10 Pioneering Video Games That Were Way Ahead Of Their Time
8. Shenmue
Released in 2000, Shenmue was said to have had a budget anywhere between $50 and $70 million, which was an industry record at time of release. In fact, the game was so ambitious – and commercially disappointing – that it was singlehandedly responsible for transitioning SEGA from a first-party into a third-party developer, the company financially incapable of continuing to produce games consoles.
With that being said, Shenmue was tremendously ahead of its time, featuring weather effects, a day-and-night cycle and an immersive community of non-playable characters, each of which would perform actions independently of the player, moving around the open environment and interacting with other characters. Besides that, the game was uncharacteristically detailed, making it one of the most innovative titles of its generation.
Interestingly, it was also one of the first games to use quick-time-events during cutscenes, improving upon the immersive quality of the game by keeping the player constantly invested in the action.