Video Game Hall of Fame Our Style

[Filipe]

So while talking with some friends at work I mentioned something I saw on the internet awhile back about a Hall of Fame, and how someone was incensed that of all games Halo was inducted into it. Now most seemed to agree that while halo was good, there were far more suitable inductee's to go in front of it, on a list that was limited to just a few. So I thought it would be an interesting idea to have us compile a list of our own, and have people add to it games, or characters they deemed to have made a large impact on video gaming in some fashion or another. If no one then opposes it, we will edit it into the list I am making, which I dont think too many will argue with, but will edit if there is enough question. With the exception of the first one these are in no particular order. I'll give 10 and my reasons why, but I do believe the first needs an introduction seems fitting dont you think?

The first inductee should be fairly obvious when you really think about it. For the last 20some odd years this character has been the poster boy for Nintendo, but really his fame has gone well beyond it and really who can argue. For these twenty some years when someone mentioned video games only one name ever came to mind. Like the series, hate the series, love the series the only fitting first induction goes to...

1. Mario Why: Well do you really need to ask? It's Mario thats enough.

2. The Madden Series of NFL games. Why: This is the series that has made the sports game genre. They have been making madden games for the last 17 years to my knowledge, and whether you have played them or not, they set the ground work for all the other sports games.

3. Link. Why: The original hack and slash(figuratively speaking) adventure hero, one can say the series set the ground work for 2 genre's. Yet though the number of games he has been a part of was always limited, they always kept players coming back for more every single time. Reall just a character not forgotten.

4. Sonic the Hedgehog Why: You cant really rule him out on this either. For those who didnt want a nintendo, or wanted something different Sega came up with a new character, one that was for a time their poster boy as well. For years, he was chasing Mario for top spot(with little success ironically enough given his speed) but he carried the company anyway.

5. Final Fantasy Why: Ok so it wasnt the first rpg that made it big, Ultima did that on the computer years before. It wasnt the first rpg period as Dungeons and Dragons and those that came before had it covered as well. The one thing that makes Final Fantasy stand above those that came before, is it's the archetype for every single rpg that has come out in the last 20 years. If you want to compare an rpg to another with any seriousness, you dont compare it to Suikoden, or the Tales series or anything like that. You compare it to just about any Final Fantasy and see if it can measure.

6. Donkey Kong Why: An arcade classic character that years before Super Mario Brothers, gave a face to an antagonist. Sure it had been done before, but hey how many games can you think of that turned the simply named "jumpman" into the biggest character arguably in video game history. Every hero needed a villain and Donkey Kong was the first one of merit.

7. Civilization and Sim City Why: Anyone who has ever played a sim game of any kind, or even a strategy game(rpg or otherwise) owes a lot to these two games. The first two games that required any real planning in what you did, as opposed to just picking up the game and playing it.

8. Everquest Why: The definition of an rpg was changed the moment they created the game Everquest. They took an established genre, threw it into a technological medium, gave those who played freedom of movement and ran with it. It was innovative, it was addictive, it was revolutionary, and now it has spawned so many games of the same kind I have lost count. When you think of MMO's really even before WoW there was Everquest.

9. Duck Hunt Why: Ok I know it's kind of silly, and doesnt seem to belong in the same league as some of these other games, but really it's the original shoot em up, of wide recognition. Sure it's only because a lot of them were sold together with the Nes, and Super Mario Brothers, but hey it was fun in it's own right.

10. You cant have a Hall of Fame without the first real video game.... Space Invaders Why: Aside from Pong, before there was a Nintendo, before Donkey Kong, before Mario, before anything else there was Space Invaders. It got people's attention, it drew them into the idea of playing these video games, sure they were still in arcades back then, but there is little doubt of it's impact. Without it, I doubt there would be any video games at all, of any genre so you must give props to a simple alien killing game, that made it all happen.

11. Street Fighter 2 Why: Ok there was a game before it, and those after it so it's not the only game. However This game redefined the fighting game genre, made it popular, and with little doubt the reason I can walk into any arcade and find people even today playing Street Fighter games, including the original.(Absuredly hard game trust me)

12. Tetris Why: This is the game that made hand helds popular. I remember when I got my gameboy I used to play this game, over and over and over until I could swear my head was going to explode. A simple game, with a simple concept but it always made sure to keep your mind sharp. Extremely addictive too.

13. The Sims Why: This is an unusual game, with an unusual concept that has become a craze world wide. It took the idea of Sim City, already revolutionary in it's own right, and turned it upside down, so you werent controlling the city's every action anymore. You had control of the people themselves, and their lives, and death were of your own design. Sure some of the recent expansions have been lame throwing in little mundane extra's here and there, but people dont play the Sims for the expansions they play it for the fan made stuff. For making your own characters and their own lives and running with it. One I can say I am most certainly attached to as well.

