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The 25 Smartest Moments in Gaming

Posted by simoniker on from the duh-uhhh-ahhh-yeah dept.

gorgon_123 writes "GameSpy has been running a feature on the 25 Smartest Moments in Gaming. The feature has been in progress all week, and comes exactly one month after another special series, the 25 Dumbest Moments in Gaming." This set of accomplishments are shrewdly divided into 'Smart Move!' ("This is your standard issue smart business decision."), 'Good Prediction' ("Someone had a vision."), and 'Blind Luck!' ("Somebody was in the right place at the right time and did something that just clicked.") Quake's multiplayer innovations, the Playstation, and, of course, Nolan Bushnell and Pong make the Top 5, but what's missing from this list, and why?

3 of 41 comments (clear)

  1. Missing Things by Eluding+Reality · · Score: 4, Insightful

    What about the creation of the original game boy and the decision to go for battery life over system power? The GB wouldn't have won back then otherwise and the GBA wouldn't be the most popular system in the world today

    And what about the decision by Rare to pick up the Goldeneye license? It made them the company they are today and changed console FPS games forever, well the game not the deicision... but the decision was still some smart thinking :)

  2. The demise of arcades by RobertB-DC · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Smartest #23, 1993: Namco and Sega Bring Arcades Home, seems to be the most depressing "advance" for me. As noted in the editor comments, designing arcade games for future home use pretty much spelled the end of the 1980s arcade culture.

    In the 80s, you had mom-n-pop arcades in little hole-in-the-wall spots. My favorite was one in downtown Tulsa that you'd never have found unless you happened to walk past and look inside. That's the one where I lost my $10 (see my lame-o attempt to First Post this article). Another was across the street from the grocery store I worked at, and was a great place to wind down after bagging groceries in the days before "paper or plastic?"

    Now, it's virtually impossible to support a stand-alone arcade. Oh, you can drive down any street in Texas (at least) and see video parlors, but they're devoted to Cherry Master and Video Poker, not Pac-Man and Asteroids. The only place you can find a real game selection is at the mall or the movie theater. I wasn't into the mall scene as a teen, and I'm even less inclined that way in my 30s.

    Although I did manage to embarass my daughter at DDR. She tried it out, but was wearing the wrong shoes and bailed. So I hopped on, much to her embarassment, but to the amusement of the rest of the teenyboppers. I don't think she's forgiven me yet...

    --
    Stressed? Me? Of course not. Stress is what a rubber band feels before it breaks, silly.
  3. More... by BadmanX · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Hmmm...some of mine, in no particular order:

    * Wil Wright invents the "software toy" or "sandbox" type of game with SimCity

    * The VGA card cements the PC as the gaming computer of the future and closes the door on the Atari ST, the Apple IIGS and the Amiga

    * Square realizes they are getting a raw deal, breaks off relations with Nintendo and embraces the PlayStation