10 most important video games of all time, as judged by 2 designers, 2 academics, and 1 lowly blogger

by James Ransom-Wiley { Mar 12th 2007 at 2:57PM }

Henry Lowood, curator of the History of Science and Technology Collections at Stanford University, and his four-member committee have announced the 'game canon', a list of games to be considered by the US Library of Congress for make benefit glorious history of interactive gaming culture. The canon grew from a proposal submitted to the Library of Congress last fall and is modeled on the efforts of the National Film Preservation Board, which produces an annual list of films that are subsequently added to the National Film Registry. The Registry is managed by the Library of Congress.

Lowood and company's initial list (below) attempts to single out the ten most important games of all time by selecting titles that represent the beginnings of significant game genres and concepts. The committee is comprised of game designers Warren Spector and Steve Meretzky (of Infocom fame), Lowood's Stanford cohort Matteo Bittanti, and -- what's this? -- Joystiq's Christopher Grant...? So that's why you've been strutting around the office with that nose-in-the-air attitude, eh? Too good for us, Mr. "I decide what's worthy" Grant? What a sham.

The inaugural selections:

Spacewar! (1962)
Star Raiders (1979)
Zork (1980)
Tetris (1985)
SimCity (1989)
Super Mario Bros. 3 (1990)
Civilization I/II (1991)
Doom (1993)
Warcraft series (beginning 1994)
Sensible World of Soccer (1994)

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 3)

Jack of No Trades @ Mar 12th 2007 3:01PM

Agreed. Super Mario World or SMB3?

nowhere @ Mar 12th 2007 3:02PM

No Pong? For shame.

Patrick @ Mar 12th 2007 3:03PM

wrong!

Mat @ Mar 12th 2007 3:04PM

Sensible World of Soccer? This is the only one I've never heard of... Anyone know why it's on the list? (just curious)

required @ Mar 12th 2007 3:05PM

it's clearly subjective because that list smell like ass

Kankles @ Mar 12th 2007 3:05PM

A few questions
Why No Ultima?
Why doom and not wolf3D?
Why the soccer one?
Why mario 3 intead of one or the hundreds of othe non linear games?

Tanster @ Mar 12th 2007 3:08PM

Not a single Zelda title or Metroid?

NintendoFanbot @ Mar 12th 2007 3:09PM

If anything is right in the world, 10 games a year is not enough.

It also neglects the market that initiated the console market: THE ARCADE.

Vidikron @ Mar 12th 2007 3:11PM

I can understand why the other games are on there, but why is Sensible World of Soccer on there? What impact did it have?

Jake @ Mar 12th 2007 3:12PM

hmmm...Tough to reduce it down to 10. And you definately have to understand they are basing it on games that started genres and such, not off pure popularity and quality.

Don't agree with the soccer one. Don't agree with Civilization and SimCity both making it. Not so sure about Tetris to be honest. Was that the first somewhat popular puzzler of that general genre?

I can accept the list, but it is weird that SMB3 is the only game I could really stand to play right now.

ZOMG no Halo!! Joystiq BIAZ!!!

Suidae @ Mar 12th 2007 3:12PM

Important games that should have been on the list:

Street Fighter II - 'nuff said.

Grand Theft Auto III - not only incredible game, but also created the most political controversy.

Dune II (warcraft?!?!?!) - the REAL first RTS.

Pac Man - ever heard of the Pac-Man widows?

Ultima series (including Akalabeth) - RPGs RPGs and RPGs!

The SIMs - love it or hate it, no can deny its eaten up half of the best-seller list for many years.

Jack of No Trades @ Mar 12th 2007 3:13PM

Sensible Soccer:
"It was widely regarded as the most successful football game of its time, constantly topping charts such as Amiga Power's "All Time Top 100", and achieving high scoring reviews mostly of 90% and above. Many dubbed it a vast improvement over previous games in the genre, such as the Kick Off series."

Nessuno @ Mar 12th 2007 3:22PM

For the "why Doom and not Wolfenstein" or "why Warcraft and not Dune?" crowd, let me point out that it's not the most important to have done something *first*. It's more important to do it well enough that it changes the paradigm of gaming.

For example, does it matter that the Vikings discovered and settled North America centuries before Columbus? Not much, since it didn't lead to much. The important discovery was Columbus even though he wasn't first.

The people who made this list seemed to value the first really quality game that caught on over the one that was technically first.