So what are your picks?
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[Timbo]

I'd argue with Starcraft not being on the list somewhere. It's been the most influential game in global competition and it defined how people play RTSs. Before Starcraft, RTSs were much smaller and more niche, but Starcraft brought the genre more mainstream and was a huge factor in creating things like the Cyber Athletes League. Considering that they also watch Starcraft matches on TV and have parades with it in Korea, I find it very hard not to put it into a top ten hall of fame.

I'd remove Sonic and put it in. Mario set the standard for platformer heroes and Sonic was just the main competition, I don't think he did much else.

I'd also replace Duck Hunt with Doom. Doom was the first really popular FPS and although Duck Hunt had the concept down beforehand, Doom set the model and made it popular.

Sage can save the world with a 12-inch piece of string, jar of miracle whip, and a gardening magazine, depending on the issue!
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"There is no normal life, there's just life. Now get on with it"

[Yvl]

[Futch]

Not seeing Street Fighter 2 in that list makes me feel sick. In fact, I must exit this topic immediately before I faint.

I would scratch the Madden series altogether, apart from inside the U.S, American Football is non-existent.
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DAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!

[Fundertaker]

[Falcon Critical]

If we're talking about games that revolutionised the industry there has to be a mention of Tomb Raider. Not only did it bring platform games into 3D, it put a solid story behind it with 'real' characters and it changed the face of adventure games to boot. Add to that the fact that Lara Croft was one of the first strong female protaganists in any game, and you could definately say the industry would be a lot different without it.

Although there hasn't been any really serious competition to it, another game that changed gaming was the Sims. I play this game and love it - and still don't really know why. There's just something so addictive about toying with little virtual people's lives. Its one of those games that everyone said "you can't make a game about everyday life, noone will play it!" and boy did they change that perspective.
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[Karushifa]

[eXistence of Fly]

[Timbo]

I wouldn't scratch the Madden Series, even though I don't really like them. In terms of American games, Madden is a top seller every year and a mainstay of American gaming and set the standard in sports games in America. In terms of influence of the market it has a ton of it, in terms of having historical relevancy in gaming it has it by being around for so long and setting up the style of how sports game are to be played. I think Madden is to the sports genre as Final Fantasy is to RPGs.

Sage can save the world with a 12-inch piece of string, jar of miracle whip, and a gardening magazine, depending on the issue!
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"There is no normal life, there's just life. Now get on with it"

[Ujitsuna]

[Timbo]

[Sierra Mikain]

[Flare]

[Himuro]

Off the top of my head:

