Hello guys! Today, we will check 19 games that guided the history and why these games are important. The list has chronologic order. I would like to say in advance for those who will ask “why didn’t you add this game” that the majority of the games on the list are the first examples for their genre or inspired other games. Let’s go!
Pong (1972)
I will introduce you the beginning of everything: Pong! Pong is the first video game developed by Atari in 1972. Pong is a 2-player game with two movable bars, a ball and a scoreboard and the purpose is to beat the opponent. Although it is a simple game, Pong was played in almost all houses in 1975. Therefore, Pong gave birth to the video game industry.
Space Invaders (1978)
This game led the development of today’s game sector. Space Invaders developed by Japanese Taito is the first shoot’em up game. This game brough various innovations to the game sector. This was the first game with levels and music changing according to levels. In addition to that, the score was stored. Actually, the game producer said that the levels were a coincidence.
E.T the Extra Terrestrial (1982)
Not all games have a positive impact on the history. E.T the Extra Terrestrial is one of these games. The game was simultaneously developed with a movie with the same name in 1982 by Atari Inc. and released in 5 weeks for the Christmas holiday. The purpose of the game was that E.T. would look for three phone pieces to help him go back home.
Approximately 5 million cartridges were produced but only 1.5 million was sold and most of these were returned. The console market went into a crisis in 1983 because of this game and many large producers and game developers were forced to shut down. Excavations in 2013 in New Mexico showed that Atari buried the remaining cartridges.
Super Mario Series (1985-…)
Think about a game that has been there for 35 years and known by everyone around the world. That is, it. Mario is developed by Japanese Nintendo in 1985 and guided the game history. This game helped the game industry to overcome the crisis in 1983. This was a revolutionary game series for numerous authorities due to gameplay and other games released in the future. And it brought an important and well-known character called Mario to the game history.
For example, Super Mario 64 that was released in 1996 was the first stabile and interactive 3D game.
Civilization (1991)
Civilization is the father of turn based strategy games and influenced the all-other TBS games. This game caused numerous game lovers to spend hours in front of the screen due to being the first in this genre and incredible gameplay flow. Civilization later turned into a series and created the same impact with the other games.
Wolfenstein 3D (1992)
Wolfenstein 3D can be considered as the father of FPS games. This was number one because it was 3D and unique in those years. The 3D effect is done on 2D without anything special! Moreover, we can say that it is one of the first games that used Raycast.
Doom (1993)
Doom which was released the next year brought the FPS trend started by Wolfenstein 3D to a next level. What is more, people bought computers just to play Doom. The biggest difference with Wolfenstein 3D was the real three dimension in the game. For example, while the previous games only offered 8 different perspectives, the players were able to go around the objects or creatures in Doom Additionally, Doom influenced all other following games with its fluent and consistent plot.
FIFA Series (1993-…)
All men have a favorite and FIFA is one of these games. The first game of the FIFA series was developed by EA Games in 1993 and it became the bestseller sports game of all times. The game sold around 282.4 million copies until 2019. The game graphics and game mechanics were better than the previous year especially between 1993-1998. We don’t need to say a lot about this as you know what we are talking about. While FIFA 97 or 98 are the favorites of the older generation, 07 is the favorite of the new generation.
Need for Speed (1994-…)
Another famous “male” game is the Need for Speed series. Almost all games in the series are revolutionary and innovative. Especially NFS 2 SE, Underground and Most Wanted are among the few games I still enjoy playing. This game had a linear plot and “race-win” logic when it first came out and the players were able to customize the cars and even participate in street races with other players. This is why it is more highlighted than the other race games.
GTA III and GTA Series (1997-…)
Grand Theft Auto series developed by Rockstar Games shock the entire game world with GTA III although the first 2 games are rather unknown. Free walking on the map, “stealing” any car or owning a property, side quests in addition to the main storyline… Although GTA III was unable to do all of them on its own, other games such as Vice City, San Andreas made the series popular due to hyper realistic reflection of the ambience of that period.
