If you’ve been waxing nostalgic recently for good old Star Trek: TNG this this episode is for you! Today we talk about the characters from the Next Generation that we’d love to meet and what makes these “people” awesome. The Commodore runs through your ideas, tallies the votes, and then shares his own opinion on the matter just to round things out. After that, it’s off to the question for next week which will find you selecting from only the most elite of videogaming’s history. It’s the Weekly Wringer!
62 Comments
Being a gamer in the 90′s, specifically a PC gamer, granted me the experience of playing what I consider to be the BEST Adventure games that era had to offer. Chief among them. The Myst series. Man….where to even begin with this. This series, for it’s time, was so revolutionary in its depth, story and visuals. In many ways it still rivals games that are out now.
The graphic style that is used is very unique. They use pre-rendered backgrounds that are photorealistic and highly detailed. Making the atmosphere look amazingly real. As real as looking out your window almost. In addition to superb 3D modeling which in itself looks incredibly real. This is most prevelant in the sequels. Riven, Exile, Revelations and End of Ages. Revelations being by far the most realisic in every respect.
The many worlds/Ages that you visit are the most vibrant, alive and imaginative you will ever find. They are all equally unique in theme, detail and function. Each age has their own game mechanics made specificly for them and make sense. All of which are not only relevant but strongly connected to the storyline. Everywhere you go it feels like you are in a living, breathing place that actually exists.
The story itself is deeply immersive and is connected to a well written lore that was originated in books before the games were developed. Which the games have extended and made fully interactive. The characters are real people that are blended well into the world. You feel genuinely connected to them for that reason alone.
The puzzles in this series are amazingly well thought out, imaginative, intricate, incredibly varied and are deeply weaved into the storyline so well that it makes perfect sense for them to be there and they feel genuinely important. Not only that, but when you finish a puzzle, which is a grand feat in and of itself, you gain such a fantastic feeling of self satisfaction for being smart enough to do it. That is a great reward that few, if any, games today allow.
In every way I can think, this series was just masterfully done. To me, it is simply the best designed game series ever produced. Bar none. The Art style, 3D modeling, Story, Characters, Game Mechanics and the insane attention to detail is so massive that it has allowed this series to AGE incredibly well. I can’t think of any other game that has managed this. At least not to this level. It is the Mona Lisa of game development.
This is game design at its very very finest. It saddens me to know that in this day and age that these types of games dont really exist anymore and not only that, but I feel there are too many people that don’t know that this game series exists. Especially to those that werent born in the 80′s or 90′s.
Not only should this series should be added, but be added first. So that more people can experience this Myst opportunity. It is a game for the Ages.
**For those that want to witness this for themselves but dont have the means to obtain the games. Especially the older ones that you may not even be able to run anymore. Go watch the Let’s Plays from ShadyParadox (Myst, Exile) and Dilandau3000 (Riven, Revelations, Uru and End of Ages) on Youtube. They are amazingly done. Highly recommended.
Life is filled with a lot of coincidence.
Last month, I was browsing the yard sale, as I do every month, when I found a video game I owned in the late 90s. Sadly, I lent it to a friend and it went with him when he moved. Also, a prominent video game reviewer reviewed this game last week, so it’s all coincidence that:
I bought this game for $5. The seller had no clue what it was or what it was worth.
So Commodore, when you asked this question, I immediately knew what the proper answer is:
Parasite Eve
Not the sequels. Not the original novelization. The first game. Released in 1998 by Square.
I can’t think of a single title more worthy of going into a hypothetical “National Video Game Preservation Board.”
I mean, the story is so concise. It knew how to keep the story short and to the point without dragging it out like typical RPGs. And like Derek, the Happy Video Game Nerd, said, it helped redefine the survival horror genre by implementing RPG aspects into a run-and-gun, shooter type game genre.
I’d say more, but there’s no reason to. All you have to do is watch the first half of HVGN’s Parasite Eve review. He said all that needs to be said. http://retrowaretv.com/happy-video-game-nerd-parasite-eve-trilogy/
I know that this is (VERY!) cliche but the original Super Mario Bros. has to be the first game inducted. I mean the quality and scope of a game like Super Mario Bros. had never been seen before in any video game. The gameplay, the graphics, the music, and the tight controls were only half of what made Super Mario Bros. the monster success that it became. The other half was the fact that it was able to capture people’s imaginations again. Super Mario Bros. wasn’t just a game about getting the highest score, it was about going somewhere on an adventure, with unique characters and levels that didn’t just repeat over and over. The fact that Super Mario Bros. is STILL being imitated, copied, and successfully re-released to this day just goes to show the sheer brilliance of it’s design and execution. How many games can you think of that are able to entertain people of all ages and demographics? Few games come to the same level of innovation, influence, and pure fun that the original 8-bit Super Mario Bros. does.
I actually took the time to give this one a fair amount of thought and I’d have to say Pong.
I don’t want to go on a long diatribe about what the “first” video game was and argue whether it was made with transistors or radar equipment. Pong was the start of home gaming. Ask your parents about the first time they saw it in sports bars are bowling alleys. It was everywhere and largely responsible for the beginning of home gaming. That’s quite a feat and for that alone I think it deserves the 1st spot.
“In 1988, the (United States) Library of Congress established the National Film Preservation Board, to preserve film deemed “culturally, historically, or esthetically important”. Each year, the board selects 25 films to add to the National Film Registry.”
Even though you said that you dont necessarily want the first video game (pong being the first commercially successful video game in 1972), pong isnt a bad choice. Objectively, I would have to put it in the registry very quickly. It is definitely culturally and historically significant. Maybe not esthetically i guess.
I feel that you are asking for more of personal opinions while still remaining under the criteria though, and in which case I would go with Starcraft. As much as I am anti-blizzard these days, Starcraft back in 1998 fits the bill for me.
Culturally, its significant, although its morso culturally significant in south korea and not the USA. But I will say many of the quotes in the game have found their way into American lingo (“Carrier has arrived”, “You wanna piece of me, boy?”, etc). Starcraft might be the most quoted video game of all time (Star Fox 64 and Portal are close though). The term “zerg rush” has also found its way into our culture. Also, don’t forget about the competitive aspect of the game. Even though e-sports is evolving in a very questionable way to me, starcraft was the first game that really saw popularity from spectators.
Historically, its significant. The RTS genre more or less is now labeled as before starcraft (dune 2, warcraft 1/2, command and conquer, etc), and after starcraft (hybrid genre games like the total war series and warcraft 3, 3D games like homeworld). Starcraft was the first RTS that really perfected races being unique from each other as well.
Esthetically, maybe not so much. For 1998 I think the game looked great though. Battlecruisers with the yamato cannon, firebats shooting the fire streams, etc. Mini interceptors shooting out of the carriers. The disgusting zerg units in general. The creativity in the esthetics was there at least.
