There have been so many great games produced over the years. From the simple times of Pac-Man to the modern creations of games like Uncharted. Games have come a long way and have gone under so many great transitions and turning points. However, there a few games that were so great that they changed the way the game industry approaches games forever. So, without further adieu, here's a list of some of the games that most impacted the game industry.
Super Mario 64
This game really helped to define the 3D platformer genre. Before the Nintendo 64 came out, platforming games had been a 2D exclusive medium. Super Mario 64 was the first 3D platformer that really worked.
With fluid controls and camera movements that made every level a unique world filled with exploration and discovery. Unlike Crash Bandicoot that require razor tight precision to complete levels, Super Mario 64 focused more on making open world levels that the player can freely move around in to get around the hurdle of precise jumping found in traditional 2D games. It also allowed a lot of freedom in how to approach different levels. With games like Crash Bandicoot, you had to jump at the exact right time through a specific path in order to complete a level. Super Mario 64 offers a lot of leniency in different kinds of jumping to get through levels. This allowed players to create their own path to get stars in worlds that were seemingly impossible without going down a particular route.
This game served as the ultimate precursor that future 3D Mario games like Super Mario Galaxy and Super Mario Odyssey would expand upon to refine and deepen the Mario formula that we all know and love today. It also serves as a stepping stone in how to do a great 3D platformer game that many studios, even to this day, refer to in order to create their own unique take on the genre. Famous and beloved platformer games like Spyro, Banjo-Kazooie, and Ratchet and Clank all have Mario to thank for giving them that platforming foundation.
Final Fantasy 7
This is a game that has been praised and loved on for over 20 years now. There are so many great aspects of this game that make it great from the interesting and relatable characters to the engaging combat. But, what really set this game ablaze was its use of cinematic storytelling.
Compared to today’s standards, the cinematics in this game aren’t much to look at, but during the time they were groundbreaking. Final Fantasy 7 set the bar for cinematic visual fidelity. No game during that time was even close to matching Final Fantasy 7’s cinematic graphics. If any games did have cinematics in them, they were choppy and the resolution was so bad that you could barely tell what was going on. It was the cross that 3D games had to bear at the time. But, Final Fantasy 7 really pushed the limits that those consoles had at the time and the developers were clearly committing to making an immersive world and using all of their resources to accomplish that goal.
It was one of the first titles that helped transition games into interactive movies. Nowadays, it’s almost a standard that most modern AAA games have impressive and engaging cinematics. Players are no longer playing a game, but enjoying an experience where they want to feel pulled in by characters and immersed in the virtual world they have been placed in. All of this wouldn’t have even seemed possible without the ambitious pursuits of Final Fantasy 7.
Sims
Sims has always been a game that people continuously come back to years after its initial release because it was one of the first life simulator games. No game before Sims allowed you to build up your own virtual life. If you wanted to be a professional cook, be married and have 3 kids, and live in a penthouse you had all the power to do so.
All your dreams and fantasies could come true in this game. You had all the control on how you wanted your sims to behave. They could be hardworking, hopeless romantics, frugal, mean, kind-hearted, adventurous, antisocial, etc. You decide on how you want your character to look, behave, and be viewed by other people. You had all the control you could want. You were essentially the god of your own world.
In a way it was life away from life for a lot of people. It’s a great outlet for people to live the lives they’ve always wanted because, let’s be honest, not many of us can say we’re 100% satisfied with our lives in the real world. But, in Sims, satisfaction in life was completely up to you. If you wanted to be successful you could. If you wanted your family to be miserable or die by fires and drowning that YOU caused, you had the freedom to do that. Not sure why you want to do that. Seems kinda cruel, but the point is that you have all the freedom to create whatever life you desire and there’s a reason why it’s still one of the most popular games to play even today. With so many different combinations and life choices in this game, life is literally want you make it.
WiiFit
Games were always branded as causing people to be lazy and unfit, drawing up the stereotype that all gamers were 35 year old overweight men eating doritos in their mom’s basement. No one thought anything really good could come out of long hours of playing games. That is, not until the WiiFit came along.
