Top 10 Influential Games of the Gen

This is a list of the most influential games of Gen 7. Not necessarily the best, but the ones that have had the biggest impact. Did I miss anything - please let me know. Also, post some of the games you think were most influential.

Honorable mentions: Crysis (for pressuring developers to step up their game, visually) ; Bioshock (for bringing story-driven games to the limelight).; The Last of Us (extended the life of PS3)

10. Minecraft

Say what you will (personally not a fan of it), but it definitely proved that indie games can be just as important as big-budget titles. It's freedom to let the player create and explore as they choose, providing challenges where needed definitely left a mark.

9. Guitar Hero II

Since about 2-3 years ago, we've largely forgotten about rhythm games, but from 06 to 11', they were ubiquitous to the point where they needed to burn out. Let's not forget about Rock Band and Guitar Hero. Or, the ten-odd band-exclusive games from the series'.

8. Portal

A surprise hit. With it's witty writing and innovative puzzle-based gameplay, it became a cultural phenomenon. It also spawned an excellent sequel, Portal 2.

7. Halo 3

No doubt solidified the popularity of shooters. No doubt of it's massive hype, or it's many online capabilities compared to other titles at the time. It was also the game behind the 360's success at a time where Wii and PS3 barely began their footing

6. Skyrim

Yes, it came late in the gen, but was easily the most talked about game in such a busy year full of great games. It's open world and exploration had a lot to do with it. Then, there's also the giant modding community that breathed life into it. An iconic game.

5. Grand Theft Auto IV

Let's not deny how much of a hype-machine this was and how acclaimed it was. It further emphasized the push (which began in 06-07) toward what this generation. It emphasized online play, characters, gritty realism and violent shootouts. The personality of the 7th gen.

4. Mass Effect

Began a well-known, well-acclaimed trilogy with a strong community of fans. Mixed RPG and action well. Definitely had an influence on story, character development and plot choices. Hard to discuss these things without mentioning Mass Effect.

3. Wii Sports

Simply put, Wii Sports was a system seller, and the system it was on, sold A LOT. Yes, it was only a pack of (albeit very good) mini-games, but there's no denying it's importance.

2. Gears of War

On it's release, there was nothing like GeoW and nothing that could even compete with it. In the past 5 years, lots of games have competed against, but only because they greatly borrowed from it's mechanics.

1. Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare

COD3 was a dud, and COD4 re-invigorated the series, propelling it to become one of the best selling series of all time. It also caused other companies to place a bigger emphasis on FPS games (for better or worse; mostly worse).

• Angry Birds
• Wii Sports
• Gears of War
• Call of Duty: Modern Warfare
• Minecraft
• Team Fortress 2
• The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion
• Uncharted 2: Among Thieves
• Guitar Hero II/Rock Band
• Nintendogs

Team Fortress 2 because it was the poster boy of the resurgence of PC gaming way back when PC gaming was still dying/dead

Nintendogs because it kickstarted the casual game craze that continued on the DS, then Wii, then all the way to modern smartphone gaming. You could substitute it with Brain Age if you wanted to.

You're a terrible TC and your OP is illogical and horribly composed and you should feel bad

I would say Oblivion instead of skyrim

true. it came earlier. oblivion was most notable for being a great game in a gen without many great games. now of course it aged terribly and at the end of the day, we'll remember skyrim more.

eh...Skyrim is not that great a game. I like the oblivion world better and the character interactions. Although, both will be remembered more for their modding abilities rather than the actual game

I'd argue that Uncharted 2 was greatly influenced by Modern Warfare. COD 4 was basically the game that popularized the cinematic set piece heavy campaign as incredibly superficial and unfun as they are.

im speaking in terms of legacy, open-worlds will become more popular. also, modding will become more popular. and we'll look at skyrim as an early adopter. tbh, i havent played more than 15 hours of either, so you prob know more than me.

Oblivion was also open world and moddable. And when it came out it had great graphics, with console versions challenging high end PC

...oh, and the other unfortunate legacy of Oblivion is the increased popularity of DLC...Horse Armor anyone?

Minecraft definitely takes the cake for most influential game this gen.

You should feel bad for liking Oblivion, everything about that game was horrible and looked horrible specially the character creation kit which was fracking stupid....Dunmers and Orcs looked so awful in Oblivion with their flat faces.

