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[Ivan]

http://www.gamepro.com/gamepro/international/games/features/110028.shtml

I think we can all agree that the list presented above is a complete and utter travesty, as far as "most important games of all time" lists (and oh yeah, why not.. COMMON SENSE!) go.

That said, what are your top 5?
(i'm sure we're all way too busy making future entries for this list to sit here and come up with 50, but if you're overpowered by procrastination maybe you can do 10?)

Now, "important" is not the same as "best", which is a pretty dubious adjective anyhow, so we should probably define what "important" is as related to games
I would have to say that it would mean "influentual", which would have to be the combination of the following factors: general cultural influence, gaming culture influence and influence on future game development. Not an easy equation by any means.

Anyway... my choices... let me show you them!

(Had to fight the impulse to just list my top 5 FAVORITE games, which these aren't)

1. Super Mario Brothers (a cultural icon and a template for a bajillion games to come)
2. Doom (your mom has probably heard of it and a template for a bajillion games to come)
3. Tetris
4. Street Fighter 2
5. Quake (though it was probably more because of the internets)


EDIT: Haha, I totally didn't read their intro to the list, so I think I said something similar to them. But I still totally don't agree with any of their choices!

[AdamAtomic]

K here goes:

1 - Super Mario 64
2 - DooM
3 - Ultima Online
4 - Final Fantasy
5 - Dune II

Honorable Mention: Prince of Persia

I don't like Ultima much, and FF and Dune II are a bit hard for me (i'm a sissy that way) but I think these 5 or 6 games pretty much set the rules for modern gaming as it stands.

[PoV]

Games are dumb.  Only dumb people play games.  Dummy face.

[Derek]

Oh, god... GTAIII as the most important game of all time?  Madden as number 2!  I thought it wasn't a sales contest.

Oh wait, it's GamePro. :D

Alright, here's my list that I'm putting very little thought into:

1. Super Mario Bros. (just... damn)
2. Tetris (mainstream success, puzzle gaming, clonage)
3. Doom (3d gaming, internets, controversy)
4. Ultima (RPGs)
5. The Legend of Zelda (less obvious, but it basically influenced every fantasy / exploration style game that came after it, I think)
6. Sim City (simulation gaming)
7. Pac Man(arcade)
8. Warcraft (basically the beginning of Blizzard and their empire and all that it influences... more important than Dune II because no one has heard of Dune II)
9. Street Fighter 2 (fighting games)
10. Tim W.'s Enormous Balls (indie gaming, natch)

[Kornel Kisielewicz]

Yeah, I was enraged by that chart too . Here's my list (the order is probably random).

1. Tetris -- Let's face it: WHICH game is known by virtualy everyone, and available on EACH machine?
2. Pong -- with Tetris the father of all games
3. Another World -- first cinematic game, before PC's could even play movies
4. Super Mario Bros -- first "cult" game, and the symbol of the birth of the Console era
5. Wolfenstein 3D -- the father of the FPS genre
6. Dune II -- although less popular than Warcraft, but it IS more influential, isn't it?
7. SimCity -- also a mile-mark in game evo.
8. Doom -- although Wolfenstein is already on the list, I'd dare to say that Doom was the gateway to modern PC gaming
9. Ultima Online -- the grandfather of graphical MUDs (yeah, WoW is nothing more than a MUD with fancy graphics )
10. Elite -- The fallen example of the path of evolution where games SHOULD head... (could not resist).


P.S. 11. Rogue -- where would cRPGs go without Rogue? ;]

[Alec]

1. Final Fantasy 6
2. Final Fantasy 6
3. Final Fantasy 6
4. Final Fantasy 6
5. Final Fantasy 6
6. Final Fantasy 6
7. Final Fantasy 6
8. Final Fantasy 6
9. Final Fantasy 6

and

10. Final Fantasy 6

[Kornel Kisielewicz]

I think some people are confusing this "most influential" list with "my favourite" ^_^. If it would be the latter, my list would be a lot shorter :

1. Elite/Frontier
2. UFO: Enemy Unknown

[Madgarden]

Just a few off the top of my head...

Kung Fu Master - scrolling beatemups
Karate Champ - 1-on-1 fighters
Prince of Persia - ledge hangers

[ravuya]

Elite, System Shock, Ultima, Rogue, Doom, I'd have to say. Probably lots more.

[pyabo]

If you don't list Super Mario Bros in top 5 of most INFLUENTIAL games of all time... well, you just weren't paying attention for the last 20 years.

The others I think made the biggest impact on future games:
Zelda
Final Fantasy
Gradius  (!)
Metroid (?)
Tecmo Bowl

[frosty]

Everyone seems to be forgetting Space Invaders. 

Which is ironic, because invaders from space will most likely lead to our extinction. 

[ஒழுக்கின்மை (Paul Eres)]

Any game that solidified a genre: Pitfall / Super Mario Bros. for platformers, Ultima / Dragon Warrior for RPGs, Wolfenstein / Doom for FPSs, Dune 2 / Warcraft for RTSs, Bejeweled for match-3's... basically, if a game has a million clones, it's influential.

