Thought Experiment: The Criterion Collection Of Video Games

Basically "what if Criterion extended there branding to video games". For those not versed in movies Criterion is a DVD & Blu-Ray distribution company focused on making culturally/historically significant but niche films and shorts accessible to the average Joe & Jane in the name of cultural preservation.

Criteria:
1) Historically significant (started a genre, auteur director , started an art style trend, revolutionized gaming marketing or distribution, etc.) keep in mind historically important isn't the same as "good".
2) Not re-released often
3) "Can a start up conceivably get the rights" (for the sake of a fun thought experiment and to avoid flooding this with a ton of AAA Atari/Nintendo/SEGA/Sony Computer Entertainment titles). For the sake of flavor I'm also going to assume this was some sort of Criterion spin off brand meaning pre-existing movie studio relationships are a thing I can factor in. This is relevant since basically every still active major movie company has owned a game studio at some point in its existence.
* doesn’t need all three to be on list.
Feel free to suggest stuff in the comments!

DanceDanceRevolution
1998 release
Shenmue III
Shenmue III
Criterion tends to lump in related works. Also maybe an argument to be made for popularizing Kickstarter model in the AAA (something continued with TemTem, Psyconauts 2, etc.)
Celeste
Celeste
Could conceivably include the original PICO-8 game jam version as an extra.
What Remains of Edith Finch
What Remains of Edith Finch
Uses interactivity to play with narrative perspective.
The Last Guardian
The Last Guardian
The Last Guardian is included since Criterion tends to lump in
related releases (see Three Colors Trilogy or Quatsi Trilogy)
Undertale
Undertale
Critically acclaimed Toby Fox has become one of the fewsort’ve household name Game devs.
Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain
Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain
Kojima is basically the gaming aeuteur to a generation of gamers.
EarthBound Beginnings
EarthBound Beginnings
Surreal RPG that shaped the modern indie scene.
Chroma Squad
Chroma Squad
I imagine highlighting developing markets like Brazil would be a big part of a criterion style collection.
Five Nights at Freddy's
Five Nights at Freddy's
popularized horror games among generation Z.
Goat Simulator
Goat Simulator
Armageddon
Metal Gear Solid V: Ground Zeroes
Metal Gear Solid V: Ground Zeroes
Kojima is basically the gaming aeuteur to a generation of gamers.
Knights of Pen and Paper
Knights of Pen and Paper
I imagine highlighting developing markets like Brazil would be a big part of a criterion style collection.
Super Meat Boy
Super Meat Boy
One of the first modern "art house" indie games. Could include NewGrounds and original soundtrack releases as bonuses.
Amnesia: The Dark Descent
Amnesia: The Dark Descent
Kickstarted a wave of indie horror games in the 2010s. Even inspired Resident Evil 7: Biohazard.
Guitar Hero
Guitar Hero
Platonic ideal of what a rhythm game is.
Red Dead Redemption
Red Dead Redemption
Infamously hard to re-release due to spaghetti code
Blaster Master: Overdrive
Blaster Master: Overdrive
"Another WiiWare locked retro revival." - Submission by DeltaWDunn
Angry Birds
Angry Birds
Modernised smartphone gaming. Technically not playable on modern hardware as the modern version on Apple's gaming sub is free to play based.
Castlevania: The Adventure ReBirth
Castlevania: The Adventure ReBirth
Wiiware service, never rereleased.
Contra ReBirth
Contra ReBirth
Wiiware service, never rereleased.
Gradius ReBirth
Gradius ReBirth
Wiiware service, never rereleased.
Braid
Braid
One of the first modern "art house" indie games
Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots
Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots
Kojima is basically the gaming aeuteur to a generation of gamers. MGS4 specifically needs to be ported to non-PS3 platformers.
Portal
Portal
Critically acclaimed, one of the first modernish story driven games that would set the standard carried on by many AAA titles of its gen.
Sonic and the Secret Rings
Sonic and the Secret Rings
Contextualizes Sonic 06’ (split dev resources)
Sonic the Hedgehog
Sonic the Hedgehog
What not to do in game development. Highlights the struggles of AAA HD development that sank or harmed many companies in the seventh generation. Impacted the cultural discourse on the nature of fandom.
Mother 3
Mother 3
Would be the landmark centennial release I imagine.
Shadow of the Colossus
Shadow of the Colossus
First arthouse games to break into the mainstream.
Cave Story
Cave Story
Would include a version based on the 3DS remake as well as a bonus.

