There are several video games that have been released since the first computer game was created that changed the gaming industry forever. Very old games such as Space Invaders and Space War had huge impacts on inspiring future game producers to be innovative in their thinking. As technology advanced, the improvements in the gaming experience increased significantly. There are a few stand-out video games that are regarded as revolutionizing the computer gaming industry with impacts that would last forever.
Space War (1962)
Space War was created by Steve Russell in 1962 and was the very first arcade game to be sold commercially. The game was coded and produced for the Technology Institute of Massachusetts and featured spaceships that would be controlled using joysticks. The players would control the spaceships with the objective of destroying each other. Space War really was the first of its kind and gave people a glimpse into the possibilities of what gaming might look like in the future.
Pong
Pong was created in 1972 by the video game company Atari. It was the first video game to find commercial success, which led to the production of the first console that could be used at home. This console was known as the Magnavox Odyssey.
Pong was a relatively simple yet great game where players would control a bat and try to stop the ball from reaching their side. The ball would bounce off the bat controlled by one player, and the opponent would have to try and bounce the ball off their bat back in the other player’s direction. There was a score counter for every time the ball hit the other player’s side, and the game ended when a player reached a score of 10.
This all sounds somewhat simplistic by today’s standards; however, in 1972, this was revolutionary. It showed the power of competition that could be had with video games and the potential for many different forms of games. The success of Pong was very real, with over 150,000 copies sold in the holiday season of 1975.
Super Mario Bros
Fast forward 10 years from the creation of Pong, and the video game industry had exploded. However, this success streak came to a stop when the recession hit, lasting until 1985. During this time the video game industry depleted dramatically with sales dropping from $3 billion to just $100 million in 1985.
Here comes Atari’s latest release, Super Mario Bros. This game became an instant classic and was credited with restarting the growth of the gaming industry at a time when it felt like it was almost dead. Players would control an enthusiastic Italian plumber through a series of levels and challenges with the goal of saving Princess Toadstool. The success of this game should not be understated. There were over 40 million copies of Super Mario Bros sold over 20 years, and it held the title for the best-selling game over this entire time. That was until Wii Sports was released in 2006.
Doom
Doom, which was released in 1993, is considered one of the earliest first-person shooters to hit the gaming industry. It paved the path for all of today’s most popular first-person shooter games, such as Battlefield and Call of Duty. In Doom, you would control a space marine and fight against demons and monsters on Mars using all kinds of weapons, from standard guns to chainsaws.
Metal Gear Solid
Metal Gear Solid, released in 1998, brought a new kind of game to the table. It incorporated the shooting aspect of many games before including Doom; however, it added an immersive storyline that had you hooked while you played along. This one was one of the first games that felt like a video game as well as a movie that you could get lost in for hours.
World Of Warcraft
World of Warcraft was released in 2004 and is categorized as an MMORPG. This wasn’t the first of this kind of game; however, it arguably was the first game that perfectly captured everything you would want in an MMORPG. Players became utterly obsessed with this game, spending all day every day grinding levels for their character. It could also be argued that there hasn’t been a game like World Of Warcraft that had anywhere near the same success again.
