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USA Today: "Doom most influential game ever"

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The guys at USA Today need a history lesson. Doom was hugely influential, but there are a bunch of games that were moreso. Whenever I see an article written about videogames, it's full of mistakes. And that makes me wonder about the veracity of anything else these guys report on. If their other stories are as full of half-truths, opinion stated as fact, errors and outright lies as their stories on videogames, then journalism is no more truthful than politics (although for different reasons). Maybe they research stories on more important things better...


Anyway: which games were more influential than Doom?

I'll start with some of the easiest: Pong & Super Mario Bros.

Edit: forgot the link.
 
Well with all the FPS games I have seen as of late.. Doom seems like a good choice!
 
How about Wolfenstein 3D?

Virtua Fighter and Daytona USA were two of the most influential games of the 90's.
 
HomerSimpson-Man said:
Considering how modern gaming has turned out, it's a good choice as any other.
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"Modern gaming in America."

I'd say it can't be Doom, simply because its implications aren't as far-reaching as something like Mario Bros.
 
Even if it can't be a fact it's quiet a clever choice IMO.
Doom showed how well shareware could do, showed how an engine could be reused in other commercial games, where 3D could head and a lot of things... And gameplay-wise it's pretty legendary too.

But obviously it's a matter of opinion.
 
Pretty good choice but I'd pick Wolfenstein 3D over Doom. Afterall there wouldn't be Quake, CD, Half-Life and Halo without good old Wolf.

And Doom pioneered on-line gaming, can't forget about that.

soul4ger said:
I'd say it can't be Doom, simply because its implications aren't as far-reaching as something like Mario Bros.
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Give me a f-n break. Popular != influential. Doom was a breakthrough.

Where's VictimOfGrief btw :lol ?
 
They're probably meaning influential in the sense of mainstream culture rather than just to the rest of gaming.
Mario would have been a good answer a few years ago, but he's hardly the cutting edge of the zeitgeist anymore.
 
Two games in the same genre, actually, depending how you look at it.

But Doom WAS more important than Wolf or Abyss. They were big, but Doom was massive.
 
HooDoo said:
Doom showed how well shareware could do, showed how an engine could be reused in other commercial games, where 3D could head and a lot of things.
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QFT. Doom did a hell of a lot more than just popularize the first person shooter.
 
Dr Zhivago said:
They're probably meaning influential in the sense of mainstream culture rather than just to the rest of gaming.
Mario would have been a good answer a few years ago, but he's hardly the cutting edge of the zeitgeist anymore.
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And "Doom" is? Negatory. If you want to speak of first-person shooters being the most important genre, that's fine. But to say that a game that wasn't even responsible for the birth of that genre is the most important video game "ever," then I'm going to have to disagree. By your thinking, Grand Theft Auto should be the game in that article.
 
Well Doom is certainly a name that the mainstream press remembers, because of its involvement in the whole 'video game violence' thing in the '90s. FPSes certainly became a more popular genre because of it.
 
Dr Zhivago said:
They're probably meaning influential in the sense of mainstream culture rather than just to the rest of gaming.
Mario would have been a good answer a few years ago, but he's hardly the cutting edge of the zeitgeist anymore.
Click to expand...


Neither is Doom. Doom is old, and the latest incarnation didn't do all that much to bump it. I guarantee more people identify with Mario, still, than with Doom. Currently, if there's a game that's "cutting edge" in terms of public consciousness, it'd have to be GTA.
 
SonicMegaDrive said:
What was the first FPS? Wolfenstein 3D?
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No im not sure what the first one was. id's first was Hovertank 3d (more a techdemo than a game) then they had Catacombs 3D followed by Wolf and Doom
 
Leondexter said:
Neither is Doom. Doom is old, and the latest incarnation didn't do all that much to bump it. I guarantee more people identify with Mario, still, than with Doom. Currently, if there's a game that's "cutting edge" in terms of public consciousness, it'd have to be GTA.
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ECHO, ECHO, echo, echo...
 
if you're going to say super mario brothers, why not donkey kong or pitfall? maybe for the same reasons of polish and execution that would lead you to say doom instead of wolfenstein 3d? doom wasn't just the first good fps; it was one of the first successful 3d worlds (though i guess its graphics weren't technically 3d). it's as good a candidate for "most influential game" as any.
 
drohne said:
if you're going to say super mario brothers, why not donkey kong or pitfall? maybe for the same reasons of polish and execution that would lead you to say doom instead of wolfenstein 3d? doom wasn't just the first good fps; it was one of the first successful 3d games (though i guess its graphics weren't technically 3d). it's as good a candidate for "most influential game" as any.
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Holy shit, I agree with drohne.
 
Doom movie might be reviving mainstream interest in the game.
But I agree GTA is a better modern answer, I was just pointing out few non-gamers talk about Mario anywhere near as much as his heyday.
 
Leondexter said:
Neither is Doom. Doom is old, and the latest incarnation didn't do all that much to bump it. I guarantee more people identify with Mario, still, than with Doom. Currently, if there's a game that's "cutting edge" in terms of public consciousness, it'd have to be GTA.
Click to expand...

This has nothing to do with Doom 3 but thanks for trying to downplay the franchise! BTW how's that new Mario game, Sunshine?

This has nothing to do with public consciousness, nothing to do with GTA3.

