When we look back in ~20 yrs what will be the "classics" of this generation?

Guns_LotsOfGuns

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In 20 or so years time when we are all playing on holographic consoles which plug directly into our cortex's and they decide to do releases of the most important titles of this generation; which ones do you think will stand out as a true classics?

Before we get started it might be worth clarifying what a "classic" is, its not necessarily the most popular, the best looking or the one that sold the most.

A classic should really be a game changer, something which moved the medium forward or left a mark that informed everything that came after it.

Something so seminal that without it gaming would not be the same today. A game you will put in front of your kids after they have played tetris, sonic, doom et al and say "you should play this".

Does this generation even have anything which could fall into this category?
 
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Bioshock(s)
COD WAW
Bad Company 2
Gears of War(s)
Fable
Max Payne 3

These are games which I would want to play again if the online servers are still available and hacker free for those games which are applicable.
 
How many of those are game-changers though, majnu?

I don't think any of them are, really. I'd probably agree that Bioshock arguably deserves "classic" status purely by virtue of the story, and the original Gears perhaps for popularising the "cover shooter" sub-genre. As enjoyable as the rest of them might be, they're not "classics" to my mind.

If any of the CoD games can lay claim to the title, I'd say it's probably the original Modern Warfare, if for no other reason than it lead to a major increase in the importance of the online MP side of games, which so many others followed. Yes, it had been there before, especially in FPS games, but far fewer people took an active interest in it.

GTA4 might also qualify - it was nothing new in and of itself, but it did set the standard for sandbox games in the current generation.

Ditto Oblivion, for the same reason vis a vis action RPGs.

I'd say that Demons Souls is destined for cult classic status (and may already have achieved it....), but that was a PS3 only release so probably shouldn't be mentioned here ;) Dark Souls is every bit as good, if not better in some ways, but it owes a huge debt to Demon Souls and so probably doesn't count as a classic in its own right.
 
Bioshock(s)
COD WAW
Bad Company 2
Gears of War(s)
Fable
Max Payne 3

These are games which I would want to play again if the online servers are still available and hacker free for those games which are applicable.

But are any of them "classics"?

Bioshock - An argument could be made for the way they approached story telling; how many games now have audio logs; and its twist was up there with the best, but mechanically it wasn't the greatest and after said twist it went down hill.

Bad Company 2 - Did this do anything for the FPS that hadn't been done before, did anything this title did inform anything after it?

Gears Of War - You could argue that epic did for the TPS what Halo did for the FPS, but also Gears traded largely on its graphics when it came out.

Fable - Did play it so i cant argue against it.

Max Payne 3 - Great game but not only was it literally regurgitating the game play of the first two games it failed to build on them either IMO.

None of them are bad but apart from maybe Bioshock and Gears, none of them are classics IMO.
 
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By this generation Guns, when are we talking about exactly? I mean there are a lot of different ages on here, who might consider this generation to just be Xbox 360 or PS3, whereas I may consider as far back as SNES/Megadrive, perhaps even further.
 
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I took it to mean the current console generation - so 360, PS3 and Wii.

Or DS, PSP/Vita if portable gaming is your thing.
 
Then I'd have to say none :(

There have been some classics, but no game changers. This generation has been fairly mediocre, considering it has obviously been the best we've had in terms of capability. Devs have got lazy, and we've had rubbish churned out year on year.

If anyone can show me a game then please do. But I genuinely can't think of any right now.
 
Games are a hard one as most of them seem to be sequels, GTA4 is just GTA3 with better gfx etc..

I would say WiiSports (as everyone had it, with the Wiimote), this was truly new and expanded gaming to the family. Other games might have used the wiimote also but I doubt few have not done a spot of bowling.

Kinect, cant think of a Game specifically for it but really it is the extension of Wiimote and I think now this sort of technology will become mainstream.

XboxLiveArcade, again not a stand out game but an idea, the digital age truly coming to the living room and with it new options such as the Indie Arcade where use content could be sold. If you needed a game then I suppose Trials was a run away success, the idea might have been a long evolution from Flash to PC to console but it is the biggest seller I believe.

now to try and pick some games.

Assassins creed, open environments and fluid game play. I think this was the first time such an open world with so many possibilities came to life, GTA3 was open world but more closed in its missions.

Little big planet (would love to use Trials2 but this was first), user generated content. Whilst mods are nothing new to the PC world few if any have made the console world so a game that is all about user creation is a first and destined to become a classic.

COD "Elite" (and to a lesser extent DLC), for all the wrong reasons, Flameproof suit is now donned :devil:

otherwise it will be sales figures that write the history books so the last release of all the block busters will probably dominate the classics list.

