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[Robert at Zeboyd Games]

How is dark souls on the honorable mentions list LOL

It's a port, and not to mention a dog shit one at that

You could have just read the article where they explain all that.

"Dark Souls (2012): Japanese games are finally coming to the PC with regularity and finding massive success. Dark Souls helped prove there was a PC audience hungry for Japanese games, and anger over its gimped port also set the bar for its followers."

Although I probably would have credited Recettear for the whole proving that PC audiences wanted Japanese games idea. Dark Souls sold more, but Recettear came out 2 years earlier and as far as I know was the first Japanese indie game to sell a bunch on Steam.

 

[Dryk]

If you were gonna pick a Telltale game, it would be The Walking Dead for sure. That game was huge.

Walking Dead was definitely the game that changed everything. You can see the genesis of Telltale's new style in Jurassic Park but it wasn't refined enough yet.

Solid list

I wish I lived in a world where the X-Wing series had greater influence :'(

The best you're going to be able to hope for at the moment is Star Citizen

 

[4Tran]

Although I probably would have credited Recettear for the whole proving that PC audiences wanted Japanese games idea. Dark Souls sold more, but Recettear came out 2 years earlier and as far as I know was the first Japanese indie game to sell a bunch on Steam.

I agree. You can all but see the gears turning in the heads of Japanese developers when they found out that some obscure doujin game would, I believe, sell far more on Steam than it ever did in Japan.

 

[pooptest]

I'd like to think Descent deserved a spot but that might be a skewed perspective from what I've experienced. The 6 directions of freedom of movement aspect was really interesting and new to me at the time. Also the series ultimately led to the Freespace titles.

I concur. It at least should've made the honorable mentions list. Sadly, it took 3 pages of comments before it was mentioned

 

[0.1.1.2.3.5.8.13.21.34.55]

I thought it was a pretty solid list until I saw that Flight Simulator, Mechwarrior II, Duke Nukem 3D, & Crysis were omitted... and wtf, StarCraft is on there, but not Warcraft... nah dawg. Naw

 

[L4DANathan]

Seeing that list makes me miss when PC gaming was PC gaming and not just shinier console gaming.

Paradox games would like to say hi. Get that controlling properly on your plastic box and I'll be amazed.

I agree. You can all but see the gears turning in the heads of Japanese developers when they found out that some obscure doujin game would, I believe, sell far more on Steam than it ever did in Japan.

Sure, but I think it's more that Recettear caused them to start testing the water, whereas Dark Souls caused them to jump in entirely. Both are influential for the same reason, but I think the article was focusing on the 'tipping points' for each influence.

 

[Lime]

I'm sorry, but failing to include Mechwarrior 2 by Activision in 1995 is unfortunately neglectful or ignorant of the impact and status that it had on the PC games industry.

Until Call of Duty, MW2 was the best selling game in Activisions catalogue, it spawned dozens of mech games and sims, and it invigorated the genre for many years to come.

 

[joeblow]

Although I probably would have credited Recettear for the whole proving that PC audiences wanted Japanese games idea. Dark Souls sold more, but Recettear came out 2 years earlier and as far as I know was the first Japanese indie game to sell a bunch on Steam.

 

[Sojiro]

Overall its a great list, and I agree with most of the choices. Personally would like to have seen UT99 and Warcraft 3 (not just the DotA mod, which I agree belongs on that list) be on there, but I think they have everything else covered that I would have put there.

 

[AndrewPL]

I'd argue that Command & Conquer was more important to RTS than Dune 2. Even though Dune 2 was the first modern RTS C&C made it mainstream, accessible and really inspired a load of clones.

Yup, the same is true with morrowind but they put that over daggerfall or elder scrolls:arena

 

[petghost]

i wonder if baldurs gate is more important than baldurs gate 2 tho.

 

[Pachael]

Exactly. When folks see the dollar signs they throw their hats in the ring.

Recettear's great localisation also helped in getting the word out.

 

[HK-47]

i wonder if baldurs gate is more important than baldurs gate 2 tho.

Going with Baldur's Gate is like also saying the Infinity Engine. BG2 is better but Baldur's Gate was the starting point of IE and Bioware.

 

[HK-47]

I'm missing Thief II. Other than that it's a solid list with obviously Deus Ex, System Shock 2 and Half Life in it.