The main thing that knocks Starcraft down a little bit is how it isn’t that old compared to games like Super Mario Bros., Zelda, or even a Doom/Wolfenstein 3D. Usually these types of lists have a bit of a bias towards older things.
My first thought on this is actually “Super Mario Bros.” It’s basically a cultural icon and a technically perfect game. I would like it preserved in its original form if for nothing more than -1 world. And if you don’t know what I’m talking about, WHERE HAVE YOU BEEN!?
If any other game were to take its place in the archives I think it should be Pac-Man however. Namco’s little pellet munching druggie who eats ghosts. Not only did he eat quarters at the arcades, but on home consoles. I had an Atari 2600 which got a lot of play with Pac-Man (even if it was inferior to the arcade machine) and despite having a fairly diverse library of games it was that, Frogger, Pitfall, Enduro and Rodeo that got the most mileage out of the machine.
It also helps that the dentist I used to go to as a kid also had a play area for children where there were arcade machines available – Pac-Man, Donkey Kong and Frogger.
My cousin had a small Arcade-like unit that was made exclusively for playing Pac-Man on. There are just some games that have to be in the archives and Super Mario goes without saying, Pac-Man deserves some love though too. Then again he has a wife and kid… and a crappy TV cartoon. Huh.
If the registry wishes to archive the important games, Space Invaders should certainly be the first game inducted into the registry. It was the first massively successful video game and the first killer app. Without it, the Atari 2600 would have never become popular and the industry as we know it would not exist or be wildly different at the very least. I believe that it’s entirely sensible to call it the most influential game of all time. Forget Pong and Super Mario Bros., Space Invaders, for all intents and purposes, created the industry. I doubt that it would be as ubiquitous today were it not Space Invaders. Besides that, the game itself is endlessly replayable, perhaps more than any other game. I believe that if a Space Invaders cabinet were dug up in thousands of years, it, more than any other game, would comminucate the concept of video games to a civilization that has perhaps never heard of them. Some other games that come to mind are Pong, Space Wars, Colossal Cave, and Rogue, but I stick to Space Invaders.
Nice balloon, by the way.
Reading through the comments so far, I found basically all of my first thoughts already taken. Namely Super mario Bros, pong, and Starcraft. All fine games that any potential national Video Games Registry would do well to have as their first induction. but I don’t want to just post stating that I agree with someone else, so I though a bit more and came up with Quake.
Quake wasn’t really a first for anything, but I feel that it does hold a cultural significance. From Quake we got QuakeCon, a convention/LAN/tournament designed only for thousands of people to all get together and play the same game and interact face to face. Quake really solidified that maybe if you’re good enough at a game you can play it for a living, something that Starcraft would later follow up on. It helped bring forth the idea that games don’t have to be shallow, there can be a lot of hidden depth that is not always immediately noticeable to a new player. It showed developers that for their primarily multiplayer game to really last it needed to be modable and have balanced multiplayer.
Quake rewarded player for more than just being able to click on a set of pixels. Knowledge of the game engine, it’s quirks, the layout of the maps, and where all the items would spawn separated the great from the good. Quake Live is still an ongoing community that hosts tournaments. Parts of Quake are still being emulated to this day.
So was it really a first at anything? No. We’d had online games before, we’d had video games tournaments before, we’d had games with depth, balance, and mods before; but Quake managed to pull off all these things very well.
Adventure for the Atari 2600 is most well known for having the first ever secret area/easter egg, but that’s just the tip of the iceburg for why it’s my first choice.
The visuals for this game were fantastic. Locals were very colorful and varied. Monsters and items were easily identifiable as well as brilliantly colored and well animated. Despite the variety there was also an excellent cohesion to the visual experience.
The audio was amazing. While limited by the technology every sound stood out as unique and fitting for the situation. The dragons had especially great accompanying effects which gave the player a genuine feeling of dread with each encounter as well as hugely increased the immersion factor.
Where Adventure really stood out though was in the gameplay and how radically ahead of its time it was in this area. It introduced the action-adventure genre to consoles as well as pioneered the ideas of item management and even inventory. The influence of this game can still be seen in almost every modern rpg/action/sandbox/mmo/fps/adventure/beat um up/(practically name it) game today. Even a genre defying game like Minecraft is heavily rooted in the staples created by Adventure.
In a time when most games focused largely on the accumulation of points it broke out of the mold and was purely focused on an ultimate ending/goal and the ending sequence really gave the player a feeling of great accomplishment. Where most games of this nature stale quickly, once you’ve beaten Adventure you can randomize the placement of enemies and items, leading to a completely different experience with every playthrough.
The feeling of elation you get when slaying that dragon that’s been chasing you or find that long sought after item. The dejection when the bat replaces said item with a dragon. The first secret area ever concieved was well hidden, but not overly so. I still play Adventure 25+ years later and enjoy it every bit as much as I did as a child. Even my daughter, who looks at me like I’m insane when I try to get her to play other Atari games will play Adventure.
It’s really hard to make a choice here. Every classic system had at least one timeless game that deserves a spot in a future video game archive. Reading the comments above I can see most are grabbing titles that are the first in the series.
Let me be the one to break the cycle and say Ocarina of Time. It is the game that did the same for action-adventures what doom has done in the first person shooter genre. It changed the way people look at action-adventures. Everything just felt right in that game. The story, the characters, the music and even the combat was enjoyable. I always felt the first two zelda games lacked the user friendliness in terms of getting directions and finding the next place to go. Ofcourse it is part of the ‘adventure’ finding out where the next dungeon is but it is a flaw nonetheless.
I think OoT has stood the test of time better then the first games in the series. In 10-15 years from now OoT will still be easy to pick up by a new player and be enjoyed as much as we did back in the day, as where the original LoZ will need extra explanation. I did not go for a link to the past because I wanted to pick a game on a system that has come out close to the 2002 limit and widen the spectrum a bit.
My apologies for the weird text spacing but the text editor in chrome is having a will of it’s own.
Games can excel in different things. Some have a good story that makes you care about the characters, others present a believable and immersive gameworld. And while games like FF6, Zelda, Myst, etc certainly deserve to be on that list, I think the first game should be one that excels in something that is unique to videogames: The interactive part, or the gameplay. A game doesn’t need a story to become a great game. For that reason the first game on the list should be, in my opinion
Tetris
It’s easy to learn, but difficult to master. It’s addicting. It can be enjoyed by veteran gamers, by casual gamers and by people who have never played a videogame before. It’s a classic that is still being played today and it can potentially be played on every platform. Tetris is THE videogame.
My choice would be Space Invaders. First of all, it’s just a fantastic game, it’s probably the earliest game I’ve played in which the enemies would shoot back. It’s a very stimulating game but I would argue that Space Invader’s legacy extends far beyond just its game play for several reasons.
1)It laid the groundwork for the shooter genre (also being an inmportant influence for action games in general) and future game such as Galaxian and Galaga.