WiiFit was the first game that put fitness as it’s core mechanic. There were no crazy worlds to explore, no cinematic storytelling, not KD’s, just fitness. You would think this would be just a gimmick; Nintendo’s vain attempt to get people excited for exercise. But the thing is, it worked, like really worked!
I remember when I got the Wii my entire family would be using the WiiFit balance board every day to overcome fitness goals and to simply have fun working out. It was the first home gym that didn’t require turning your entire office into a fitness center. Your own personal gym was right in the Wii system with just a Balance Board as your gateway to healthy living!
It was great for people of all ages. Young kids would get fit by playing games that used the Wii Balance board to get them to run and do various exercises and Nintendo themed minigames. Adults could focus on strengthening their core and cardio through yoga and aerobic activities with a virtual instructor encouraging and pushing them to go all the way.
While WiiFit never got anybody shredded, it encouraged family fitness and succeeded at getting millions of people active. It also sparked a core value of using games to get people active in other titles like Pokemon Go and the recently released RingFit Adventure.
Pong
It’s been a heated argument as to what the first videogame actually was, but most people can agree that Pong takes claim to that title. Pong seems like such a rudimentary game compared to now with all our fancy realistic graphics, insanely fast frame rates, and new and engaging ways to play games with tech like VR and motion controls. In Pong all you were doing was bouncing a pixel back and forth to gain points between a computer or a friend.
While the Atari cabinet might not seem like much now, Pong was integral in introducing video games to the world. It was a simple game, but it was fun, easy to pick up, and most importantly addicting. It was first showcased in bars and people loved it because it was simple to pick up but hard to master and people would play it nonstop.
This is probably one the most impactful games here on this list, because it was the first successful commercial game that helped establish the game industry as we know today. Once Atari found out the great success and fun games like Pong had to offer, they quickly mass produced Pong and similar games to the world.
It paved the way for the spur of arcade cabinets in the 80’s with fan favorites like Pacman and Donkey Kong, to home consoles, to...well you know the rest. It’s hard to imagine the game industry today without Pong so thanks Atari...you’re a real one!
TellTale's The Walking Dead
TellTale’s The Walking Dead really made an impact on the game industry by offering intricate branching storytelling mechanics into a game. Rather than a linear story that the player has to mindlessly follow, TellTale offers an insane freedom of choice into the game, making every decision the player makes have consequences that alters the overarching story further down the line.
Whether you're a fan of the Walking dead or not, it’s hard not to be invested in this game once you start playing it. The characters are so deep and relatable you’ll have a hard time not getting attached to them and the overarching storyline is so deep you never know what weight the decision you made 6 hours ago has until you’re faced with a dilemma where it all starts to come full circle.
Not only does this game offers an engaging story, but it’s all very accessible to all types of players. This game doesn’t require you to learn crazy combos or really be any good at the game. It’s something that pretty much anybody can pick up because really all they have to do is press buttons when they are told to. You would think that this would be boring, but the game has so much depth that the simple playstyle makes it that much more serious when the player is forced to make a game changing decision in a small window of time. If you ever played a TellTale game, you know how intense that moment can be when you are faced with a seemingly impossible decision with the clock ticking down.
It’s a 3D text adventure game that really takes it to the next level. You can see your characters behave and react to the decisions you make and it really helps show the weight your decisions have on others. While The Walking Dead is certainly not the first to introduce alternate decision making in games, it made the player feel like they’re were actually a part of the game. You weren’t just a passive player anymore, you were put into the important role of deciding how the story goes and having to live with your decisions later on.
Plus, with so many branching avenues the story can take, it offers a ton of replayability making every playthrough a unique experience. TellTale is said to be one of the kings of storytelling in the industry and and their games clearly reflect that.
There are so many more games that have impacted the game industry into what it is today, but for time's sake I'll leave it here and pick it up again in a future blog post! What game do you think had an impact on the game industry? Comment below and I look forward to hearing from you soon!
Dean Willms
~Gamer. Designer. Friend.
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