Thief II is just an upgrade of Thief. Better game but only just and Dark Project was first. Those shadow and sound systems were unbelievable.

 

[MrCunningham]

Seeing that list reminds me how insane 1997 - 1998 was, on both console and PC. Best game years bar none.

PC gaming was going through so many changes between 1995 to 1999, especially with Windows '95/ 98, Direct X, OpenGL, Glide, and accelerated 3D graphics cards. It was a quantum leap from the DOS era.

 

[Stiler]

Seems weird that they didn't include Alone in the Dark.

I mean they covered most other genre-starters or ones that made genre's popular (even including multiple ones like 3 mmo's) but they don't mention Alone in the Dark which really started the survival horror genre and made it popular and led to games like Resident Evil, etc.

 

[Havoc2049]

Nice list.

I would add:
Sid Meier's Pirates! - Open world sandbox hit game.

Dungeon Master - Real time time 3D dungeon crawler with dynamic lighting. A killer app and all done in 1986.

Star Raiders - First real 3D game that started the space combat sim genre. The first computer game that was a killer app and made the Atari 8-bit computer line a viable platform.

 

[Strax]

To me Championship Manager/Football Manager is a glaring omission.

 

[Elandyll]

Every single time PC Gamer makes a list like that (which is multiple times a year, it sells/ gets clicks), they f* it up so badly, it's almost funny. Just like their "best of all times" which always tend to be skewed towards the latest and greatest, and always over represent Valve, Bioware and Bethesda by putting several iterations of the same series, but I digress.

I mean... No Dungeon Master or Bard's Tale?
Eye of the Beholder? Lands of lore?

No Frickin' HOMEWORLD??? Arma?
Warcraft 2? (I get that Dune 2 is considered the "first", but W2 was on another level completely and the true beginning of everything that came afterwards for Blizzard.

Ugh. And that's only a few of the worst offenders (like putting Baldur's Gate#1 instead of #2).

Edit: Almost forgot about Alone in the Dark. Amazing really.

 

[post-S]

Tower defense and moba maps existed in Starcraft first (dota was based on aeon of strife)

I know they existed before War3, or even before starcraft, but it's in War3 they evolve into what they are today.
Aeon of Strife was a very barebone game while most TD games I played in Starcraft are also quite homogenous. In War3 however, you got dozens of distinctive games of good quality for each genre.
Not to mention there's also many memorable horde games, adventure games and survival games created with War3's world editor.

 

[Grief.exe]

Personally, I think Dark Souls is an extremely important game to the PC platform.

It truly kicked off the wave of PC ports that we see today, and proved to developers that niche games could find a massive fan base on the platform.

 

[Oxirane]

I would like to have seen Total Annihilation mentioned, mainly because it incorporated a lot of great stuff:
-A stream of free DLC/(Content from a CD on the front of a magazine)
-Modding features and tools (the modding community is still going today)
-Use of the 3D engine (graphically and gameplay-wise)
-Engine Scalability (Horsepower, screen resolution)
-Online metagame
-Great Soundtrack

 

[HK-47]

Every single time PC Gamer makes a list like that (which is multiple times a year, it sells/ gets clicks), they f* it up so badly, it's almost funny. Just like their "best of all times" which always tend to be skewed towards the latest and greatest, and always over represent Valve, Bioware and Bethesda by putting several iterations of the same series, but I digress.

I mean... No Dungeon Master or Bard's Tale?
Eye of the Beholder? Lands of lore?

No Frickin' HOMEWORLD??? Arma?
Warcraft 2? (I get that Dune 2 is considered the "first", but W2 was on another level completely and the true beginning of everything that came afterwards for Blizzard.

Ugh. And that's only a few of the worst offenders (like putting Baldur's Gate#1 instead of #2).

Edit: Almost forgot about Alone in the Dark. Amazing really.

Why would bards tale be there when they already mentioned Wizardry and Ultima? Warcraft 2 is stuck between Dune II and Starcraft.

 

[CecilRousso]

No Frickin' HOMEWORLD??? .

Homeworld might be among the 50 best PC games, but really not among the 50 most important.

 

[HK-47]

Personally, I think Dark Souls is an extremely important game to the PC platform.

It truly kicked off the wave of PC ports that we see today, and proved to developers that niche games could find a massive fan base on the platform.

