8 Iconic Moments From Each Era Of Games
The moments that defined gaming over the decades.
Gaming may be an incredibly young art form compared to the likes of music, books, movies, and TV, but it's already amassed an incredibly rich and storied history over its comparatively brief six decades in operation.
And so, while any given year of gaming is populated with countless moments-with-a-capital-M, cherry-picking just a single moment from each era or generation of the industry is one hell of a tough ask.
Even the most casual-minded of gamers have surely been wowed by so many moments over the course of their gaming career potentially spanning many decades, but by knuckling down and having a long, hard think about the most impactful game moments ever, these surely come out on top.
Taking a single epochal moment from each of the various gaming eras, these are the ones that continue to live on in our hearts and minds above all others all this time later.
Whether cleverly reinventing gameplay in ways we couldn't have ever imagined, hitting us with a devastating story reveal, or ambitiously pushing the medium forward, these moments are all branded on our brains forever more...
8. Pac-Man Turns The Tables - Pac-Man
Let's kick things off way back in 1980 with one of the most enduring and recongisable video games of all time - Pac-Man.
The game's mere release is one hell of an iconic moment, but in terms of gameplay mechanics, it's the introduction of the power pellet which elevated Pac-Man from brilliant to an all-timer.
The legendary maze game flipped the script with the inclusion of power pellets, which if munched on by the player, allowed them to turn the tables, giving them the ability to devour the pursuing ghosts instead and send them back to the center of the level.
It's a tremendously satisfying wrinkle, to see the ghosts turn on their heel and start fleeing from you, as you inch ever closer to their hides and gobble them up.
But of course, there's a degree of strategy to knowing when to use the limited number of pellets for maximum effectiveness.
Amusingly, the very idea of power pellets was reportedly inspired by Popeye the Sailor and the superhuman transformation he undergoes after chugging a can of spinach. Go figure.