Greatest Things to Happen to Games

As teh topic suggest. This is a forum about the greatest things to ever happen to the games from old to today, or supposed things to ever happen.

I personally loved the idea of forge/map creation. Making your own map, litering it with all sorts of goodies, buildings, and stuff; and then sharing it with friends is so awesome.

The best thing to happen to games was when they invented the technology to put them on a screen and called them "Video Games".

Pong. The place where it all started.

I think Map editing and Character creation are the best things to happen, thay can freshen up games after you beat them.

New Game + option

I think music has helped games get better over the years.

I think it would have to have been 3D models.

The ability to collect a bunch of pointless items and display it all as you please in your own room/house/whatever. Character customization is also a very nice thing.

Online feature has to be the greatest thing to happen to games. Then competitive online multiplayer.

I'm partial to a good soundtrack and a modest amount of controls which are easy to learn. Dark humour helps.

Might be why I like the Ratchet & Clank series so much.

Organic Difficulty.
Saves the trouble of putting in different modes.

The ability to have a cinematic effect because it allowed video games to become more sophisticated and to be taken seriously.

When games started having serious, regular voice acting, such as in the PS1 era. We already had soundtracks and a good portion of the ideas that would forge games for years to come, but we didn't exactly have quality voices at the time. We were too restricted by the hardware... but when we made the jump, MAN... I still remember how thrilled I was when I heard voices in videogames, though I don't even remember which was that first one anymore...

Indie games. Cheaper development costs means you're allowed more freedom with creativity, not to mention you don't have to get a job at a gigantic studio to make games you probably don't get any say in. Lower retail prices are just awesome period.

The introduction of good writing.
Most games then were fun and simple activities you did for amusement (Pong, Counter-strike). They had little to no story/lore and those that did were god-awful. Now, you're treated to interactive movies with compelling storylines, character depth, and even humor (Portal 2, Dark Souls).

The blurring of the line between consumer and developer. So, basically, modern PC gaming on the whole. Everything from mods to indie games to Steam Greenlight... tools, programs, and communities that remove almost all barriers between the technology and publisher from the interaction of the developer and their customers.

It's pretty much all I can think of beyond basic interactivity that gaming offers over other linear progression narrative or storytelling mediums. Ain't no book that exists where the developers allow the readers to splice in another chapter for everyone else. There isn't any movie where the developers interact directly with their audience as the film is literally being made. The interactivity of videogames has been taken out of the game and into the hands of those who play and make them. That's just awesome to me. It might seem small compared to other advancements, but I truly believe it is one of the most defining elements of gaming.