50 Landmark Game Design Innovations

Next Generation has put together a lengthy list of landmark game design innovations that many of your favorite games probably wouldn't exist without. They break them out into self-contained units, though it's sometimes ambiguous how they're demarcating game design elements. Just the same, it's an interesting look at where game industry trends have led us: "23. Gestural interfaces. Many cultures imbue gestures with supernatural or symbolic power, from Catholics crossing themselves to the mudras of Hindu and Buddhist iconography. Magic is often invoked with gestures, too--that's part of what magic wands are for. The problem with a lot of videogame magic is that clicking icons and pushing buttons feels more technical than magical. The gestural interface is a comparatively recent invention that gives us a non-verbal, non-technical way to express ourselves. Best-known example: Wii controller. Probable first use: Black & White, 2001."

some that come to mind

[joeflies]

Role Playing
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whether it's obvious or not, the whole computer gaming model for player vs enemy combat is still largely the same as the dungeons & dragons model. The controls may vary from game to game, but it's largely choose the weapon, roll the dice, and survive the encounter by having more hit points left than your enemy does. Before this was implemented in videogames, you had the one-shot kill gameplay of space invaders or the hunt the wumpus "you're dead" text adventures.

Side Scrolling Screens

I'm not enough of a historian to say what game came up with it first, but the exploration possibilities of side-scrolling created really big worlds to explore.
 

Complaining about choices

[EvanED]

Let's face it, most action games are about force. Even when confronted with overwhelmingly powerful enemies, your only option is to avoid their killing shots while grinding away at them or searching for their vulnerable spots. In stealth play the idea is to never even let the enemies know you're there, and it requires a completely different approach from the usual Rambo-style mayhem. Best-known early example: Thief: The Dark Project, 1998. First use: unknown.

Really? Not Metal Gear? 1987 for the original, or also 1998 (according to Wikipedia, two months before Thief: The Dark Project) for Metal Gear Solid?

WASD (#20)

[Radres]

In the article, it says that it is unknown where this innovation came from, but I would hazard a guess that it was players of Duke Nukem 3D and Quake 1 who customized their control setup to this way. It makes sense because before these games, there wasn't the concept of a computer game with full 3D where you look up and down and can have your character move forwards, backwards, left, and right at equal speeds.

Re:WASD (#20)

[Chris Pimlott]

Using the mouse with Wolf3D and DOOM was rather uncommon, though. Since neither game was 3D there wasn't much need for looking up and down. Keyboard was sufficient for the vast majority of players who kept on using the same old arrow keys they were used. Some elite Doom players began using the mouse but they were a small minority.

It wasn't until the true 3D Quake, which required vertical aiming, that mouse use became the norm. Since the right hand, previously seated comfortably on the arrow keys, was now occupied with the mouse, it was only natural that the left hand took over movement duty, using keys closer to where the left hand normally resides on the keyboard.

Re:banjo kazooie == donkey kong country

[MBCook]

Right. That's the point they made. In the DK series there were some minor differences in the later games (like Dixie being able to float), but the other character was essentially an "extra life", so you could take a hit and not lose instantly.

In BK, the two characters were linked all the time. They did have different abilities and helped each other. You could jump off a platform as Banjo (who you controlled) but press a button to use Kazooie to glide. You could press a button to have Kazooie's legs pop out and use them to run fast. It was a well done mechanic that used both characters. It was different, and necessary. You didn't need to use the one little team ability in the Sonic games. I don't even remember any in Donkey Kong Country.

Re:Eve

[Blakey Rat]

Games used to be written for 5+ platforms. How many platforms did Lemmings come out on? Or the original Prince of Persia? Apple ][, Commodore 64, DOS, Macintosh, Amiga, Atari possibly.

A game supporting 3 platforms is nothing, relatively speaking. (Since this topic is about the history of games spanning all the way to the beginning.)

Re:Eve

[QuantumG]

If I have to make my own fun, I can do that without paying a subscription fee.

Re:Eve

[Ginger Unicorn]

because of the inertia/convenience of directX. as i understand it, it's so well polished/entrenched that developing a game on SDL/OpenGL is a significant enough amount of extra effort than just doing direct x and sacrificing the tiny mac/linux markets.

of course this is something that could change as linux becomes more prevalent and SDL matures.

Re:Eve

[brkello]

I don't understand why you need to make some dumb sandbox analogy for this. Eve is a boring game unless you are a hardcore PvPer. It doesn't matter how hard you rant about it being a sandbox and that if you don't enjoy it you must lack imagination....the meat of the game is boring. I applaud them for removing the skill grind and making it something where you are always training (though, they should allow you to queue two skills if they haven't already), but they just replaced it with the grind to make ISK. Missions are repetitive and boring since you have to run the same one over and over, mining is boring, trade is boring, etc.

In game you do and can meet nice people. But the "community" on the Eve forums are a bunch of people who like to insult others and ask for your stuff if you decide to leave (and insult you on the way out for not liking the game...what a sin!). They all bash WoW because their game is vastly less popular and they feel threatened (just like you did with your spoon fed fun comment).

But now that I think about it, the sand box analogy is perfect. Eve is a sandbox...it is just full of potential. Unfortunately, every toy in the sandbox is broken and is more work than it is fun to play with. And certain kids in the sandbox have been treated better by the teachers than the other kids and thus own most of the sandbox.

Don't get me wrong, Eve is not terrible...but after playing it for awhile you can't help but become bitter from its jerk community, its constant scandals, and how you can just feel there is a good game buried somewhere in there but that it has been taken in the wrong direction.