Sometimes, a game comes along and it changes absolutely everything. No one ever expects a certain game to release and shake up the entire gaming industry, but occasionally, a game has something so special about it, for better or worse, that causes it to alter the course of the industry.
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There have actually been quite a few games that could be said to have forever changed gaming, though some have only made minor changes. Only a select few video games have changed the entire landscape, created whole genres, and shaped entire eras of gaming in ways like no other games before or after did.
10 Minecraft
It’s easy to take Minecraft for granted these days, but it’s easily one of the most important games in decades. This game showed the world, and more importantly, developers, that you would be willing to create your own adventure as long as you had all the tools to do so.
You can create anything you put your mind to, roleplay your own adventures, and explore massive worlds with your friends, all things that are now mainstays in most major releases. The most impressive thing is that it is just a simple sandbox game, but its impact was so much more.
9 The Elder Scrolls 4: Oblivion
While you could probably point to a number of different things Oblivion did that changed games, the biggest has to be microtransactions. While it didn’t necessarily popularize them on the market, Oblivion was the first major game to begin offering dreaded microtransactions back in 2006.
This is something that is probably widely viewed as a negative change for gaming, and it all started thanks to some simple horse armor DLC. As you know, the practice would only continue and eventually boom into what it is today, for better or worse.
8 World Of Warcraft
While there are plenty of other excellent MMORPGs that have had contributions to gaming, none have ever managed to have the same impact that World Of Warcraft has. The 2004 game is such a phenomenon that it’s one of the most widely known games among non-gamers.
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It didn’t even create a million revolutionary things - instead, the game twisted and combined plenty of existing ideas, doing it so well that World Of Warcraft became the standard for MMORPGs. That’s without mentioning everything it did for the concept of raid bosses.
7 Pokemon Red/Blue/Yellow
The first line of handheld Pokemon games set the world on fire, and that fire has lasted for decades. Releasing in Japan in 1996, and 1998 for the rest of the world, Pokemon showed that handheld gaming was forever going to be a success and that sharing adventures with friends was more than possible.
These games didn’t just change gaming, they absolutely changed the world thanks to everything else that was spawned from them. While not creating the monster-tamer genre, it is the one that solidified it in the minds of people across the globe.
6 Mortal Kombat
Even if you don’t play Mortal Kombat, you should know exactly how influential this fantastic game series is. With the (now relatively tame) violence that occurs in the original Mortal Kombat, the game proved violence could grip an audience while also being a part of the creation of the ESRB.
Back in the early nineties, no one had seen so much violence in a video game on a massive scale. The fact that kids everywhere wanted to get their hands on this game changed everything and began the awful conversation around whether or not video games are simple fun, art, or corrupting violence.
5 Braid
Whether you knew it or not, you have Braid to thank for the explosive popularity of indie games today. It’s easy to forget that there was a long period of time in which creating indie games really wasn’t a thing, and when they were made, they really weren’t that good.
When Braid came out back in 2008, everything changed and players suddenly began to crave the creativity of indie developers. Willing to take different risks, use unique mechanics, and tell fascinating stories, indie gaming would begin its historic rise all thanks to Braid (and a few others).
4 The Legend Of Zelda
There is a reason most major developers cite the original Legend Of Zelda as inspiration for their video games. Giving you a basic story and then thrusting you into a world to figure things out is still a key part of game design today.
The NES classic set the standard for what open-world gaming could be long before anyone ever used the term. Without Zelda, you might not have dozens of other fantasy titles, RPGs, and you might not even have any Dark Souls games at all.
3 Quake
You may not have ever played a Quake game if you’re a newer gamer, but there’s no denying how much it changed gaming in a variety of ways. Without Quake, both the esports and the speedrunning scenes might not exist in the form they do today.
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Quake is widely viewed as one of the earliest genuinely popular esports games with major events taking place back in the '90s. At the same time, Quake is seen as one of the granddaddies of speed games in speedrunning, allowing for both scenes to grow and thrive.
2 Wii Sports
Wii Sports deserves a spot here, and so does the Wii in general. The entire brave experiment that was the Wii put a massive spotlight on player accessibility in gaming. The advent of motion control was a huge deal, and the simple fun of Wii Sports only served to help begin that conversation.
Gaming is more accessible than ever, and thanks to Wii Sports, that’s likely only going to continue to improve. Additionally, this game showed that anyone of any age could enjoy video games, opening the world of gaming to a much wider audience than ever before.
1 Pong
It’s impossible to bring up a topic like this and not mention Pong. Arguably, this game is what you have to thank for home console gaming in general. It’s easy to look at the simple game and scoff, but it really was a huge hit in the seventies.
It’s easy to find a version of Pong all over the place, even today, and that’s because the game proved that gaming could be a worthwhile pastime. Everyone has those little paddles and balls to thank for the games we enjoy at home today.
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