Innovative Games
The current success of the Nintendo Wii has seemingly proved to a skeptical gaming audience that fun gaming isn't always about power or visuals. Sometimes, to make a game fun or memorable, all you need is a little innovation. Instead of developers and publishers following the safe route and rehashing the same games over and again, perhaps we'd have a fuller gaming experience if everyone tried to do something original. This isn't always easy, however, as innovation by its very nature isn't something that is commonplace or even always well done. This week, we at CCC want to discuss the most innovative games that we've played, games that have either changed the way that we view gaming or games that have changed the industry as a whole.
D'Marcus Beatty, Co-Site Director
There are a lot of original games that I've played throughout my gaming career. One of the most impressive, however, was the original Metal Gear Solid. MGS was the first really cinematic game experience that most gamers can remember, back when most games were just about killing all your foes and surviving. In addition to having to sneak through stages (which was already a fairly innovative idea) Metal Gear Solid had long and cinematic cutscenes that drew the player into the story more deeply than any action-adventure game before it. MGS also set precedents for the use of the rumble in the Dual Shock controller, using little effects like having the controller jump in time with the heartbeats of dying allies and even the memorable Psycho Mantis claiming to move the controller by vibration. Metal Gear Solid also gave us the first game to combine RPG-quality storytelling, stealth action gameplay, and a memorable protagonist in hero Solid Snake. Metal Gear Solid is the game responsible for the veritable deluge of stealth games we've seen over the years, with developers trying (and most failing) to recreate the magic formula that made Metal Gear Solid such a great game.
Metal Gear Solid set new standards in storytelling for games, so whenever we view one of those overly elaborate and ridiculously gorgeous cutscenes, we can thank MGS, Solid Snake, and series creator Hideo Kojima for that. Hopefully, we can look forward to more innovation when MGS4 hits next year, but until then, MGS is my choice for one of the most innovative games of all time.
Maria Montoro, Co-Site Director
Not long ago, I decided to wake up at six in the morning and go to my local electronics store. I wasn't going to be one of those that camp overnight, but I wanted to at least give it a try by going there two hours early. For some reason I felt especially excited that day, like never before, just for a new game or console. In fact, it was going to be the first time I bought a new system the day it was released. I'm talking about November 19th, 2006. And now at least half of you know what I'm talking about, don't you?
The Nintendo Wii was set for release that day and people were going crazy; this wasn't just any new system, but one that would change the way we play and understand video games forever. Even if the traditional gameplay will remain, we all know now that motion-sensitive controls are here to stay, thanks to this new gaming system.
I was so lucky that I got a Wii that day. We went in and picked up our brand new Nintendo Wii, along with The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess, Super Monkey Ball: Banana Blitz, Excite Truck, and Red Steel. "Good selection" - I thought.
The people at the register were so nervous that they even dropped the box of what was going to be my Wii. It didn't really hit the ground that hard or anything but I got a different one just to make sure it would be OK. My husband and I went home, we set up the whole thing, and then we popped in Wii Sports. Just the fact that we were holding the Wii-mote like that and pointing towards the screen was interesting. We created our Miis real quick and then we started the bowling game. Amazing! That truly set a mark in our gaming history; it created the before and after of our gaming experience. Finally! After such a long time of wondering what it would be like, always hoping it would be something special, we were now experiencing it by ourselves!
Holding the B button, doing the motion we'd do at the bowling alley, and then launching the ball by releasing the B button was easy as can be, just totally intuitive. It actually worked! Unfortunately, our first Wii ended up being defective. The game would freeze and the screen would go blank. That was disappointing, but we managed to continue playing Wii Sports. One week later we received our preordered Wii that we couldn't get on the first day. Phew!
Wii Sports not only was innovative and fun to play, but it also gave us hope; it made us believe in a different future in the world of video games where we would also be able to include friends and family and have a good time all together; even the ones that don't usually play. That doesn't mean we quit playing the other kinds of games, but now we have the Wii that allows us to have social gaming, which is as fun for everyone as watching a good movie or sitting down to watch the football game on Sunday night (as a good European I actually prefer soccer, but I'll leave that story for next time…)
Any other games that were as significant for me as Wii Sports was? I think The Simpsons Vs. the Space Mutants was an important one. I had already seen Super Mario in action on the original Super Mario Bros. but seeing my favorite TV characters on a video game is something that I had never seen. For the very first time I was able to control Bart Simpson and tell him where to go, when to jump, and what to do. I'd help him get through the story, achieve his goals, and the end of it all say: "Eat my shorts!" That was fun; I couldn't believe how similar he was to the cartoon character, and I had no idea how much more alike he was going to be a few years later! Anyway, The Simpsons Vs. the Space Mutants meant innovation for me. It meant that video games would not only have newly created characters but would also bring you closer to the ones you love to see on comics, movies, and TV.
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