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Building a Video Game Canon, Week 6: Still a Fantasy, not final yet! Edition
Subenu | 6:25 AM on 06.28.2009 6 comments


The video game canon is already in its sixth week and discussions are healthy again. I still have no clue what Final Fantasy should be included, since I don't want to include all of them, as some have proposed. Another interesting topic that is coming up is the one of the Inclusion of MMORPG in the list, namely World of Warcraft and Everquest. It would really be interesting to hear more opinions on this. Since there have been some changes, here the new list:

__________________________________________________ __________________________
New Additions:

Jump 'n Runs

[Confirmed]
Super Mario Bros (NES) : This was the first platformer to have scrolling. (Count_Zero) (alternate reason would be required)

Super Mario 64: The concept of a 3d platformer was relatively alien at the time yet this worked so well first time out. (garrfunkel)
__________________________________________________ _____________________________________

First Person Shooter

[Confirmed]
Half Life Series: Since the very beginning the people at Valve have been pushing the boundaries of interactive narrative with the Half Life series. On top of that the controls are perfect and the graphics have always been cutting edge. (DaedHead8)

Castle Wolfenstein 3D: it opened the eyes of the gaming community as to the possibilities of the FPS-genre... there were a few games before it, but it was wolf3d.exe that convinced everybody that this was a great new style of gaming. (mistic)

[Questionable]
Bioshock: The game that proved you don't need multiplayer to sell millions in the internet era. A beautiful combination of innovative gameplay and masterful story telling, this game deserves to be a part of the video game canon. (DaedHead8)

[Proposed]
System Shock 2 - Need more opinions on this!

Deus Ex - Need more opinions on this!
__________________________________________________ _____________________________________

Action/Adventure

[Confirmed]
Metroid: Extremely good combination of action gameplay, both in terms of platforming and shooting, in an action framework (massive world to explore). (Count_Zero)

The Legend of Zelda: Similar reason, a fairly simple - at first glance - quest game, with a massive world (for the NES) to explore, but with fairly simple and accessible gameplay. (Count_Zero)

Metal Gear series: All of them really but most importantly the first Metal Gear game and Metal Gear Solid. Both of which were responsible for creating and popularising stealth gameplay. (dmgi)

Ocarina of Time: One of the few retro series to jump into 3d so well and adapt so quickly. (garrfunkel)

Tomb Raider: this was the break through game in the mid-90s. I can't think of any other video game character that was on the cover of non-videogame magazines. (Ali D)

[Questionable]
Shadow of the Colossus: One of the most moving stories in a game ever. Massively expansive landscape and every fight is a boss fight. (garrfunkel and DaedHead8)

GTA 3: The staple of sandbox games and the point of comparison ever since (How many times have you heard the words GTA-Clone in the past few years?). Sure other games had done it before, but nothing like what GTA had to offer. (dmgi)

[Proposed]
Ace Attorney Series – Need more opinions on this!

Silent Hill - Need more opinions on this!

Monkey Island Series - Need more opinions on this! Specify which one.
__________________________________________________ _____________________________________

Casual
[Confirmed]
Wii Sports: Like it or not it is something that completely defines what the Wii is and will always be remembered. (garrfunkel)
__________________________________________________ _____________________________________
Puzzle
[Confirmed]
Tetris: It pretty much single-handedly popularized the Game Boy (and more importantly, portable gaming in general). (Clyde and Badstar)

Braid: A masterpiece in every sense of the word. (DaedHead8)

[Proposed]
Portal – No Reason given yet.

Katamary Damacy - Need more opinions on this!
__________________________________________________ _____________________________________

RPG
[Confirmed]
Fallout: It was different and innovative for its time, doing brand new things that heavily, heavily influenced the RPG genre. (Angra)

[Proposed]
Final Fantasy Series – Specify which ones and why!

Seiken Densetsu - Need more opinions on this!

Diablo - Need more opinions on this!

Ultima 4 - Need more opinions on this!

Pokémon - Which one? Need more opinions on this!
__________________________________________________ _____________________________________

Fighting Games
[Confirmed]
Street Fighter 2: fighting games came of age here. (Ali D)
__________________________________________________ _____________________________________

Music and Rhytm Games
[Proposed]
Rock Band – No Reason given yet.

Dance Dance Revolution - Need more opinions on this!

Guitar Hero – Proposed again... more opinions please!