2)It’s the earliest Japanese developed game that I can think of that was a huge success in the US. It made US publishers take notice of Japanese developers and bring over future hits like Pac-Man from Japan, no doubt help solidifying Japan as a major player in the videogame industry.
3)The game has been cited as inspiration by video game icons like Miyamoto and Kojima as being a reason they got interested in developing games in the first place who both went on to create other games that arguably could be inducted into a hypothetical video game archive (Super Mario Bros and Zelda series and Metal Gear 2:Solid Snake on MSX).
4)The game was a huge success in the arcades, but the 2600 port was successful and important in expanding the console market. Being a system seller, .Space Invaders was one of the first games that solidified that the notion that videogames could be played and enjoyed at home and not just in the arcade. Sure there were the home pong systems prior, but the 2600 allowed for popular arcade games like Spacer Invaders, Asteroids, Defender etc. to be played in the home. Space Invaders was the game that popularize the 2600, boosted sales and revived the home console market that was flooded pong clones.
All the reasons listed above are why I would personally induct Space Invader despite it not being close to my favorite game of all time (although very good). It’s a landmark game who’s impact had a very positive effect on the evolution historical and cultural history of the video game industry
Ahhh I wanted to say Tetris…..
lol
Chrono Trigger.
Innovations and/or Excellences: Multiple endings, battle system w/ visible, avoidable enemies and same screen combat, side quests focused on individual character development, new game plus, gorgeous, beautiful, incredibly detailed graphics, great plot, nice character development, broad, believable and likable characters, good dialogue and both critical and popular success.
If Chrono Trigger is too new? Zork. Frobozz Co. FTMFW.
There were four Zelda titles prior to Ocarina of Time. The original, The Adventure of Link, A Link to The Past and Link’s Awakening. And the latter two, ALttP and LA, had similar systems of telling you where to go as OoT did. In ALttP, it was a wise man who contacted you telepathically. In LA, it was an owl.
A million times this, yes.
The interesting thing about Tetris is Alexey Pajitnov, the guy who created it, didn’t make a dime on the game until the Soviet Union collapsed.
Argh, all the good ones are taken. Super Mario Bros., Tetris, Pac-Man, and maybe Space Invaders, are the most culturally significant. Pac-Man and Space Invaders were what got the gaming stuff big and popular, then Super Mario Bros. advanced it into an adventure, and Tetris was a simple puzzle game ever can (and has) played.
Video games are an art and an art such as this has a great capacity to speak to the human spirit. I’ve noticed quite a few people have picked games such as Pac-Man, Super Mario Bros., Space Invaders, etc. These kinds of games were mainly made with gameplay in mind and I feel that if a game were to be inducted into a National Registry, it would have to be a game with not just good gameplay, but a game that makes us, humans, think about certain facets of life. It has to have well-written characters, plot, dialogue, etc. The game would basically have to be a commentary on the small and large things of life.
So my pick for the 1st video game for the Registry would have to be Metal Gear Solid. The game contained and challenged themes of genetics, nuclear management and abuse, military ethics, love, and living one’s life to its fullest. I think MGS was made with all factors, that are important to a game, in mind. To add, the music was well composed, and the gameplay was tight.
I understand why a game would have to be 10 years old to be considered for recommendation. The 10 years is like a test, to see if the game has aged well. Does the story still speak well to its players? Is the game still fun and enjoyable?
I should also point out that the game has been very well received. Many critics viewed the game as a huge innovation, including how it moved the stealth genre forward. A good, but small, example of an innovation was the use of breaking the 4th wall, such as switching the controller to port 2 in order to fight Psycho Mantis or looking on the back of the game box for Meryl’s codec frequency. Metal Gear Solid is also being featured at the Smithsonian’s ‘Art of Video Games’ exhibit.
My vote would go to Donkey Kong.
When Donkey Kong was released, it gave gamers more to think about than just learning the board and how to get the highest score. The game had multiple boards and a loose story for motivation. Earlier games have a conflict of some kind such as asteroids being in the way, aliens attacking, or missiles heading for your cities but Donkey Kong really put the gamer in the position of a hero. The new boards that come up give a sense of a journey and Donkey Kong’s laugh gives the drive to win. These qualities, I feel, gave gamers around the world a taste for a direction of gaming they couldn’t have known was coming.
It’s impossible to list all of the later games that were made by designers influenced by Donkey Kong in some way but I’m sure said list would be pretty long.
The arcade Donkey Kong was the only banana I was never able to get in Donkey Kong 64.
Long unexplained absence for myself? Check
First post back on a weekly wringer? Check
Guess that means it’s time for
SCIENTIFIC D6
Let’s delay no further
1) Pong: While I don’t think it was the first video game – there was something nasa or somewhere did a year or two before, it is one of the most enduring and famous video games of all time. It may not have been the first, but it was still the one that actually started the trend.
2) Tetris: I hoped to god this was what was rolled all the way back on the first D6, not because it was my favourite, but it was so obviously the correct choice. Here, I may not see it as the CORRECT choice, but it is a worthy choice – who doesn’t know about tetris? Who here is a portable gamer that doesn’t see this as genesis?
3) Super Mario Bros: I know these are all obvious choice is obvious, but what do you expect. Each game here changed the landscape in some way. Mario Brothers brought the platformer to the forefront, and brought about the resergence of gaming. We should acknowledge that.
4) Legend of Zelda: The other major Nintendo Franchise deserves as much credit as it’s cousin: Without this game, the large, sprawling game worlds we see today might not have been popular, had this not conditioned them into fun places to explore, as opposed to enemy filled chores to pad out between levels
5) Pokemon: Now, before anyone leaps down my throat, this is one of the games that established the RPG as a viable genre in the West. I’m not saying it’s the only one, but it was one of them. And was one of the few to be recognised both in it’s time AND a decade later.
6) Final Fantasy 6: The reason here may be dubious, but these are my thoughts, so screw it. We’ve hade shifts in popular genres, the ways games are played. However, this, to me, represents the first time a game had an in depth, character driven plot. You saw how people grew over the course of the story, the effect they had on their world. That deserves commendation.
I’ll try to comment more regularly from now on, but I can’t promise anything
I wholeheartedly disagree with that statement. Video games are not art (A subject for another weekly ringer perhaps?) in my opinion. Videogames are no more an art than playing a board game, a tabletop rpg/strategy game, a card game or even playing sports with friends. Games may have artistic elements like stylized graphics, gripping narrative or well composed soundtracks but there’s some nicely drawn drawn artwork on Magic cards, some thought provoking scenarios in tabletop games and some snazzy looking color on my tennis racquet also but I don’t call those activities art. Art is more integrated in video games than other types of games which is perhaps why the line between game and art is often blurred. The story in a video game is art but the video game in its entirety is not art, it’s a game.
