MGS got like the greatest and longest story in a Game ever...MGS 3 & 4 made people cry...MGS introduced the stealth gaming and and and...Halo sells better but come on...MGS is more influential and to 100 percent a better game than Halo...its like Spider Man vs The Godfather. in the movies...Spider Man got great special effects,grossed more money and things like that but still Godfather is a better movie

I love the both

imma have to go with Halo.. it made FPS more mainstream that any other FPS.... Although MGS' IMO r much better games and are revolutionary.. they did not do much in terms of being influential

Halo 1 has online multiplayer?! Is my version gimped or something?

Halo is certainly more influential. In additional to raising the bar for all FPSs and multiplayer/online offerings, it's a model of company support, always getting additioned maps and updates to add more to the game. It's also a model of moving forward with each installment. Despite what anti-MS fanboys might say, each Halo has been quite a leap from the last, instead of just some graphical improvements and a yearly release (like CoD)
Halo 1 revolutionized what you could do in a FPS (Run, drive, or fly + 4 player split screen and campaign coop)
Halo 2 revolutionized console FPS online play
Halo 3 took everything it had prior, and added equipment, but it's real leap was the forge + theater options. Customizing and replay abilities unheard of on consoles.

Halo has set gold standards which have driven all console FPSs to be better. (would we have CoD or KZ2 in their current forms if not for Halo? no) And driving the #1 genre to excel makes Halo the most influential.

Metal Gear (the series existed before 1998!) was integral in the creation of stealth gameplay as we know it. Not counting Metal Gear, MGS helped push stealth into 3D gaming and expanded the role of storytelling in action games. Halo introduced the regenerating shield/health system and helped popularize coop gameplay. My vote goes with Metal Gear Solid being more influential considering that its effects can be seen in action games outside the FPS/TPS genres.

The first Halo was quite a unique shooter in any respect for anything of the time. Halo 2 was also quite the online innovator on consoles. Call of Duty's online setup wouldn't be much without that. But still there were games on the PC such as Counter Strike that were doing that already.

Metal Gear really provided a unique experience along with a different way of telling a story that really has never been exceeded or surpassed. But once again like Halo, after such said innovations it didn't really expand further. Which is fine, as it made evolutions within its own genre but not really a continuous influence on the industry.

But looking at it, I'd say that Halo has been the most influential. Now that doesn't mean all that has been positive of course but it has had the most influence. First, without Halo there would be no successful Xbox brand. Without the Xbox brand there are quite a few things we'd be without that has come from it. Secondly, it essentially started the idea of a "modern" shooter on consoles and PC. Not to mention really created a sub genre of mixing an adventure game along with a linear "level to level" shooter. Wasn't as full as Metroid Prime but still. Then of course the online setup of Halo 2 paved the future for online console games forever while something similar for Halo 1 on PC.

Halo has had a huge impact on this industry. So has MGS but and most of MGS has definitiely been in an inspirational development standpoint kind of like a lot of Miyamoto or Shinji Mikami's games. And I guess that's what separates them as legendary developers compared to the rest. But on an entire industry standpoint, I have to go with Halo. If it was pure development, though, no questions asked it would be MGS.

         "I am Sweden......I am neutral"

          Well written man, nice way to not piss off either side........I agree with your message.

          For me it was Halo.....I wouldn't have even have owned a Xbox or a 360 without the Halo franchise.  It and FF on the PS3 (moot point now) because, luckily, I can enjoy it on my 360.....:).

halo is an american thing . it is the american dragon quest.