1981 - Donkey Kong - invented the ability to jump from platform to platform, including moving platforms. (I could add a 10 page essay to that description, but I won't.)

Contra - for popularizing side scrolling shooters leading to the creation of one of my favorite series (Metal Slug)?

F-Zero - I am not seeing a futuristic racer on that list, F-Zero led to other popular franchises such as Wipeout.

Daytona USA - probably one of the first arcade car racing games that a ton of cabinets could link up (or one of the first I remember there being able to have 10+ people race at the same time).

1941 or 1942 - for popularizing scrolling flying games. Not sure of a game before this that made them so popular.

NBA Jam -  loved the game and there was nothing like it when it came out (Arch Rivals was before NBA Jam but NBA Jam is was made that type of game popular, they were both developed by Midway though).

Spy Hunter - for making car scrolling shooting game popular.  It was very popular when I was growing up.  I am sure there might have been other games like it made before but can't think of them.

Road Rash - was pretty unique game and why the hell is EA too stupid to realease another?

Magic Carpet - loved the game and there was nothing like it.  EA is also dumb to let the franchise die.

General Chaos - wasn't entirely innovated or mattered a lot.  But I love this game a ton back in the day and there really isn't any game like it that I know of.  One of my main reason I started boycotting EA over almost 10 year ago since they never made another.

Star Wars: X-Wing or TIE Fighter or Wing Commander:  I never played the Wing Commander series but I did play the crap out of X-Wing and TIE Fighter.  X-Wing was the first LucasArts game based on Star Wars.  It was bad ass and TIE Fighter just made everything better.

Perhaps you should add ET. It was the first movie-based game (or was that Raiders of the lost ark?) - irregardless, both games where a sign of things to come with respect to movie-based game. Like a curse. ET is also believed to be a direct contributor to the VG crash of 1983

GRAN TURISMO -- Made the racing genre go mainstream (10 Million sold)

Dragon Quest I -- began the JRPG genre

Resident Evil? Metroid?

Add in Resident Evil, Gran Turismo & Dragon Quest I

& you have a perfect list!

@OkeyDokey

Metroid......meh

Whoa, Dune 2 was the frist RTS? So what was Dune 1? haha

Dune 1 consisted entirely of boring conversations and looking for trap doors.  Had the coolest boxart ever though.  It opened up like a picturebook, into a 3-D sandworm full of teeth.  Man I was the coolest little PC gamer when I was 9 years old.

does he have Age Of Empires in there!