Six Games that Changed the World

Without video games, imagine how the world would be. Nerds would be bored, ambitious, productive... They would run the world even more than they do today. Imagine the world without these six video games, though, and you won't be able to sleep tonight.

1. Prince of Persia

Prince of Persia, for those who are completely uninformed, is a role-playing game originally introduced some time a couple decades ago, and recreated in the early 2000s. It won awards for its story, its music, and especially its appearance. Yes indeed - if games could win beauty pageants, this would be Miss Teen USA ("and, like, the Iraq").

Prince of Persia changed the world by making all the game companies ever-so competitive in producing beautiful (yet slightly boring) video games, in order to live up to and surpass the glam.

2. Solitaire

Disturbingly addictive, yet almost impossible to win without Lady Luck on your side, Solitaire taught Microsoft users everywhere it's OK to be alone on Friday night. What other game is so aptly named? Horribly average graphics which haven't changed in a decade, Solitaire continues to entertain Windows users everywhere. The game is so successful, it's even included on some Linux distributions.

3. World of Warcraft

Making appearances on South Park and having Ozzy Osbourne present in commercials, World of Warcraft brought the world of massively multiplayer online role-playing games to mainstream, secular America. Incredibly popular without actually doing anything innovative or cool, World of Warcraft has inspired many novice programmers to compete, causing a huge surge in average MMORPGs over the last few years. Live on, WoW.

4. EverQuest

Also known as EverCrack, EverQuest came before World of Warcraft and remains in existence today. Inspiring nerds everywhere to dress up as drow, EverQuest was one of the original MMORPGs and led to the existence of most of them today. It remains the example to which a game must live up to truly be successful.

5. Pokemon

Sorry, it had to be included. Starting in Japan and traveling overseas to every continent of the world, Pokemon reached huge popularity in the United States during the mid-to-late '90s and fizzled out beginning in the early 2000s. Pokemon changed the world by teaching everybody that cutesy little creatures can still be awesome enough to win over the hearts of fifth graders (and some adults) everywhere.

6. Final Fantasy

Final Fantasy's claim to fame is its ever-continuing story line, big hair, and very strange outfits. Responsible for cosplaying men dressing up as scantily clad women, Final Fantasy is the bane of many peoples' existences, and the lifeblood of others.

Final Fantasy changed the world by providing entertainment for an entire generation (leading to much less ambition from today's 20-year-olds) and making RPGs popular (it's not just for nerds anymore!). It also probably had a hand in making anime so popular in the United States.

While I'm sure I'm leaving out many influential games, like Mario and Tetris (and the occasional bout of FreeCell we all experience), I feel these were the most incredibly, obnoxiously influential on the world in which we live (and game) today.

If you have more to add, feel free to mention them in the comments.