As a 40 year old core gamer, I know I am in the minority here as far as the prime demographic is concerned. Nevertheless, my advanced years do give me a certain insight into this fabulous industry. So, the other day I read where someone said that Super Mario. Bros for the NES is the game that saved gaming. That may very well be true. But, I started wondering something. If you look at this industry now, the one segment of the economy that seems recession resilient (don't kid yourself...nothing is recession proof), one has to wonder how we got to this point. And I keep coming back to the same 3 letters: G-T-A. So I wonder: Has GTA had a bigger impact on gaming than Super Mario did? Think about it.

I started gaming on the Odyssey some time in the 70's. Gaming was just starting to get going but it was nothing yet. Then Space Invaders hit the arcades. For the younger folks here, man I wish I could explain what that was like. It is so easy to take the graphics we have now for granted, but back then, as fugly as the graphics were, no one had seen anything like Space Invaders before, as simplistic as it is by our standards today. Then Pac-Man hit and it was good night, game over, drive home safely for a nation. Atari sought to capitalize on the craze and put a 2600 in everyones house. And, the games were not really that good. They looked nothing like what we had in the arcade, especially games like Pac-Man, Asteroids, and Space Invaders. Nobody cared. Everyone was so thrilled to be playing Pac-Man in their homes, even if it looked more like Pac Monster. With the exception of Combat and Adventure, the list of stellar titles for the 2600 was pretty thin...and still nobody cared. Intellivision improved on this a bit, at least as far as sports games were concerned, but by the time Colecovision (remember that one) hit, the market was flooded with so much crap that everyone finally woke up and realized the gold they thought they had was just pyrite. Once ET came out, it was all over, even though there were already games worse than that floating around at the time. Gaming went into a long coma. Sure, the computers were still fun. The Commodore 64 had a few good games out. But, when the most exciting thing is playing strip poker on the Atari 800? Yeah...exactly.

So, its 1985 and here comes the NES with Super Mario Bros, and the sleeping giant is awoken. Now lets look at Super Mario. No question, this may be the greatest game of all time. We have all played it. But Super Mario's legacy is measured not by that one game itself, but by what it led to. Think back if you can: Blades of Steel, Double Dribble, Contra, and Double Dragon all came out shortly thereafter. Then the original Metal Gear and the first Dragon Warrior here in the States. Oh, and some franchise with a elf looking guy with a green cap. I mean the Legend of Zelda may have even been a better game than Super Mario was. It was like the polar opposite of the market just before the Crash. Now the market was flooded with good, and quite often great, games. Super Mario has to therefore be looked at not just as a great game, but by what it led to. Did it resurrect the gaming industry? Absolutely. Without Super Mario, we would never have seen the SNES, Genesis, N64, the original Playstation, Dreamcast, or PS2. This website would not exist but for Super Mario. But, is it the most important game in the history of gaming?

I offer this as thought. Now look, I like GTA and I have played all of them since GTA III. But it is not my favorite series of all time. Personally, I think the Halo series is just as good, maybe a bit better. Be that as it may, has GTA made a bigger difference to gaming than Super Mario did? OK. Stop laughing. As an attorney, I will lay out the evidence before you and you decide. GTA III launches in October of '01. The PS2 has been out for about a year, a tad less actually, and those of us who have one note the significant difference in graphics and things like that. But, many of us are still playing our original PS games, even if we are now playing them on our PS2s. When GTA III hit, it was like the shot heard round the world. Nothing has been the same since. Since that game was released, the gaming industry has been on overdrive and it has never looked back. Think about it. That game may have been solely responsible for the still staggering PS2 install base. Because of that install base, and the stunning revenues being drawn, we saw Microsoft and Nintendo wanting to get in on the action, which led to the original Xbox, which in turn led to Halo, which then led to the 360, which led to the Wii, etc. Thus, while Super Mario resurrected the gaming industry, GTA sent it into the stratosphere. Gaming has now surpassed movies in total revenue. Why wouldn't it? $60 will barely even cover the cost of going to the movies anymore...and its all over in 2 hours or so. Games can last anywhere from 5-100 hours. And games offer a real opportunity to do things movies cannot. Games are interactive, make you think, are challenging, and can be enjoyed with your friends. Best of all, characters do not have to age in games, unless the developers want them to. Movie franchises can see an extended life through the development of games that enhance, or add to, the original story, such as with the Force Unleashed. This is why you are seeing the new Wanted game being touted as a sequel, or the new Ghostbusters game being called Ghostbusters III. The reason this is possible is because GTA III, and its progeny, broke down all the doors, generated all the money, and led to the development of machines and technology that made all this possible.

So, is GTA more important to gaming than Super Mario. Certainly not from a purely iconic standpoint. Sorry, but CJ and Nikko fall very flat when compared to the Italian Princess saving plumber.But, for what it has led to, and where things will go in the future, one cannot minimize the tremendous impact the GTA series has had on gaming. With the first GTA game for the DS being released, this seemed like a good time for a thought provoking question for everyone.

Let the debate begin