Video games are first and foremost GAMES. Video games are a very compelling type of game because unlike a board games which is a mental based competition or sports which are mostly a physical competition, video games often incorporate both types of competiton (sort of) in their gameplay. The blending use of strategy (the mind) and quick reflexes (the physical.. sort of) is what makes a video game so stimulating to me. An emotional thought provoking story is a welcome and appreciated bonus but the good gameplay is the reason I pick up a controller and play a game rather than watch a movie or read a book. Therefore, I feel the gameplay should be an important if not the most important criterion for admission in a national registry for video games. To disregard games like Pac-Man for being gameplay driven is absurd. Not to mention the hardware available at the time running such games like Pac-Man was completely incapable of conveying rich stories and realisticly detailed graphics. Are you willing to write off almost entire section of video game history? Keep in mind, it wasn’t impossible for a game of the early gameplay minded era to prey on human emotions. Missle Command’ is a good example. No gripping narrative or well written characters, just missiles falling and you got to stop them. A simple game, yet the game’s coincidence with the Cold War fed into many people’s fear of real life nuclear war and had some freaked out. In your criteria, should Missle Command be eligible for entry because it could be considered social commentary of its era?
Anyways, I’m not looking to engage in an internet debate. It is your opinion and I respect your choice to hold it. It’s not my goal to offend anyone but I wanted to express a difference of opinion on the subject.
Back on the subject, I almost had to nominate Madden NFL 1992 for the video game registry. Building on the successes of John Madden Football and John Madden Football 2, Madden 92 laid the foundation for a plethora of strong selling, often million+ selling games such as Madden 1993, Madden 1994, Madden 1995, Madden 1996, Madden 1997, Madden 1998, Madden 1999, Madden 2000, Madden 2001, Madden 2002, Madden 2003, Madden 2004, Madden 2005, Madden 2006, Madden 2007, Madden 2008, Madden 2009, Madden 2010,Madden 2011 Madden 2012 and clear inspiration for the upcoming hot summer release Madden 2013 which is looking destined to be another millions seller as well. A very choice nomination in my book but I think I still have to go with Space Invaders.
I should kindly clean up my commment a little, Red Mage. Games like Pac-Man or Super Mario Bros. should, of course, be inducted. But as the first one? I’m not so sure about that. I also wholeheartedly agree with your statement about video games and their capacity to challenge, especially the mind, (which is an especially important factor concerning this topic). But may I kindly say that you may be missing my main point, and its that if a video game is to be inducted as the Regristry’s first choice, it should contain all elements of what makes a masterpeice of a game, (and let those elements be geniusly crafted).
I am a student of history and I would not even dare write off any piece of it. So, I apologize if I created a misunderstanding with my words. I only meant to pick what should be the 1st game for the Registry. I also want to make it clear that I do think that games such as Pac Man, Mario, and Space Invaders ARE art. Visually, they are artistic. But that’s my opinion.
But let me ask you this: has a game ever made you cry? Ever stirred up some sort of emotion within you? Isn’t that what art can also do? I’ll admit, I cried playing some video games. I cried when Aeris died, felt hopeful when Vyse and his crew stepped up to seemingly impossible odds, heck, I cried a little playing Valkyria Chronicles a few days ago. Art moves us and messes with our human emotions and soul, and it makes us think. Video Games has done that for me, just like a film or a novel has moved me.
Of course, I respect your opinon as well, as it is just as valid as any other.
To those who picked Ocarina of Time, Chrono Trigger, and the like: sure, they would be good nominations eventually, but they are only important to a niche. They come from a time when gaming was already split into generes, and different people played different genres. We are talking about the first game to be nominated into this hypothetical prestigous institute. It must be a game important to not only a niche, but gaming as a whole. As many of us were drawn to this site by 16-bit Gems, I notice an abundance of “16-bit Gems”-esque, games being picked, that is, games with grandoise stories that require time and dedication. They would all be excellent nominations for later in the lifespan of this hypothetical registry. However, the first game must be one that, besides being historically important, can communicate the concept of video games to someone who may not even know what they are. This is why I did not pick Final Fantasy IV or Chrono Trigger, which is my personal favorite game, and instead went with Space Invaders.
Also, Red Mage, I won’t tell you why video games are art here and know, as that warrants a discussion of its own. Perhaps on the forums.
I was almost certain that would be everyone’s answers with a few Donkey Kong’s and Tetris’s here and there. To me its the most obvious choice. It marked a turning point for gaming and its place in the living room. No game has ever been more respected and appreciated among core gamers and casuals alike. A game like Chrono Trigger might mean a lot to us but its not the game that would jump into your mom’s mind when she thinks about video games.
————————–
Like Red Mage I also completely disagree with The Onion Knight’s comments on video game essentially needing to be more than a video game to be the first game in the National Registry. If I want to be perfectly honest I was struggling to not laugh at it. Different facets of life? Yeahh…. I’m trying to find a word to use to best describe that but all that comes to mind is naive. I imagine that the sort of people who think this way are also the same sort of people who can’t understand why films like 81/2 will never make it to the top of the IMDB’s 250 list.
All the things described by him such as well-written characters, plot, dialogue, the game’s capacity to make you cry…. are all things that video games don’t even need to be defined as a video game. Why should such things need to be in place as a prerequisite for a position that should essentially tell the world that “THIS is a video game”? The only thing a National Registry entry should need is 1). some claim of putting the medium on the forefront to the common people, not just ardent fans of the medium. and 2) gameplay mechanics that are so compelling as to leave virtually no arguments to its competence and its worldwide appeal. Games like Space Invaders and Super Mario Bros make perfect sense as 1st National Registry candidates for all the same reasons that movies like The Dark Knight make sense to top IMDB’s lists.
You raise a good point, Bowtie Guy, that I failed to realize. The 1st game should be one that is easily recognized by many people, (although I think MGS is pretty popular, especially when it was initially released). And it should be a game that really speaks to people as “this is a video game and this is how video games play”. It makes me reconsider if MGS really speaks that to people since it might be more of an action film.
When I was thinking of a game to be the 1st pick for this Registry, I was thinking in the context of the Film registry. That registry chooses film that not only moves the industry forward, but holds artistic value. Why can’t it be the same for video games? Video games are just as valid as an art form, (although not widely recognized as such), as other forms of art. I do agree with everyone’s else picks, such as Space Invaders, Mario Bros., Chrono Trigger, Tetris, etc., because they are all great. Especially after re-reading why everyone picked those games, it makes me think if my pick is even valid as the 1st game.
I do, however, stand by my belief that the first game should contain elements that are not only important to older games, but also contain elements that are important to today’s video games. It should be a game that shows to people that games can be of artistic value, and that they hold a great cultural importance. Although, games like Space Invaders can certainly convey that, especially since Space Invaders not only helped define video games in early years, it also became one of the most recognized games in the world. It certainly is a good choice. But I’ll stick with my original choice of MGS.
