Elite (video Game) - Legacy

Legacy

Elite is credited as being the breakthrough title that defined the modern space flight simulation genre, as well as being influential upon gaming as a whole. It was named one of the sixteen most influential games in history at Telespiele, a German technology and games trade show, and has been credited as being the first truly open-ended game and opening the door for future online persistent worlds such as Second Life, World of Warcraft and EVE Online. Elite is one of the most popularly requested games to be remade, with some arguing that it is still the best example of the genre to date, with more recent titles—including its sequel—not rising up to the same level.

Elite was named #12 on IGN's 2000 "Top 25 PC Games of All Time" list, the #3 most influential video game ever by the Times Online in 2007, #6 "Greatest Game" by Stuff magazine in 2008, #1 "Top Retro Game" by Retro Gamer in 2004, and #1 "best game of the 1980s" by Next Generation Magazine in 2008. The game was retrospectively awarded 10/10 by the multi-format magazine Edge—together with only 2 other games— and is being exhibited at such places as the London Science Museum in the "Game On" exhibition organized and toured by the Barbican Art Gallery. In 1984 Elite received the Golden Joystick Award for "Best Original Game". In 1985 the game was named "Best Game Overall" for that year by readers of Crash magazine, and "Game of the Year" by Computer Gamer. Elite's sequel, Frontier: Elite II, was named #77 on PC Zone's "101 Best PC Games Ever" list in 2007. Elite is listed in Game On! From Pong to Oblivion: The 50 Greatest Video games of All Time (ISBN 0755315707) by authors Simon Byron, Ste Curran and David McCarthy. In his review of the game for Beebug Magazine in 1984, reviewer David Fell called Elite "the best game ever" for the BBC Micro.

The game was a significant source of inspiration for later games in its genre. In interviews, the senior producers of CCP Games have cited Elite as one of the inspirations for their acclaimed MMORPG, Eve Online. Thorolfur Beck in particular has said that Elite was the game that impacted him most on the Commodore 64, and that it was the prime motivator behind Eve Online. The developers of Jumpgate Evolution, Battlecruiser 3000AD, Infinity: The Quest for Earth, Hard Truck: Apocalyptic Wars and Flatspace have likewise all credited Elite as a source of inspiration. Similar praise has been bestowed elsewhere in the media over the years.