The Most Important Games of Each Gen

If you are asked to pick one most important game for every console generation, what games will you pick?
By saying most important, I mean a game that you think is the most influential game in game design, graphic technology, defining genre, paving the way for future delevopers, or anything else games share whith other forms of art that makes an artwork a milestone in art history.
And please include the information of which generation was your starting point in gaming or which generation turned you serious in gaming. Thanks

My first console is NES, but technically, I became seriousely involved with gaming in the 5th gen.
Below is my list:

1st gen: Pong
Altough I was too young to be fortunate enough to participate in the 1st generation, everyone I know who participated told me Pong without thinking.

2nd gen: I didn't participate. I am not qualified to nominate one.

3rd generation: Super Mario Bros.
Because most of the game designers today that I've read or heard seems to claim that they were influenced by it.

4th gen: I didn't participate in  the 4th-gen due to heavy schoolwork/ tests. So I don't know.

5th gen: FF7
Damn, too many games for one room. Because I live in Asia, In my point of view, I pick FF7 over all other important games, such as Super Mario 64 and Zelda on N64, and MGS on PS. FF7 was phenomenal in Asia. Most of the gamers around my age in Asia start their gaming life from FF7. JRPG became extremely popular after it.

6th gen: Halo
There are again so many classics in this gen, but in terms of influence, I think it's a choice between RE4 and Halo. I choose Halo because I think almost all of the FPS/TPS on console have been heavily influenced by this game. Even games that are influenced by RE4 need to take some elements from Halo.

7th gen: Gears of War (may change in the future, since the 7th gen hasn't been over)
Gears-of-war-like cover mechanism is the most frequently used term in video game review from my experience. So frequent that you don't even need to say gears-of-war-like anymore. Although Gears isn't the first game that invented this cover mechanism, It is truely the most influential one since it made this mechanism so popular.

What about you guys? What are your picks?

I would either pick Mario 64 or OOT in the 5th, and in 7th I may choose COD4 because of the perks system but Gears is a good choice.

Kind a wonder about your generation-definitions. Particularly your post about the 3rd.

You are right. SF2 should be in the 4th-gen. My mistake.
I think it's because I didn't own a 4th-gen console as mentioned,  I thought it was a 3rd-gen game. Because I was still playing my NES in the 4th-gen era. And SF2 was so phenomenal that even a kid like me who were not allowed to buy a new console somehow played the game. XD
Sorry for the mistake. I'll edit it out.

7th gen might be Wii Sports ;)

When I think of industry changing. Doom 3 and Resident Evil 4, both had a significant impact in both setting a standard and innovating on what was already established.

"When I think of industry changing. Doom 3 and Resident Evil 4, both had a significant impact in both setting a standard and innovating on what was already established."

"7th gen might be Wii Sports ;)"

Of the generations I've been a part of, the only game I agree with you on is Halo, but I'm not 100% sure on that, either. Half-Life was a much better FPS and it came first. Grand Theft Auto 3 may be a better choice.

I thought of HL, but since I made the thread based on console generations not PC, so I decided to choose Halo without mentioning HL. I think HL caused much more impact when it was first appeared on PC, especial in terms of FPS story telling. Actually, I think doom, quake, and HL are three important milestone for PC gaming. They are all genre-defining games in their own era. Each marks a major leap in FPS design.

As for FF7, I could totally see what others would reponse. ^_^
Is that called "agree to disagree" in English? @_@
That's why I mentioned where I live to exlpain why I made the choice. I didn't think of GodendEye being so important, but when I was making this thread, I guessed Super Mario 64, Zelda: OOT, and Metal Gear Solid are all more influential than FF7 to western audience and developers. I even think they are better games. However, they simply couldn't make enough sale to be influential in Asia. A down side of capitalism. :(
And part of my reason of making this thread is to see a western point of view. :)

3rd: Super Mario Bros, duh

"Of the generations I've been a part of, the only game I agree with you on is Halo, but I'm not 100% sure on that, either. Half-Life was a much better FPS and it came first. Grand Theft Auto 3 may be a better choice.

As for your choice of Final Fantasy VII, I'd definitely put Goldeneye, Super Mario 64, or Metal Gear Solid there before FFVII.

"

I'm sorry, did you just say SM64 didn't innovate? It was the first collectathon (almost wrote collectathong, which would probably appeal to you guys a bit more) game and probably the first 3-D platformer. Where would the Banjo series be without SM64? Or Jak? Or Sly Cooper? Or Spyro? You can call it a bad game if you want, but to deny its monumental impact on the industry is ridiculous.

As someone who gamed through the 2nd Generation, my choice would be Adventure for the 2600.  Adventure was an original IP which became very popular.  It also had what might be considered the first Easter egg. Up until Adventure, most of the popular titles sold were recreations of coin-op favorites like Space Invaders, Missile Command and Asteroids.  Some sources consider Adventure the first action-adventure title paving the way for the Zeldas and Tomb Raiders that followed years later.

An alternate choice to Adventure might be Activision's Pitfall.  The importance of Pitfall I believe has more to do with establishing 3rd party development houses as viable sources for new successful games rather than as whatever the game itself brought to the art of game design.