Doom was the most influential game in the industry, not the most popular, it single-handedly (spelling) created a new genre that is First Person Shooters.

One don't have to like Doom to acknowledge it's effect.
 
Kobun Heat said:
Holy shit, I agree with drohne.
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I agree with him, too, and I don't mean to say that Mario Bros. is the most influential game. Just that... Doom isn't. If you want to talk about just in America, which Americans typically want to do, then yeah, maybe, but when you say "Evar" then... No. Just no. This is the only country it has had any effect in, and I'd be willing to argue that GTA3, even though it's only like four years old, has had a bigger impact in a shorter time.
 
Borys said:
This has nothing to do with Doom 3 but thanks for trying to downplay the franchise! BTW how's that new Mario game, Sunshine?

This has nothing to do with public consciousness, nothing to do with GTA3.

Doom was the most influential game in the industry, not the most popular, it single-handedly (spelling) created a new genre that is First Person Shooters.

One don't have to like Doom to acknowledge it's effect.
Click to expand...
If you're not going by popularity, but only by genre-creation, Doom is not it.
 
There's really no way to choose ONE game, but here's my list:

Tetris
Super Mario Bros.
Doom
Mario 64
Zelda: OOT
Half Life
Baldur's Gate
Ultima Online
 
I believe Ultima Underworld, while not a shooter, was released a bit earlier than Wolfenstein, and had a similar engine:


 
drohne said:
if you're going to say super mario brothers, why not donkey kong or pitfall? maybe for the same reasons of polish and execution that would lead you to say doom instead of wolfenstein 3d? doom wasn't just the first good fps; it was one of the first successful 3d worlds (though i guess its graphics weren't technically 3d). it's as good a candidate for "most influential game" as any.
Click to expand...

Precisely, its a good candidate as any. It can't really be denied, downplaying Doom, hell might as well downplay Super Mario Bros. then.
 
HomerSimpson-Man said:
Precisely, its a good candidate as any. It can't really be denied, downplaying Doom, hell might as well downplay Super Mario Bros. then.
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NO. Doom has no significant outside of America. And, admittedly, America has the largest video game market right now, but Doom still doesn't have the far-reaching implications that other games do and/or did.
 
Well.

Doom spawned:

- the mod community (which is a HUGE thing)
- the dial up multiplayer scene with dwango and other services of the time
- lan gaming somewhat done right!

At the time, it was a such a GIGANTIC thing on pc gaming. It was like if pc action gaming moved from Pitfall to Mario64 overnight.

Also the game was incredibly intertaining at the time and was so incredibly violent and fast. It was like nothing else on the market. Doom also killed my interest in console gaming until the dreamcast!
 
argon said:
There's really no way to choose ONE game, but here's my list:

Tetris
Super Mario Bros.
Doom
Mario 64
Zelda: OOT
Half Life
Baldur's Gate
Ultima Online
Click to expand...

Pretty good list. I might add PONG, Pac-Man, Space Invaders, Ultima III, Wing Commander, Dragon's Lair, and Alone in the Dark to that.

5 years ago, I might have added Virtua Fighter and Street Fighter II, but their influence is hardly felt these days. Maybe SFII for it's character designs.
 
I dont think its just about how DOOM influenced its own industry, but also how its a game a lot of people who dont play games probably know about since its been used quite often as a focus on violent gaming in the past.

Doom is a LOT of things. Sure, youre precious Mario or Nerd Fantasy games are important too, but I think Doom is probably the game I would pick as well.
 
drohne said:
if you're going to say super mario brothers, why not donkey kong or pitfall? maybe for the same reasons of polish and execution that would lead you to say doom instead of wolfenstein 3d? doom wasn't just the first good fps; it was one of the first successful 3d worlds (though i guess its graphics weren't technically 3d). it's as good a candidate for "most influential game" as any.
Click to expand...
I wouldn't say Donkey Kong because it was influenced by Mario (most likely, the sidescrolling stuff). Doom was influenced by Wolfenstein.

So, point is, the influencer gets influenced? So Wolfenstein is the (indirect) influencer, instead of Doom.

/EDIT
I'm wrong. Was thinking about the DK country games.

Nothing to see here.
 
Xrenity said:
I wouldn't say Donkey Kong because it was influenced by Mario (most likely, the sidescrolling stuff). Doom was influenced by Wolfenstein.

So, point is, the influencer gets influenced? So Wolfenstein is the (indirect) influencer, instead of Doom.
Click to expand...

.... Donkey Kong was out way before Mario Bros., dude.
 
SonicMegaDrive said:
I agree. It's hard to find a game that Doom hasn't influenced these days.




And that's unfortunate. :(
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I can't think of a single Japanese game that is. Doom is influential for the FPS genre, but not for the rest gaming. I agree with the SMB sentiment as being the most influential game, that's what got me and everone else in my generation hooked on gaming. But I also think it was the most influential game because it set the standard for gaming even to this day (character interaction, story, real worlds, dynamic gameplay).
But other that are influential...
RPG (Dragon Quest)
Puzzle (Tetris)
Dynamic Story-telling (FF7)
Fighting (Virtua Fighter, Street Fighter 2)
 
Soul4ger said:
.... Donkey Kong was out way before Mario Bros., dude.
Click to expand...
I was thinking about the DK Country stuff, sorry.

DK influenced Mario (the jumping? o_0), however, Mario did really do new stuff :)
 
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