R-type - One of most influential 2d shooters
Contra - One of the most influential run and gun shooters
Gradius - One of the most influential 2d shooters
Darius series - One of the most influential 2d shooters
Radiant Silvergun - One of the best 2d shooters ever
Qix - Simple game that has inspired legions of knock offs
Arkanoid - Simple arcade game that has inspired tons of knock offs
Pacman - This should be obvious.
Metal Gear - First stealth game ever.
Castlevania - Action adventure tour de force
Gunstar Heroes - One of the best run and gun 2d shooters and for a few reasons. 1. The level design is varied, making the game highly replayable 2. The game's structure isn't set up in a linear fashion, you can pick any level in any order, and any gun you want at the start.
Dragon Quest - The first Japanese rpg and the series that is by far the most influential
Final Fantasy - second to DQ
Street Fighter II - the first modern fighting game
Streets of Rage - One of the best beat em up series
River City Ransom - One of the first games which mixed genres
King of Fighters - The first tag team fighting game
Grand Theft Auto - One of the most influential games of our time. Many games now are more aware of giving players an option to things their own way, and offer some form of non linear play style.
NBA Jam - One of the first extreme sports titles that didn't try to emulate reality.
Madden - One of the iconic games that have propeled games to the mainstream
Shin Megami Tensei - The first Japanese rpg series to start the whole gotta catch em all thing, years before Pokemon. Has numerous series and side games.
Wizardry - Inspired many rpgs including Japanese rpgs
Ultima - created some of the most influential things in rpgs (japanese or otherwise) that we take for granted, such as day and night cycles.
Elevator Action - Some of the best arcade gaming ever. Definitely one type of game that isn't really classifiable by genre
Shenmue - Ahead of its time in many ways. Had hundreds of npcs in one area all with their own face and voice. Textures hardly ever repeat. Popularized the QTE movement;etc
Jet Set Radio - Popularized cel shading, one of the best arcade based games ever. Amazing sense of style.
Sonic the Hedgehog - Some of the best parallax scrolling ever, influential in that he was the first animal mascot that almos every mascot has ripped off since. Levels had were multi tiered and had multiple routes, increasing replayablity. A faster take on platformers which, at the time, hadn't been seen before.
Mario - obvious.
Zelda - One of the first action adventure games, and one of the best games that proved games could actually have stories. One of the first non linear games ever, many games owe the first Zelda a lot.
Parappa The Rapper - One of the most popular niche games in the west, this game proved that niche games could sell well if marketed well.
The Secret of Monkey Island - Proved that you could fuse comedy into adventure games. Started the whole SCUMM movement.
Maniac Mansion - One of the first early adventure games
Out of this World/Another World - Amazing game that was far ahead of its time in terms of animation. one of the early influential adventure games.
Pitfall - One of the early platformers.
Mega Man - One of the early and most influential action platformer series
Grim Fandango - A paragim of achievement in the adventure game genre
Baldur's Gate 1 and 2 - Said to be the best rpgs ever, and they really are. These games offer an insurmountable amount of depth, customization, deep battle systems that offer DOZENS of ways to handle battles, non linear dialogue system allows you to make your own story as you see fit.
Fallout series - One of the best examples of non linear rpg gameplay
Planescape: Torment - In terms of gameplay it isn't influential, but the script and story is unparalleled and extremely professional material.
System Shock series - The creator of the whole first person shooter rpg genre. It mixed multiple genres into one but it was ultimately an rpg. Influences: Deus Ex, Bioshock;etc
Tactics Ogre - THE first modern strategy rpg. Almost every single modern Japanese strategy game takes something from this game, from the overhead perspective, to the chess like play style. Notable influences: Final Fantasy Tactics (pretty much is an add on to TO considering it's by the same director), Disgaea;etc.
Virtua Fighter - the first 3d fighting game series
Virtua Cop - one of the most influential light gun series
Panzer Dragoon - Rail shooter tour de force. THE best rail shooter series.
Panzer Dragoon Saga - One of the best 32 bit rpgs. This game was far ahead of its time, you could control the camera in cutscenes, the direction of these cutscenes was years ahead of everyone else (especially Square), and the setting was extremely unique for an rpg.


I've played hundreds of games. So making a Hall of Fame list would be impossible for me.
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She knows stuff.

[RedCydranth]

Some of you seem to be overly pretentious when choosing what games can and can not enter our Hall of Fame. If the topic was "Top 10 most influential games to the industry" you'd all be arguing a prudent point. However, since it is a Hall of Fame, all it takes is a game or series being great to make the list in my opinion. Of course impact on the video gaming world is a definitive factor, it shouldn't be the only factor. Just because a game wasn't the pioneer of a genre doesn't mean it must be excluded from the list.

Although, there is an obvious missing game from this thread, and I don't know if it is on purpose or everyone just forgot about it. Think hard, or not too hard. It was one of the most popular games in the world and is still played on just about every form of computer/console ever created. Tetris. The simple block moving, line forming craze game that was THE innovator of all puzzle games. Just about every puzzle game has been a clone of this game in some shape or form. Some clones are better than others, but none, to me, are as fun as Tetris is. Nobody can deny that it has been one of the most played games in history. Sure, now it is outdated somewhat, but its still fun, challenging and addictive. Plus for its time, the music was definitely top class.

Some of you jumped all over Sonic being nominated. I agree that Sonic should be in the Hall of Fame. For a good period of time, the Genesis was the console everyone paid attention to. Leading that charge was Sonic. He proved to the world that Nintendo could have competition. The NES and SNES were so dominant up until the point when Sonic broke the chains and gave Sega a hand in the video game moneymaking pie. To this day, Sonic and his games have a huge following and are fun as they ever were. Sure there wasn't much in the way of inovation. One can say Sonic was a complete rip off of Mario in that he collected coins/rings and had to get from point A in a level to point B. Instead of a princess, Sonic was set to defeat a maniac who wanted to destroy his home. I think. Dr. Robotnik was just as hateable as King Koopa/ Bowser.

As for the Madden/FIFA argument. Both make great additions. I'm not a fan of the FIFA series of games, but Madden has had me since '03. Although, one can argue that its essentially the same game every year with updated rosters and an occasional new feature (recently QB vision and the control stick kicking) but all in all the games have remained constantly good and every year are among the top selling games worldwide. Even if all the sales are in 1 part of the world, you can't deny numbers.