And Furious George, while my mother does know Space Invaders, she (as well as many other of my family members and friends) only see it as a game. If I showed them a game like MGS, they might then view games as something more than a way of killing time. Convincing my parents that Space Invaders or Mario is a game of significant artistic value might prove to be a little more difficult. I’m just trying to think of a first choice that really speaks to many people and proves that games are important in our culture, even as an art.
But that is really all I can say, because it is just as Bowtie Guy said: this form of discussion is for another time, another place.
Bowtie Guy, Ocarina of Time was most assuredly not a niche game. It was just as significant in gaming as Final Fantasy 7. It took Zelda games out of a niche market and exposed it to everyone. Which is why it’s a golden calf when it comes to gaming. People have an irrational love for OoT (and FF7) and it goes far beyond niche. That one game single handedly sold almost ALL of the N64′s in Nintendo’s library. Just like FF7 did for the PS1.
Thank you for clarifying your stance Onion Knight. I decline to comment on the subject of art and video games further to save for later discussion but I will answer the question you presented if have I ever cried from playing a video game? No, I will admit that shocking plot development in games will on rare occasion have a small impact on my mood but a game has never moved me to tears.
I think the problem with the question for this week is that Commodore asked what the very 1st game should be while the Film Registry doesn’t limit itself to this extreme and elects 25 films year. It’s hard to pick just one game especially the very first game to be inducted. I think it limits the realistic choices. Games like Quake and Chrono Trigger games while great game would have little to no shot at being the first inductee in an actual VG registry. But, the point of these discussions is to have fun and share personal views, I do enjoying reading others choices and justifications even if it would never really happen. However, I feel some of the games listed in this discussion while maybe not realistic in receiving the honor of first induction would be first ballot inductees if there were a larger ballot. ex OoT is probably a first ballot game but I would probably have it around #18 of 25 on my hypothetical ballot.
I’d argue that Gran Turismo was just as important if not more important to ps1 sales than FF7.
“culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant.”
I think “or” is the key word here. For the first I picked a game I felt best represented every category if leaning a bit more towards “historically” significant, but there is nothing wrong with leaning more heavily towards “culturally” (Mario, Tetris, Space Invaders,…) or “aesthetically” (Chrono Trigger, OoT, MGS,…). Like Mr. K. indicated, most of the games mentioned were significant in all categories. Parasite Eve for example has dramatically influenced the rpg genre and is thus significant culturally and historically as well as being a great choice for aesthetic reasons.
Oh and video games are a form of expression and thus “art” albeit not “high art” in many cases. The Colisseum though primarily used for gaming is a great work of art. A beaufully carved chessboard as another example. I’d say the game of D&D has cultural, historical, and aesthetic significance.
Pac-Man and Ms. Pac-Man (which was an addon board ot the original arcade cab initially).
It’s a cultural icon from 1980 and embodies the bright colorful time period it is from as well as the dark intrigue that the arcade represented (a sharp contrast). Even the sound is iconic. It represents both the national culture and the arcade environment at its best. It’s one of the most successful games – taking in 2.5 billion dollars in quarters (just think about that a minute). Ms Pac-Man was the first female lead character in a video game. It even led us to the modern console, selling Atari 2600′s. It’s still a popular game today and sees a remake on every game platform – from each generation. As far as art goes, the game is comprised of simple shapes and uses the imagination to embellish the game. An artistic interpretation of the game is reflected in the arcade cabinet.
Reference: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pac-Man
Chrono Trigger, i feel that it really changed the way a lot of people saw RPG games and brought a whole new appreciation for them. Meaningful side quests, enemies on screen before engaging them, actual character development for all of the characters instead of focusing on just one or two, multiple endings that varied greatly instead of just minor changes, amazing soundtrack that most people who have played it will recognize pretty much any song instantly, and last but not least the art style was truly breathtaking for the time.
I’m cake decorator. I make cakes for a living. I make some pretty fine looking cakes available to the public to buy. While it is my bread and butter to make cakes, I take great pride in what I do and when I do a nice design I do consider it art. I put my art on display every day.
You know what pisses me off some times?
I will make a lovely, elegantly designed cake and it will (more often than you’d think) sit there until its expiration date and quite possibly not even sell on the mark down rack. Meanwhile, another cake I whipped up just to occupy space on a shelf because I needed something “Quick” and had no forethought put into it will sell.
I’m using this as a point.
Video games are (or do utilize) art. I’m not saying they’re fine art. If Final Fantasy VI is Leonardo DaVinci, then Donkey Kong is your 4 year old scribbling on a piece of paper.
But culturally, people may latch on to a 4 year old’s heart felt doodle to mom more than the Last Supper. Maybe they can identify with it more, but for whatever reason they’ll buy wood over silver.
“There is no accounting for taste” is how I like to put it.
The first Portal game is a fine example of this. It was meant more to be a tech demo than a full-fledged game. While it took time and effort to create, it was in many ways ‘just a lark’ that made it big. (I like Portal) Pong was another such whim. They weren’t made to be masterpieces or works of art, but they engrained themselves in society and became relevant. They were consumed far above and beyond what anyone expected. Meanwhile, many higher budget, glossier, better looking and possibly playing games can fail to meet budget because you know what? The audience, for one reason or another, doesn’t want it or connect to it.
Video games, Movies, any kind of media, are subjective to the audience, an audience that votes with its wallets.
I feel very strongly about the games I played and liked as a child. If I could personally nominate a game to the registry it would be either Little Nemo: The Dream Master, or Dragon Force. But they were hardly a blip on the radar of most gamers’ playing diet, and before a registry can start to recognize the more innovative or hidden gems of culture (or sub culture even), it must start with the most beloved and recognizable. We must be able to connect to them on a large scale before the smaller things can be appreciated.
@Mog: The Colisseum though primarily used for gaming is a great work of art.
*cough*Flavian Amphitheatre*cough*
It amuses me that anyone has argued w/anyone else’s interpretation of this kind of highly subjective criteria. Esp. when it comes to aesthetics. People pay millions of dollars for Andy Warhol paintings of empty soup cans. Appreciation for art and what one considers to be art is a VERY personal thing. There is no “right” or “wrong” answer. It’s like taking a class on symbolism or subtext in literature and being told you are wrong because a certain line signified something different to you than it did to someone else in your class. Some things have different meanings to different people, or even to the same person on different readings/viewings/playthroughs what have you. Layers of meaning. No one can be “wrong” about what they find to be aesthetically pleasing or moving. Maybe the members of the induction panel of our imaginary registry would care moar about aesthetics, maybe they’d care more about historical importance, or cultural impact. Because they don’t really exist? I say they care most about aesthetics. Tell me I’m wrong. =D
As other CoTGW members mentioned Super Mario Bros. would be there. Would you pick it as the first one… I would. Why? Because even though Pong brought games home and other arcade and Atari games made a huge impact. Super Mario Bros. is the reason why there is a video game industry today. Nintendo single handedly revived this form of entertainment / art with Super Mario Bros. Video games were dead at that point. Without the original NES and that hit game maybe some other form of entertainment would have the place of games. How many people do you know that would have a hard time recognizing the Super Mario Bros. theme?
