Grand Theft Auto III- the first game to really usher gaming into the mainstream. It was no longer just a "geeky hobby", but "cool" for everyone.
Dude..... Pac-Man. The game that created mainstream video game awareness.
Oh and while I think about it
- Final Fantasy VII - not only did it prove that jRPG's could be mainstream successful, but it also started off a wonderful trend of marketing the game with the CGI cut-scenes as opposed to the standard in-game controllable footage.
- EverQuest - the first game to get people addicted to MMO gaming causing them to severe off all their connections to the real world and eventually drive them to suicide.
Pong - Nolan Bushnell wisely placed Pong arcade machines in bars, so drunks would spend all of their pocket change on it, and video arcade gaming was born.
Never said the list was complete! I guess I agree with FFVII bringing RPGs to the mainstream --BUT-- Pac Man? Oh, Hell yeah! I think there was a time where the US Treasury had to mint more quarters cause they were all being stuffed into Coin-Op cabinets! I could name more arcade games, Space Wars, for example, but the industry was in its infancy at the time so the whole effect reached far less people than today. Significant, yes, but not nearly as "game" changing as the later ones!
Personally or in terms of gaming as a whole? Deadly Premonition and Shadows of Chernobyl pretty much ruined AI in other videogames for me, but their influence on gaming is absolutely nothing. 
I meant for Gaming as a whole. Yeah, I know I went a little overboard with all those Metroids, but at least the original and Prime belong there!
phantom_leo said:I meant for Gaming as a whole. Yeah, I know I went a little overboard with all those Metroids, but at least the original and Prime belong there!
Okay, then I can easily recycle content from the last Podcast. Here's the FPS timeline of major influences, all of which drastically changed the genre as a whole...so technically they didn't change everything. Damn it! Oh well, here it is anyway:
Wolfenstein 3D, Doom, Quake, Unreal, Half-Life, (Eastern European FPSs), Halo, Call of Duty 4.
I think Brain Training belongs in there too. It might not be a part of gaming most of us indulge in often, but it's influence can't be underestimated. It was the game that made the DS something for people of all ages.
- Resident Evil...the first truly cinematic game that felt like a movie.
- Tomb Raider....Giant tits and Giant worlds to explore with great puzzles and atmosphere to spare.
edgecrusher said:
- Resident Evil...the first truly cinematic game that felt like a movie.
- Tomb Raider....Giant tits and Giant worlds to explore with great puzzles and atmosphere to spare.
What did Tomb Raider really bring to the industry (besides ever larger mammaries) ? It was one of the first games to reach mainstream awareness. HOWEVER, I believe WipeOut predates it.
SupremeAC said:What did Tomb Raider really bring to the industry (besides ever larger mammaries) ? It was one of the first games to reach mainstream awareness. HOWEVER, I believe WipeOut predates it.
Tomb Raider got me back into gaming after losing interest for a few years. I bought a Playstation for that game...only after did I find out about Resident Evil and whatever else.
Honestly, the girl main character was a nice twist regardless of the sex appeal angle, because it kind of made you want to protect her, whereas if you were just some random dude you wouldn't feel the same about it & it would change the vibe a bit. It was one of the 1st huge 3D games with incredibly large and for the time intricate level design. Awesome balance of exploration and puzzles...loved the sparse combat which actually ADDED to the atmosphere, not knowing when you're gonna run into a group of deadly creatures. To me, it was just as big of a deal as Mario 64.
edgecrusher said:Tomb Raider got me back into gaming after losing interest for a few years. I bought a Playstation for that game...only after did I find out about Resident Evil and whatever else.
Honestly, the girl main character was a nice twist regardless of the sex appeal angle, because it kind of made you want to protect her, whereas if you were just some random dude you wouldn't feel the same about it & it would change the vibe a bit. It was one of the 1st huge 3D games with incredibly large and for the time intricate level design. Awesome balance of exploration and puzzles...loved the sparse combat which actually ADDED to the atmosphere, not knowing when you're gonna run into a group of deadly creatures. To me, it was just as big of a deal as Mario 64.
Not to come off as an asshole, but I don't think Vader's intention for this was to be a list of personally significant games.
What is the influence of Tomb Raider today? I just don't feel like it fit's in with Vader's list (not that I agree with everything he listed).
Starcraft?
Perfected a genre.
Made it a national sport in some places of the world.
For some people it could only ever be replaced by its own sequel
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Galaga?
Given the choice of this and pacman, this would always eat my change as a kid at the arcade. Also, the first really good, really playable shmup. A genre that would dominate arcades for years. Fuck space invaders it was shite and it was unplayable.
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Listen to Wu-Tang and watch Kung-Fu
SupremeAC said:Not to come off as an asshole, but I don't think Vader's intention for this was to be a list of personally significant games.
What is the influence of Tomb Raider today? I just don't feel like it fit's in with Vader's list (not that I agree with everything he listed).
Vader?
I think it was as influential as Mario 64....I mean you could be for or against nearly ANY big game in terms of influence when you get right down to it. There's not many games like Mario 64, so does that mean it wasn't influential? There's about ZERO games like Metroid Prime, so does it deserve to be on the list?
edgecrusher said:Vader?
I think it was as influential as Mario 64....I mean you could be for or against nearly ANY big game in terms of influence when you get right down to it. There's not many games like Mario 64, so does that mean it wasn't influential? There's about ZERO games like Metroid Prime, so does it deserve to be on the list?
Ugh, yeah, Phantom_Leo 
Well, to be honest, I do think the original list is too long. When I think of game that changed everything, I do see Mario64 on that list. I do not see Metroid Prime. And to be even more honest, I didn't play Tomb Raider, so I could be mistaken, but I don't think modern gaming would have looked a lot different if Tomb Raider didn't come along.
A game that does deserve to be on the list: the original Halo. The control sheme and stuff like regenerating shields have been copied by a lot of FPS's. Heck, even Link's magic meter autoregenerates in ALBW.
So it should be more of a "best games of all time for the time they released" list. lol
I don't know. More of a "if this game hadn't been made, modern games would not have been where they are now" list.
Has a nice ring to it, doesn't it?
Tomb Raider laid down much of the blueprint for many action adventure games and third person shooters. Not everyone simply plagiarised it like Naughty Dog did, but its influence can be felt in many, many games.
P.S. Metroid Prime's influence (more as a populiser than an innovator) on storytelling this generation is immense.
**This was started in my Define yourself as a Gamer Topic, but it grew into something different all together!**
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In my opinion, here are some of the games that Changed Everything:
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**More to come!**