No Recettear did that (and western companies where already porting heavily before Souls was even announced). Dark Souls proved that very popular Japanese console games have a place on the platform.

 

[Falk]

itt people realizing for the first time ever that more than 50 great PC games were ever made in half a century

 

[Chris R]

Decent list. I would have put Daggerfall instead of Morrowind, but nevertheless it's pretty well though.

Honestly they should both be on the list.

 

[akira28]

I demand more lists. And at least one of those lists will have Maniac Mansion, the Last Ninja and Starflight.

 

[Armaros]

Homeworld might be among the 50 best PC games, but really not among the 50 most important.

A couple companies tried to make games that had some of its control mechanics, but ultimately, the industry abandoned that style of game.

 

[jotun?]

As much as I love Ultima Online, I think it would be more fitting on a "games that weren't as influential as they should have been" list. Not many MMOs have really followed in its footsteps - 90% have followed the Everquest->WoW path instead

 

[R00bot]

Where in the hell is Rollercoaster Tycoon?
Rollercoaster Tycoon was my childhood.

 

[Zepp Twofist]

It basically comes down to Q3 vs UT for this kind of list. Q3 won the war, sorry Tekno

In that case I question why they put UT2004 on honorable mentions, but not the original Unreal that was something of a graphics revolution and debuted one of the most popular game engines for the past seventeen years.

 

[PdotMichael]

Where in the hell is Rollercoaster Tycoon?
Rollercoaster Tycoon was my childhood.

Chris Sawyer is a god.

 

[spekkeh]

In that case I question why they put UT2004 on honorable mentions, but not the original Unreal that was something of a graphics revolution and debuted one of the most popular game engines for the past seventeen years.

I just have to wonder whether the PC gamer editors trend a bit younger. Don't get me wrong, this is one of the better lists of its kind. But it names some token old games and then seems to focus on namechecking many of the most popular games among current pc gamers instead of a few that actually changed things around at the time. Though perhaps my own vision is tainted by a my youth is better than your youth.

 

[akira28]

I just have to wonder whether the PC gamer editors trend a bit younger. Don't get me wrong, this is one of the better lists of its kind. But it names some token old games and then seems to focus on namechecking many of the most popular games among current pc gamers instead of a few that actually changed things around at the time. Though perhaps my own vision is tainted by a my youth is better than your youth.

I touched on this earlier and was answered. PC Gamer was a 90s publication. So that kind of explains it. It was before their time, lol. I feel old saying that and I'm just in my 30s.

 

[spekkeh]

I demand more lists. And at least one of those lists will have Maniac Mansion, the Last Ninja and Starflight.

I like you. Though arguably the first two are C64 games.

 

[hobblygobbly]

It is baffling that Elite 1984 isn't on there. It is a pioneer of 3D graphics and open/sandbox gameplay, it paved the way for games like Wing Commander, GTA, etc and many space games after it. Hell even Sean Murray says NMS is inspired by Elite because he grew up playing as did many other developers. It was also a technological marvel for its time besides its revolutionary game design and financially one of the most successful games ever, especially for its time. I know its sequel/spin-off of Frontier: Elite II is on there but the original is way more important for what it contributed technologically and to game design.

Also I know that STALKER didn't do anything ground breaking to FPS itself but its contribution of atmosphere and horror in the FPS genre is the best I've seen, it's the only FPS game that does survival horror right and includes RPG elements and doesn't sacrafice FPS for RPG and vice versa. It's important for what it did plus its unique setting, it's a game that has never been repeated even though other games have attempted and failed. It's a game that got survival horror, atmosphere, FPS and RPG elements all rolled into one into a one of a kind experience only on PC, that's pretty important to me. If you're going to have System Shock 2 there which I love dearly as well, STALKER deserves it as well.

Also no mention of the X series... where is X3: Terran Conflict and Albion prelude or the older games? It is the biggest sandbox game in depth and mechanical complexity ever made that has contributed to gaming, it's basically a 4x game but in 3D where you are in the world, where you can build your own trade empire by amassing your own freighter fleet, building factories if you want, traders, then building a military fleet to protect your assets, engaging in wars, exterminating sectors, you can do anything. You fly the ships, you command your capital fleets in battle and in other sectors (or they work on your behalf), etc. It's a series that has heavily contributed to space games even upcoming ones, EVE Online even took inspiration from the older games. We're seeing games like Star Citizen and others using ideas from this series and has had developers reference the X series in the past.