"The critical acclaim for this game that was developed by one person inspired many independent developers. Debatably also inspired the revival of the 8-bit style in the late 2000s seen in games like Mega Man 9." - Submission by Lozicle
World of Warcraft
World of Warcraft
Offline version, can host your own server.
Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater
Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater
Kojima is basically the gaming aeuteur to a generation of gamers.
Half-Life 2
Half-Life 2
The Half-Life series helped popularize Steam (and thus digital games) as a distribution platform
Katamari Damacy
Katamari Damacy
Surreal critique of capitalism.
Ty the Tasmanian Tiger
Ty the Tasmanian Tiger
First AAA Australia developed video game.
Final Fantasy XI Online
Final Fantasy XI Online
Offline version, can host your own server.
Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty
Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty
Kojima is basically the gaming aeuteur to a generation of gamers.
Ico
Ico
First arthouse games to break into the mainstream.
Shenmue II
Shenmue II
Criterion tends to lump in related works
Croc
Croc
Croc related works
Shenmue
Shenmue
Set the standard for cinematic titles for a generation. Was sorta a precursor to modern open world games.
Croc 2
Croc 2
Croc related works
Half-Life
Half-Life
The Half-Life series helped popularize Steam (and thus digital games) as a distribution platform
Metal Gear Solid
Metal Gear Solid
Kojima is basically the gaming aeuteur to a generation of gamers.
Panzer Dragoon Saga
Panzer Dragoon Saga
One of the two games that popularized the 3D cinematic JRPG trend of the PS1/PS2 era.
Queen: The Eye
Queen: The Eye
Sometimes something just gives off Criterion vibes and I can’t put my finger on it.
Croc: Legend of the Gobbos
Croc: Legend of the Gobbos
One of the first 3D platformers to enter active development (though Super Mario 64 beat it to market)
Final Fantasy VII
Final Fantasy VII
One of the two games that popularized the 3D cinematic JRPG trend of the PS1/PS2 era. PC version and all ports based on it might not work by 2038 due to a Y2K style bug.
The Elder Scrolls II: Daggerfall
The Elder Scrolls II: Daggerfall
One of the earliest examples of modern open world design, not as openly available as other entries in its series especially on consoles.
Time Crisis
Time Crisis
Accessory based games would lend themselves to this boutique label approach well. Time Crisis is really emblematic of light gun games as a whole.
Alien vs Predator
Alien vs Predator
Started the trend of modern shooter controllers by using a second stick for aiming.
EarthBound
EarthBound
Surreal RPG that shaped the modern indie scene.
Tokimeki Memorial
Tokimeki Memorial
First mainstream dating sim.
Final Fantasy VI
Final Fantasy VI
Lots of Squaresoft games have inconsistent re-releases that fuck with sprite art which is a problem. I could see these being the equivalent of Kurosawa movies.
Doom
Doom
One of the earliest “3D” games, important to shooter design
Virtua Fighter
Virtua Fighter
"Helped popularizing 3D polygonal graphics. Allegedly inspired the PlayStation's 3D graphics hardware." - submission by Lozicle
GayBlade
GayBlade
Early LGBTQ+ representation in the media.
E.V.O. : Search for Eden
E.V.O. : Search for Eden
Arthouse vibes
Shin Megami Tensei
Shin Megami Tensei
Translated for the first time.
Mortal Kombat
Mortal Kombat
Caused the creation of the ESRB.
Wolfenstein 3D
Wolfenstein 3D
One of the earliest “3D” games, important to shooter design
Another World
Another World
Earliest example of cel shaded art style.
Princess Maker
Princess Maker
First dating sim.
Street Fighter II
Street Fighter II
Platonic ideal of a fighting game. - submission by DeltaWDunn
46 Okunen Monogatari: The Shinka Ron
46 Okunen Monogatari: The Shinka Ron
Would be the first big translation effort of the whole affair.
Turrican
Turrican
Beloved game in the UK gaming space
ActRaiser
ActRaiser
Really early example of a game playing with genre.
Metal Gear 2: Solid Snake
Metal Gear 2: Solid Snake
Kojima is basically the gaming aeuteur to a generation of gamers.
Sweet Home
Sweet Home
One of the first games of Resident Evil creator Shinji Mikami.
Final Fight
Final Fight
"set the blueprint for many 90s Beat-Em-Ups and also was integral to the creation of Street Fighter II" - Submission by DeltaWDunn
Caper in the Castro
Caper in the Castro
Earliest recorded LGBTQ+ content in the industry.
Freedom: Rebels in the Darkness
Freedom: Rebels in the Darkness
Work of Muriel Tramis a prominent early black auteur in the industry.
Wasteland
Wasteland
One of the earliest CRPGs
Méwilo
Méwilo
Work of Muriel Tramis a prominent early black auteur in the industry.
Tecmo Bowl
Tecmo Bowl
Early mainstream sports game. Might have less licensing BS than say the first Madden, NFL2K or FIFA titles.
Metal Gear
Metal Gear
Kojima is basically the gaming aeuteur to a generation of gamers. MG is MSX version
Gyromite
Gyromite
ROB saved the US gaming market in the 80s.
Stack-up
Stack-up
ROB saved the US gaming market in the 80s.
Gradius
Gradius
Significant early smhup.
Gauntlet
Gauntlet
One of the earliest examples of a critically acclaimed multiplayer experience
Tetris
Tetris
Should arguably be the GameBoy version, but I'm using original releases for this list, popularized mobile gaming and puzzle games.
King's Quest: Quest for the Crown
King's Quest: Quest for the Crown
One of the first point and click adventure games
E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial
E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial
Crashed the industry in the 70s which forced an overt industry pivot to kids as the primary demographic of the 8-Bit and 16-bit era when Nintendo entered the fray.
Tempest
Tempest
Gave us the Polybius conspiracy which has had tremendous impact on pop culture.
Zork
Zork
One of the earliest franchised games, represents the early text adventure games popular in regions like the United Kingdom in the 70s & 80s.
Heavyweight Champ
Heavyweight Champ
First fighting game
Pong
Pong
First commercially successful game popularized the arcade format.
Spacewar!
Spacewar!
First public video game.
Tennis for Two
Tennis for Two
First video game broadest definition has parallels to "A Trip To The Moon" in the actual Criterion collection