Richard DeV @ Mar 12th 2007 3:23PM

no zelda or mario?

Eric Ward @ Mar 12th 2007 3:29PM

Thanks, but could you include the reason WHY these games were chosen specifically. I'd really like to know. I obviously understand the historically significance of games like Sim City, but I'd like to know the reasoning behind these choices.

JodyAnthony @ Mar 12th 2007 3:30PM

Any list without 'Nuts and Milk' is worthless.

Anni @ Mar 12th 2007 3:31PM

Warcraft series? Is it fair to include the whole series? For my money, the Mario Bros. series put together is crazy significant as hell, but 3 is the only one noted here.

As far as this whole list goes, that's a big fat "whatever."

Ben @ Mar 12th 2007 3:39PM

Uhhmm,

Penn and Teller: Smoke and Mirrors? Anyone?

Derbeste @ Mar 12th 2007 3:42PM

I have to agree that this list is lacking to say the most.

Some I agree with (Tetris and Doom).

But no Zelda? That spawned a whole genre on it's own.

No Mario? That games continues to define the platformer.

No SFII???? This is the most agregious oversite. SF2 IS fighting games.

No Final Fantasy and/or Dragon Quest?????

again....these games define the beginning of console RPGs.

No PONG!!?? The first videogame of them all???

Guys...I think we can all do better.

Here is my list

- Super Mario Brothers

- Doom

- Tetris

- Pong

- Street Fighter II

- Dragon Quest (I would have said FF, but FF1 was realy an answer to DQ)

- Pac Man

- Everquest

- The Legend of Zelda

- Mario 64

Thoughts?

harmonica @ Mar 12th 2007 3:46PM

So you're saying Wolfenstein 3D didn't do the FPS well? Was it Doom that was the first to move the player as opposed to the background/stage??? I could be mistaken.

Not having Pong is inexcusible. It spawned everything. I don't really care about the Soccer Game, but there are some absolutely phenominal sports games that came out before 1994, if that is what they are getting at. Tecmo Super Bowl was probably the first true indepth sim that I can recall (where players stats change over the course of a season, had cut scenes for dramatic effect, full seasons/playoffs, and complete NFL/NFLPA license). Not sure of any other game in any other sport before it that had everything found commonly in todays sports games.

Geo @ Mar 12th 2007 3:46PM

Where is HALO...?

Jack of No Trades @ Mar 12th 2007 3:51PM

Hey they forgot Red Steel.

austenw @ Mar 12th 2007 3:52PM

I wholeheartedly 100% agree with all 10 games on this list aside from Sensible World of Soccer. However, I do find it strange that Zelda was not on there. The only reason I think they would leave that out is that Zelda is kind of a hybrid game, crossing RPG with action adventure. In which case, Mario and Zork would take the precedent over Zelda.

REUYL @ Mar 12th 2007 3:53PM

WTF? No Pong, Pac Man, Zelda: OoT or Super Mario 64? Heck, GTA III was another game that defined a genre.

Jon @ Mar 12th 2007 3:54PM

@Derbeste
I agree with your list more. Never even heard of Sensible world soccer. and think that Mario 64 did more for gaming than SMB3

Gavin @ Mar 12th 2007 3:56PM

Ralph Baer is the father of video games and Pong is the single most important game in that it came first and paved the way for everything else. Without Pong this list is useless and a futile attempt at best. What a joke...

eekers @ Mar 12th 2007 3:57PM

where is Elite? first game where you had freedom to immerse in a game world,do whatever you want and get lost in it for hours.
HOw about a list not drawn up by people with beards and/or glasses

Jack @ Mar 12th 2007 4:01PM

Actually Wolf3D redefined the genre and is the cause for all the shooters we have today. And Wolf3D was a great game to boot, so the Vikings and North America argument doenst work

mj @ Mar 12th 2007 4:02PM

Civilization is still playable, and by far the best game on this list.

I guess the list is deficient in modern console genres, but this is list heavy in the early stuff. So nothing wrong with leaving out fighters and FF style RPGs and racing games, etc.

It's only odd to include SpaceWar and exclude Pong when you're including Warcraft and excluding Dune. Seems inconsistent, that's all. But I doubt any gamer would agree with these academics (and blogger) on any top 10 list.

edgore @ Mar 12th 2007 4:03PM

The real reason taht Doom is on the list instead of Wolfenstein is Deathmatch - The revolution with Doom was not that it was an FPS - it was that you could stay late after work and shoot your cubemates.

