Video gaming is probably one of the forms of entertainment that best illustrates how our society has grown technologically over the last few decades. From Space Invaders to Fortnite, we’ve seen huge leaps and bounds in the world of video gaming.
Where most of the video games that we see on a yearly basis just come and go as soon as the next game launches, some games in history have truly reshaped the way people saw video gaming and the way an entire generation played video games. Don’t believe me? Take a look below and you’ll see for yourself!
World of Warcraft
The first MMO that reached the mainstream audience and also the first MMO that’s still so popular after over a decade. It made people willing to pay a monthly fee to play a game, where before WoW hit the market only a small percentage of gamers would consider doing this.
Quake
Quake was the first 3D game to use full 3D models for everything. It was probably the first game that resembles the modern first person shooter, and it paved the way for a genre that hasn’t diminished in popularity one bit.
Fortnite
Despite Fortnite not being the best or first battle royale game on the market, Fortnite has managed to become the perfect “modern” game. It integrates itself into social media seamlessly, and it aims heavily on cosmetics, customization and, sadly, microtransactions to keep itself afloat. Considering how much money they’ve made on microtransactions the last year, I doubt anyone can still call this game “free” to play.
Pac-Man
You can’t talk about iconic games and not mention Pac-Man. We all helped that smiley face eat those white little orbs (and some ghosts, occasionally). Pac-Man got people to the arcades and was the first big video game.
Final Fantasy VII
When the first PlayStation hit, people weren’t really sure if it would be a commercial success. Nintendo pretty much ruled the market and Sony was the new kid on the block. Enter Final Fantasy VII, the first final fantasy game to switch from Nintendo to Sony’s PlayStation. It pushed the series – and the console – to new heights, and is probably a big reason of the competitive console market we’re seeing today.
Grand Theft Auto III
While this wasn’t the best Grand Theft Auto game that was ever released, it was a big step for gaming in general: it was one of the first AAA games to have an open world. It seems like ages ago, but before GTA3 there were almost no open world games as we know them today.
Assassin’s Creed
It sounds like a simple concept now, but the way the free running shook up the gaming world when the first Assassin’s Creed came out has pretty much forced every self-respecting developer to add it into their open world game in some shape or form.
Arkham Asylum
Remember when superhero games were good? Yeah, they were never really good. They were entertaining, sure, but it wasn’t until the Arkham series that even people that didn’t particularly like superheroes picked up a superhero game. The game mixed stealth, combat, puzzles and great story and voice-acting seamlessly, and the following games only got better.
Diablo
Diablo was one of the first action RPG’s. Where the RPG landscape had been mainly infested with isometric, party-based character RPG’s, Diablo gave us the first glimpse into a world where you could just click things and you’d run up to them and kill them. Suddenly we had RPGs where combat was fast, fluent and a lot more exciting than what we were used to.
