Games that Changed the World of Gaming
This is ordered by year of release. Comments/suggestions are welcomed, but doesn't guarantee an addition.
A game does not necessarily need to be good to change the world of gaming; it just has to be influential, which can either be negative or positive.
A game does not necessarily need to be good to change the world of gaming; it just has to be influential, which can either be negative or positive.
140 Games
One of the pioneers of randomized story gameplay with the main characters and storyline randomized for a new experience every play. The game that put Sid Meier's name on the map (hehe).
One of the first popular city planning games. Criticized by actual city planners for oversimplifying the task, yet still created a boom in the job's market for years to follow.
The start of Will Wright's career.
The start of Will Wright's career.
The best selling PC game of all time. The "Mario of PC gaming." A household PC game popular amongst everyone regardless of gender or age amongst the very male-focused action PC games.
Started the trend of attaching physical items to interact/change something within the game. Popular examples include Nintendo’s Amiibos, and Disney’s Disney Infinity.
A box-pushing puzzle game that was so successful it's first time around that we're still seeing the exact same puzzle put into games 40+ years later (Big Brain Academy, Baba is You, etc.) It's one of the first games to get researchers fascinated in how complex the game gets later on and how it requires human skill past the capacity that machines can stumble to figure out. Some of the most complex levels can take hours or even days to complete! Read more here.
The game so popular it created a national coin shortage in Japan, as well as started the golden age of arcade gaming.
Popularized the idea of a saved high score, as well as shooters in general. Miyamoto, Kojima, and John Romero make mention that it was the game that introduced them to the concept of video games, making them fall in love with the concept and eventually creating their own.
Popularized the idea of a saved high score, as well as shooters in general. Miyamoto, Kojima, and John Romero make mention that it was the game that introduced them to the concept of video games, making them fall in love with the concept and eventually creating their own.
One of the earliest digital computer video games. Arguably the first arcade cabinet.
Introduced side scrolling and punching into the same game, starting the beat 'em up genre, although the genre didn’t officially become a recognized thing until a bit later.
The king of Real Time Strategy. Got so popular in South Korea that competitions started being streamed live on TV and created industries with professional players whose careers and livelihoods are based around the game.
Breathed new life into a genre formally dominated by only Harvest Moon/Story of Seasons. Once again shows how much can be done by one person with a passion, as well as birthed an entire craze of farming indie games that we're still very much in the middle of.
Seen as the fighting game that forever changed fighting games. Viewed by most gamers as the definitive fighter that all future fighting games are compared to.
Reintroduced two-player competitive fights (rather than one AI) to the mainstream which is often regarded as being a large savior of arcades, popularizing arcade tournaments, as well. Because of this, Street Fighter II shifted arcade competition from personal-best high scores to head-to-head competition. It also popularized and made mainstream the aspect of picking your character (character select screen). Remains as Capcom's best selling game.
Reintroduced two-player competitive fights (rather than one AI) to the mainstream which is often regarded as being a large savior of arcades, popularizing arcade tournaments, as well. Because of this, Street Fighter II shifted arcade competition from personal-best high scores to head-to-head competition. It also popularized and made mainstream the aspect of picking your character (character select screen). Remains as Capcom's best selling game.
Introduced 3D platforming with a dynamic camera and 360-degree analog stick that created a staple for a new genre in gaming.
The savior of the video game market. So successful that it made home consoles the future of video games over arcade cabinets. Perfected the concept of a platformer so well that most platformers released after were colloquially seen as “Super Mario Bros.” clones, until “platformer” culturally became known as its own genre.
Best stated by Tom Franczak: "The game that started the perfect storm of Nintendo nonsense wrapped in awesome gameplay with your best friends. Rather than make a serious racing game for the SNES, Nintendo had a better idea: bringing together all of the popular mascot console characters and having them battle on the racetrack. This was the first of a long line of Nintendo games that would continue to promote and brand the Mario series through multiplayer competition."
The game that helped create future Mario spin-offs such as Paper Mario and Mario & Luigi. Additionally, this is the game that helped popularize the RPG feature where players can amplify their attacks by hitting a button at a certain point during the attack animation.
Game which created the now incredibly popular "mascot-themed" fighting game. While past fighting games all focused on unique characters for its own series, Smash took characters from multiple different non-fighting games and equally pit them against each other.
A game which laid the groundwork for survival horror. Known in the West as the main inspiration behind Resident Evil, with certain elements such as use of Quick Time Events, inventory management, and specialized health restoration items taken directly from Sweet Home. This info is obviously also well known in the East too, but with the additional reputation of Sweet Home (the game) being better known and liked than the film it was based on.
