With 2009 coming to a close and 10 years of awesome gaming behind us, we thought it was an excellent time to look back on what made the past decade a special one in gaming. Of course, new hardware, industry growth, and and overall shift to acceptance of gaming as a viable platform have helped define the decade that was, but for us gamers, it’s THE GAMES that we’ll look back on and remember the most. On the next episode of EpicBattleCry, we’ll be discussing a rather interesting topic…What was the most influential game/franchise of the past decade?
We wanna hear from you boys and girls to round up some input. I started a thread inside the EBA forums to discuss the matter and will soon give you some of my personal thoughts on which title might be good for the discussion. Now remember…we’re not asking for “Best” game of the decade…We wanna know which title/franchise INFLUENCED gaming the most. This could mean that the game/franchise helped redefine a genre, move gaming towards the mainstream, or otherwise had the most impact on the industry. In other words, gaming might be TOTALLY DIFFERENT if this title/franchise didn’t exist.
Also, feel free to cast your vote in the poll on the EpicBattleAxe.com home page. We’ll keep it live for a few days to gather some good input and let you all see what other people think as well.
Of course, you’ll hear what we conclude on the next episode of EpicBattleCry, which is scheduled to go live this coming Monday, January 4, 2010.
Alright gang, thanks in advance for you input…Now let us know what you think…ttys!
Even though I haven’t played the games much, I would say Halo. FPS on consoles have (sadly) become huge largely thanks to Halo.
Most INFLUENTIAL? As much as I hate to say it, because I hate Halo, but yes Halo was the most influential – it was the true beginning of FPS games on consoles.
I completely despise Halo and it’s lack of originality and innovation (POST Halo 1 I mean), but number 1 was definitely a big impact on the industry, and ‘how FPS games could be made for console.’
Supposably anyway lmao, nothing will ever beat a mouse and keyboard.
That is a good, good question. I’d have to say Rockstar’s GTA series. Because it brought such a new gaming experience that could only be played on the consoles. Its what made the PS2 (at the time) stand out and make people buy that console because there was no other way to enjoy such a unique game. It totally redefined what a player could do in a game. It didn’t just raise the bar. Rockstar made their own bar and laughed at any one who would try to jump it.
I believe the most influential franchise is Halo. Without Halo there would be no XBox or Microsoft in the gaming scene.
That’s a tough one!
As far as shooters on console(s) go i have to agree and say HALO(too bad we got just 2 Gears Games out there:)
But i think overall the Call of Duty Franchise is even bigger now, it’s everywhere on every freaking platform (except the mac, Tony?) Thx 2 Infinity Ward & MW 1 & 2. But even the solala titles of that franchise like treyarchs WW2 recycled stuff keep on selling like sliced bread. Plus i have to give them props for beating WoW with there online numbers so i have to go with CoD ;P
PS: And by the way – shouldn’t we call the “WoW Franchise” just WARCRAFT? with all WarCraft games in it, there were 3 pretty good titles before they even launched their WoW. i’m not the biggest MMO Fanboy in general but i hate WoW simply cause it makes Blizzard hold/push back the next DIABLO & StarCraft.
It’s tough to argue that anything but Halo has been the most influential Franchise of the past decade, it was a proof of concept for shooters on consoles, and still today Halo 3 is still in the top 10 on Xbox live’s most played list. While this is true in the FPS Genre, I’d say that the most influential franchise of the last decade was grand theft auto, starting with 3.
Since this game gave you the opportunity to kill civilians and explore a gigantic sprawling world doing whatever you like, the morality system was introduced. An incredible number of sandbox style and even some RPG games have been morality heavy since then, with multiple ways to complete a mission and that even affecting how the game unfolds later on. While GTA didn’t outright put in a morality system in the game, many have come out since where morality permeates the story and game play. Also, the sandbox style of this game has propelled a whole new genre forward.
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Call me crazy but an argument could be made for Shenmue on the ill-fated Sega swan song Dreamcast. From the sandbox style play to the individual voices to each character to button push interaction during cut scenes Shenmue brought elements to gaming that are still used in titles today from Grand Theft Auto to Uncharted. It makes me wonder if Shenmue would work better on this gen’s consoles and audience. Hopefully Sega and AM2 will think about giving it a go and maybe I will finally get to see the end of Ryu’s story.
Shenmue was an awesome game, and a franchise that really needs to be resurrected simply for the fact of finishing the story. I swear when people do that it’s just plain vindictive.
Halo without a doubt laid the foundation of FPS’ as a mainstream genre on the consoles but it’s inability to actually do anything different other than attempt a RTS holds it back in my opinion.
For that reason I would have to give the accolade to the character who is so good, his name exists on everything he’s in as if to blatantly flaunt how awesome he is. His range of skills evolved early and show no signs of stopping in setting his eyes on other hobbies. I mean he’s hit so many balls that even thinking about it makes me uncomfortable.
He is in fact sooo influential that people older than myself remember wasting hours away in constant playthrough’s and have now come to a time when they watch their youngest children do the same, right before they de-thrown from the controller and show them how it’s done.
He’s existed in black and green, paper, baby, driving and of course super forms. His friends although very weird looking are numerous and some even spawn their own spin offs from the sparks of this guys coat tails. Oh and did I mention he’s got a cutie with connections….. nice.
If you’ve not guessed yet who i’m talking about then shame on you. I mean the character has evolved into a virtual god who’s immortality grants him the ability to keep his own genre alive when many other have died of young age. He’s inspired the newbies and welcomed the old and his moustache and badly attempted accent will live in our memories forever.
It’s him Mario.
its easy to go by gaming genre and pick. (warcraft is based on all other mmos but done right. halo is based on every fps before it but done right….) when you look at say gta III however (which was later perfected by san andreas) it was really a major breakthrough as far as ‘open world’ goes, which is what all games try to do now. i dont even like gta that much anymore (iv is terrible) so it pains me to say that but whatever. everything is based on DnD but I dont think thats in the running.
one of the best games of all time, 2 wasn’t that bad either. hard to put it in contention though.
MMO – WoW
Strategy – Homeworld series
FPS – I want to say Tribes but that was 1998…they set the bar for every other fps today (and yes Halo included fanboys)
RPG – Diablo series
Platform game – Mario Galaxy