularly innovative(games like operation flashpoint and C&C:Renegade had similar vehicle controlling), Battlefield was really the first game to basically give you total control over war. From aircraft carriers, to Heavy Bombers, to medium tanks, to medics. While the naval part is played down in the later games, its fully moddable into the game, in any of them. Also, battlefield 2 puts in the commander mode, which puts a strategic mode, and a squad mode, where you can spawn where your squad leader is, heavily encouraging teamwork. The Battlefield series will probably be the most influencial game in coming years, being the staple of most first-person shooters to come out, at least in the sense of vehicules, etc.

Actually, come to think of it now, I distinctly remember the first (computer) game I ever saw - back in 1977, when home computers were still a major, major bit of 'wow' factor.

It was a political simulator, of sorts. As I recall, the game was called, 'Babaji'.

You were 'Babaji', leader of a fictional country. An advisor would prompt, 'Babaji, Babaji, the people are starving', for example. You would then make an either/or decision, or some other rudimentary adjustment. The game was by account quite addictive, although sooner or later, you'd be overthrown and your palace reduced to cinders by an angry mob.

Of course this was entirely a text-based game, but I would submit that game, or some contemporaneous version of it, was probably among the more influential video games - a foreshadowing of all the various Simulation games that have emerged in the last fifteen or twenty years.

Well, Pong and tetris for sure, they were certainly the pioneer games. Wolfenstein may have been the first big FPS but i have to say Doom is really the game that took the genre to a whole new level. As for RTS games, Starcraft is easily the most influential game with C & C as a distant second.

Mario and Zelda have gotta be the winners tho. Mario, like, DEFINES video gaming.

Altho there's one game that hasn't been spoken of here yet that certainly bears mention... the orginal "Half Life" was a real classic and a genre defining game, and ever FPS after that was compared to it.

Difficult to say, because there are lots of different aspects of games to consider. From a commercial standpoint, Super Mario Bros. and The Legend of Zelda were probably the biggest, because they were the ones that really kick-started the industry. LoZ and Gauntlet are also important because they were the first games to feature a complex plotline. Metroid was influential because it was the first game to demonstrate a "surprise" twist of an ending, as well as being a pretty stridently feminist game in retrospect that laid the groundwork for stuff like Lara Croft. As far as repeat playability and emergent complexity in games, no game is as influential as Sid Meier's Civilization, as it was really the first game to make every game completely unique because of the interaction of only a few simple rules. Donkey Kong Country was revolutionary for its graphics. Everquest was revolutionary for its MMORPG capabilities.

As a side note, I'm pretty sure there were old Nintendo games that operated as FPS shooter before Wolfenstein. Wolfenstein just happened to be the first really good FPS (in my mind, it still kicks Doom's ass, but the fact that it's good doesn't equate to revolutionary).

So really, which game you pick says more about what you emphasize in a game than anything else. I like complex storylines and emergent properties, so Legend of Zelda and Civilization get my vote.

The most influential game, in my opinion, has to be Wolfenstein 3D for the PC!

Why?

Well, simply because it was the first, first-person shooter game. It's the progenitor of all FPS's from the original Doom - which came out soon after Wolf - all the way up to Halo 2.

I still play it now and then, too ;)

Castle Wolfenstein and Beyond Castle Wolfenstein by Muse Software. Made for PCs when "Pentium" wasn't even a concept. A truly breakthrough graphic RPG in a sense. They were not shootfests like their descendants; you had to search containers and even guards you held up at gunpoint for items necessary to accomplish your goals.

:D

I'd have to say Doom, Warcraft and Command and Conquer are the most influential. Doom wasn't the first FPS, and Warcraft and C&C weren't the first RTS games, but they were the ones that spawned thousands upon thousands of shitty clones. Ugh.

I have to agree with you on this, entirely. Man, I remember playing the first of each...oh, the memories.

Zero Wing :P

Sewer Shark!!! Night Trap!!! Anything on the Sega CD or 32X....









waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaahahhahahahahahahahahahahhahahahahahahaha!

yeah, no. Just all the ground got covered before I clicked on the thread...

Zero Wing :P

No...that's the most influential video game phrase, second only to "our princess is in another castle".

I can't spell if that bothers you skip this post

My vote for Doom:

1) First compleately "hot" (in the media studies sence) Game: Yes wolfienstien was pretty in its day, but the graphics were primitive enough that players still had to use there imagination to make it cool. Doom was the first game that players could just be impressed with what was actually in front of them. This developement increased the magnitude of potiential gamers

2) Marketing distribution shift: After people realized the popularity of the Doom demo, all game companies technicly became shareware companies. Demos became an expectation, and even out side of gaming teaser content became the norm.

3) Death Matching: Doom invented death matching. Id printed on the Doom box"Once you've tasted human flesh you'll never go back", and they were right. Counter Strike, Halo, Quake, UT, 1942 are all stem from the popularity of Doom death matching. This advent lead to an infases on network code rather than single player games with expensive AI and detailed worlds.

4) The internet: Games started demanding way more internet bandwidth after Doom. Univericity servers were regularly crashed from people downloading the Demo in the first week of its release. The internet as a whole was choked with Death matchers

Okay, I'll make a serious suggestion. Folks, like it or not it's Pac-Man. I remember hearing about that machine being put out and it filling up. A friend of the family owned a bar that was one of those urban legend-esque instances of finding it 'broken' the next day because it was jammed with quarters. After Pac-Man the arcade as we knew it arose and while on it's death bed is still around today. It spawned the coin-op video craze and was the early watermark for home systems (Dude, on the new 5200/or ColecoVision Pac-Man is just like the arcade!!!). Defender, Donkey Kong, Centipede, et al-they did thier bit but Pac-Man was the poster child, it was the game that 'other people' took notice of and fueled video games as not a destraction but something that could make people a gang of money.