Have we had a "classic" game yet?

I'm not talking about the normal kind of classic games, the games that were significant to the industry. I'm talking about actual classics, games that not only had an impact on gaming itself but the sum of our collective human culture as well as the collective medium of art itself. And no, this isn't a "Are games art." Frankly if you still hold that no games that have been currently produced, let alone any future productions, lack the emotional resonance to be be classified as art then you are living in a cramped hollow of ignorant denial. That's right, I went there. Hollows mother fucker.  
 
But to get to the point, I don't think we've had that game yet. As tired as the metaphor is, there is no "Citizen Kane of video games." That isn't because video game lack the potential, but because they haven't hit their peak. I'm of the mind that nearly ever other medium of expression has hit its climax and now has their masterpieces denoted by generation rather than overall excellence. I have no authority to be speaking on this topic, at all, but it seems to be that the quintessential works of other mediums are now denoted purely on how well they are able to adapt to the ever changing human sociological structure where as we still have those "Aha!" moments in gaming where the pieces begin to fall into place.
 
What I mean to say is, I think it is an insult to gaming to say that it has reached its peak. To say that we have, indeed, reached that moment of absolute clarity. There is too much potential in telling a story directly through human experience to even begin insinuating that it has been completely tapped out. Games are so unique in how they convey information, but it still seems that many developers still simply ignore this fact. Too say that someone has mastered the field at this point would be, well, dumb. It'd just be dumb.
 
But yeah. 
 
Video games. 
 
There's a question in there somewhere.

Call of Duty 4
 
 
this generation you mean right?

Call of Duty 4 is the peak of video games and will never be surpassed.
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
(kidding)

Super Mario Brothers.

Wow that is some nice writing. 
 
I agree with you though.  There are games out there which have impacted me many ways other than just some minor entertainment.  But that being said, gaming is nowhere near the peak of it's potential.

I'd say that video games have reached their potential, but people aren't willing to let them express that potential. People still see them as toys you only play in your spare time, as opposed to a medium that can express emotions and themes in ways that no other medium can. As such, we may already have a Citizen Kane of games, but nobody knows it yet.

Super Mario Bros 3 and tetris. 
 
I don't think classic means the pinnacle of video games.

As tired as the metaphor is, there is no "Citizen Kane of video games."

As a game that is both common knowledge in our common culture, but is also a classic for games, AND has influenced modern art (namely street art in this case)... 
 
Fuckin' Space Invaders, man! 

Is the implication then that Citizen Kane is the peak of movie making?

I think Wii Sports was a huge phenomenon, and kind of forced the industry to reconsider everything.
I think games like EA Sports Active, Ubisoft's weird heart thing, the Move, the Kinect and any family party game are still being made thanks to Wii Sports. My mum played Wii Fit Plus every day this week, an that would've bin a crazy joke to say in 2005.
 
Also- DEPENDS who you ask- but I know that Street Fighter 2 is the spark of a huge chain reaction for some people. Like there are dozens of EVO tournaments planned across the US this year, and for some people that's their life. I know it sounds dumb, but it's bigger than you'd expect.

"I'm talking about actual classics, games that not only had an impact on gaming itself but the sum of our collective human culture as well as the collective medium of art itself."  

I think Tetris qualifies.

A lot of people will spout out "Shadow of the Colossus" for something like this and I can't really disagree with them. I think a "more with less" attitude is the defining characteristic of most powerful games. There will always be a place for something like RDR but the failing of most modern games is that they feel like they need to do a lot of things instead of a few things really really well. Tetris is a nice example here, no one ever comes to new versions of Tetris for "SUPER CRAZY SPEED ATTACK LOW GRAVITY MODE", they come for the same classic gameplay they had 20 years ago.
 
You know, there's definitely some flaws in this idea, now that I look at it, but whatevs.

" Is the implication then that Citizen Kane is the peak of movie making? "

" As a game that is both common knowledge in our common culture, but is also a classic for games, AND has influenced modern art (namely street art in this case)...  Fuckin' Space Invaders, man!  "

Morrowind

Well, Pong seems to be the earliest example that fits your criteria; that was 39 years ago...

" A lot of people will spout out "Shadow of the Colossus" for something like this"

Okami.

I haven't seen Citizen Kane.

Would it be accurate to say that Grand Theft Auto 3 revitalized the concept of a gaming over an open world/sandbox?

" @GunslingerPanda said:

" Okami. I haven't seen Citizen Kane. "

In short:
 
Kane: "... Rosebud." You: "What does that mean?" Everyone else: "We don't know." "

" I don't think classic means the pinnacle of video games. "

I would have agreed with you until I read this post. Asking for a game that does for the games industry what Citizen Kane did for the film industry is quite frankly, a really big question.

