My friends and I, we like to meet up every weekend for something we named “fun weekends” (I know it’s a lame name, please forgive us). We get together, stream a movie or two, bake something together, have fun on casinolounge.co.uk and of course – play some multiplayer video games. And to be honest, the playing-the-video-games part always brings us the most joy.
Video games have come a long way in the past 40 years. They started as two-dimensional pixelated blots on the screen and developed into 4K real-life pieces of art. Some of the games developed in the past serve as landmarks that show us different stages in which game development has evolved.
Let’s take a look at the 5 most iconic titles that have had the most substantial impact on the world and the industry as a whole.
Pong
In our opinion, Pong is the most important game because it marks the birth of the gaming industry. Before Pong, there was no such thing as the gaming industry since computers had a completely different use.
Pong was launched in 1972, contrary to popular belief claiming that games would never achieve a big success. However, its creators thought differently and decided to found a new gaming company called Atari. Pong ended up selling 150,000 copies during Christmas sales in 1975.
Space Invaders
Space Invaders was developed in 1978 and has shown a huge improvement compared to Pong. There are multiple differently stylized characters in the game, and a catchy soundtrack contributes to the overall atmosphere.
Space Invaders is considered to be the title which transformed gaming from a niche hobby to a mainstream pastime activity enjoyed by millions worldwide.
Mario 64
Mario 64 was released by Nintendo in 1996, the company that had already dominated the whole industry by then. Mario 64 is fundamental for the gaming industry because it was the first 3D game made by Nintendo. Before that, all games were 2D and not very lifelike. This was a huge improvement compared to the Super Mario games preceding Mario 64. You could now move forward and backward as well, and the game had a depth of field that had not been present before.
World of Warcraft
World of Warcraft was neither the first title in this Blizzard’s series nor the first MMORPG (Massively Multiplayer Online Role-Playing Game). However, it made its way on this list because it was by far the most popular MMORPG game of that time. Millions upon millions of players subscribed to play it, many of whom still play it today.
League of Legends
League of Legends is an important title because it was the beginning of a completely new genre. The story began with Warcraft 3, which allowed players to create mods. A group of Warcraft enthusiasts first created DOTA (Defense of the Ancients), and then decided to make a standalone game in 2005 and name it League of Legends. In 2014, League of Legends had 67 million active players, and it’s one of the games played during the eSports world championship.
Pokemon Go
Pokemon Go is crucial for the gaming industry because it is the first game that successfully made use of augmented reality. It solved one of the main problems associated with playing video games – sitting down too much. Pokemon Go drove millions of people outside, on a quest to find their favorite Pokemon. That’s why it will always be remembered as one of the landmark games.