What is the most influential videogame?

[DC 536]

After watching the Streetfighter II documentary posted in another thread, I was wondering if it is the most influential video game in history.

 

I mean, since the original Streetfighter II, pretty much every "vs" fighting game has worked around the mechanics of combos, fireballs and special attacks for a wide variety of character types and styles.

 

So does this mean SFII is the most influential game in history?

[Guest Beefhead]

what about GTA3 introducing open world games, every game is open world now specifically because of that game

[ViciousPrism 177]

Sorry? GTA 3 being the birth of open world? Nope. Open world games were around way before GTA 3. Maybe not in 3D, but they existed.

[Guest Beefhead]

That's true I guess. I didn't play a lot of open world 2d games but thinking about it Im realizing there were quite a few. I think whatever game did introduce open world gaming would be more influential than SF2 which mainly influenced fighting games

 

Edit: would it be safe to say that GTA3 introduced the open world format into the criminal underground style of games, and is there influential in that so many games have emulated that exact combination

Edited September 9, 2013 by Beefhead

[dsrchris 190]

How about Wolfenstein influencing nearly every FPS?

[Omega 354]

I think it would be fair to say GTA 3 probably made the mold for all modern 3d open world games without itself being the first if it's kind.

 

I think I'd be tempted to say Quaked has influenced a lot more trends than Wolfenstein\Doom in terms of a true FPS. The game that introduced me to the WASD and full Mouse combo (rather than the mouse simply being a look left and right but being fixed on the Y axis). Then again Unreal probably defines the multiplayer\deathmatch FPS style... tricky.

 

Final Fantasy a shoe in as the defining style of RPG's?

[Guest Jamster26]

How about Guild Wars? I think it's set the standard for MMO's.

[Omega 354]

I think if you wan to talk about influence then it's WOW or nothing with MMORPG's. There were MMO's before but every MMO after either takes something specifically that WOW has done or it takes something WOW has done and tries to do the opposite and both of those things are influence.

 

The only game I'd say could have more influence on MMORPG's would be Ultima Online (Sorry neverwinter nights! :D) as really the first instances of what you might now consider typical MMO player behavior first started to be observed.

 

EDIT: Though maybe I'm selling Everquest a bit short there as well...

Edited September 9, 2013 by Omega

[ShaolinHandLock 73]

Mortal Kombat influenced game censorship..........

[Guest Jayfunk]

1. GTA 1 for open world games

2. GTA 3 for 3d version

3. Final Fantasy and Phatasy Star for RPGs

4. Mario and Sonic for platformers

[Guest Ciaran The King]

The GTA and Metal Gear franchises

[King 277]

The original Mario Brothers on the NES, FFVII on the PS1 and Doom on the PC would be my 3.

[Guest Jayfunk]

i missed one, command and conquer

[Guest Boyo]

I'm with DC insomuch that Streetfighter 2 did an awful lot of what makes a videogame franchise huge first. Not necessarily better than everyone, and maybe not the very first in every occasion, but still. Like DC said, the game style, the combos, the moves, the fireballs and weapons. The fact that fighting location was considered. Also the fact that the characters like Ryu, Ken, Chun Li (??) etc etc... had big profiles outside of the game cartridge. A movie was made about the game, albeit a terrible one.

 

This game was made in to a movie which, it could be argued, influenced the use of actors and moviestyle camerawork in video games today. Maybe. I certainly think that a lot of the vast wealth in the videogame industry today can be traced back to the success of SF2.

 

Other games for me would be Super Bomber Man, Mario Bros 1 & 3, Outrun and Halo.

 

Cheers!

[dsrchris 190]

Maybe we should split this into genres? Y'know like RPG, Platformer, Fighting, Sports, Racing, that kind of thing? PIck the most influential of each genre, then maybe the best overall?

 

Have we ever had a general TWO wide "What is the best game?" vote yet? It seems like something we should have done, but I don't remember it?

[King 277]

I'll set one up tomorrow :)

[dsrchris 190]

Nice!

[Guest RVC]

Modern Warfare 1.

 

I know there were plenty of FPS games years before this came out but the influence of this game has been huge, you only have to look at how many FPS games we have out there now, developers saw the sales and wanted a piece of the action.

 

Those sales and the sales of the COD games that followed have been record breaking and made gaming more mainstream.

[Omega 354]

popular doesn't mean influential. Both COD and MW and all of those modern FPS games are as generic as they come. Maybe influential on how they can release the same game every year with a new title, slightly better graphics and a few new weapons and make a bazillions dollars perhaps.... but Fifa/PES/Madden have been doing that for years!

[Guest John Hancock]

I think the original Call of Duty is responsible for the wave of semi-realistic, real world shooters very, very influenced by movies. Every FPS set on Earth that came after Call of Duty was influenced by it.