How many people have actually seen Citizen Kane or for that matter films like Battleship Potemkin, another great classic piece, just take a look at this sceneit is just spectacular, Eisenstein, the director, was so influential with his film making that decades later people still refer back to his work, take a look at this (sorry about the Polish/Russian dubbing, I couldn’t find it in its original language) to see how it references the first clip.

I think what LordXavierBritish is looking for is a game that is considered so important in gaming history that it gets referenced in this way, something that is so ahead of the time in which it was created that games makers looking at new games might see something and think omg that’s just like that bit in that classic game in the same way that film buffs would say omg it’s the step sequence from Battleship Potemkin.

" @LordXavierBritish said:

As tired as the metaphor is, there is no "Citizen Kane of video games."

It's called Metroid: Other M. "

Gears of War 

Shadow of the Colossus and BioShock spring to mind.

" Gears of War  "

" But to get to the point, I don't think we've had that game yet. As tired as the metaphor is, there is no "Citizen Kane of video games." That isn't because video game lack the potential, but because they haven't hit their peak. I'm of the mind that nearly ever other medium of expression has hit its climax and now has their masterpieces denoted by generation rather than overall excellence. I have no authority to be speaking on this topic, at all, but it seems to be that the quintessential works of other mediums are now denoted purely on how well they are able to adapt to the ever changing human sociological structure where as we still have those "Aha!" moments in gaming where the pieces begin to fall into place."

Postal 2

MGS.

Nothing gets more classic than House of the Dead 2. 

  I get tired of the constant attempts to compare milestones in the gaming industry with those of film industry. Can't we look for classics within the context of video games? Citizen Kane is held up in high regards, but it accomplished something only a movie can accomplish. If we're chasing the "Citizen Kane" (or Bonnie and , Seven Samurai, Stagecoach, Lawrence of Arabia, The Godfather etc etc.) of video games then let's focus on what a game has done for the medium. It sounds like a lot of people posting in this thread have little knowledge why Citizen Kane has had such a lasting impact.  I'd love to write a nice lengthy post about that, but I'm being an awesome employee and posting at work. Needless to say there are plenty of great articles on it out there.

My point is that we’ve had plenty of classics when it comes to video games but you just can’t judge it in the same way that you judge a classic film since in the end their both accomplishing entirely different things.

Firstly, there are several games that have had an impact on "the sum of our collective human culture". Take for example World of Warcraft, or Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2.

Secondly, the peak of gaming will be the peak of art, and I don't expect we'll reach that point anytime soon (we're most likely talking The Matrix shit here, with crazy powerful computers wired directly to our brains, simulating worlds so lifelike they're indistinguishable from reality -- and the peak of gaming will be the very best experience that'll ever be provided by such technology).

Last but not least, neither of the above is the definition of "classic". We've had plenty of classics. Super Mario World, Civilization, Doom et cetera.

" @Noodles said:

" @LordXavierBritish said:

As tired as the metaphor is, there is no "Citizen Kane of video games."

It's called Metroid: Other M. "

I think you actually wanted to refer to the Metroid Prime: Trilogy (that's what Michael Thomson declared as the Citizen Kane of video games in his article for IGN in 2009) "

Deadly Premo- 
 
 
 
 
...nevermind

It's because games are toys, primarily for kids

" Super Mario Bros 3 and tetris. "

Starcraft.

" Call of Duty 4 "

• Uncharted 2
• Mass Effect 2
• Batman: Arkham Asylum
• Dead Space
• Super Meat Boy
• Star Wars: The Force Unleashed
• Minecraft
• Left 4 Dead

for this generation? I would say Uncharted 2, or Mass Effect 2.  Those are really the only 2 games within this generation that have really meant anything, at least to me.  I guess you could insert Arkam asylum here too if you wanted. 

Fuckin sucks, people bouncin into this thread like YO MY FAVOURITE GAMES IS DEAD SPACE, JAK AND DAXTER N POKEMON BLUE, ARIGHT BYE.
Forums suck sometimes.

If we're still talking about a game and comparing it to Citizen Kane, that's tough. Kane was what made the general public start to understand film as something more than just entertainment, but something which can genuinely impact you and those around you.

If we go by that definition, why not San Andreas? Sure the game is flawed, but didn't the "Hot Coffee" controversy spark tons of debate in mainstream media?

How about Heavy Rain? That was nearly entirely driven by story and (for people I know, and myself) had an emotional impact on them. (I know a lot of people here hate on Heavy Rain, but I loved it)

This list could go on for eons, but I think the point is that it's nigh impossible to point our fingers at one example and say "here's where people started taking it seriously." By this point the medium has shown it can be serious and it's shown it can be moronic - the question is kind of bunk; but an interesting one to contemplate.

I really effing loved HL2 though.