2 Comments


10 months ago

Love this idea and love this list. I had some suggestions.
Virtua Fighter (1993): Helped popularizing 3D polygonal graphics. Allegedly inspired the PlayStation's 3D graphics hardware. Might also be worth including Yu Suzuki's other games, like Space Harrier, Out Run and Virtua Racing.
Cave Story (2004): The critical acclaim for this game that was developed by one person inspired many independent developers. Debatably also inspired the revival of the 8-bit style in the late 2000s seen in games like Mega Man 9.
Touhou Rei'iden: The Highly Responsive to Prayers (1997): The first entry in the Touhou Project doujin game series, which has inspired many fan works, including art, music, animations, and other doujin games.
Touhou Koumakyou: The Embodiment of Scarlet Devil (2002): The most popular and well-known game in the Touhou Project series.
Sonic the Hedgehog 2 (1992): This definitely breaks rule 2 (there are four ways to play it on the Nintendo Switch), but I think Frank Cifaldi made a good argument for it on the Insert Credit podcast, and I wanted to expand on it. His argument was that Sonic 1 and 2 inspired many imitator mascots with attitude, and Sonic 2 is definitely not the game they intended to release. How cool would it be to include bonus material showing the island maps and time travel ideas they had planned? I think they could also include the Nick Arcade and Simon Wai prototypes as bonuses too (albeit with some way to mitigate the crashing). Alternatively...
Sonic Jam (1997): Basically a Criterion Collection release of the Genesis/Mega Drive Sonic platformers. It probably has the most detailed museum of any Sonic collection. It's also the only rerelease to include difficulty options, with remixed level layouts designed by the original Sonic Team.

10 months ago

Might suggest a few more later but here's what I got now:

Alpha Waves is often considered to be the first 3D Platformer ever.

Jumping Flash! was a 3D Platformer released before Croc.

Blaster Master: Overdrive is another WiiWare locked retro revival.

Night Trap should be here for similar reasons to Mortal Kombat.

Street Fighter II: The World Warrior set the blueprint for pretty much every 2D Fighter.

Final Fight set the blueprint for many 90s Beat-Em-Ups and also was integral to the creation of Street Fighter II.

Star Fox was one of the earliest examples of 3D graphics on console.

Star Fox II was cancelled but eventually released by Nintendo, although its releases include a discontinued plug n' play and an online subscription.

Alone in the Dark is (to my knowledge) the earliest example of a fixed-camera Survival Horror game.


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