I don’t think that necessarily needs to be the case. It didn’t seem to me the movie registry favors one of their criteria over the others and they put “or” not “and”. They induct independant films. You find a game to be well above others aesthetically and I find that every bit as valid. Sales numbers aren’t everything especially when you’re talking about art. Van Gogh wasn’t appreciated until well after his death. “Starving artist” is a term for a reason.
I do see what you’re saying but you seem to be wrapped up in this idea that the National Registry 1st candidate has to be a case for “games= art” when as far as I can see it really doesn’t. Is the mission of the National Film Registry to show people that films are more than a way of killing time? Of course it isn’t. So then why are you making it seem like that would be the mission of the National Game Registry? I’ll never understand why gamers have this wild need to justify their hobby and convince everyone its art… >_>… but, like you said, that is getting off-topic.
My point is that to me (and probably to the others that are picking the 8-bit classics) if would actually make more sense to put up a game that is more basic and more pure “game” than a game that is begging to prove to the world that it is “more than just a game”. I absolutely do think games like CT and MGS belong on the National Registry but I don’t see them being #1. Obviously we aren’t going to agree but I’m just examining your reasoning a bit.
An “opinions are opnions” post? This… probably wasn’t necessary bro.
We’re having a discussion here and are allowed to have differing views. Everyone is being very civil about where they stand. *shrugs*
I actually like that we are having a lot of back-and-forth with this one. Within two days of its upload this Weekly Wringer has gotten more comments than it usually gets for the entire week. Commodore picked a doozy this time!
The discussion being slowly overtaken by one about art in the medium of video games was as inevitable as it is clear, for to find the best answer to the question posed one has to think about what is the essence of a video game – art is one option. Before I shift back to the actual topic at hand, let me take the time to exquisitely emphasize that the standard of art sought in video games should not lay in the narrative but in its interactivity with the player, for that is the only special thing video games offer; I know of no person that would enjoy playing through Citizen Kane or Middlemarch*, because the narrative is not what drives the game, instead, it is letting the player interact in such a way as to let him feel like he’s is witnessing the action first hand that makes video games have artistic capabilities – if anything.
That last point however, perhaps unfortunately, brings me to a conclusion that may not sit well with everybody: Metal Gear Solid is not good narrative art. If narrative is what one wishes to focus on, then so be it – but then I’ll also have to be honest about the actual quality of said narrative. Metal Gear Solid’s fundamentally whiny and melodramatic plot convoluted with messy characters with shady melodramatic backgrounds and themes as subtle as those of District 9 that are as cheesy as the line ‘stay frosty’ are not what I consider to be anywhere close to the narrative genius the label of art would make it out to be; in fact, I thought it was a parody of American action films the first time I played it, a role which it fullfills rather well indeed. Its reliance on cutscenes does exactly what the first game to be entered in the hypothetical Video Game Registry should not do, move it from being, fundamentally, a video game to a motion picture that happens to feature gameplay, a parallel that is often drawn with respects to the Metal Gear Solid series - and one that examplifies exactly why not to pick it first.
With my standars in mind, I would search for games like Thief: The Dark Project when one wishes to find art in video games, for it emphasizes exploration, ineractivity and first hand witnessing of events rather than reliance upon cutscenes, and makes one feel as if he truly is the thief, rather than watching him. Of course, as for the question for this week, the likes of Space Invaders seem to be a far better pick than Metal Gear Solid, it would set a far better standard as to what the video game medium should achieve.
I hope my comment does not seem uncivil, I have no intention of ad hominem attacks upon anyone’s choice, and in any case, I can see where the argument is coming from.
* I feel the need to elaborate here, in that I by no means meant to imply that either of those rely purely on their narrative for their artistic weight, I just picked them due to their narrative excellence.
The Commodore picked a good topic. Very open to discussion.
Anyways, I based my criteria for choosing SMB on the impact the game had. Artistic value I would probably say Okami. Even Windwaker would fit that category.
@Furious George: An “opinions are opnions” post? This… probably wasn’t necessary bro.
We’re having a discussion here and are allowed to have differing views. Everyone is being very civil about where they stand. *shrugs*
I actually like that we are having a lot of back-and-forth with this one. Within two days of its upload this Weekly Wringer has gotten more comments than it usually gets for the entire week. Commodore picked a doozy this time!
I think you missed the point of my post….
I don’t believe that opinions are opinions. I think some people have stupid opinions that have no inherent value. I’m emphatically NOT defending all opinions. The opposite in fact. Aesthetic preferences are not opinions. A preference may be part of the impetus behind one forming an opinion, but it is not the same thing. Opinions are intellectual (more or less) frameworks we use to justify/legitimatize our preferences, values, beliefs etc. Preferences are visceral affinities. Opinions can be wrong. Preferences cannot. Apples and oranges.
I DO refer to opinions in my post. The opinion that cultural impact or historical significance is a more valid criteria for our registry than pure aesthetics. I don’t agree w/ that opinion. I think they are all equally valid criteria.
I agree with this. The first MGS game is not good at narrative, character development or themes.
But MGS3 is good narrative art, so I do respect MGS for launching the series in the 21st century to people who might not have ever encountered it before. Without MGS, there would be no MGS3, and I think the gaming world would be weaker without it. And for that, MGS has to be respected for its particular intrinsic value.
Yeah you’re right I did miss the point of your post. It was late when I responded, I saw some key phrases in your post that made me think it was one of those “let’s all respect each other’s opinions” post and assumed my way into a corner from there. My apologies.
Now that I do know what you’re saying I can say I don’t fully agree. A lot people seem to be arguing for a game making it on the registry by way of aethetic value alone which I agree with. What I don’t think is really being appreciated here is that we are talking about the 1st game on the registry and in such a case cultural, historic AND aethestic (not just one or the other) value should be the standard and its lucky that something like Super Mario bros satisfies all 3 of those… perhaps with cultural/historical being slightly more important because the 1st entry should ideally set the tone for the rest of the Registry.
I love every point made here. Truly a post after my own heart.
Of course! There’s a reason why film is studied in post-secondary schools. Heck, I even studied a few in a philosophy course.
Not necessarily, Furious George. I’m beginning to see what you mean and even I’m beginning to change my opinion as to what should be the 1st pick, (although my opinion that video games are art is a value I believe in and cannot be changed). As Man with a Harmonica pointed out, MGS does indeed have a narrative that is poorly presented. I picked that game initially because it was along the lines of what I was looking for and it was the first game that popped in my head. And don’t worry Man with a Harmonica, your comment is quite civil and you raise some very good points.