__________________________________________________ _____________________________________

RTS
[Confirmed]
Total Annihilation: the first RTS with 3D units, and so great and well balanced that people are still playing it nowadays (was released in 1990), some fans even built a full free version of it (taSpring) (mistic)

[Proposed]
StarCraft - Need more opinions on this!
__________________________________________________ _____________________________________
Strategy
[Proposed]
* Master of Magic: a 4X game very similar to Civ II, but the battles were tactics-like battles instead of being computed automatically. This game was a shining beacon in the fantasy strategy/4X genres and was an incredibly deep game for its day. (zgerhard)

MMORPG
[Proposed]
World of Warcraft - Need more opinions on this!

Everquest - Need more opinions on this!
__________________________________________________ _____________________________________

Simulation
[Confirmed]
Elite: the first successful space simulator. Everything from Wing Commander, to Freespace, to X3, to Eve Online comes from Elite. (Count_Zero)

Grant Tourismo (Series): for popularising the simulation-racing genre. (Mistic)

[Proposed]
Hidden Agenda: Need more opinions on this!

__________________________________________________ _____________________________________

Beat 'em up
[Questionable]
Double Dragon: for jump-starting (if not starting outright) the genre of the side-scrolling beat-em-up/brawler. (Count_Zero)
__________________________________________________ _____________________________________

Shmup
[Proposed]
Ikaruga - Need more opinions on this! (Call Topher Cantler!!!)
__________________________________________________ _____________________________________

Racing
[Confirmed]
GRID: for implementing the time-back-feature that racing-gamers have been praying for since the very first racing game where you could crash your car. (mistic)

Motocross Madness (2): for the insane sandbox that they gave us. (mistic)
__________________________________________________ _____________________________________
* Will be moved to [Confirmed] on the next blog update if not found questionable.
(The descriptions can appear slightly edited)


As you can see, several games have made the jump to confirmed (motocross madness, grid, Gran Tourismo and Castle Wolfenstein 3D and more...). One new proposition came from zgerhard, who proposed Master of Magic. Guitar Hero discussions restarted, so it is up in the [Proposed] area again.
Thanks for participating in the discussions in the forum! Keep up the good work!



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6 comments | showing # 1 to 6

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Takeshi's Destructoid Blog
Total Annihilation was released in 1997 not in 1990.
Subenu's Destructoid Blog
@Takeshi
Thanks, I'll correct that with the next update.
Tubatic's Destructoid Blog
oh man. I have so many opinions and so little time!

Civilization II should really be on this list. What struck me about that game, or at least about the development process for Civ in general, was that its a game that the developers themselves could play and enjoy, dispite having worked on the game for months/years. I think its a testament to the creation of a core game, an actual system/rule set that creates an experience rather than locks a player into a strict narrative. It also merges, to a certain degree, non-linear, strategy based gameplay with a sense of time progression and narrative. Anyone looking to understand the creation of a game rather than story should have an idea of what Civilization accomplishes.

Final Fantasy IX. I say that almost controversally, but I think it functionally meets alot of needs for the canon. It presents the basic structure of Final Fantasy (classes, magic rules, linear world spanning quest, high quality cutscenes to move the story) but its also, perhaps, more immediately palletable than the entries on either side of it.

PaRappa the Rappa for rhythm games. Critical acclaim, crossover success from Japan to all points west. Everyone should understand "Kick! Punch! Its all in the mind!"
Eagle 88's Destructoid Blog
Final Fantasy VII: Proved that RPGs could transfer to full 3D graphics and still maintain an epic storyline and turned based combat system.
Subenu's Destructoid Blog
@Eagle 88
Propositions in the comments will not be added, please participate in the discussions in the forum topic.
Eagle 88's Destructoid Blog
Sorry, didn't know.


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 about me

Living in Europe and kind of enjoying it... Have been playing games since I was 4 years old and still loving it with 23.
My favorite genres? RPG's, strategic RPG's but also Shmups, Fight Games (2D prefered) and Nintendo Games in general. Also a big fan of Manga/Anime.

Playing atm: Shin Megami Tensei: Persona (PSP), Shin Megami Tensei: Devil Survivor (DS), Okami (PS2), Odin Sphere (PS2)

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Nintendo Entertainment System
and of course a PC... which is too old to really run games.

At the moment I am quite busy with creating a Video Game Canon together with this community!
Join the discussions!

Building a Video Game Canon Blog Series:
Introduction Post: About the necessity of a video game canon
Week 1
Week 2
Week 3
Week 4: Revival Edition
Week 5: Final Fantasy Edition
Week 6: Still a Fantasy, not final yet! Edition
Week 7: JRPG Edition
Week 8: Massive Update Edition

Analyze This series:
Introduction Post
The concept of temporary immortality
The Term "Retro game"

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