The only reason people even talked about Oblivion here when it came out wasn't how amazing the game was, it was all about the Oblivion vs Two Worlds threads.

i liked the oblivion world better, not necessarily the game. Oblivion had a wealth of issues

I call shenanigans on your stupid list because it appears that list was designed specifically to exclude any PS3 title. WII sports, halo, and gears of war, are you out of your mind??

what were the influential ps3 titles?

man, you are in full PS3 fanboy mode today.

Whilst I disagree with Halo 3 and Gears you're the one who's out of your mind if you think Wii Sports wasn't influential. As for PS3 titles that should be on there care to actually list some instead of just whining about it and shitting up the thread?

Biggest impact? World of Warcraft... No doubt at all. League of Legends would also be deserving of a top ten spot.

(I know they're not console games, but they were certainly huge during Generation 7).

Where the hell is Uncharted 2: Among Thieves?

What exactly did that influence? It was a good game, but it was hardly influential or revolutionary.

I would say Oblivion instead of Skyrim. Despite how disappointed I was with Oblivion as a sequel to Morrowind, it is undeniable that the game has been incredibly influential, shaping games like Fallout 3 and New Vegas. Skyrim really feels like Oblivion 1.5, derivative in some ways, refined in others.

I would argue that Oblivion also had an impact on the proliferation of open-world games geared towards consoles.

i think technically the base WoW game was released prior to the 7th gen

Arkham Asylum: changed the way melee combat is designed in Action/Adventure games. It showed how a movie/comic IP should be approached with a combination of respect for the sourcematerial and at the same time a personal take on it.

Ken Levine also said the following about Arkham Asylum:

One of the things that's great about Arkham Asylum is that it's similarly structured to BioShock in some ways but also one of their great innovations is when you come back through an area they establish an entirely different narrative. I think we're very much inspired by that. In BioShock 1 we just had respawning when you came back through an area, so I think when we put you back through an area we want to do it in a way that feels different and meaningful.

Well it adapted on cinematic gameplay and story telling.

Ghost Recon Advanced Warfighter

Gears of War

BioShock

Call of Duty 4

Halo 3

Left 4 Dead

Minecraft

Portal

Batman: Arkham Asylum

Mass Effect

(maybe Project Gotham Racing 4, Assassin's Creed and Uncharted too)

It's not an awful list. Kinda shows how pathetic this gen could be though.

Mainstream gaming in general, bro.

@Salt_The_Fries: I'm not one of those hipsters who acts like all mainstream gaming sucks, but I am someone who believes that this gen placed far too heavy of an emphasis on production values. Case in point: GTAIV. Technically, the game's a masterpiece. It pushed the limits of the console, implementing the program that made everything act as an individual object in the world (name eludes me).

But I've played it and I have to say it's just not fun. There are so many other games that do what it does but they make it FUN. Maybe I missed something but the game's controls sucked ass, which severely hampered the overall enjoyment factor of it when I did play it.

And yet, it has a 98 on MC. It was pretty much universally acclaimed across the board. Because it's a great technical achievement. But not a very fun game.

True, but it was in its pomp between 2006 & 2009, and that's when it's influence started to really show in other MMOs & genres.

Most definitely. Since for the last ~10 years people have been trying to create the WoW killer

Yeah. That's the point. Gears and COD4 being in the top 2 shows how shooter abundant this gen is.

I think Uncharted 2 is moreso a product of influential games rather than an influential game itself. Had Uncharted 2 been made in 2004, Nathan Drake probably would've been a sword-wielder. But Gears of War showed us successful FPS games have become.

Arkham Asylum might have been the first game to actually make a movie license good. Arkham City, however, does show many of the flaws AAA games suffer from. Goldeneye 007 was great but it was more of an FPS than a movie license game.

WoW doesn't count, but would score high on my list if it were 6th gen. Though I definitely see the impact it had. League of Legends is an honorable mention.

But the cake is a lie. Which is why Portal is ranked higher. :)

the effect of wiisports can't be overstated, and to call it another sports game is pure ignorance.

It was a pack in game, but most people bought the wii just for wiisports. In other words, wiisports didn't piggy back on the wii's success. The wii piggy backed on the success of wiisports. It sold 80 million copies, making it the highest selling game of all time. It even sold at a high clip in regions where the game was not a pack in. It's sequel, Wiisports Resort sold over 30 million despite requiring people to buy that wiimotion plus peripheral. Usually, requiring a new peripheral is poison for sales but the wiisports name was just that strong.

It also spawned legions of clones and games with similar philosophy. It is absolutely the game of the gen if we're looking at it with an objective eye. Minecraft is a close second, and appears higher right now since it is so much newer.