Otherwise I agree with the list.

 

[KKRT00]

I thought it was a pretty solid list until I saw that Flight Simulator, Mechwarrior II, Duke Nukem 3D, & Crysis were omitted... and wtf, StarCraft is on there, but not Warcraft... nah dawg. Naw

The premise of the article is clear, its about games that changed how games are made or played. Article is about impact not quality.

There were other big titles like HoMM 3 or Total Annihilation, but they were not followed by industry unfortunately.

 

[wazoo]

It is baffling that Elite 1984 isn't on there.

Elite was on BBC micro, Apple 2, C64, CPC, Spectrum before being a DOS game.

 

[Deleted member 125677]

We reached out to game designers—look out for Richard Garriott, John Carmack, Sid Meier, Chris Avellone, Jane Jensen, Tim Schafer, Cliff Bleszinski, Warren Spector and more—plus many former PC Gamer editors and a few other writers you may recognize to help celebrate the legacy of the PC. Enjoy!

Broken Age (2014)

Spoiler

On a more serious note, I think the list is good but a little thin on point-and-click adventures/lucasart games. For many, many years those games (and strategy/grand strategy/rts) defined PC gaming to me, and really helped distinguish gaming on a PC from the console experience. Broken Age, sadly, only made me realize how dead point-and-click are as a vibrant genre.

 

[EloKa]

Rollercoaster Tycoon, Heroes of Might and Magic and the Anno (US: 1602 A.D.) series are missing.
Imho each of those IPs set their own legacy with a new gameplay.

 

[HK-47]

Rollercoaster Tycoon, Heroes of Might and Magic and the Anno (US: 1602 A.D.) series are missing.
Imho each of those IPs set their own legacy with a new gameplay.

They mention RCT in the Sim City entry.

 

[akira28]

Elite was on BBC micro, Apple 2, C64, CPC, Spectrum before being a DOS game.

might be late...I thought I replied to this...

Spacewar!(1962) wasn't a dos game and it looks like we're not sticking mainly to the modern usage of the term "PC" meaning IBM based clone, but going with the old personal mini-computer definition. And if that's in, so are all of the personal computers of the early computer gaming age, and I don't see why the distinction would be drawn.

 

[Jack The Nipper]

this list tells us we need a new tomb raider like the old ones.

 

[Sportbilly]

Great list, good to see the old Atari 800 getting name checked quite a few times, there was some seriously innovative stuff on that system in the late '70s and early '80s, such a shame it never really took off as it deserved to.

 

[Lusankya]

I'd argue that Command & Conquer was more important to RTS than Dune 2. Even though Dune 2 was the first modern RTS C&C made it mainstream, accessible and really inspired a load of clones.

Yeah, even back then in 1992 the controls of Dune 2 were atrocious and it was barely playable.

 

[neurosisxeno]

Yeah, even back then in 1992 the controls of Dune 2 were atrocious and it was barely playable.

Dune as a series just wasn't that good, but it did lay the groundwork. The problem I have is you can defend something like Dune 2's presence, but there are certain games that just don't make sense--like Morrowind. I also think including Quake and Quake III in there is a bit odd. If you're going to include DotA as the pioneering MOBA, TF2 is pioneering F2P, and BW\CS\QIII as pioneering e-sports titles, what does LoL feature that hasn't already been covered?

 

[BouncyFrag]

I watched a video on Spacewar! (1962) and its not bad at all and I think its cool that the very first game was multiplayer. I bet there were some intense matches over at MIT back in the day where it was created.

 

[MrCunningham]

I also think including Quake and Quake III in there is a bit odd.

Quake 1 did bring OpenGL to the table. ID didn't invent OpenGL, but Quake was the first PC game to use an OpenGL driver. That's a big thing in itself. It also made online multiplayer much more accessible with services like QuakeWorld and QuakeSpy.

Quake III focused solely on multiplayer and really helped establish the e-sports scene with its distilled gameplay.

 

[1st Course]

I feel like Lineage (1998) should be on the list. It was/is the WoW of Asia (3+ million subs at some point) and influenced lots of MMOs there.