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"The Ten: Most Influential Games of All Time"
-By Harold "Hbomb" Price-
-DMGICE: Because, secretly, we are made of LISTS...-
-Posted 09/16/2006-
Disclaimers: This is not "Milk This". This is a brand new column series. This is my opinion and my opinion alone. Feel free to argue any of my picks on the forums... if we still had forums.

The Ten: Most Influential Games of All Time
  • 10. Grand Theft Auto. - Like it or hate it, it made mature games the industry trend and forced developers to push the envelope further. GTA made it cool to be the bad guy. Several games followed in GTA's example and included villian modes.
  • 9.  Pokemon. - "Pokemon", like several of my other picks, is a genre-creator. Many imitators have popped up, and several series have followed the multiple version model.
  • 8.  Mortal Kombat. - Before GTA, there was MK. Just as GTA made being the bad guy cool, MK made blood and guts cool.
  • 7.  Street Fighter 2. - The birth of the modern fighter. 1-on-1 combat with a variety of selectable players and opponents.
  • 6(tie). Final Fantasy and Dragon Quest/Warrior. - "Final Fantasy"'s been more popular here in the US, while "Dragon Quest" is king in Japan. Both were instrumental in creating the console RPG genre.
  • 5. Doom. - For a long time, the definitive FPS.
  • 4. SimCity. - In addition to the sequels and spinoffs, "SimCity" helped the simulation genre gain popularity.
  • 3. Tetris. - Coming with every GameBoy sure helped its popularity, but it also translated into success of similar games, such as "Dr. Mario".
  • 2. Super Mario Bros. - The evolution from a single-screen action game*, like "Pac-Man", "Donkey Kong", and the original "Mario Bros." to a sidescrolling adventure among many worlds. Without SMB, there would be no Sonic, no Mega Man, etc.
  • 1. Pong. - Without "Pong", there would be no video game industry today. It was a simple concept with simple graphics, but it was and still is fun to play.

In the immortal words of Tony Kornheiser: "That's it. That's the list!" If you would like to comment, please e-mail me at usfhbomb (at) yahoo (dot) com.

Please send all hate mail to philip (at) dmgice (dot) com. He loves the stuff.

DROPPEN ZE HBOMB
*Fact Check: Defender was the first side scroller, we all know it. Do not e-mail me on it.
-Hbomb is diagnosed with your consumption-
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