I now understand why he said he would know if someone found this list because I don't think anyone would have ever guessed either of those.

This is not the 25 most popular video games list. Significance and popularity often coincidence, but an important game doesn't have to be well-known. In any aspect of life, there's always the unsung hero that flies under the radar yet was hugely revolutionary or influential at the time. I'm shocked at how many people (including British people) have never heard of Alan Turing, yet he basically invented computer science and many of the concepts that underly how computers work, not to mention his vital contributions to codebreaking in the Second World War, without which the outcome may have been totally different. You can't deny his importance in history just because he's not well-known.

I'll level with you. I had never heard of Manic Miner and Elite either. And I share your outrage: I don't think Manic Miner should be anywhere near this list. But I am totally convinced that Elite has a place as one of the 25 most significant games. Groundbreaking in many ways. Inventing the sandbox/open world genre should be enough. At least two of the games to appear on this list have cited Elite as a major influence.

I mentioned Maze War in the Elite writeup as the first game to use 3D-esque graphics. It was released in 1973, only a year after Pong. I reckon it might be worthy of being a most significant game. It's the first first-person shooter game, and the early RPGs like Ultima and Wizardry copied its first-person labyrinth exploration format.

I have quite fond memories of playing a Maze War-like game in my childhood. Loved the experience of walking around a maze, never knowing what you'll see around the corner.

Battlezone was another childhood favourite.



Check out those polygons!

Holy shit, I used to play Battlezone all the time at a friend's house as a kid. Had forgotten all about it and never would've remembered the name without that mention and video. Unexpected wild nostalgia trip!

Also, gotta love Dr. Emperor —A Man of Principles & Integrity— defending significance vs. popularity.

But I'm simultaneously stunned that he thinks Alan Turing isn't a widely known entity. Or am I just the anomaly for long-knowing Turing and his import to the world?

More people should watch Ex Machina!

THE TABLE

It's time for the long-awaited first TABLE update.

Big Pete	3
PI	2
Sandylea	2
System	3
X-zero	1
Lionheart	3
RT	2

Three games on the list were identified by every participant. Pong is one of them. We will be seeing the other two in the coming days.

Regrettably, X-zero trails behind since he failed to name Pac-Man.

The leaders with 3 points are the three posters who were savvy enough to put Space Invaders on their lists: Big Pete , System , and Lionheart !

Look at that BBC.

Good job Big Pete System for leading. Won't tag the other guy since he's cheating.

I am just preparing my come from behind victory. Daniel Bryan slayed three major threats in the end.

I mean, if you want to call googling “most influential video games” and writing down Space Invaders because it came up near the top of every single result savvy...then sure.

Jul 12, 2020 17:48:45 GMT Lionheart said:

I mean, if you want to call googling “most influential video games” and writing down Space Invaders because it came up near the top of every single result savvy...then sure.

So you DID cheat then!?!?

That was not against the rules. Besides, my recall memory is terrible. I can’t even remember the names of all my top ten favorite bands no matter how long I think about it.

I wouldn’t have even been able to think of any 25 games if I didn’t look anything up.

"Look it up" aka exchanging PMs with the Doctah!

Jul 12, 2020 20:02:22 GMT @ness said:

"Look it up" aka exchanging PMs with the Doctah!

We chat on Facebook Messenger. A direct feed open at all times. What kind of loser non-friends use PMs?

Jul 12, 2020 20:07:47 GMT Lionheart said:

Jul 12, 2020 20:02:22 GMT @ness said:

"Look it up" aka exchanging PMs with the Doctah!

We chat on Facebook Messenger. A direct feed open at all times. What kind of loser non-friends use PMs?

Figured you guys were text buddies.

Whatsapp, right?

The Doctor is too lazy to use anything but the Facebook.

I use WhatsApp more than Messenger these days.

AIM?

Jul 13, 2020 2:17:24 GMT 🤯 said:

AIM?

ICQ?

Jul 13, 2020 2:19:09 GMT @ness said:

Jul 13, 2020 2:17:24 GMT 🤯 said:

AIM?

ICQ?

Are you making up instant messengers now like Dr. Emperor makes up video games and Baker-man makes up cartoons? -_-

Jul 13, 2020 2:25:11 GMT 🤯 said:

Jul 13, 2020 2:19:09 GMT @ness said:

ICQ?

Are you making up instant messengers now like Dr. Emperor makes up video games and Baker -man makes up cartoons? -_-

Hey! I think I've got enough credibility around here to know I don't make shit up.

Also LMAO aol.com still exists!