Although numerous open world games are released later, GTA helped this genre to become popular and even the independent game designers to get involved with stable and high-quality game play. Although the games released after GTA III are better, GTA III was different than the previous ones.
Half-Life (1998-2004)
The first game that comes into the minds of the new generation when we say FPS: Half-Life, my dear. Like all other man, Half-Life is one of my favorites. Actually, we don’t need to say a lot of things about Half-Life. All we want to say is Valve, the developer of this game, is one of the largest companies that lead the gaming industry. Moreover, Counter-Strike which we all know was actually developed as a Half-Life extension.
Half-Life was not the first FPS game when it was released. The FPS game world started to get rid of boring and dull games with the release of Quake 2 and Unreal and Half-Life used Quake 1 game engine which made it “not too high-quality” as others. But the developer team open a new era with the story. The 2nd game of the series set the bar even higher.
World of Warcraft (2004)
World of Warcraft also known as WoW, is a MMORPG gamed developed by Blizzard as a follow-up of Warcrafts series with slight differences. Although it isn’t the first MMORPG game, this game expanded this genre to a wide audience. Additionally, all other MMORPG games were significantly influenced from WoW. Although Knight Online and Metin2 were popular in our country in those years, these games were influenced from WoW.
The last extension package of the game is released this year and with more than 12 million active gamers, it is the “most popular” MMORPG” in Guinness World Records.
Dota (2005) and League of Legends (2009)
If we talk about WoW, we cannot pass Dota. Dota was first released as WoW 3 mode and turned into a standalone game to introduce a brand-new game genre to this world: “Multiplayer Online Battle Arena “or MOBA.
League of Legends or LoL opened this door created by Dota and branded the MOBAs. LoL enabled e-sports concept to emerge which includes significant and strategic investments. Therefore, it is better to place these two games in the same genre.
Crysis (2007)
Most people will remember that Crysis was a ground breaker when it was first released. Even the most advanced computers were unable to open this game because almost all objects on the game map interacted with the players. Most of the top-level graphic cards were evaluated based on “can you open Crysis?”. Crysis introduced significant innovation to the gaming world with its characters, game ecosystem design and graphics. And all of them were created by a Turkish guy. Therefore, the entire game was in Turkish. The other games of the series that were released later would be as beautiful and “strong” as the first game.
Angry Birds (2009)
Angry Birds was first released in 2009 only for mobile platforms. This game address to everyone due to easy gameplay. The game ranked number 1 on the App Store and stayed there for a long time 6 months after the release. The game reached one billion downloads in 2012. Angry Birds was popular for a long time and it turned into a series of game. An animated movie was created from this series and shows us that mobile games can be as popular as computer games if they are given the chance.
Minecraft (2011)
Another game we all know. Minecraft, was released in 2011 by Mojang and later purchased by Microsoft. This game developed Sandbox-type games and led everyone to adopt such games. This game doesn’t have glamorous scenes and effects like the popular games but you have unlimited imagination and tons of things to do. If you want, you can travel across the universes with the survival mode or bring out the builder in you with the creative mode.
In addition to that, Minecraft is revolutionary in terms of streaming. For example, numerous YouTubers and streamers started their streaming life with Minecraft videos. Thus, streaming turned into a generally accepted and desired status.
Player Unknown’s Battlegrounds (2017)
Also, knowns as PUBG, this game gave birth to a brand-new game genre: Battle Royale. Although it was first released as an ARMA 2 mode, the Japan Battle Royale story was revolutionary with the mechanics. After this game, even the giant companies developed their games for Battle Royale and released these versions. Although it is not the first game in this genre, it caused a boom for such games like Fortnite, CoD, Apex, Battlefield.
Detroit: Become Human (2018)
Detroit: Become Human is one of the games that guided the game history in recent years. Of course, this might be objective but it is one of the best games in recent years. The game has fluent storyline, graphic quality and you can intervene to the storyline with your selections in the game. Although I have finished this game for a couple of times, I enjoy it whenever I play the game. Of course, this might be a sentimental selection for me as some of you guys will not share my views.