Wii Sports Resort making an additional peripheral mandatory completely destroyed what made Wii Sports so great: accessibility.

Nintendo Land though just couldn't fit in Wii Sport's shoes.

lol what a load of bullshit.

Feel free to come up with a better game

TF2 influenced nothing.

We were already getting F2P stuff before TF2 went F2P

The only game to do the hat things in the manner Valve does it is, valve with DOTA 2

Class based MP games are basically non existent in the style of TF2.

Machinima or whatever the ****? Been getting that since Halo 2, and probably way before that with games.

PC gaming was dying? are you high? WoW, Half Life 2, Unreal2k4, FEAR, Company of Heroes, World in Conflict, Crysis, The Witcher, and then the juggernaut that would be steam. That's a group of pretty successful PC exclusives(FEAR was at the time), and all of those were happening within 3 years of TF2s launch. You go to college, and somehow don't know what influence means. Nevermind that Oblivion has influenced zero games(it's a neutered version of Elder Scrolls games, the influence predates Oblivion), same thing with Guitar Hero 2/Rock Band. The influence from those games came the game before them. GUITAR HERO. You know the game from last gen.

After that now I'm limited in my mobile games knowledge but, Angry Birds is Angry Birds. I don't remember seeing many Angry Birds clones, and the popularity of mobile games isn't just tied to that. Popculture icon, doesn't necessarily mean influence. It could just be wild success. Nintendogs I'm guessing is for Ubisofts pets line, so hooray it influenced one company. And then you got easy stuff like Wii Sports, Gears, CoD4 that went without saying. *golf claps*.

Current gen game that deserves props, that's going unnoticed in this thread. Demon's Souls. Why? Look at some next gen titles, look at that whole blurring singleplayer/multiplayer thing. Interconnected worlds crap. That's as much a Demon's Souls influence as it is a MMO. Destiny, Watchdogs, Division, and I'll bet money on a few more on the horizon. That is more of a direct influence than half your list. Way to go sport. I'd say suck less, but that's physically impossible now isn't it?

Noobs like Sniper.

J/K

True, but he dislikes the game for being cartoony.

He can't even get that right, that scum.

If by influential you mean games that are popular then you should just edit your thread title. If by influential you mean games that set standards for other games and paved the way for them to follow, then you're missing some solid ones.

Uncharted 2 should be on that list. It singlehandedly inspired the style and storytelling of major games like the Lara Croft Reboot, Splinter Cell Conviction, Bioshock Infinite and such.

Capcom have said that The Last of Us is the new standard for horror games.

Beyond 2 Sould and Heavy rain can be argued to have influenced games that are now using more QTE gameplay such as (wait for it) RYSE.

Little Big Planet 1 nd 2 were the first 7th gen games to bring a solid and new face to Platformers

Motorstorm series paved the way for the styles and gameplay of Dirt 3 and more offroad racers like Pure and Nail'd. Before Motorstorm, the cam angles and the intensely involving gameplay of those racers were never that good.

The only thing on your list I agree with is Portal.

And for those of you freaking out about my comment about Wii Sports...Umm...if the game was influential who the fck exactly was it influential on? besides the precise demographic it was directly targeting from the start? Wtf is the big influence or impressive surprise there?

GTA4 really? It scored a ten, but that piece of shit game didn't hold half the amount of influence San Andreas did. fck off. Try again. Epic Fail. Lock thread.

Go reevaluate your definition of the word influence. Who exactly are we talking about when you influence? Are you talking about people or influence in gaming?

because if you were talking about influence in gaming I'd assume you mean game that INFLUENCED and INSPIRED and SET STANDARDS for other games to reach. If that's the case, your list is a total fail. Portal and Skyrim are the only two worth mentioning. Wii Sports didn't influence any games besides the Wii grandma and mom targeted casual milkage Nintendo conducted throughout last gen. You want to talk influence look at Skyrim, Uncharted 2, Last of Us, Heavy Rain. Look at Half Life 2 from last gen. Look at Black from last gen. Look at Medal of Honor from last gen and this gen. Medal of Honor should be on your list and not stupid brogame trendy piece of shit COD.

I approve of your list.

lol, medal of honor, really?

you are taking shit way to seriously

Seems a lot of people are placing in "most popular" for their titles instead of perhaps influential for the gen.

Yeah...that's the mistake the TC seems to have made

Yeah, that game is actually a lot more realistic militarily (speaking as someone with experience in the service) than CoD or BF. Unfortunately people like repititious trends so it's not as big or as popular.

being realistic does not make it an influential game. CoD was much more influential this gen