Jul 13, 2020 2:17:24 GMT 🤯 said:

AIM?

More like Hydra.

Plus the green Hydra suits are better than the yellow AIM suits.

Finally the man that has been pimpin Nintendo worldwide for 35 years.

I believe the one with Duck Hunt was the first video game I ever owned maybe played. I may have played Burger Time before that at a neighbor's house but not sure how old I was when I did.

And Mario placing grants yet another point to Mario.

All bow down before the one true king.

Jul 16, 2020 20:48:02 GMT Emperor said:

It's easy to argue Super Mario Bros' case for being the most significant game of all time.

I'm inclined to agree.

But it wasn't always that way. Confession time.....

I wasn't the biggest Super Mario Brothers fan growing up. Don't get me wrong. It was alright. I didn't hate it or anything crazy like that. It just wasn't one of my particular favorites. Probably wouldn't have cracked my Top 25 favorite NES games.

See, I had this stupid idea in my head that it was a beginner's game.....a game for children. Tru video game connoisseurs like myself quickly moved onto other, more sophisticated games. I was clearly a pseudo-intellectual idiot. Although.....

2 & 3 really were a lot more fun for me due to having far greater depth  :ugh:

Yet even back then I respected Super Mario Brothers for what it meant to gaming as a whole. You had to. Mario was Nintendo's mascot. He had its own tv show. He became a pop culture icon who came to symbolize the entire gaming industry. I mean, Super Mario Brothers came with the NES fer cryin' out loud! 

Mario was to video games what Hulk Hogan was to pro wrestling.

Jul 17, 2020 12:31:16 GMT 🤯 said:

Mario was to video games what Hulk Hogan was to pro wrestling.

I agree. Mario is the best. Mario is a God. Mario will win this tournament.

I want to see Icon vs. Icon: Mario vs. Mickie Mouse... Someone book it!

rad, add this to dream matches I want to see in PW Wrestling.

So let me get this straight.

We had a documentary detailing the greatest rivalry known to man: Billy Mitchell vs. Steve Wiebe and that couldn't get a shout out but Manic Miner deserves recognition? What? Donkey Kong deserves to be on this last as the godfather of platformers with Mario as it's spiritual successor that defined what a platformer should be moving forward.

...

Wreck It Ralph and Wreck It Ralph: Ralph Breaks The Universe, Hello?

And how can a significant list miss out on Wizardry? The godfather of RPGs, that inspired every adventure game moving forward.

Fake list.

Lionheart

Now that I've got that out of my system...

What was great about Super Mario Bros was all the extras. It took the concept of the hammer from Donkey Kong and expanded upon it, giving you projectiles or an invincibility that provided the player with more utility. It was such a unique concept for games at the time when they were so basic in design. I like how they incorporated elements of the Mario Bros Arcade game and allowed some enemies to be used as weapons or ways to unlock additional paths. What I liked most about Mario is how it rewarded exploration so if you thought about climing the roof of the stage and exploring it as far as you could go, chances are you could stumble on a warp pipe and fast-travel to a later world.

The music is fantastic and I love the original 8-bit aesthetic.

Manic Miner isn't the first hyper-controversial entry on the list and won't be the last. You have been warned. To be honest, I feel the fact that this list is somewhat non-obvious makes the guessing game all that more interesting. But I guess it's frustrating for you guys when some nonsense like Manic Miner appears, a game you wouldn't have had a chance of guessing.

I'll reveal my source at the end. You won't be surprised to hear that it's British.

Once this is all done I thought it would be a cool idea to come to a consensus as to PW's top 25 (or whatever) most significant games. There are a bunch of obvious snubs, and I could do writeups for those games too.

I did not play Super Mario Bros for the first time until a few years ago when I downloaded a copy on my 3DS. Pretty good game but it hasn't aged quite as well as a game like Super Mario Bros 3, felt a bit primitive in places, because it is. Insanely hard though.

My first experience with a Mario game was Super Mario Land for the Game Boy. It could very well have been the first video game I ever played. It was either that or Alleyway. Super Mario Land moved me in the same way that Super Mario Bros moved everyone else. So many interesting worlds, fantastic music, fun, easy gameplay. It also has these really cool submarine and airplane autoscrollers that I haven't experienced in any other Mario game. It's also in its own little universe, seemingly distinct from all the other Mario games. There's a princess (is it Peach? I'm not sure) and koopas and goombas, but that's about it. Most of the enemies exist only in Super Mario Land. The final boss is some weird monkey creature in a spaceship. It's pretty wacky. Great game though.