As Cyberpunk 2077 continues to stir controversy, we take a walk down memory lane and look back at some of the most iconic games. These games changed the world and many encouraged us to pick up a joystick for the first time.
You might disagree with this list, but you would be wrong. Let’s take a look.
The most iconic video games of all times
PacMan
Pacman is still considered to be the biggest cultural phenomena of the 1980s. The franchise released the popular Ms Pac-Man two years later, which racked up a lifetime revenue of $1.2 billion by 1987.
It was created game designer Toru Iwatani, when he was 24, and was inspired by the phrase paku paku meaning “chomp chomp”. The kanji symbol for the word taberu meaning “to eat” also influenced Iwatani’s creative process.
Fun fact, did you know the ghosts have distinct personalities? Yep, they are called Clyde, Blinky, Pinky, and Inky and have their own personalities based on AI routines.
Pong
Look, let’s be real, the seventies wasn’t the best time for gaming. Spacewar! happened and then they mucked that up, but eventually, the more simplistic Pong came along, proving that sometimes less is more.
The table tennis-themed arcade video game was first released on Atari back in November 1972. It featured two paddles and a ball, and you had to defeat your opponent by being the first one to gain 10 points.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fiShX2pTz9A&ab_channel=andys-arcade
Space Invaders
Developed by Tomohiro Nishikado and released in 1978 in Japan, Space Invaders is a classic among classics. It’s is a fixed-shooter game which pits a horizontally-moving cannon against an ever-descending army of invaders.
It expanded the video game industry in ways that could not even be imagined back in the seventies and is, therefore, no surprise that Space Invaders is considered one of the most influential games of all time.
Final Fantasy
No list would be complete without Final Fantasy the first game to truly bring Japanese role-playing games to the masses. Not only did it help to develop the idea of skill trees but boosted inspired some of the biggest RPGs ever made.
From World of Warcraft to Super Mario Brothers, it all started with Final Fantasy. This is turning into a fun little exercise, so let’s compare the first-ever Final Fantasy, to the upcoming Final Fantasy 16.
Street Fighter II
The ultra-popular Japanese fighting game – also known as Street Fighter II: The World Warrior – was released in 1991 and came to Nintendo’s GameBoy in 1995; it has been released in multiple forms over the years.
It is the second installment in the series and the sequel to Street Fighter, released in 1987.
Grand Theft Auto
Grand Theft Auto was first released in 1997 by Rockstar games (wow, where does the time go) and continues to be one of the most-played and well-loved games to this day.
Little known fact, it’s the first game which truly popularised the open-world concept. One simply has to compare the first GTA to GTA 6 trailer to see how far it has come and why it remains a solid favourite.
Super Mario Bros
Another classic; who doesn’t know the hyperactive little plumber in one iteration or another. We’d go as far as to say that Mario is the best-known character (with the most well-known theme song) in all of video game history.
Super Mario debuted in one of the world’s first games that allowed the character to move horizontally through an evolving landscape. Watch the video below only if you dare, the nostalgia might get you.
World of Warcraft
Speaking of World of Warcraft, it was a trailblazer for the Massive Multiplayer Online Role-Playing Game (MMORPG), we can all agree. From its initial release, Blizzard’s WoW has grown inactive player base to 4.88 million as of 2020.
By 2014, WoW had more than 100 000 000 registered accounts and had grossed over $9.23 billion in revenue just three years later.
Minecraft
Minecraft deserves a spot on this list – even though I might disagree for purely personal reasons. At 200 million copies, it’s without a doubt one of the bestselling video game of all times.
While many love it’s Lego-like charm, I’ll be honest, I simply don’t get it.
Tetris
We’re going to go ahead and Tetris to this list too and there’s nothing you can do about it. Often copied but never successfully replicated, Tetris marked the beginning of the modern puzzle genre of games.
Did you know there’s an X-rated version as well? But we digress. Tetris showed that you didn’t always need a protagonist or NPCs to have fun. Join is the anxiety of waiting for the one long piece:
Fortnite
Fortnite needs no introduction. The cooperative survival game is so popular, the launch of its fifth season generated five times more online web traffic than Donald Trump winning the US election back in 2016.
It has more than 250 million users worldwide, give or take a few, and can be played across several different devices, all offering the same game experience (for the most part, at least).
Prince of Persia
I’m going to add this one right here at the bottom, more for personal reasons than anything else, if I have to be brutally honest. This, folks, this right here is where my gaming journey started: playing Prince of Persia on MS-DOS.
And it’s still going strong! Ubisoft announced a full remake of the 2003 Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time. A release date has been set for 21 January 2021. We’ve come a long way, just compare these two trailers: