Games that influenced you

[darthraidr]

Simple question really... What games have had a major influence in your life?

For me, one game that had a large influence was F-Zero for the SNES. i remember playing that and having a blast. i had so much fun that i started writing up documents on how a sequel should be made. my proposal focused heavily on adding a tile based track creator (complete with hand drawn mock-ups). I also remember wanting voice to announce how well you were doing in the race... i think at some point i tried calling nintendo to see what i could do about my awesome design... i dont think they wanted my work...

i had tried designing a platformer years before, but it wasn't that great... this was much better (though if i saw it now, i probably wouldn't be too impressed). anyways, my work on that, inspired by my pure enjoyment of f-zero was a major influence in my young life as a game designer.

 

[Kirk's_Tights]

Resident Evil got me back into writing again. I had written stories before and created some comics but this game got me back into writing with my own RE story and starting an RE comic.....that I never ended up finishing.

 

[Thespeckledkiwi]

Mario Kart taught me how to drive...

 

[JonathonWally]

Mario Kart taught me how to drive...

Funny that, Mario Kart taught me how to throw things at people while driving.

 

[darthraidr]

The Final Fantasy games on the SNES were games that also had a large influence on me. again, i was so enthralled with the games that i worked with some other friends to try to design an original RPG. needless to say, those games never went anywhere.

about 10 years ago i tried to design another RPG... i had a decent story and a pretty cool gameplay gimmick... but i doubt it'll ever see the light of day now.

 

[Venardhi]

I've written up multiple design documents for Pokemon or Pokemon-esque MMO games.

The games that really solidified me as a gamer and gaming enthusiast though: Mario 64, F-Zero, Rock-N-Roll Racing, Mortal Combat, Zelda: A Link to the Past, Final Fantasy VI and VII, Metal Gear Solid, Resident Evil, Kid Chameleon.

 

[TheGodBen]

GTA taught me that if I beat up the hooker with a baseball bat after using her services I can get my money back. That has proved very useful.

 

[Zulu Romeo]

Frontier: Elite II taught me how to fly a spaceship and navigate the cosmos.
The X-Wing series taught me how to dogfight in a single seater fighter craft and win.
The SimCity games taught me that high taxes are bad, m'kay?
Planescape: Torment taught me that sometimes a roleplaying game is only as good as its storyline - just like any decent book, film or TV show.

 

[Robert Maxwell]

My fantasy and sci-fi stories have been heavily influenced by:

* Chrono Trigger/Cross
* Wing Commander series
* Deus Ex
* Homeworld

What I realized all those games have in common is a sense of "completeness" about them. They are fully-realized, well-constructed, and pretty consistent. They feel "real." They have depth. Their worlds feel bigger than what the game shows you.

 

[Goliath]

I published an academic article on Manhunt. That game got me interested in video-game studies.

 

[DiSiLLUSiON]

Carmageddon. I really like to hit pedestrians with my car these days, so I can score extra points.

No, I think that any influence (either positive or negative) of games on people's personality are overrated and overblown, even if they themselves believe it to be the case.

 

[Anthony Sabre]

The only game that changed my life was the now defunct Earth and Beyond. I didn't even know what an mmorpg was before that game. Now all games pale in comparison to a well made mmo, in my mind.

 

[captcalhoun]

Quake 2 got me into playing FPS after i'd previously got nowhere with KHG as i was trying to play with the mouse in the left hand and keys under right.

i know play FPS games almost to the exclusion of anything else.

 

[Robert Maxwell]

I published an academic article on Manhunt. That game got me interested in video-game studies.

That's awesome!

I wrote an essay on the aesthetic completeness of Homeworld when I was in college. I also did my final paper in English Composition as a critique of the game manual for Battlecruiser 3000AD, mostly because it was such a shit manual.

 

[Jono]

BOTF got me interested in writing fan fiction.

I've also made good friends thanks to playing LAN games on college. Back then we played Warcraft 3 and Battlefield 1942, probably the best thing games have done for me.

 

[Trubinator]

AVP 2 convinced me to write for PlanetAVP for a while. That's about it.

 

[Goliath]

I published an academic article on Manhunt. That game got me interested in video-game studies.

That's awesome!

I wrote an essay on the aesthetic completeness of Homeworld when I was in college. I also did my final paper in English Composition as a critique of the game manual for Battlecruiser 3000AD, mostly because it was such a shit manual.

Cool.

There's not much call for video-game studies in my field--History--but I have supervised an Honour's essay about the way the Second World War is portrayed in first-person shooters.

The student's proposal raised a few eyebrows, especially among the older, fuddy-duddier members of the department. One of them even questioned if this was something historians should be doing at all.

My response was: why not? Why should we abandon cultural studies to other disciplines? Don't historians have anything unique and valuable to contribute to this conversation?

They had no reply to that, so the proposal was approved.

 

[clint g]

Tales of Vesparia almost caused me to flunk out of college. Does that count?

 

[Robert Maxwell]

I published an academic article on Manhunt. That game got me interested in video-game studies.

That's awesome!

I wrote an essay on the aesthetic completeness of Homeworld when I was in college. I also did my final paper in English Composition as a critique of the game manual for Battlecruiser 3000AD, mostly because it was such a shit manual.

Cool.

There's not much call for video-game studies in my field--History--but I have supervised an Honour's essay about the way the Second World War is portrayed in first-person shooters.

The student's proposal raised a few eyebrows, especially among the older, fuddy-duddier members of the department. One of them even questioned if this was something historians should be doing at all.

My response was: why not? Why should we abandon cultural studies to other disciplines? Don't historians have anything unique and valuable to contribute to this conversation?

They had no reply to that, so the proposal was approved.

That's actually a really cool idea, and I'm glad it was approved. I would think the portrayal of history in popular culture is most definitely something historians should weigh in on.

 

[backstept]

the games that have switched my imagination into overdrive are
Megarace
Terminal Velocity
Final Fantasy VII
Xenogears
Armored Core
Wing Commander: Prophecy
Front Mission 3
Zone of the Enders 2
Homeworld 2
Half Life 2
TESIII: Morrowind
TESIV: Oblivion
Fallout 3