Hey All, this is a re-send of last night's failed post due to
language. I've edited the offending passages with *s surrounding the
edits so you'll be able to get the original drift if you like.
Have a great day !
Enjoy!…
Smiles,
Cara :)
Jeff Kesselman's Blog
Community: Java Games Archives
History is made of this...
Posted by jeffpk on April 27, 2004 at 04:44 PM | Permalink | Comments
(24)
History is made of this...
Another week, another games ramble.
The history of computer games can be viewed a myriad of different
ways. For me, the big “historical events” have been the growth of new
genres.
Once a genre is established it will get worked in every possible
manner but to me those have always been the boring details. I find
DOOM far more interesting a phenomenon then Quake4 or DOOM2 because
all these games add is technical refinements to a fundamental formula
that was established by DOOM. At the end, the experience may be
refined and enhanced but its still an experience I've had before
(running around with a gun in my hand trembling at whats around the
next corner) and that bores me.
To me games that were really historical landmarks are relatively few
and far between. Just to illustrate, I have below a short list of
games I feel fit into this category and why. It is of course a
subjective and personal list and it is biased to some degree by the
kinds of games I like to play and thus knew best. These are all
computer games or arcade games that I believe directly influenced
computer games. I've also left out education which again is a separate
category for another time.
(1)Pong, Atari. The first game to recognize that moving dots on a TV
screen inert actively could be fun.
(2)Tanks, Atari. The first (very privative) combat vehicle sim.
(3)Adventure, (student at MIT whose name escapes me). The genre setter
for interactive novels and the root of all adventure games.
(4)Code Wars. The first programming combat game and the granddaddy of
all the programmable robo-sim games of today.
(5)Riddle of the Sphinx, Activision. The first graphic adventure game.
(6)Wizardry. The first CRPG and the fundamental genre setter for all
CRPGs to follow.
(7)Pool of Radiance, SSI. The first CRPG with a third person combat
mode.
(8)Hack (later Rouge). The first all third person RPG.
(9)Donkey Kong, Nintendo. The first platform game.
(10)Bill Budge's Pinball Construction Set, Electronic Arts. The first
“game” that was a toy to build your own games with. (Ignoring BASIC
and other languages.)
(11)The Sub-Logic Flight Simulator, Sub-logic (later acquired by
Microsoft). The first flight sim for a mass market micro-computer.
(12)???, Electronic Arts. I can't remember the name of this but it was
the first submarine-simulator game.
(13)Need For Speed, Electronic Arts. Set the standard for driving
simulations.
(14)Crush Crumble and Chomp, Automated Simulations. The first “you
play the monster and destroy things” game.
(15)Whatever the first SSI hex war-game was. (I can't remember they
had so many and they were all so much alike.)
(16)The first sailing simulator, whose name again escapes me.
(17)Warlords. Arguably the first strategic level battle simulator and
the granddaddy of the RTS category today.
(18)Balance of Power, EA (Chris Crawford). Set the standard in grand-
strategic political games.
(19)Trust and Betrayal: The legacy of Siboot, EA (Chris Crawford). The
first experiment in real machine opponent personality and AI. Arguably
the granddaddy of games like “Good and Evil.” (Also one of the only
games ever to be released first on Macintosh ;) )
(20)Maze Wars, (freeware, many versions). The first multi-terminal
real time game and one could argue the granddaddy of all FPSs.
(21)Xtrek, (freeware). The first multi-terminal third person shooter.
(22)DOOM, ID software. The first environmental horror survival game.
Yes I know most people consider it the granddaddy of FPSs but I'd
actually disagree slightly. Maze Wars had already established the “run
around the maze and shoot things” genre. What was really new about the
DOOM experience, I'd argue, was that it made you AFRAID to turn the
next corner. Genre wise I'd argue that DOOM has more in common with
House of the Dead then with Max Payne.
(23)Summer Games, Electronic Arts. The first sports game.
(24)Impossible Mission, Electronic Arts. The first sneaking game.
(25)Hitman: Code Name 57. The first “sneak up and kill someone”
game ;) Okay its really a mix of pre-existing genres but I couldn't
resist it. This game DID gie me a fundamentally different experience
playing it then any game I had played before.
(26)Neverwinter Nights (the original), SSI. The first “massively”
multiplayer on-line RPG. (After multiple enhancements, massive topped
out at about 500 simultaneous players as I recall
(27)MechWarrior. The first giant robot sim.
I'm sure there are others but I'm going to stop here
