Poll: Which one of these video game franchises do you think has been the most important/influential in ga-

[Ieyland]

In gaming history?

I really want to say Mario, but Zelda's always feels invulnerable.

Just to clarify, this isn't meant to be a 'the best game?' thread because I know questions like that are subjective.

Obviously, eight slots isn't enough when you're discussing the most important video game series in history, so that's why I added a 'Other; (post)' option.

 

[Machiavellian007]

Warcraft wins the 'quickest game turning people into zombies/nerds' with FF and Pokemon in second and third place.

But in terms of importance in gaming history?

You know, I'm gonna go with Mario.

 

[tombman888]

for me, its a toss between mario and zelda.... so im not gonna vote till i flip this coin.

done, zelda it is.
EDIT: wtf, i voted zelda, but it didnt count??!! oh well

 

[Gardenclaw]

Gonna go with mario. When i was young and mario appeared everyone had it. It turned gaming from a niche passtime into a mass worldwide hobby. It did for gaming what the beatles did for pop music.

 

[EBass]

Errrrm dunno, I don't really see any of them as massivly influential in GAMEPLAY development. I'm gonna go with System Shock

 

[Ironic Pirate]

Tied between all of them. Damn, I'm indecisive.

 

[moose49408]

Yeah, I think I'll have to go with Mario as well, and possibly to a lesser extent Zelda. It (they) were the early games, from the first of the really popular generation of video games. The others really couldn't exist without them.

 

[4484448444844484]

Other: Half-Life

 

[Ldude893]

Mario started the whole platforming and sidescroller trend. The rest of video game history was laid by Mario.

 

[Superior Mind]

No Nintendo ones because all they influences is Nintendo. How many times have the re-released the same game with different packaging? When was the last time another company wanted to release a "Mario clone" or even a "Zelda clone"? Sonic's a has-been, Final Fantasy is for a niche market and the Sims only exists so sequels can continue to be made for bored casual gamers. I guess that leaves Warcraft but that's only really effected all those companies who want to make SOMETHING to dethrone World of Warcraft so they can get the steady stream of income from all the crack-addicted peons. No offence to any of you crack-addicted peons.

So yeah, none of those mentioned.

Kind of hard to pick one really. I mea different games have been influential in different ways. Warcraft certainly defined the MMORPG formular and Halo seems to have defined the shooter genre. I'm probably looking at this the wrong way but no one game influences gaming as a whole. What happens when one does is that you get a company like Nintendo who keep on recycling old ideas ad nauseum until you have absolutely no progress whatsoever.

 

[Retardinator]

There's Mario for revolutionizing 2D platformers. And 3D too.
There's Half-Life for revolutionizing FPS.
Hell, there's Doom/Wolfenstein for making FPS.
Sims for... well, sims.
Warcraft was an RTS hybrid, since it combined RPG with traditional gameplay.

Any game, no matter how insignificant, can still be very important for further development.
For example, Left 4 Dead may not be the ultimate best game of the universe evar, but it's co-op features were incorporated in a number of other games.

 

[Kouen]

Doom, Really put FPS on the map, I dont think there's anyone that didn't like the original doom when it came out!

 

[Lordmarkus]

Everyone, and I mean everyone knows who Mario is and that is testament of why Mario is the most important. Most people that doesn't know gaming relate it to a fat italian that jumps on to different plattforms.

 

[Onyx Oblivion]

Honestly, it's not Final Fantasy that should be in the poll. It's DRAGON QUEST. Dragon Quest inspired FF. And in turn inspired the future of JRPGs to come. An entire genre of massive games, with most JRPGs clocking in at 50-80 hours just for the main story...spear-headed by 2 juggernaut series, rivals even. Until Square (FF) ane Enix (DQ) banded together.

 

[HT_Black]

Well, I don't give two about Zelda, and can't think of any important thing it's done since the first one came out...I'd say it's a toss-up between Mario and Half-life, both of which invented their respective genres (2D sidescrolling platformer and the modern-day action shooter, respectively).

 

[veloper]

what's by far the most popular genre in gaming? it's shooters.
Why? Because DOOM

 

[EBass]

Pah PONG I SAY. Revolutionary tennis simulation.

 

[Riobux]

I'd say Silent Hill may be one of the most influential games around. Probably not THE most, I really can't decide what to pick, but it's up there. Just because it changed the method of how to scare people from jumps and things they can see into a creepy environment. It really did revolutionise the horror genre personally.

 

[AMMO Kid]

Splinter Cell series as a third person stealth game. DOOM as FPS.