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[Squid Party]

Castle crashers, super meat boy, Timesplitters, super Mario bros. 3, Rayman and a few others I cant remember at the time being....

[John Sandoval]

Final Fantasy X



made me cry like a little bitch

[iffi]

My answer to this question is constantly changing (I've already posted in this thread before, on the first page), but this is what it is currently:

Dark Souls - I've never played this game, and I've only played about half an hour's worth of Demon's Souls, so the following is only based on what I've heard about the games. It's refreshing to see how they do things differently from the rest of the pack, and marvelously succeed at it. The unique way they handle death and saving is a great way to make choices (and the mistakes arising from such choices) carry real weight without getting rid of saving entirely (like in arcade-inspired games such as most SHMUPs) or opting for full-blown permadeath like in roguelikes. The online system strikes a fine balance between connecting players and maintaining the single-player feel, using today's technology in not-so-obvious ways to not only add features to the game, but to enhance the overall atmosphere. The combat system immerses the player not by being flashier than the rest, but by making every action carry significant weight. I wonder why more games don't take more lessons from Dark/Demon's Souls' design.
And of course, there's the art direction behind the games. I'm particularly interested in discovering Dark Souls's open world, if it manages to capture that sort of wonder I felt when exploring La-Mulana. For that reason Dark Souls is one of the few games I actually care about spoiling as little as possible for myself.

La-Mulana - The sense of exploration and discovery of an intricately connected open world, paired with the sense of danger lurking in the form of traps and surprises, especially in the early game, is some of the best I've encountered. There's more variety in the game's 16 colors than there are in most games' millions of colors. The crypticness of some of the better-designed puzzle hints lends a special feeling to the game, especially when you finally figure out what a tablet actually means.

Quake 3 and the rest of the Quake series - About as pure of an arena FPS as it gets, and honed to near perfection. I usually figure out what I like or don't like about specific multiplayer FPS games by comparing them to Quake. I particularly like the relative lack of randomness in firing weapons, the distinctness of each weapon from the others (emphasizing quality over quantity of weapons), and the focus on movement being as important a skill as aiming (I like Tribes: Ascend for this too).

Vindictus, mainly for the flaws that led it to become more and more of a grindfest. Especially since I heard of Dark Souls, I've been getting inspiration by asking myself what could have made Vindictus a better game.

SHMUPs in general, but especially the Touhou Project, which introduced me to the bullet hell/danmaku genre. Similar to Quake, these games show me the value that can be found in taking a simple and "pure" game mechanic and continually refining it, and also leaving control and clarity in the hands of the player rather than layering "artificial" impediments such as cluttered visuals, overcomplicated controls, etc.

[Fegon]

R-Type: something about that game just gets me, It´s nostalgia but it´s fun on it´s own to. Great game, great mechanics. Starts out slow and gets more and more hectic. By the end of the second loop it´s practicly a bullet hell.

The Megadrive Phantasy Stars but mostly the scond one. Grinding and ambience in perfect harmony.

Bandai(ish) robot shmups in general.

But mostly when I think of what has inspired me in games I often return to mini games in games. The sukoiden duels and battles. Fishing in Breath of Fire 3 and Okami. When I design games thats often where I start by thinking. "I realy would like a game that is like that minigame but also like this and not like that.."

edit: oh yeah and Lost Patrol/ http://www.lemonamiga.com/games/details.php?id=698

[kukouri]

Defanitally going to have to say Cannon Fodder 

It was the main inspiration behind the game we are currently working on. Think you can tell that from this album of screenshots. 

[Squid Party]

Defanitally going to have to say Cannon Fodder 

It was the main inspiration behind the game we are currently working on. Think you can tell that from this album of screenshots. 

The one on the Sega-Saturn right?

[nyyjen]

Tenchu: Stealth Assassins had the most impact on my life. Really fell in love with this game, the topics of selflessness and modesty. Doing something good without expecting a reward. Not a lot of games (still to this day) explore these topics.

I went on to work for the original developer Acquire in Tokyo, before moving to the UK and doing my own thing. So Tenchu has had a massive impact on my life. So glad it was made.

[C.A. Sinner]

I went on to work for the original developer Acquire in Tokyo, before moving to the UK and doing my own thing. So Tenchu has had a massive impact on my life. So glad it was made.

what did you do there? just asking because im a huge fan of tenchu / way of the samurai / pretty much everything else by acquire.

[nyyjen]

I worked as a programmer and game designer on Shinobido for the PSP (Shinobido: Homura). After that I went on to work was a programmer on Way of the Samurai 3 for XBOX360&PS3.

There are not many Acquire fans outside of Japan. Nice to meet you!

Actually most people have never heard of the games I worked on while I was in Japan. 

[Chef Boyardee]

It is difficult to pinpoint the games that have had the most influence on what I expect from and enjoy about games.



There are recurring features about games that I enjoy; I like to see the ways games do them differently and similarly. How can I learn from these things and put them together and make them better?



In particular, I like character management and creation. I like ownership over the people I control. I like to be able to say who they are and where they came from and where they're going, not through a game's story, but through a game's mechanics.



Statistics are the most powerful way to define characters in a world of finite choices. Numbers extend the choices a character has available to them and expands the way I can interact with the world. The more numbers I can influence, the more I understand who the character is!



But there are only a couple of games that changed the way my brain works and I've never played any of them. And I never will!!!!!!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3yJ7mP0DA44

This video blows my mind. This video is not real, it's some guy overlaying a psychedelic video on top of Depths of Dejenol footage, but I'm obsessed with what it represents. It reminds me of the SaGa games and Kawazu games and Last Remnant. It's this video of a hypothetical game governed by numbers, but where these things we just can't understand - psychedelic visions (or whatever!) - distort the world, and numbers, and mechanics and WEIRD THINGS blur everything together so it's all one thing and doesn't make sense and is this dense, impenetrable, incoherent mass of nothing and everything. It doesn't need to be coherent!!! I've gotta make this!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mRgh9YiEbC0

DEHUMANIZE YOURSELF AND FACE TO BLOODSHED. I've spent a couple years thinking about this.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i_w7JoIigco&t=0m30s

Starting at about :30 seconds. This is the best intro I've ever seen. This is amazing.

+ this weird old Japanese video of Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas of Touhou characters flying around and explosions everywhere and everyone killing each other.

I've seen all those videos 100+ times. Put all those things together and that's the game I want to make and play.

[C.A. Sinner]

[disparat]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mRgh9YiEbC0

DEHUMANIZE YOURSELF AND FACE TO BLOODSHED. I've spent a couple years thinking about this.

I knew that phrase had to be taken from somewhere else! I've been wondering about that strange saying ever since I've seen that video. I have to say, this post right here is the most inspiring thing. "It doesn't need to be coherent!!! I've gotta make this!" That is the true quintessence of indie development, which lots of people forget sometimes!

[agumaster]

My games are OLD-SCHOOL fps games. In my chilhood i played a lot Doom and other games with the same style like wolfestein 3d, Rise of the triad, heretic, hexen and all the quake saga, other games that also inspired me are Mortal Kombat saga, and shooters like metal slug. My tipe of games are those with a lot of action and gameplay rather that story and dialogs. Shooter games are the best for me   

[J-Snake]

After that I went on to work was a programmer on Way of the Samurai 3 for XBOX360&PS3.

What parts did you program in this game?

[sigfarter]

postal cause if you get lit on fire you can pee on yourself to put it out