Game Innovators Pick Their Favorite Titles

Thanks to Ludology.org for pointing to the Georgia Tech game morphology project, which, although still in development, has asked famous creators and academics for their favorite games of all time. Interesting picks include Warren Spector's kudos for Ultima IV ("Wait, you mean games can be about more than just killing things? Whoa! This game, with its ethical underpinnings, changed my life"), Henry Jenkins' choice of Myst ("not a great game from the perspective of game play... [but influential because] it brought some degree of middle class respectability to games"), and Will Wright's picking of Pinball Construction Set ("[a] heavy influence for me - construction is fun.")

Comments

story counts

[X_Caffeine]

I was really sorry to see Grim Fandango and Homeworld not make anyone's list (aside from a passing mention for GF's art direction). In fact, very few of those interviewed had anything to say about games with decent plots (possible exception: Spector on Ico).

Even games that excel in playability and immersiveness are frequently saddled with sub-par storytelling. Game producers hire professional musicians and artists to do the soundtrack and graphics in their titles, but all to often think anyone can write a damned story and turn in something that a "slash fiction" author would ashamed of.

Grim Fandango had a more polished script and thematic originality than most Hollywood movies. The freakin' manual that came with Homeworld was better than most science fiction novels that get published.

Have a decent plot and story certainly isn't the most important element of a videogame (everyone seems to agree that the ambiguous quality of "playability" is central), but it's probably the most overlooked factor. Game publishers need to stop asking Bob in Accounting to write their scripts and farm out the work to novelists whose books aren't selling because all their audience wants to read are Star Trek and Babylon 5 licensed books.

Favorite's from a non-innovator

[Anonymous Coward]

Super Mario Bros. 3, Metroid Prime, Zork, Ultima VI, Resident Evil (cube remake), Tempest 2000, Dig Dug, Knights of the Old Republic, Space Quest III, Kings Quest IV, Planetfall, Beach Head, Alice In Wonderland, Wing Commander, Star Wars Arcade, Paperboy, TRON, Zelda, River Raid, Miner 2049'er, Street Fighter II, Super Mario Kart 64... Most likely missing a few.

Re:Favorite's from a non-innovator

[Anonymous Coward]

Some more notable games that I found are missing (in no particular order):

• Archon
• Donkey Kong
• Pole Position
• PunchOut
• Street Fighter
• Monkey Island (LucasArts)
• MarioKart
• Sims
• Zelda

Void Runner

[Koos Baster]

Jeff Minter rules! Afterall, what's a 2D / 3D shoot-'m-up worth without:

- halucifying sounds and graphics
- gameplay
- sheep!

And now, for something completely different. Go XCruise your filesystem!

Re:Ultima IV indeed.

[RobotWisdom]

I'd love to see a 'classic games' CD that universities could use for classes in game design (with everything tweaked to run on modern OSes).

Re:Ultima IV indeed.

[Decaffeinated Jedi]

Don't forget Thief! Personally, I was somewhat surprised that none of Sierra On-Line's classic adventure games made the list. Where's the love for King's Quest, Space Quest, Leisure Suit Larry, and all the rest?

Best games

[Twylite]

• RPG: Wasteland, Ultima IV, Rogue/Hack/Moria: Despite ancient graphics they are simple in interface, enjoyable, and keep me interested for long periods of time.
• Turn-based strategy: Warlords, Empire, Baron Realms Elite: Warlords was a fun game from the old days when friends shared a keyboard while playing multiplayer games. Empire is an ancient text-interface game where you move space ships between planets to dominate the "playing field". BRE was a multiplayer, long-running BBS game (similar in concept to Empire).
• RTS: Dune II: One of the original RTS and still the best. Easy to understand and enjoyable while still being challanging for an irregular gamer.
• FPS: Doom II, Hexen: The graphics and handling put these ahead of Wolfenstein, but their perspective (no up/down) makes them easier to control than newer games. Again, the choice of someone who doesn't play games enough to go pro.
• Arcade: Manic Miner, Prince of Persia: (I'm not considering Atari here) Both leading games in their time. Manic Miner is a classic of arcade style games that kept you interested by constant changes of scene. Prince of Persia combined "static" skill of running and jumping with the "dynamic" skill of interactive combat. Combined with changes of scene and a plot, this made it an excellent game.
• Adventure: Day of the Tenticle, Star Control II: The DOTT graphics, gameplay and story line puts it ahread of Seirra's offerings. It presents challanging but interesting puzzles without combat and/or other instant-death problems. Star Control II combines various forms of arcade action into a strong storyline; compelling stuff.
• Simulation: MechWarrior, SimCity, LX: MechWarrior's focus on combat puts it in the simulation rather than adventure category (few people realise it had a storyline ;) ). Fun, and completely different to the often impossible to control flight sims (okay - I don't like simulators much). Everyone knows (and loves?) SimCity. LX is an ancient attack helicopter simulator that was somehow very playable (perhaps because takeoff and landing was easy?).

Well, that's my 5c :)

Fighting games?

[JimTheta]

Unless I missed something, this whole article seems to have completely overlooked fighting games.

Fighting games may not have amazing storylines, but ignoring them seems to be a pretty big oversight. Are they really that non-influential in the big picture?

The original Street Fighter 2 would have to be the earliest influential game in the genre. Do fighting games have any influence in genres beyond their own?