C. Grant @ Mar 12th 2007 4:04PM

Everyone: It's not about being *first*, but about being the most important, as determined by above group. For example, it would be difficult to argue that Wolf 3D had a larger impact on the gaming world than DOOM. The entire FPS genre was actually called DOOM-clones for about 4 years after the game came out. From online deatmatch and user-generated mods to the beginning of the violence in games media circus (NOT started with GTAIII), DOOM had it all, even if it wasn't, technically, first.

Kankles: Non-linearity was only one reason for my selection of SMB3. Others included the game's immense popularity (arguably the best selling game of all time), it's cultural influence (SMB is one of the most remixed and recycled cultural properties today), the marketing storm around 3's release (now commonplace for major titles), and the evolution and perfection of the 2D platformer from SMB1 to SMB3 on the very same platform, before technology granted the designers more tools.

Jake: Playability was a primary concern in the selection of my two games: DOOM and SMB3.

Lord_NerdHammer @ Mar 12th 2007 4:04PM

The NY Times says that Christopher Grant put Super Mario bros. 3 on there. Maybe he could enlighten us in his blog? The Times article also covers the reasons for the selections in a bit more depth... but i still don't agree with the soccer one. That should have been Techmo bowl if they are looking for sports... Maybe they didn't want to fill up the list with nintendo titles ;)

fmuartstu @ Mar 12th 2007 4:11PM

lol you think red steel is that great.
I agree, sf2, mario 64, and final fantasy should b on the list. and of course legend of zelda. these guys who made this list are unworthy to make the list of worthy games.

Todd @ Mar 12th 2007 4:12PM

The point of this list isn't to find the ten best games of all time or even the ten most important or influential games of all time. It's a list of ten historically important games that should be preserved by the Library of Congress. So while OMG NO ZELDA!!!, this is just an initial list that will be, if they follow the trends of music and movies, be continually updated over the years. The lack of any game, say Pong, doesn't mean that the game in question isn't important and will not be preserved; it just means that it wasn't picked this year. Basically, relax. Just because your favorite game wasn't picked does not de-legitimize your enjoyment of said game.

Jake @ Mar 12th 2007 4:12PM

OMG, I just realized what game Star Raiders is. I used to absolutely friken love that game. Played it so much. Awesome! Anyone who hasn't played this needs to just to understand the roots of gaming. I am so going to find a version of this on PC now. I almost forgot about that game; been many years.

One thing I think wasn't clear enough in the article is these are top 10 console games of all time. That is why pac-man and SFII aren't in there, because those were arcade games that were transfered to consoles. And, while Pong was huge to the video game world, it didn't introduce many specific concepts that stuck. There weren't many or any successful Pong ripoffs.

The original Zelda, for as awesome as it is, didn't totally spawn tons of features that stuck in many other games to come. It more combined other features in a unique way and did an awesome job at it. But then again, Mario3 didn't introduce much for concepts and it is in there. All Mario 3 did was introduce the "world with icon that moves to different levels" feature. I think Zelda and Mario1 should be in and Mario3 should be out.

Metroid1 brought a bit to the table; it should at least get an honorable mention. Some will flame me for this, but Halo deserves a mention if Mario3 got in there. Halo introduced more features that have stuck to the FPS genre than Mario3 did to the platformer. They are both kind of similar in that they weren't the first to do a lot of stuff, but did them so well that they became standards for years to come.

Personally, I think they should have used 20 games just to cover every genre. River City Ransom anyone (I think that was the first run around and beat countless amounts of crap up game)? Grand Theft Auto 3 should maybe be in there, as it influences a lot of today's games. Doom is the only shooter in the list, despite the fact that 20% of today's games are shooters. Not even one shooter that involves aiming, the primary gameplay aspect of shooters? Soccer instead of Tecmo Bowl. You know the countless hordes of Madden players that were gaming in the NES days were Tecmo freaks, right. Madden, the yearly #1 selling game thingy if you haven't heard.

With only 10, though, there is no way to make a list that includes what is deserving. The list should be 20. Even though SFII was an arcade game originally, it should probably be in since it created fighting games. If you are going to have WoW, you better have Madden. (today's most popular games, both of which I don't like)

NintendoFanbot @ Mar 12th 2007 4:12PM

@ C. Grant

It's just kind of odd that the whole arcade generation seems to have been skipped over. I mean, Space Invaders, Pong. Arcade games marketing home console versions. Surely those were a sign of their cultural times as well. Though I'd agree their legacy isn't as known today, but still.

