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Five Features That Changed Gaming

April 25, 2009 in Top List comments 8

The folks over at Gameplanet came up with an article about five features which changed the face of gaming. Be sure to go over and have a look-see!

Some interesting bits include the moral and cover systems, both of which are often seen today in most RPGs or Action games!

If you didn’t know the list of features a particular game offered why would you buy it? Because of the box artwork? Perhaps. But the discerning game player will want a fairly comprehensive understanding of the title before they fork out their hard earned cash. Unfortunately, most games aren't that radically different from each other. That’s because every few years there are innovations that push collective development in a new direction.

Rival development studios see these new concepts and subtly put them to work in their own titles, or simply copy them outright. How many times have you seen 'bullet time' since Max Payne? Or delivered a finishing move in an fighting title looked suspiciously like a fatality from Mortal Kombat?
Mishtram via gameplanet.co.nz »
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  • 1
    Mishtram Apr 26, 09
    I can definitely agree with the moral battle bit. I first saw it in Baldur's Gate and was really impressed with how it altered and changed gameplay, and those same tools have definitely over the years lead to some great innovations in multi-storyline gameplay, and eventually lead on to play larger parts in today's RPGs.

    Definitely well integrated into the entire genre nowdays, although not always as successfully as I would like. Well, rarely as well as I would like, tbh...
  • 0
    Urban Apr 26, 09
    I loved the Moral dilemma side to games. Even though i always chose to be good in the end. It was fun to watch people react on what choices i made.
    • 0
      Flippy Apr 26, 09
      Yeah I always replay a game with that kind of stuff to see the reactions from the other choices. :3
  • 0
    Insanity Prevails Apr 26, 09
    You know, I was totally expecting to see older features to be documented here, but it's true that even the more modern games can still have a lot of impact on the industry.
  • 1
    Taker4ever Apr 26, 09
    I agree with the choices made here, although I'm shocked regenerating health in FPS games wasn't mentioned.
    • 0
      Slumpy monkey Apr 26, 09
      True, I love regenerating health though. Makes the game flow a lot better, and stops problems like respawning at the check point with like 1 health left.
  • 0
    bbb7002004 Apr 26, 09
    I'm not sure how many of these features "changed" gaming at all. For example, cover has been used in games for a long, long time. I mean, Space Invaders had destructible cover for crying out loud! Modern games like Gears have made improvements, granted, but I wouldn't really call that "changing the face of the industry" more of just a natural evolution of it. Co-op and to some extent sandbox gameplay fall into the same category, with games going back to the arcade and NES days inventing such features.
    The moral dilemma is acceptable, but I can think of plenty of other things far more important to the industry than the implementation of morals in most games. While some games have done an excellent job with such things, most games boil down to a good path and a bad path for the games. And Multiple endings are not new either. I'm not going to comment on achievements, since personally I find them to be the worst edition to gaming ever conceived and thus could not provide an unbiased assessment.

    I guess the many problem I see is that nothing this generation has had a dramatic change on the industry. Its like saying that HD TV redefined the entertainment industry when in actuality it provides only a basic upgrade from the truly revolutionary television. Plenty of refinements, but nothing game changing to the degree that features like save systems, 3D graphics, Analog sticks, Disc Media, and the internet have had on gaming.
  • 0
    Delta787 Apr 29, 09
    how about, PC PS2 PS3 XBOX WII

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