[gildedgirth]

Well here is my partial list of games that 1) are classics, and 2) influenced a whole genaration of gamers 3) created a whole new genre or was the biggest influence in that genre.

ID software's Wolfenstein3D/Doom for starting the FPS craze. And not only that, Wolf3D and Doom is responsible for games that can be modified (modded) by players. That ability is taken for granted now, but ID was the ones who really pioneered it in commercial software (as opposed to freeware software like rogue, see below).

Also these games are responsible for the FPS online multiplayer boom. Anyone remember Doom on BBS's or DWANGO modem service? Playing FPS multiplayer on the internet wasn't feasible yet, so you had to call your local BBS or DWANGO service to play online through dial-up. My first taste of online FPS multiplayer and I was addicted. Quake, while huge in its own right, was really Doom extended to a higher level as you could already mod games, play online, make maps, etc.

Westwood's Dune II for starting the RTS genre on the PC (and yes I know about the older Herzog Zwei on the old sega machine). Without Dune II, there'd be no Warcraft or Starcraft

I'd also give props to Starcraft for the online RTS community. While Dune II is the mother of RTS PC games, Blizzards 3rd RTS game (after Warcraft 1 and 2), Starcraft, dominated the online world with its multiplayer play, custom mods, and even spawned international competitions that still go on today. This game, arguably, is a reference point to which other RTS games are compared to. I remember the really long beta testing evaluation that went on for months and months with the gaming public crying for the game to be released. However, Blizzard in thier wisdom, extended the Beta testing to polish the game extensively and get rid of bugs. One of the few companies at the time (besides ID software & Valve) that really put emphasis on polishing games before releasing it to the public.

While the Ultima series isn't the first CRPG (computer RPG) it did polish it, expand on it, and take it to new heights that I would argue its one of the most influential RPG on the gaming public.

Online text MUD's for starting the MMORPG market (Everquest is really just a graphical version of a MUD when you think about it, and the creators of Everquest have stated thier inspiration came from MUDSs). Although, Ultima Online pre-date Everquest, I think the MUD > Everquest > "all other MMORPG (ie. WoW, Dark Ages of Camelot, etc" line is more influential.

Original ascii Rogue(and its variants) influential for a whole genre of RPG type play, known as "Rogue type" games with popuplar games such as Diablo and any clones of that type.

Nintendo's Mario platform games. While again not the first platform game ever, Nintendo and Shigeru Miyamoto (a gaming creator God) by far had the most impact on platform games with thier Mario franchise, starting with thier famicom/nintendo mario 1 game. While they had made arcade games way before, and computer games for Apple, C-64 etc, the mario series didn't really dominate until Nintendo launched the Nintendo home console system with the included Mario game.

Infocom/Zork for Interactive Fiction(IF), also known as text adventures. While Adventure by William Crowther in the 1970's is the origin of the first IF game, Zork made by a bunch of MIT guys who later formed Infocom is truly the start for the IF market and the currently booming freeware internet IF community and games.

Resident Evil 1 for starting the survival horror genre on the console systems. While Alone in the Dark, I'd argue, on the PC, was made earlier, its really Capcom's Resident Evil series that creates this whole new genre of console games. Till then, survival horror as a term wasn't even coined yet.

Street Fighter 2 for the Fighter genre. While I did play Street Fighter 1 where you had to mash big pads with your fist in order to punch your opponent, wasn't a great game. Street Fighter 2 really started the fighter craze, with Mortal Kombat, Virtua Fighter and others to follow. Although Street Fighter is not the first popular fighting game, I'd argue it had the biggest impact. Although I have found memories of Karate Champ. =)

Probably the most recent game to actually create a whole new market and clones is Grand Theft Auto 3. While the idea of free roaming world in an arcade game isn't new, it took it to a whole new level giving the player so much freedom to interact with a living world that its definitely the key game in the GTA3-type market (see Mercenaries, True Crime, etc for others).

Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 1 and series - This game by far established and created the X-treme sports console market. Arguably one of the most successful series ever, until then no game captured the burgeoning X-treme sports to such a degree. Although, you could argue Skate or Die and other arcade games did so back in the first wave of X-treme sports (namely skateboarding back in the 80's), THPS is by far the game that started multi-million dollar market.

Civilization/Microprose for world empire games on the PC.

I'd like to put a Peter Molyneux game somewhere, since besides Shigeru Miyamoto, John Carmack, Sid Meier, Richard Garriot(aka Lord British) among others, he's also one of my fav gaming creators. Molyneux and Bullfrog created some of the best (and most devilish) God games ever. While Syndication and Dungeon Keeper are one of the most popular, I'd have to say Populous. That game let you build a whole world, lead people, kill of whole civilizations in real time with morphing world, and the game was ported across a variety of systems, PC, Super Nintendo and othe platforms. Its one of his earliest games and I think really started his particular brand of God games (with Molyneux own since of ironic humor).

Ok I'll stop there ever though there are many more influential games that are milestones in gaming history.