Thanks for the input anyways. :)

Geo @ Mar 12th 2007 4:13PM

1- Pac-Man
2- Pong
3- Super Mario World
4- Wolfvenstein
5- Doom
6- Zelda
7- warcraft series
8- Sensible World Soccer
9- Half Life
10-Halo

u @ Mar 12th 2007 4:13PM

the soccer one is on there cuz it was the first decent sports game morons .....

Nate @ Mar 12th 2007 4:13PM

Just because a game did something "first" or introduced something completely different to the genre, doesn't mean it was more "important".

Case in point: There is no possible way that Sensible World of Soccer was more important than Tecmo Bowl or the Madden series...no way.

required @ Mar 12th 2007 4:15PM

It's shocking that the editor of this Nintendo PR site selected a Nintendo title. ;)

KiwiNick @ Mar 12th 2007 4:17PM

Street Fighter fvcking 2

Wraith @ Mar 12th 2007 4:18PM

No _______? This is an outrage! I, as a citizen of the Internet, hereby register my disgust!

just a guy @ Mar 12th 2007 4:21PM

You guys obviously don't know your video game history. Spacewar predated Pong by almost a decade, and had more complex graphics and gameplay to boot. However, Pong was produced for a mass audience and introduced people to home consoles, which is probably why it's on the list.

@10: Tetris is on the list because it pretty much created the casual puzzle genre. It reached unprecedented mainstream appeal.

In general, it's easy to track the evolution of video games throughout history, but it's difficult to pinpoint specific games that shifted paradigms or created genres. These guys have a difficult feat to accomplish.

required @ Mar 12th 2007 4:23PM

Tetris made the Nintendo GameBoy, not the casual puzzle genre.

32_Footsteps @ Mar 12th 2007 4:24PM

Whoa... Sensible World Soccer? That important? I don't know, what did it do that affected that many developers and/or gamers? As much as I don't like the company now, I think EA's very early 90's games would beat it out for influential in either regard (I'm still fond of the NHLPA games, before the NHL license made them rinse fighting from the game for a while). Seriously, what ground did SWS break that EA hadn't already start running into the ground?

Also, anyone else find it odd that Adventure, Legend of Zelda, and Dragon Quest all got left off? I'd probably knock out SWS and Star Raiders in favor of Adventure and Dragon Quest, though there are good arguments that Zelda should make it in before Adventure.

Also, in terms of sim games - either SimCity or Civ (probably the latter) should be dumped in favor of M.U.L.E. The truly old-school know why.

ViperVisor @ Mar 12th 2007 4:24PM

Dump Super Mario Bros. 3 for SMB

Dump Sensible World of Soccer for GoldenEye or an earlier pro sports game.

Killer @ Mar 12th 2007 4:25PM

Hey guys!!!

There is only 10 spots. If we were going for the top 50 games of all time, you could then put those games you named on there. Just remember it's top 10! Not 50.

Also it's not the best games of all time, it's the most IMPORTANT games of all time in the Gaming Industry.

@ Nate, Sorry the madden francise went downhill because of money hungry EA. It's important GOOD things that happened to the industry not the EVIL. Yes, I hate EA. Sadly, Madden is theirs and they own the damn rights to football. At first I was like ok, they own the rights now to see some really kick ass football games. NOPE, just a crappy looking game running at (Their words) "Next-GEN" 30 fps. My suggestion to EA if you own the rights, show the world that you are capable to give us the best, even if that means not releasing a Madden game one year to get a 1 year extra of development.

IslandLife @ Mar 12th 2007 4:26PM

C'mon people, what did SFII do other than start a whole new genre that is still prevalent today. And Mario 64 only served to show how a 3-D platformer could be done right. Ohh, and so what if Pong started off everything. The major concern here should be how sensible soccer games have gotten. Because we all know how chaotic soccer was before. UUUUGH!!

32_Footsteps @ Mar 12th 2007 4:27PM

Also, just a guy, while Spacewar predates Pong as the first commercially available video game, Pong (then called Tennis for Two) was first developed by the Brookhaven Institute to show off their vacuum tube computers to visitors back in 1958, four years before Spacewar!

Spacewar ate quarters first, but Pong is the oldest.