The sad fact is with the reliance of back end servers and the customary pre release patch to make the game playable once the servers and services go offline it will be impossible to play most of these games as they where intended outside of the generation so YouTube will have to act as the archive :(
 
How many of those are game-changers though, majnu?

None, I didn't read that bit in the OP.

By game changing I guess revolutionary at it's time. None of the games I listed are, but they will always be classics in my mind as I wouldn't mind playing them again in 20 years time. :D

The narration and story in Gears was excellent and something which I hope future generations adopt by working alongside writers. It probably wasn't the first game to do it but the campaign in Gears definitely told it's story well.
 
If any of the CoD games can lay claim to the title, I'd say it's probably the original Modern Warfare, if for no other reason than it lead to a major increase in the importance of the online MP side of games, which so many others followed. Yes, it had been there before, especially in FPS games, but far fewer people took an active interest in it.

Id agree that the first Modern Warfare introducing the the Rank and Unlock progression system has been pretty influential, pretty much every mutliplayer FPS since then has been based on it.

The same could be argued for the original Gears cover and shoot system which is now pretty much the standard for cover based shooters, plus im probably wrong but it felt like Gears popularised the idea of full campaign coop .

Id have to give Mass Effect a shout out for the "cinematic RPG" the conversation wheel, interuppts, and the (granted probably not what we expected /were promised in the end) branching story lines.

Most would probably cite Oblivion but ill use Fallout 3 as i can relate to it more, but the scale and depth of those worlds and the way they react to you and your actions created a level of immersion that i think many will be emulating for future titles.

Portal - Probably gets a mention for creating and first person game which isn't based around shooting people and delivering brand new game play.

Mirrors Edge - Much like Portal a first person game which doesnt revolve around shooting and delivers a new type of gameplay.
 
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I agree with a lot of what has been said. I think maybe I wasn't appreciating what a gamechanger was. I was thinking more on the lines of "wow" games. There are plenty of them, but real innovation has been rather thin on the ground, especially in the last 12 months.

Maybe Heavy Rain on the PS3 could be considered one too? I haven't played it yet, but the concept is something I really want to see in more games. And those I know who have played it have been impressed.
 
for me i would think in my opinion only.....


Bioshock - best single player game.

Gears of war 1 - best single player game.

Left 4 Dead - still the best and most fun co-op game i have ever played.

Dead space 2 - just for the scare factor alone.

portal 2 - brilliant little game, especially in co-op.

Red dead redemption - best open world game.

Alan wake - brilliant adventure, scares included.

borderlands - such a great game to play either solo or with others.


i could name others like bayonetta but that would be more as a favourite of mine rather than a classic.


out of the list above im not sure which i would choose if i had to pick one, i guess at a push i would say Left 4 dead just because the co-op experience hasn't been matched for me.
 
Gears of War was Genre defining no online level ups nobody had done 3rd person cover based shooter it was amazing.Co-op Campaign amazing

Heavy Rain on the PS3 was amazing truly different and truly memorable

Demons Souls/Dark Souls forget your Final Fantasy reboots this was epic epic gaming at the highest level.

Little big Planet the creation of user based levels again was a new concept on this generation another truly amazing game.

I have enjoyed this generation i reckon i have done more gaming on this life cycle than i ever have if im honest,but its time for new consoles nothing new nothing to get excited about.
 
Poor generation of gaming, loads of mediocre games are considered classics by critics and fans alike due to lack of any good games.

This gens classics: Portal, Portal 2, Orange Box, COD4, Valkyria chronicle, MGS4, Burnout Paradise, Red Dead, Heavy Rain, GOD3, Street Fighter, Uncharted series, Bioshock and finally Demons Souls.

Last generations was far better: MGS 2/3, Kingdom Hearts, FFX, GTA 3/Vice City/ San Andreas, Dragonquest 8, Need for Speed Underground, Manhunt, Midnight club, Warriors, State of Emergency, The Getaway, Max Payne, Resi 4, DMC, Onimusha, NBA Streets 3, Bully and Shadow of the Colossus.

Edit: Forgot to add one of the greatest games of all time: Time-Spiltters Future perfect
Never had so many much playing split screen with this game, when it comes to multi-player gaming this was the benchmark in its hay day.
 
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Someone mentioned Mirrors Edge and I'd agree with that. It's first person but it's far from a shooter and just feels superb to play. Add to that the highly stylised world it takes place in, a cool but not stereotypical female lead and a twisty turny plot and you have yourself a classic. I absolutely adore it.