And so, because of Furious George’s and Man with a Harmonica’s convincing debate, I’m changing my pick from Metal Gear Solid to Super Metroid, (although my opinion that video games are art is a value of mine and cannot be changed). Super Metroid not only pushed video games forward, especially in terms of gameplay, but could make players feel alone and claustrophobic. The game is thought by many to be one of the greatest games ever made and people still play this game (competitively) to this day. I’m gonna use Mog’s requirement here of a game being historically, culturally, or aesthetically important. To me, Super Metroid is all three.
We are all beginning to realize that choosing what should be the 1st pick for this registry is proving to be very difficult, because we all have differing opinions and values. I think we need to sit down and draw out an outline of what is required for a video game to be inducted into this Registry, especially the very first one. I know that’s what we’ve been debating so far, but we need to make something almost official; something we can all agree on.
@ Mr. K I highly agree with your comment Mr. K. I picked MGS intially because it put in place what MGS3 was. If that game was older than 10 years, I definitely would’ve thought about picking that.
This. This is what we should keep in mind. Maybe I have been focusing too much on the aesthetic/cultural/artisitc value of a game. As Furious George pointed out, we need to keep all three in mind.
ET for the Atari 2600. Purely due to the impact it had on the video game industry as a whole. What impact did it have? It nearly killed it. The ENTIRE video game industry. No game in history before or since has had THAT much of an impact on the world as a whole’s perception of video games.
Sure there has been PLENTY of killer app games that sold systems. But there has only been one and only one game that has nearly destroyed the gaming that we all hold dear.
Now you might be thinking what the hell if the game is that bad then why in the hell would you want to preserve it. Well its to keep it as a reminder that if your going to name your game off of a popular movie then you better make sure that the game has something to do with it otherwise you just might incur the wrath of millions of angry parents and gamers the world over.
If we do not learn from history, then we are doomed to repeat it.
Much as I’d like to take credit, it’s a quote from the movie registry page Commodore linked to. ^^
I did try to keep all three in mind with my pick it being the first game inducted and all, but it does definately say “or” and I think for good reason. Alot of the time one category will actively conflict with another. The public at large (sales figures/cultural significance) could not be ready for a game so innovative (historically significant) or unique (aesthetically significant). I’d just say if it did lean heavily towards a certain category that it should be extremely significant in said category. Like I said already though, about everyone’s pick so far has had significance in all three anyway albeit with a certain amount of lean toward one set of criteria which is inevitable.
Keep in mind, these are game we are discussing so unlike film there’s a fourth criteria to consider which is gameplay.
I think Icemann’s choice of ET is interesting because it fills all four criteria from a negative perspective: a poor looking game with terrible gameplay that helped bring down the industry in the 80′s and its legacy is still “celebrated” among gamers ex. the game is a major plot device in the upcoming AVGN movie. ET’s importance in the Gaming Crash of 1983 is a bit overstated. It was the market being flooded with low quality games that brought the industry to its knees but ET is the most infamous one. A good choice for the registry for highlighting the negative history of gaming but definately not a quality pick for the very first game to be inducted in my opinion.
@Mog: I did try to keep all three in mind with my pick it being the first game inducted and all, but it does definately say “or” and I think for good reason. Alot of the time one category will actively conflict with another. The public at large (sales figures/cultural significance) could not be ready for a game so innovative (historically significant) or unique (aesthetically significant). I’d just say if it did lean heavily towards a certain category that it should be extremely significant in said category. Like I said already though, about everyone’s pick so far has had significance in all three anyway albeit with a certain amount of lean toward one set of criteria which is inevitable.
This all day.
The or is important because when you do try to choose something that encompasses all three criteria there is a danger that you will end up w/ a selection that is not the best representation of ANY of them. Jack of all trades and master of none. Esp. when it comes to cultural impact and aesthetics. Some of the most culturally significant films and music of the 20th century have been abortions of art. Macarena anyone? Flashdance?
If the purpose of a film or video game registry is to legitimatize the media in question as forms of artistic expression? As more than a “means of killing time?” A slight prejudice toward aesthetics makes sense imo.
My vote is for Pac-Man. This may be the most famous game of all time and widely recognized properties in any form. If one were to conduct a survey where people were asked to name a video game, I think Pac-Man would be a more common answer than Super Mario Brothers, especially with people over 40. Pac-Man has a large assortment of merchandise sold even today. I’ve seen it parodied on t-shirts, in comedy sketches, in comics, and I’m sure it is in other places as well. The sounds of the game are iconic and characters are unmistakable. I don’t think I can see a circle with a sliver missing without thinking Pac-Man.
At first, I wanted to say Tetris due to the immense saturation with it being present on every device from iPhones to graphing calculators, but the same can be said about solitaire and that may be even more distributed. Tetris and solitaire are time wasters with no real soul. They exist only as they are played and end only when someone stops playing. A Pac-Man or Mario has a character the player controls and an end to the game’s narrative. A game needs a character so goals can be established in context of the game or else the experience is just a time burn.
As for the topic of video games as art, I don’t understand why people don’t view them as art. They are a vision within their creator’s mind and brought into the real world. I think that expression clearly makes them art. An argument I may concede to is a video game as a whole is not art, but it is made up from artistic components. They have visual representations, musical and sound arrangements, and story telling. Whether one views the sum of the whole or just the pieces, video games are an art form.
except for the tribble one. i dont know i never got into it.
however because of howard stern, family guy, and all the things shatner does roasts tv shows every 5 mins
I LOVE THE STAR TREK CAST!!!!
george takie from stern
shatner from stern and every other tv show and movie
reading rainbow
will wheaton ( i jsut started watching big bang theory so im still learning not sure who he is but i know sheldon doesnt like him)
i saw the clip of trekiees about the life that scotty saved
patrick stewart from xmen and family guy
but seeing as how i know lil about star trek ill pick the hot girl with the black hair to meet
comic book movies used to suck in the 70-80s with a few exceptions but they did get much better
spiderman 1 2 batman begins, dark knight, iron man iron man 2 avenges all great
however captian america from the 80s sucked
my point is does anyone think video game movies will eventually become great movies?
comic book movies went from crap to gold maybe video games will too?!??!!?
i just moved to your guys state north carolina i LOVE IT !!!
hope u guys are well
DO A BARREL ROLL EVERYBODY!!!!
ps please tell me about any cons/ convnetions near NC
1 mario bros 3 dont need to explain
2 grand theft auto vice city i belive this game took the world by storm and helped lauched the ps2
3 first madden ( becasuse of the franchise it started )
4 star fox 64 becasue it would never be popular enough to start many internet memes lol
5 pong first game ever
6 et becasue it almsot killed the indusrty
thts all i got for now
DO A BARREL ROLL !!!!!!!!!!!!
ps i saw that sam documentary the other day as well i think th emovie has o be 10 yrs old to be considered
I agree ET should eventually be in the museum for spear heading the video game crash. No one said shitty things aren’t important to history. ET is the Stalin of video games.
