Most influential games ever?

[#1]

Following on from my blog here:
http://community.plus.net/blog/2009/03/02/most-influential-games/
Why don't you let us in to the games that you found most influential?  Anything from Dizzy to Dead Space!

[#2]

That really is a woeful list, as you said far too many sequels derivatives.  Though good to see Super Mario Bros and Zelda: Links awaking on there.
Surely the influential ones are the ones that got us hooked in the first place e.g.
Elite
Sensible Soccer
Doom
WipEout (PS1)
Bomberman (the orginal)
Track and Field
Time crisis (arcade)

[#3]

Is that what an influential game is though?  Surely an influential game is something that's made you go out and do something or has a noticeable impact on your life?
I'd actually argue for WoW (not a player myself).  I know of friends who have met their partners through WoW and I know of many who have subsequently lost the ability to go to bed for many months

[#4]

Quote from: Jameseh

Surely an influential game is something that's made you go out and do something or has a noticeable impact on your life?

Running like running rampage with an Uzi after playing GTA4 

[#5]

I was thinking more like a game that has opened your eyes to a specific genre, for example I hated RPG's until Fable, or like James says, games that have affected your life more than simply a pastime or hobby....
adie:quote

[#6]

Fable 2 annoyed me.
I quite enjoyed actually playing it, but it finished way too early.
Neverwinter Nights was the first game that got me into RPGs.

[#7]

Quote from: clockley

.. games that have affected your life more than simply a pastime or hobby....

Isn't that when the men in white coats come? 
I love playing games, I have played games when I should be doing something else but I don't think it has left the realm of been more than a pastime or hobby,

[#8]

1. Super Mario Kart
Undoubtedly the best of the Mariokart series, but the most influential game ever made? In no way, shape or form. What exactly did it influence except more Mariokart? Again don't get me wrong, I love the mariokart franchise - it's superb - but really, no.
2. Tetris
Okay I'll let this one sit. Think about it - two gameboys, one link cable, two copies of tetris. Welcome to portable multiplayer. Yes, yes, the lynx had 4 player gauntlet, but you don't own an atari DS, do you?
3. Grand Theft Auto
No. No, no, no, no, no. The only GTA game that should be in this list is GTA III, and that should be here instead, if not in the number one slot. I'm not gong to explain why because if I have to, you don't care enough about gaming to challenge this list.
4. Super Mario World
Fine.
5. Zelda Ocarina of Time
Best. Game. Ever. Made.
Period.
Oh, I don't disagree with the placement either.
6. Halo
Grudgingly I will let this one sit. We have a lot to thank Halo for.
7. Resident Evil IV
Yes, it's what survival horror games should always have been, but the original (at position 30) set the standard and paved the way. Swap the positions over and I think you've nailed it.
8. Final Fantasy XII
Again... NO! Jesus. This game has given NOTHING back! Sellout sequel and nothing more.
9. Street Fighter II
Yeah you can have that one.
10. GoldenEye
Yeah that one too. Genius from start to finish.
11. Super Mario 64
Likewise.
12. Tomb Raider
I never cared enough about the Tomb Raider games to judge. I guess it was probably the first incarnation of the perfectly rendered software boob-jiggle though, so deserves to be in here somewhere.
13. Metal Gear Solid
Just yes. In fact, move this game up a few places.
14. Call of Duty 4
Not that this isn't a stunning game, and yes it brought the RPG style elements of levelling up to online FPS multiplayer, but more influential than the first half-life it ain't. Fail.
15. Sonic the Hedgehog 2
What exactly did this game do that wasn't done in the first one? Oh yeah, tails. Simultaneous two player platforming had been done before this though I'm sure of it.
16. GTA San Andreas
See GTA at position 3. GTA III should be in this list, I and II were not influential enough and all releases since have been derivatives of III with very little groundbreaking stuff added.
17. Super Mario Bros.
Should be higher up.
18. Zelda: A Link to the Past
Yes, I can see why this is here.
19. Gran Turismo
Yep. Stunning driving game. Without this there would be no GRID, no Forza... yes, this one paved the way for the majority of recent racing games. Move it up a few places. This was waaaaaay more influential than Mariokart.
20. Final Fantasy VII
And this is below FF XII because WHY? This is all wrong. It is an utterly incredible game that has shaped pretty much every rpg released since. However even having said that, Chrono Trigger should be up there instead, and only isn't because it is probably the most underrated and underexposed game in the history of gaming.
21. Pro Evolution Soccer 4
*ahem* Sensible soccer? Get thee behind me, PES4.
22. The Orange Box
Let's face it, what you really mean is Portal. And yes, Portal should be higher up this list than the current position of the orange box. Nothing else in this set really warrants a mention.
23. Lego Star Wars Complete Saga
Well... yes it's a decent film tie in and one of those should be mentioned here, but I'm sure there's been a better one. Just can't think of it off the top of my head.
24. Tekken 2
Okay, you can stay here. It's a tough debate though, I reckon it's a close call between this and Soulblade.
25. Wii Sports
Yes, but it was a showcase for the Wii's control system and not a lot more. Ace fun in multiplayer though, but again it loses out there due to the lack of online play. Just not quite there yet.
26. Pokemon Red / Blue
You cannot deny the power of the Pokemon, no matter how much you hate them. I've had a lot of fun with these games, and still have friends whose kids breed and trade Pokemon in the school playground. This should be higher up, and if you don't believe me, read up on the online battling leagues. My god.
27. Guitar Hero
Yes.
28. Project Gotham Racing 4
No. What? Yay, shove some random sequel into this list for no real reason. You've got the daddy of all driving games in here already.
29. Super Mario Galaxy
Yeah.
30. Resident Evil
See Resident Evil IV at position 7.
31. Ico
Yes.
32. Chrono Trigger
See the two Final Fantasy entries. FFVII here, FFXII consigned firmly to room 101 and this beauty up in the top 10 somewhere.
33. Gunstar Heroes
A lot of fun with two player platform shooting... yeah, OK then this one can stay.
34. Soul Calibur
Tricky. Soulblade did it first though and as such should be here instead.
35. Advance Wars
The game that made turn based strategy games fun! Move it up some places! Now!
36. Ridge Racer
Sorry, I just don't see it. Evidently I don't play enough arcade type racers.
37. Super Metroid
Move it up! This game defined a genre!
38. Castlevania: Symphony of the Night
Erm... did anyone actually buy this?
39. GTA Vice City
See previous GTA entries.
40. BioShock
Where is Half Life? Where is Half Life 2? Why does this game make it when those two don't?
41. Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic
Oh wow a bloated RPG. Oh wow you and your rival change according to whether you choose dark or light. Oh heavens where would the gaming world be without this game. Your answer - EXACTLY WHERE IT IS NOW. Get out of this list.
42. The Legend of Zelda: Link's Awakening
Should be moved up I think. This was a piece of handheld genius and has had a fair bit of influence over the current crop of portable games.
43. God of War
Never played this. Isn't it a roaming brawl-em-up but with more enemies now that we have platforms that can do all the necessary maths fast enough? Still don't see what this brought to gaming as a whole.
44. Sega Rally Championship
See Ridge Racer.
45. Starfox 64
This incenses me. Starwing on the snes was a better game in all ways, and was pretty much the first ever 3D shooter. Get rid of this, put Starwing in and move it up a few places, for god's sake. There's THREE POINTLESS DRIVING GAMES ABOVE THIS FOR GOODNESS SAKE!
46. Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion
Again, nothing new here, though it was what Morrowind should have been. Why is this more influential than, say, FABLE?
47. WarioWare Inc.
Three words. Bishi Bashi Special. Get out, Wario.
48. Saturn Bomberman
...is more influential than the original Bomberman because why? What idiot made this list?
49. Crash Bandicoot
What? What one more time? Maybe I just didn't play it enough.
50. Outrun 2
Did anyone actually play this? Outrun has set the format for every arcade racer ever made, which kicks Sega Rally and Ridge Racer into touch from the word go and apparently doesn't get a look in, but Outrun 2 makes it? I laugh in your faces, Guinness list compilers.