COD4 also gets a vote from me but not for the MP (although it DID innovate) but because I remember finishing it on veteran and it suddenly hit me that I had just spent hours completely out of my own head and instead had been traipsing around battlefields saving the world. The first time I played All Ghillied Up was something special and finishing Mile High Club still ranks as my 2nd greatest gaming achievement.
 
not necessarily the "best" games but ones which added something new to an existing genre, or put it all together in a better way than done before.

of top of head i would say

Borderlands
Gears of war 1
mirrors edge
Condemned (the 1st first person basher i ever played)
legend of grimrock (for bringing a LONG dead genre back to life)
guitar hero (not a fan myself but certainly influential)
 
I don't buy into the whole "classic" BS, as a lot of people use this term as a substitute for giving any real reason why something should be considered good.
Instead, I'll go with the term "defining".
And games that have defined this generation, IMO are:
Gears of War series
Mass Effect series
Assassin's Creed series
Dead Space series.

IMO, these games have taken an old idea and done something better with it that has actually turned out great and outshone those areas which they have improved on.
The third person shooter
The action RPG
The stealth action
The survival horror

And then we have Portal.
Something original and truly inspired.
 
i hope the walking dead is known as a classic in years to come as it's been a brilliant game so far, i haven't really played a game like this, it seems a lot of players have played it and enjoyed it too.
 
A classic should really be a game changer, something which moved the medium forward or left a mark that informed everything that came after it.

Something so seminal that without it gaming would not be the same today. A game you will put in front of your kids after they have played tetris, sonic, doom et al and say "you should play this".

Does this generation even have anything which could fall into this category?

The Evolution of gaming in my lifetime: as told by the games that defined each gen to me ... I feel if you gave someone in the future these games and these games only, they would have a good idea of how gaming has evolved in my lifetime:

3rd gen: Legend of Zelda, Metroid, Elite, The Last Ninja
4th gen: Sonic the Hedgehog, Super Mario World, Sensible Soccer, Street Fighter II
5th Gen: Goldeneye, Metal Gear Solid, Final Fantasy VII, Panzer Dragoon Saga
6th Gen: GTA: Vice City, ICO, Knights of the Old Republic, Gran Turismo 3: A-Spec
7th Gen: Batman: Arkham Asylum, Mass Effect, Call of Duty: Modern Warfare, Lost Odyssey
 
ICO, REZ, and more recently Journey for me. I've played through it about 5 times now (Journey).......it's just a wonderful experience!
 
out of the list above im not sure which i would choose if i had to pick one, i guess at a push i would say Left 4 dead just because the co-op experience hasn't been matched for me.

^This. Not sure it was a mainstream enough hit to go down as a classic, but it should be regarded as such as it IMO it revolutionised co-op gaming. Far and away the best co-op experience I've ever had and I'm starting to wonder if anything will ever better it for me in this area. Totally unique experience for it's time and still the only co-op game where no one player could go running off doing there own thing, team based gameplay at its purest.

Gears of War was Genre defining no online level ups nobody had done 3rd person cover based shooter it was amazing.Co-op Campaign amazing.

Little big Planet the creation of user based levels again was a new concept on this generation another truly amazing game.

Not quite sure if I'd put GoW in there as much as it's been one of my all time favourites. I think we just got lucky on the frankly amazing multi-player, when I look back I think this was largely down to having a fantastic bunch of regular players that used to play on a nightly basis which just made a great game brilliant! Would it have been anywhere near as fondly remembered if we'd bee playing with randoms?

I always felt as a campaign GoW was very largely influenced by Resident Evil 4, the whole style and game world was almost ported across(I think even now Resi4 would feel fresher than going back and playing the original Gears campaign). GoW was certainly one of my best mutiplayer experiences, just not quite a classic of this generation IMO as too much was borrowed(even the one shot shotgun headshots we loved were classic Resi).

Agree on Little Big Planet, while it wasn't really for me it certainly did introduce the whole community creation/sharing aspect into games(certainly for the mainstream anyway) and in term brought true value to gamers and took a little away from charged DLC:cool:

I would probably throw Mario Galaxy into the mix, of this generation it was absolute classic platforming and as with other(proper) Mario games, full of new ideas!
 
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ICO, REZ, and more recently Journey for me. I've played through it about 5 times now (Journey).......it's just a wonderful experience!

Would agree with ICO, but that would be previous gen wouldn't it?
 
Tetlee said:
Would agree with ICO, but that would be previous gen wouldn't it?

Yeah, jumped the gun when I read '20 years'!!
 
i hope the walking dead is known as a classic in years to come as it's been a brilliant game so far, i haven't really played a game like this, it seems a lot of players have played it and enjoyed it too.

Couldn't agree more, if you haven't played The Walking Dead yet you owe it to yourself to give it a try :lesson:
 

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