10 Games That Changed The Industry Forever

I would never presume to speak for the entire industry, but, objectively, some games have had more of an effect on our gaming experiences than others. Some games transcend their internal worlds, and become something more. Some titles make themselves known through the influence they have on other games, and these 10 games epitomize that idea. I realize there is a 95% chance your favorite game isn’t on this list, but this is my own (very opinionated) take on the question.

Devil May Cry

The PS2 was a literal renaissance of gaming that gave birth to a wealth of new ideas and mechanics for us to explore. Devil May Cry was an early title for the console, and if nothing else it proved that the PS2 could deliver some flashy graphics and bombastic action. After we finished drooling, we realized that we were looking at the birth of a new mix of kinetic action and 3D platforming. God of War may have perfected the idea, but it was Capcom’s masterpiece Devil May Cry that truly foreshadowed a significant paradigm shift in the industry, and offered a look at how it was maturing.

BioShock

BioShock was not a technical masterpiece. The gunplay was a little sloppy, and weapon and plasmid balancing was seemingly an afterthought. Nevertheless, BioShock proved to be a masterpiece, relying on an great plot, impeccable level design and, most importantly, elite environmental storytelling. The idea that the story be told in ways ancillary to the gameplay had been toyed with before, but BioShock embedded everything you needed to know in the world better than any game before, and the industry was forced to take note. Now you can't walk through a dilapidated corridor without stumbling upon an audio diary from someone.

Super Mario 64

The Nintendo 64 was a crucial step for the video game world. The industry was really starting to mature, and simple game experiences weren’t cutting it anymore. The move to a 3D landscape was big and undoubtedly frightening, but Nintendo once again showed its technical prowess, delivering perhaps the finest entry into a new genre with Mario 64. If you created a platformer after 1997 and you weren’t emulating Mario 64 in some way, you were doing something wrong. Neither Mario nor Nintendo has lost a step, and our favorite plumber is still doing what he does best.

World of Warcraft

In the larger scope of the gaming world, World of Warcraft is a true juggernaut. The lifetime sales numbers are outrageous, but we all know that story. The true impact can be seen by looking at the path WoW has carved along the MMO landscape, and the littered corpses of all the pretenders left in the wake. WoW struck down more pretenders to the throne than a Targaryan. With so many fantastic choices now, WoW may not be the clear leader of the pack, and the future may be uncertain, but there is no denying WoW's past.

Halo

There were a lot of uncertainties when Microsoft released their first console, but people’s fears were quickly put to rest when they got a taste of Combat Evolved. Halo proved that not only could FPSs work on consoles (GoldenEye 64 pointed that out), but that they could work as well as any PC. The math behind Bungie’s shooting mechanics makes aerospace look simple, but the genius shows: Halo was (and is) a smash hit, and with the upcoming Halo: Infinite, the series appears to be in good hands. Call of Duty has since stepped in and taken the sales crown, but Halo was the first king of the modern FPS.

Tetris

Tetris was not only good, it was something close to prophetic. A few paragraphs ago, someone wise said that history repeats itself. You think your mobile phone games and apps are quirky and original, but they are really only an evolved version of the formula Tetris started way back when. Easy to learn; impossible to master. The timelessness of Tetris can be attributed to that one statement, and now, decades later, gamers are still enthralled with the simple elegance of it. When Nintendo included it as a pack-in game with the original Game Boy, I wonder if they knew how eerily they were predicting the future.

Super Mario Bros.

How big a star is Mario? Well, he’s convinced me that two of his games have had a Top 10 impact on gaming, and I wouldn’t do something like that lightly (trust me). The way that Nintendo flawlessly introduced people to a new way to game shows the mark of a true master, and while it’s hard to quantify what kind of effect its legacy has had on the industry, nobody can deny that echoes of it can be seen everywhere, even in the current generation. Mario taught us the language we would need to understand video games moving forward, and it presented it beautifully. It’s also a language we’ll probably (hopefully) never forget.

Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare

Look, there was competitive multiplayer before Modern Warfare, and there was competitive multiplayer after Modern Warfare, and those two things resemble each other very little. Infinity Ward showed that dangling a proverbial carrot in front of a player works just as well in multiplayer as it does in single-player. After getting a taste of progression, it basically became faux pas overnight not to include it in some way, especially if your game contains a multiplayer component. One glance at today’s shooter landscape is all you need to know about the impact Call of Duty 4 had on the industry as a whole.

Grand Theft Auto 3

Did you know there was a time that we didn’t need blood and rocket launchers in our games. You can scoff all you want, but it’s the truth. Studies have shown that, after GTA III released in 2001, the blood and rocket launcher levels of the video game world rose by an estimated 519%. That’s math you can’t argue with. The shockwaves Rockstar sent through the industry reverberated through the heart of pop culture itself, and has imbedded itself in the framework of our lives. Few games have stirred as many emotions, both positive and negative, as GTA III, and no title has blurred the lines of games, art, pop culture and media like the Grand Theft Auto series.

The Legend of Zelda

I’m not sure that, to this day, any game has been more ahead of its time than the original Legend of Zelda. The number of games it inspired were beyond count, and it’s no mystery why. The myriad secrets hidden around the game soon fostered a unique game community that, before the rise of that Interweb thing, was soon swapping secrets like baseball cards. What was truly incredible was the scope of the adventure, and, if you were able to finish it, an entire second adventure was waiting for you. It was mind blowing, and unlike anything else available at the time. It’s impossible to understate the effect Zelda has had on game development.