[fish]

in no particular order

-super mario bros, no comment.
-the legend of zelda, for pretty much inventing exploration.
-Half-life 2, for being the first game to do physics right.
-tetris, for makinf the whole world believe that falling blocks are a puzzle.
-Rez, for having been like 20 years ahead of its time. its influence will be felt later. also for having been bundled with a USB dildo.

[Anthony Flack]

If you don't list Super Mario Bros in top 5 of most INFLUENTIAL games of all time... well, you just weren't paying attention for the last 20 years.

Actually I don't think it really was that influential outside of Japan and the US. I never even knew anyone with an NES when I was growing up; it was all C64s, and later, Amigas and Sega Megadrives. Most of the games I played as a kid (barring Arcade games) were from the UK or Europe, and were far less Nintendo-tinged.

With this in mind, I don't think I could even begin to assess what the most influential games of all time might be, or whether that would even be particularly relevant or interesting.

How about the games that have been the biggest influence on you personally? Again, this wouldn't be a list of your favourite games, but rather the ones that really shook you up and changed the way you think.

I'd post mine, but I'll have to have a think about it first, and it's bedtime now.

[Ivan]

I dunno, I grew up in Russia and SMB was an icon there. We didn't have proper NES, but we had a zillion famicom clones.

Dendy Junior, anyone?

[FARTRON]

-Half-life 2, for being the first game to do physics right.

The havoc physics engine was used in Max Payne 2 first, although it admittedly wasn't as involved in the gameplay as in HL2.  Just more of a "shit, i totally bumped that box!"

Also, I don't think you can put Doom and Quake on the same list, as much as we all might want to.  It's redundant.  I guess I could let QuakeWorld slide though.

We can all agree on Tetris.  My mom wouldn't give me back my gameboy for weeks when she discovered it.

I like Warcraft over Dune 2, but it's arguable.  For the same reason I'll promote Privateer over Elite.  Realistic physics and pioneering genres are nice, but popularity and general awesomeness triumph in terms of influence.

Some to think about:
Pole Position
Railroad Tycoon
Tron (yes the movie)
Monkey Island

[ஒழுக்கின்மை (Paul Eres)]

Games that were most influential on me personally,

Ms Pac Man - Made me like playing videogames, about 1983.
Zelda 1 - Made me addicted to videogames, about 1987.
Civilization - Got me interested in world history, about 1994.
Persona 1 - Strong positive effect on my worldview, about 1996.
Xenogears - Got me to decide to become a game developer (I made games before, but not as seriously) because it convinced me games are important, about 1998.
Sword of Jade - This is a game by two friends of mine, it influenced my game design philosophy, about 2005.

[xix]

You can have a list of games that represent, to you, important steps in evolutions of gameplay. That list will be relevant for a couple years. A proper jump into 3D with Super Mario 64. A great story told with Final Fantasy 3.

But if you model the important steps in games after important steps in other realms of art you can get something along the lines of:

1. SpaceWar or Pong or whatever you want to call the first videogame
2. PacMan
3. Super Mario Bros
4. Rez
5. World of Warcraft (or AOL Instant Messenger [or MySpace])

First is the beginning: the idea. Like cave drawings. Second is the adventure: the story. Gothic architecture. Third is creating the context. Renaissance. The fourth is breaking the context down. Mannerism. And the fifth is something new. It's a reconstruction of the context using only what the media itself can do. Modernism, maybe. Maybe post-modernism. Who knows, really?

I'd like to think that games represent high art in a very mainstream way, but that's just me.

[Madgarden]

I like to think that games represent fun, without feeling the need to prove themselves to all of the stuffy suits and artistes of the world who would deign to judge them.

[lowpoly]

1. Combat
My first home video game. We played this hours on end and a big reason I got into gaming

2. Metroid / Megaman I (tie)
My first foray into side scrollers. Never really liked SMB as a kid and the open, non-linear aspect of Metroid and MM absolutely hooked me. That and the music, incredible, catchy songs that I still enjoy today

3. Wing Commander
One of my favorite games ever and a huge inspiration for my indie game hopes. WC was the reason I bought a PC and the reason I can still write an awesome config.sys file. Corny and fun as hell, enjoyed every second of it (even tho I mostly sucked)

4. Sports Games (NHL 93, Ice Hockey, Hardball, TV Sports Basketball, Front Page Football)
In my teen, jock years all I played was sports games. In fact, the very first game I ever attempted to program was a text-based basketball game. The NHL series is timeless and a perfect multiplayer game. TV Sports Basketball introduced me to the odds and ends of HEX editing game files and making everyone on my team awesome. The true golden age of sports games, when gameplay mattered most and EA was still small time.

5. Need For Speed 3 / F-Zero (tie)
I love, love arcade racers and these two are the penultimate for me. Perfect mix of challenge and control. Both allowed you to be creative and reactive rather than memorizing lines and still enjoy the game. And again, awesome soundtracks.

Not surprisingly, every game I've ever started to develop fits in that top 5. There's plenty more but I think this kinda encapsulates it for me in terms of influence.