Do We Have Our Citizen Kane?

Is there a Citizen Kane of videogames? Answer? Maybe.

 

There is a common argument among game critics and fans over what the "Citizen Kane" of gaming is. For those of you who have never seen or heard of Citizen Kane let me explain. In 1941 H.G. Wells released what many consider the greatest film of all time. Citizen Kane's use of editing, cinematography (camera angles, lens focus, exposure), and acting combined to create the first "modern movie". Techniques used in Citizen Kane are practiced with little change to this day. In essence every film since Citizen Kane has stolen from the ideas it pioneered. Today Citizen Kane just seems like a decent drama, but it is impossible for a film historian to deny the massive impact Citizen Kane has had on the film industry in the 70 years since its release.

 

 

So when you hear someone use the term "The Citizen Kane of videogames" they are basically saying that whatever game they are talking about is the greatest and most infulential game every made and will progress games as both an artform and a craft and will lead to their acceptance in main stream culture. Depending on who you talk to, the Citizen Kane of gaming is everything from Super Mario Brothers, to Mario 64, to Ocarina of Time, to Grim Fandango, to Wolfenstein, to more recent games like Metroid Prime, Half Life 2, Mass Effect 2 or Uncharted 2.

 

The problem with picking any of these games is simple. Every game I listed here has influenced the industry in some way, but how much? Citizen Kane wasn't called the greatest film ever upon release. In fact it wasn't until decades later that it was "discovered" by critics and fans. Filmmakers had known about it for decades, and used its techniques to make virtually every other film since. The key problem is that no one knew in 1941 that in 2011 we would still be watching movies that copied Citizen Kane.

 

So when someone says that Bioshock or Braid or some other art game is the Citizen Kane of videogames, well, how do they know that? They are essentially arguing that Bioshock or what have you is the greatest most influential game ever made. But it's not even been five years since the release of Bioshock. How do we know what games will be like in 50 years? Maybe they will all copy Half Life 2, or maybe the true masterpiece is an underrated gem like Metro 2033. It could even be a game that was poorly rated today, but will eventually lead to something brilliant. Maybe Killzone 3 is the pinnacle of game storytelling and we just don't know it yet. Probably not, but the matter of fact is that we just don't know, so calling any game made in the past 20 years the Citizen Kane of videogames is simply a preemptive argument. Maybe we are right. Maybe we are wrong. But it's far too early to tell. And I'm going to go out on a limb and say that no game made before the start of 3D gaming in the mid 90's has a chance of being the Citizen Kane of gaming, unless, of course, games move back to being 2D.

 

 

But surely you came here for an answer, for my prediction of what will be held up as the Citizen Kane of gaming 50 years from now. My answer? Ultima Underworld. Reasons? More techniques used in that game have been copied since than really any other game I can think of. It was the first game designed with a full 360 degree first person perspective (Sorry Wolfenstein, but Carmack copied his engine from the Looking Glass guys). It was the first game to use a complex physics engine. It was the first game to integrate stealth elements into an action based game. It was the first 3D game to have inclined planes. It was the first game to feature real time lighting in a 3D space. It also featured a compelling narrative, open ended gameplay that allowed for multiple solutions to any problem, several endings depending on how the player played, and a ton of other features that would be copied time and again in most future games. Now am I right about this? Who knows? Maybe I'm off base completely. But you wanted my answer, so there it is.

 

 

Regardless of my opinion, the fact holds true that no one can tell us what the Citizen Kane of videogames will be. And no one will be able to tell us until most of us are old men and women, assuming games continue as a medium, and that humanity still exists in another 50 years. Until then we can only guess what we think will happen. So how about you folks? Are you from the Nintendo camp or are you fans of the Looking Glass line of folk (Ultima Underworld, Thief, System Shock, and whose leaders would go on to make Deus Ex, Bioshock, Arx Fatalis, and Epic Mickey)? Maybe you argue that Black Isle (Fallout, Planescape, Icewind Dale) or Bioware (Baldure's Gate, Neverwinter Nights, KOTOR, Dragon Age, Mass Effect) are the masters. There are tons of choices. Team Ico? Naughty Dog? Bungie? id? Bethesda? Platinum? Rockstar? Epic? So what game do you predict will be the Citizen Kane of videogames and what studio/person do you think will be our H.G. Wells?