[#9]

Amen brother. Now very tempted to lock this thread 

[#10]

Thief
Doom

[#11]

What a terrible list I must agree.  Where is wolfenstein 3D for example the game that made me fall in love with FPS ( i can still hear those clanging doors).  I see someone mentioned that doom was the grandaddy of all FPS, how wrong can you be wolfenstein 3D must be the great grandaddy of FPS then surely.

[#12]

Kings Quest 1
Commander Keen
Wolfenstein 3D
Gran Turismo
Sonic the Hedgehog
Monkey Island
Wing Commander
Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade
F29 Retaliator
Ultima 6
World of Warcraft
That's a brief list of games that I personally think influenced me a lot
B.

[#13]

Pong, Space Invaders, Asteroids, Elite, Civilization, Monkey Island 2, Wolfenstein 3D, Dune 2, Championship Manager, Lemmings, Baldur's Gate 2, Ultima Online, World of Warcraft... just off the top of my head.
Any of them could replace half of the choices on that list as being in the most influential imo. That list has too many recent games and is console biased. Wouldn't call myself an expert if I'd compiled it. Influential isn't just the most popular, it's what effect it has on gaming as a whole or society.
EDIT: Orbey, I agree with the list that the original GTA was more influential than any of the sequels. It was revolutionary.

[#14]

I used to play games a fair bit back in the C64/Amiga era, and will have to think about this.
I didn't play much once the Amiga died out, so say 1995-96 .. then I had a PC, but the graphics were so [Censored] (anyone remember the bog standard VGA?) I wasn't even interested for a while. SVGA caught on after a bit, and things were bearable after that. Only played a couple of games then when I was at Uni .. which was mainly Quake 1/2, a bit of Hexen and Dungeon Keeper. A couple of my housemates used to like Civilation 2, but I never really got on with it. If I can't learn a game within about 10 minutes, I generally lose interest
But looking at that list, I can't see any of the games are over 10 years old?
Ok - so technically the original Tetris is, but how many remakes have been made and are still going on?
Actually looking through that list, given most of them are recent games, I can't see any of the publishers having gone out of business. I wonder if Guinness have been getting some kind of financial incentive from them?
Of course, it's not like magazines give favourable scores for high-profile games just because the publisher might pull their advertising
I don't suppose having say Pac-Man or Space Invaders at the top would make as much cash as one of Nintendo's top franchises.

[#15]

@Galdare - fair enough, I must admit that one's personal to a degree - I never got into the top down GTA games. Having said that, I'm not a big fan of GTA III - I don't like the way it works in that you get one mission to do at once and have to do it over and over until you know the layout perfectly, which they remedied in the sequels. It was however the first time you had free roam in an entire city with the freedom to completely ignore the storyline (oh and take a chainsaw to young mothers with prams) if you wish to, and that's led on to a huge number of games. Mirror's edge, Assassin's creed etc etc... so I did try to be objective.