In response to this abomination of a list I decided it would be a good idea to write up some of the games over the history of gaming.
Some of these are known for their innovation, some are know for being the first, some are known for being great, and some are even just known for being in the right (or wrong) place at the right time.
So here it is and please feel free to add your own games, or people, that mattered because mine is definitely not definitive.
Nintendo-- Not a game, but a game company, the first one to be exact. Nintendo started in 1889 making card games.
Tennis (1958)— this was the first video game. It was created in a physics lab by Willy Higinbothum.
Tennis “Pong” (1966) —Created by Ralph H. Baer eight years before the Pong we all recognize today.
???? (1956)—The first mechanical stand-alone arcade game.
Space War (1961) —the first computer game in 1961
Computer Space (1971) —first coin operated video game created by Nolan Bussnell.
Pong (1972) —Createdby Nolan Bussnell for the Magnavox Oddyssy.
Adventure (1972)—Text based adventure game, first of its kind.
Gunfight (1975)—First game with a CPU.
280 ZZZap (1976)—First racing game.
Atari 2600 (1977)—While not the first cartridge based game system, it was the most successful and had extremely cheap cartridges. It also had the first pack-in game.
Space Wars (1977)—First game with physics.
Space Invaders (1978)—So successful it caused a quarter shortage in Japan.
Temple of Apshai (1979)—The first graphical RPG.
Asteroids (1979)—First game to feature a high score
Adventure (1979)—First Easter Egg that was put into the game because Atari would not let employees put their name inside the game. Activision was later formed who believed their name should be able to be placed inside of games.
Rogue (1980)—While it was only text based, it was the first RPG based off of Dungeons and Dragons. It was also the predecessor to MUDs.
Pac-Man (1980)—Originally called Puc-Man but changed since graffiti could make the name obscene. This was also the first game that appealed to females.
Zork (1981)
Dr. J. and Larry Bird (1983)—First celebrity endorsed game.
Tetris (1984)
Super Mario Bros. (1985)—Simple concept, jumping is fun, turned out to be one of the greatest games of all time.
The Legend of Zelda (1986)
Manian Mansion (1987)—Impossible to fail, failure isn’t fun. The game could end under certain circumstances, but other than those few things failure usually just meant getting thrown into the easily escaped basement.
Street Fighter (1987)—Players had to figure out the combos so that meant they spent more money at the arcades.
Metal Gear (1987)-- First stealth game
Prince of Persia (1989)—Had very nice animations with rotoscoping with a special walking animation. Also showed that quality matters.
Sonic the Hedgehog (1991)
Marathon (1992)—This Mac-only game was first First Person Shooter and also featured hi-res graphics and appealed to RPG fans.
Myst (1993)—First appeared on the Mac in 1993 and later ported to the PC in 1995. Myst turned out to be one of the largest selling games of all time due to it being a pack-in with many PC’s. Its Hi-res graphics showed off what peoples high end computers could do and had FMV’s.
Wolfenstein 3D (1992)—The first well known FPS due largely to it being shareware.
Dune 2 (1993)—First RTS, Command and Conquer came later. Dune 2 didn’t sell well because it was low quality and C&C became more well known because it was of high quality.
Night Trap (1994)—Absolutely terrible game that made people question what was appropriate for games and later resulted in the formation of the ESRB.
The Dig (1995)—This was going to be the first game to use the separate PC game rating system but went to the ESRB at the last minute due to one scene being too violent for the PC game rating system but not for the ESRB.
Pokemon (1995)—Showed that marketing matters, Gotta catch ‘em all!
Rebel Assault (1995)—Full FMV game
Quake (1996)
Diablo (1996)—Dumbed down RPG to make it more accessible to a wider range of people
Tomb Raider (1996)—Exploration puzzles with huge complex levels that didn’t make the player lost. It also featured easy jumps that looked hard that made the player feel like they’re awesome.
Super Mario 64 (1996)—Controller was camera relative revolutionizing 3D gaming.
Final Fantasy VII (1997)-- First hugely mainstream RPG in America
Golden Eye (1997)—Showed that quality matters. Bond had been a notoriously terrible license but the game was so great that it went past that.
Ultima Online (1997)—First time any MMO captured a large audience.
Dance Dance Revolution (1998)
Starcraft (1998)—three incredibly well balanced races in an RTS.
The Legend of Zelda: the Ocarina of Time (1998)-- Widely regarded as the best game of all time
Half-Life (1998)-- Reinvented the way we tell stories in FPS games
Everquest (1999)—First big commercial and 3D MMORPG
The Sims (2000)
Grand Theft Auto IIII (2001)—Showed that controversy can sell and is a case of right place at the right time.
Halo: Combat Evolved (2001)
BMX XXX (2002)—Tried to do what GTAIII did with controversy but failed miserably.
Counter-Strike (2003)-- What started out as a simple mod turned out to be a wildly successful game.
World of Warcraft (2004)-- What is probably the most successful MMORPG of all time
Wii Sports (2006)-- While there have been motion games like Wii Sports, Wii Sports is another game that showed quality matters and big things can come in small pachages
Wii Fit (2008)