The grandfather of immersive sims and player-powered gameplay. The beginning for first-person sci-fi story heavy action-adventures. Continues to heavily affect storytelling in games many years later, with games such as Deus Ex and BioShock stating System Shock as their main influence.
The original pong! The original idea of a ball flying across a screen - also the first game on the first home console, where it was eventually ported to the Magnavox Odyssey.
Revolutionized the game industry with the concept of a digital pet and blurred the boundaries of what a handheld game could be.
What I imagine is the first "restaurant-simulator" kind of game. If not, it's definitely the first commercially successful one. Serve your customers before they get angry and storm out!
First ever computer game with controls.
A game for everyone from moms to mathematicians. Coined the term "The Tetris Effect" with how addicting the gameplay was. First major Soviet influence into the video game world and a part of the thawing of the Cold War.
Direct effect on future successes of Bejeweled and Candy Crush.
Direct effect on future successes of Bejeweled and Candy Crush.
Large influence on dating simulators and adding dating aspects to future games. Influenced many future games on having players being penalized for saying the wrong thing to an NPC.
While her um, voluptuous chest definitely helped put her name out in the market, Lara Croft was one of the first significant female lead characters in gaming, most notably with advertising the game as having a female lead character without pulling a bait and switch on the player (sorry Samus) paving the way for other heroines in games. Also, one of the first successful third-person shooters.
Incredibly successful game that popularized skateboarding as a mainstream sport game category. While not a genre that’s very popular today, it was impossible to escape its grasp in the 2000’s, influencing uncountable series clones and even butting its way into games trying to cash in on the current popular gimmick (Disney's Extreme Skate Adventure comes to mind).
While standing on the shoulders of Batsugan, Touhou had started a whole series of Bullet Hell games as well as bringing the game to influence the genre to insane popularity over the following years.
In the 2000s, fan-made games catalyzed one of the most ridiculously large explosions of fanworks seen for any series of media, while all being completely approved to not only be made, but also be sold all with the original creator's approval! Imagine how much money he's losing from the gacha game alone lol...
In the 2000s, fan-made games catalyzed one of the most ridiculously large explosions of fanworks seen for any series of media, while all being completely approved to not only be made, but also be sold all with the original creator's approval! Imagine how much money he's losing from the gacha game alone lol...
Laid down the foundation for future games involving discovering secrets and hidden items. Direct influence on Legend of Zelda and Ys, as two examples.
Introduced the concept of button-mashing translating into speed. The faster you bash the buttons, the faster your character goes! Became a staple in a lot of competitive mini-games, especially sport ones.
One of the first definitive commercial computer RPGs, but more importantly, the first open-world computer game that you were able to actually see and interact with. Might be the first game to include a visible outdoor/indoor change in setting as you moved, as well as having the ability to have conversations with NPCs... will need to triple check.
Game that's intense player size coined the term "Massively Multiplayer Online Role-Playing Game" over "MUD". Introduced players to 3D environments on a map so enormous it was never before seen. 61 unique creature models, 48 unique weapons, and hundreds of small items each modeled in 3D, all while supporting 2500+ people at once to explore a given world.
The game that created the birth of the Unreal Engine; the engine that would eventually lead to other influential games that relied on the engine, such as Mass Effect and Borderlands. Additionally, Unreal Tournament raised the bar significantly in both quality and quantity for first person teamplay games, often being a big inspiration for future games in the same genre.
First 3D fighting-game.
The game that showed the future of motion-controlled gaming and helped cement video games as a household activity regardless of sex and age during a time where video games were often seen as a "teenage boys' club". Wii Sports didn’t just influence the future of the industry, it saw the future and pulled it to the present.
An RPG which helped create a crazy boom of popularity and solidify the creation of the genre - Along with Ultima, Yuuji Horii and Hironobu Sakaguchi both state that this is the game that influenced them to make RPGs for home consoles. The best selling computer RPG from 1981 to 1985. Additionally, it is the first CRPG to add a party system.
Often called the “Grandfather of 3D Shooters”, Wolfenstein 3D is the game that integrated first-person shooters into the mainstream video game market. It also established certain rules we’ve come to accept with the genre, such as high speed action and quick tactical thinking.
Most successful online game world ever. Insane effect on how video games were seen in general pop culture. Helped MMORPGs become a household name with it being referenced in The Simpsons, South Park, the Office, and multiple other mainstream visual media.
