Editorial The Citizen Kanes of video games

[Monolith]

Tags: BioWare; Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic

Gamesradar <a href="http://www.gamesradar.com/f/the-citizen-kanes-of-videogames/a-20090723134438115098">features a list</a> of video games that had as much of an impact on later games as Citizen Kane had on movies. They mention two RPGs, the first one is Ultima 3, the second one...Star Wars: Knights of the Old Repuplic.
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Here's what they say about KotOR:
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<blockquote>While some might credit KOTOR as birthing the idea of moral choices in games, the truth is that it wasn’t even close to being the first. In fact, everything it did was an evolution of earlier games by BioWare and Black Isle, including Baldur’s Gate, Neverwinter Nights, the Fallout series and Planescape: Torment. The difference is that KOTOR was able to couch its gameplay and plot-twisting decisions in an appealing 3D package, give its turn-based combat an action feel and wrap the whole experience up in what’s probably the best-loved take on Star Wars in the last 10 years.
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So while its less-flashy PC predecessors might have already blazed the trail for KOTOR, it did what they couldn’t: achieve mainstream popularity, thereby ensuring scores of imitators and the mention of its name every time a game tries to inject good/evil decisions into its gameplay. Like Ocarina of Time, it didn’t so much break new ground as it combined things that had already been done into something smart and sprawling and new. Add one of the best game-story plot twists ever, and its status as an influential classic is undeniable.</blockquote>
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Yep, KotOR up there with Tetris, Sim City, Call of Duty 4 and...why isn't Halo on the list?
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Spotted at: <a href="http://www.rpgwatch.com">RPG Watch</a>

 

[Micmu]

LOL yet another pointless list of games "top 10 something" the author played and liked.

 

[Dionysus]

He's absolutely right about Ultima 3, but I wouldn't include KotOR. It did reach the console audience, but I haven't seen any evidence that it influenced a lot of games. Morrowind would probably be a better choice if you had to pick one game to represent the return of the WRPG to consoles. But Kane didn't even turn a significant profit, so I wonder why he focuses so much on popularity.

And it seems really stupid to include two AitD rip-offs without acknowledging AitD.

 

[inwoker]

Citizen Kane is shit movie.

 

[DriacKin]

Regardless of whether or not you enjoyed Citizen Kane, it's undeniable that Citizen Kane is one of the most influential films ever.

This article is supposed to be about the most influentional games ever. Citizen Kane is a perfectly fine comparison.

 

[Higher Game]

Citizen Kane is shit movie.

Go back to watching populist Soviet trash, Citizen Kane is about the soul of a man. :evil: And the correct answers are Planescape: Torment and regret.

 

[Volkens]

The difference is that KOTOR was able to couch its gameplay and plot-twisting decisions in an appealing 3D package, give its turn-based combat an action feel and wrap the whole experience up in what’s probably the best-loved take on Star Wars in the last 10 years.

Did we played the same game?

 

[Hoaxmetal]

Light or Dark side, PLOT TWIST :shock:

Really, I liked option to be evil and shit but it didn't have that big impact on the game. Only memorable "C&C" in KOTOR for me was when I used poison to kill some underwater monster thus also destroying mineral which was used in health kits around the galaxy. Everything else - meh.

KOTOR "choices" were somewhat influential but it still stays at level of simple copying of concept. Good/bad, blue/red and nothing more.

 

[ElectricOtter]

There needs to be a lot more Crusader: No Remorse/Regret on that list.

 

[JarlFrank]

everything it did was an evolution of earlier games by BioWare and Black Isle, including Baldur’s Gate, Neverwinter Nights, the Fallout series and Planescape: Torment.

KotoR is an evolution of the BG series, Fallout and PST in all aspects.
Especially moral choices.
Yeah right.

 

[Chefe]

Who the fuck cares? Why is the Codex even reporting on this? Twelve of these "most influential X" listfucks come out once a year and they're always changing. lol CALL OF DUTY 4 IS LEIK CITEZEN KAEN!!111!!

Jesus fucking Christ. Halo isn't on the list! :shock::awe: The one time that Halo actually belongs on a list (impact in this case... obviously not quality) it is left out!