The whole ET thing is massively overrated. There have been plenty of really terrible movie licensed games and they’ve never crashed anything. The oversaturation of generic atari consoles and games are what caused the crash. Not one bad game.
…
E.T. …
for the Atari…
The thing is I want to get an Atari just to play that game and only that game since I have seen many reviews of the worst video game ever made and for me it looks like a decent game on the Atari 2600.
Agreed the ET fiasco is overstated in its importance.
ET and 2600 Pac-Man get alot of blame for the 1983 crash because they were hyped up games that ended up being busts. it wasn’t those two games alone that killed the market. Granted, Atari was incredibly stupid when producing copies of the games. Atari actually produced more copies of Pac-Man than systems previously sold. They expected to not only sell a copy to every single household that owned an Atari but several millions more would buy systems just for it. Absolutely insane expectations for Atari to have, especially when they rushed the game to the market. It blew up in their face costing the company millions.
Anyways, Actvision won its lawsuit versus Atari over the legality of third party games and that opened up the market for everyone to get a piece of the lucarative 2600 market. Even Quaker Oats, a cereal company was atempting to make games for the 2600. This led to the market being saturated with poor games. This was a time before Gamestop or other specialty gaming stores with rigid return policies, much of video games were sold through retailers like Sears. If a customer bought one of these poor games and didn’t like it, they could return it to Sears and Sears would send it back to the game publsiher. Alot of these poor games were getting sent back to the publishers but they didn’t have the capital to afford all these retuns so many companies folded. Gamers who bought and returned bad games were wary about all the poor games on the market so they stop buying games causing retailers like Sears ro heavily discount games to move existing stock and stop carrying them. Lastly, the failures of Pac-Man, ET and the Atari 5200 lost Atari a ton of money as retailers liberal return policies applied to Atari’s own games well and millions of ET’s and Pac-Man cartridges were returned and eventually destroyed and buried in New Mexico. Thea loss of retailer and consumer confidence due to oversaturation of poor games and sales along with Atari and othe companies losing money due to bad decisions killed the video game market in the US until the NES came along and revived it. ET was a nail in Atari’s coffin but it wasn’t the sole reason for the 83 gaming industry crash.
Beware, ET might look fairly decent at a glance, but play it and it quickly becomes one of the most irritating games ever made unless you read the manual and know what to do. Let me describe the average game expeience:ET walks a few feet falls in a hole, ET slooowing flies out only to fall back down again, and again and again and again. Eventually after about 5 or 6 tries, ET will manage to get out of the hole without falling back down only to walk a few feet and get stuck in another hole. Repeat. The game doesn’t hint the gamer they are supposed to be using ET’s powers to find the correct holes with the parts to the communication device. Unless, one reads a manual or an faq, they probablt are going to end walking aimlessly getting stuck in well after well. I managed to eventually find all the pieces and beat the game but it was an exercise in frustration getting to that point because even when you know what to do, it’s still hard to get out of the holes. It’s possible to beat the game in about 2 minutes if one can actually get out of those holes the first try.
You do realize that GTA3 had already done that, don’t you? Vice City simply compounded the success of GTA3.
My pick would be Super Mario Brothers. This is really the game that defines gaming. Mario is the most recognized video game character in the world, even to people who dont play video games. SMB took the dying video game industry and brought it back.
What game would I choose to be the first inducted into a national video game registry?
The answer to that one is easy. Elite.
Elite is a difficult game to describe or categorise. Part of the reason for this is just how different it was at the time. Elite offered players an open world with no goal but what you chose for yourself.
Many games have taken inspiration from Elite. There are obvious choices such as EVE online, but some more surprising choices too. Crazy Taxi, Grand Theft Auto, World of Warcraft Final Fantasy, SimCity and ofcourse Minecraft.
Taking off from Lave Station in your Cobra Mk III, 100 credits in your pocket and the world is your oyster… it’s a liberating feeling. It’s easy to become lost in its world. Should you be a trader? A pirate? Where will life go? It’s uncertain isn’t it. But feel free to explore the world. The open ended, sandbox style world.
In this way, modern games can trace their lineage to Elite. Sandbox games such as Grand Theft Auto and Minecraft, each on their own cultural icons, owe some of their heritage to Elite.
Minecraft is in many ways the ideas of elite taken in a more creative direction. Boiled down however, they are almost identical in principle. They give you a world and tools. With those you go forth and do what you want. You explore the world with your imagination.
Space trading, buying low and selling high becomes a basic form of resource management. Balancing fuel and weapon purchases with cargo. Becoming richer and more powerful. “levelling up” in the area you are working in. Many basic ideas expressed in Elite have been explored in greater levels. These basic commerce and increased ability ideas can be seen much more fleshed out in games such as EVE online, Final Fantasy or SimCity.
Elite changed video games forever, and for that it is culturally important, if not generally hidden from view. Quietly, as part of our history, Elite changed the world of videogames.
Elite was also a financial success. Though there may have been games that expressed similar ideas earlier, Elite was the first to be successful in business terms. What that boils down to is people were buying and playing Elite.
But it wasn’t just these aspects that caught people’s attention at the time. Elite offered something that no one else had seen up until that time. 3D graphics. It was for its time, an aesthetic milestone. No one had ever seen anything like it. Not on a home PC. It was a game that pushed the technology and gave people something they would be craving and expecting even today.
There are other aspects of Elite worth mentioning as well. How its worlds were proceduarly generated. How much of a technical marvel it was at the time. However these details while important haven’t had as much of an impact as the years have gone past.
In closing, my suggestion is Elite as a true classic that is deserving of such an honour. It may not be as well known but almost every gamer has felt its touch.
Though I almost chose Metal Gear Solid 2: Son’s of Liberty, but I felt Elite was a much stronger contender.
Hey guys, just wanted to let you all know that the comments have been so great (and so many) for this question that I’m working on compiling all of them into one place without having to make an hour-long video!
Great responses to the question in general and just know that I’m hard at work on getting the next installment out there for you!
Rock on!
Well, I guess that’s it. A year and a half was a pretty good run. I know I enjoyed myself with the Weekly Wringer.
Now, now I’d be surprised if it didn’t limp along intermittently for awhile yet.
If it doesn’t, could always just rip off the concept.Joking aside. Does sound kindof like a death knell, but Imma try to keep an open mind.
Well I think Super Mario and Pong are rightly up there. As most of them described before, I’m not going to say much about them.
There are plenty of gaming web pages to choose from claiming that they are the right on line casino offered nevertheless the fact is that this is the one with the biggest on-line betting deposit bonuses and the best casino payouts.