An insanely successful hit in Japan that influenced a significant amount of Japanese arcade games (Bubble Bobble creator Fukio Mitsuji references it as influencing his career).
Credited for being one of the first games in Japan to have a final boss, pre-rendered graphics, and an enticing storyline.
Credited for being one of the first games in Japan to have a final boss, pre-rendered graphics, and an enticing storyline.
The first fighting game to break away from the realism of competitive fighting (karate tournaments, etc) and focus on the crazy and impossible that action films often showed, a result of the game being directly inspired by Bruce Lee’s work. Yie Air also introduced the health bar system in place of the point system taken directly from karate. An important system that fighting games have followed ever since.
In addition to Cave Story, started the indie gaming craze of the 2000s. Showed how much could be done with RPG-maker and how successful it's open-ended nature could be in gaming.
23 Comments
Hi friend! Just finished the current list (still need to add notes for many but eh another day lol) - will definitely look into Xevious!
funny that all ocarina’s achievements were done before by mario 64
Resident Evil or Resident Evil 4
Hi friends - didn’t expect this to get so much attention. I’m still very much in the middle of working on this and adding games and all that. I put games i thought would fit and would rearrange and possibly take out later (hence the three elder scrolls - left them there to decide later which one to add, I go on Backloggd every now and then hence the WIP being left for a bit).
Mario 64 was one I was going to add after I wrote out notes I was happy about to explain why I added it. The very lovely passive aggressive comment I got about Ocarina of Time I do not understand as Mario 64 did NOT have a day-night cycle on the 3D graphics and was not open world in the way Zelda was, instead keeping you contained to the painting or castle you are currently in. But I know Mario 64 has a very… passionate.. fanbase so I will tread lightly with that, though I do find it influential.
Thank you for your comments - I work until 11pm EST and will continue adding notes and arranging things then. Thank you.
Mario 64 was one I was going to add after I wrote out notes I was happy about to explain why I added it. The very lovely passive aggressive comment I got about Ocarina of Time I do not understand as Mario 64 did NOT have a day-night cycle on the 3D graphics and was not open world in the way Zelda was, instead keeping you contained to the painting or castle you are currently in. But I know Mario 64 has a very… passionate.. fanbase so I will tread lightly with that, though I do find it influential.
Thank you for your comments - I work until 11pm EST and will continue adding notes and arranging things then. Thank you.
Small update of with descriptions added and a few more games added. Still massive WIP.
Super Mario 64, Halo, Devil May Cry, and Cave Story all seem to belong.
This is quite an ambitious list, let me give some suggestions:
- Ultima Online
This basically laid down the template for the RPG genre even before Dragon Warrior did it.
- Colossal Cave Adventure
First text-based adventure game.
- King's Quest
Popularized the adventure game genre.
- Half-Life
Basically laid out the blueprint for modern single player FPS games.
- Warcraft 3
It lead to both WoW and DOTA, the latter of which was the birth of the MOBA genre
- Fortnite
Whether we like it or not, Fortnite's monetization model has basically become the standard for every single live service game, not to mention it's one of the biggest factors in companies becoming more willing to let their properties crossover into other games.
- Ultima Online
This basically laid down the template for the RPG genre even before Dragon Warrior did it.
- Colossal Cave Adventure
First text-based adventure game.
- King's Quest
Popularized the adventure game genre.
- Half-Life
Basically laid out the blueprint for modern single player FPS games.
- Warcraft 3
It lead to both WoW and DOTA, the latter of which was the birth of the MOBA genre
- Fortnite
Whether we like it or not, Fortnite's monetization model has basically become the standard for every single live service game, not to mention it's one of the biggest factors in companies becoming more willing to let their properties crossover into other games.
8/16/23 updated - still WIP
List is officially off WIP! But I am still researching and looking at different thing to add, as there really is no limit to how many games influence the industry! I feel my list is very US-focused currently, so I'm looking into very influential Japanese and European games! Hope you enjoy - see you all around 👋
What about BioShock?