KOTOR DID NOT INFLUENCE SHIT. It influenced later Bioware games like................................................................................ well, Mass Effect. Everything they said about it is a dirty fucking lie. FUCK. C&C? Best plot twist evar? I was half asleep while playing it and I could still see OMG U R TEH REVAHN! from a fucking mile away. And it's barely been half a decade since it came out. Where is this fucking influence?

God damn. Can't wait for next year's list when Street Fighter IV turns out to be the Citizen Kane of fighters and Halo Wars for RTS games. WHAT THE FUCK IS WRONG WITH THESE PEOPLE?

 

[oldmanpaco]

Any list that has U3 deserves a little respect. Back in 1983 or whenever it was cutting edge greatness.

 

[bhlaab]

Yeah because what made citizen kane groundbreaking was its mainstream appeal

 

[Hümmelgümpf]

God damn. Can't wait for next year's list when Street Fighter IV turns out to be the Citizen Kane of fighters and Halo Wars for RTS games. WHAT THE FUCK IS WRONG WITH THESE PEOPLE?

What is the Citizen Kane of fighting games? I'm asking it because I've been dissappointed with SFIV, as most matches boil down to harassing your opponent with pokes and projectiles, blocking everything he throws at you, then comboing the shit out of him when you see an opening. The original Mortal Kombat, even if it wasn't particularly well balanced, had way more tricks up its sleave with freezing, teleportation and whatnot.

Could anyone direct me to a fighting game that is less about spending tens of hours practicing finger-crushing analogue stick movements on a dummy opponent until you learn how to successively cancel 15 moves into each other, and more about learning when exactly to use a relatively small list of easy to perform moves? Bonus Kodex Kool Points if it has trick moves, such as freezing.

 

[-Pavlos-]

Yeah because what made citizen kane groundbreaking was its mainstream appeal

You can't argue with Orson's popular touch.

 

[Herbert West]

Pong.

 

[Chefe]

God damn. Can't wait for next year's list when Street Fighter IV turns out to be the Citizen Kane of fighters and Halo Wars for RTS games. WHAT THE FUCK IS WRONG WITH THESE PEOPLE?

What is the Citizen Kane of fighting games? I'm asking it because I've been dissappointed with SFIV, as most matches boil down to harassing your opponent with pokes and projectiles, blocking everything he throws at you, then comboing the shit out of him when you see an opening. The original Mortal Kombat, even if it wasn't particularly well balanced, had way more tricks up its sleave with freezing, teleportation and whatnot.

Could anyone direct me to a fighting game that is less about spending tens of hours practicing finger-crushing analogue stick movements on a dummy opponent until you learn how to successively cancel 15 moves into each other, and more about learning when exactly to use a relatively small list of easy to perform moves? Bonus Kodex Kool Points if it has trick moves, such as freezing.

There is no CK of fighting games. The only game that comes close is SF2, but that created the genre. That might be what you're looking for, because it features a small arsenal of relatively easy to perform moves. Be warned though, that people have been perfecting their playing styles over 15 fucking years. The first Soul Calibur on the Dreamcast was pretty lenient with its learning curve, and was more about playing smart than playing robotically. Yep, SF2 and SC1... that's it, really.

 

[bhlaab]

The top 0 citizen kanes of video games

 

[-Pavlos-]

To be honest, much as I support the "games are art" debate, the idea that the industry has already produced something of Citizen Kane's significance is as ludicrous as the idea that there's a soap opera to rival Hamlet or an Andrew Lloyd Webber musical to equal a symphony by Beethoven.

 

[Gragt]

Let's nuke them.

 

[Chefe]

If you use nukes, the terrorists win.

 

[jazzotron]

Perhaps the Codex should compile a "Top 10 List of the Shittiest Top 10 Lists". Name and shame.

 

[Major_Blackhart]

This is shit!!!

 

[bhlaab]

To be honest, much as I support the "games are art" debate, the idea that the industry has already produced something of Citizen Kane's significance is as ludicrous as the idea that there's a soap opera to rival Hamlet or an Andrew Lloyd Webber musical to equal a symphony by Beethoven.

The Amazing Spiderman #112 is the Great Gatsby of comic books

 

[Jaesun]

KotOR didn't have a fucking SLED. Morans.