I know Catacombs 3-D and Doom are already included, but I believe Wolfenstein 3D is just as important, I consider it the first FPS that feels like the FPS genre we know today, and of course there would be no Doom without it. Also a little tid-bit for Medal of honor, it was influenced by Goldeneye as Speilberg saw his children playing Goldeneye and used ideas from it. I would also add GTAV to this list, an infinitely influential title. Team Fortress 2 should also be considered, it is THE hero shooter, as it popularized the genre and is still going strong after 16 years, Left for Dead was also a groundbreaking title in that horde shooter genre, idk what you'd call it, but I'm unsure if there was anything like it at the time. Assassin's Creed also laid out the blueprint that countless open world games have followed for the past 3 game generations. IDK that much about The Witcher 3 but I would also consider it, I believe it has influenced a lot of western open world games. Hotline Miami was also a big one, a small game made by 2 guys that exploded into the mainstream and catapulted Devolver Digital to success, Hotline Miami has influenced countless Indie and AA titles with its ultra-violence and aesthetics. I think that's all I can think of lol.
I feel like Tony Hawk 2 is worth a shot out for being the staple of skate games moving forward, even if the genre is dead nowadays.
Gonna chime in with suggestions for Devil May Cry, Batman Arkham Asylum and Final Fight.
11/12/23: Portopia Serial Murder Case, Ultima, Choplifter, Soko-Ban, I Robot, Lode Runner, Tapper, Track & Field, and Galaxian added with notes. Fixed a few past note details as well.
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Forget about Tales. Add Dragon Slayer II: Xanadu. One of the first action-RPGs, introduced the sword button that would be used in Zelda I, and Zelda II is pretty much a clone of it. As in, without it, we would have no Link
Some suggestions:
Ico - One of the first games to show the potential of the medium as an art form to many people around the world, and also raised the standard for artistic value in video games. Influenced many other directors, such as Hidetaka Miyazaki (Dark Souls), Neil Druckmann (Uncharted 3, The Last of Us), Eiji Aonuma (Twilight Princess, Breath of the Wild), Yoko Taro (Nier), Josef Fares (Brothers: A Tale of Two Sons), and Guillermo del Toro (Movie director, Death Stranding).
Ace Attorney - Popularized the Japanese Adventure Game genre in the West, and murder mystery/detective games in the whole world. You could also argue that it has created its own subgenre, which Capcom calls "Courtroom Drama". (Please, note that Ace Attorney isn't a visual novel. Visual novels are a subgenre of JADV. Ace Attorney would be considered a Command Select ADV, like Portopia and Snatcher, not a visual novel).
Castlevania: Symphony of the Night - Helped to create and popularize the Metroidvania genre.
Ico - One of the first games to show the potential of the medium as an art form to many people around the world, and also raised the standard for artistic value in video games. Influenced many other directors, such as Hidetaka Miyazaki (Dark Souls), Neil Druckmann (Uncharted 3, The Last of Us), Eiji Aonuma (Twilight Princess, Breath of the Wild), Yoko Taro (Nier), Josef Fares (Brothers: A Tale of Two Sons), and Guillermo del Toro (Movie director, Death Stranding).
Ace Attorney - Popularized the Japanese Adventure Game genre in the West, and murder mystery/detective games in the whole world. You could also argue that it has created its own subgenre, which Capcom calls "Courtroom Drama". (Please, note that Ace Attorney isn't a visual novel. Visual novels are a subgenre of JADV. Ace Attorney would be considered a Command Select ADV, like Portopia and Snatcher, not a visual novel).
Castlevania: Symphony of the Night - Helped to create and popularize the Metroidvania genre.
Not to mention MOTHER was quite possibly the first game to have a sympathetic villain.
4/9/24 Updated multiple descriptions while on a 5 hour bus trip - didn’t add any more games yet, but might do that on the bus ride back!
4/11/24 ALRIGHT - after yet another 5 hour bus ride, I feel very satisfied with what the games I have added and the descriptions I have changed, and how the list is overall! I have added the following games: Tony Hawk Pro Skater, MechWarrior, Galaga, Defender, Wolfenstein 3D, and Flappy Bird. There’s absolutely no question that I will change, add, delete, or whatever from this list some more in the future, especially after playing more games myself, but for now I’m very happy with this list in its entirety! If I did not add your game, it’s most likely because I found the game less so influential and more so just a really, really good game, couldn’t find enough information online without me playing it myself yet, or the game is famous for having a very impactful twist/story and I don’t want to spoil myself before playing (so with the latter two, I might add your suggestion later when I play it!). Please continue suggesting and throwing things my way - I’m more than happy to take a look at them! Thanks again 👋
Table Tennis inspired Pong, not just Tennis. Same cart, different ruleset
@Alena_03 thanks! I think I might replace Tennis with Table Tennis because it seems closer to Atari's pong cabinet, while Tennis relies on the cover sheet to know where the net is. Thanks again!
Funbil
1 year ago