'Human Accomplishment' Class Game Franchises:

Video games are a recent invention.  The innovative variations between them have spread and multiplied, and in each genre there stands a titan that dominates its sphere or a founder who got the ball rolling (sometimes this is one and the same game).  Just like the leader of impressionist art would be recognized alongside the leader of neo-gothic art, every leader of every video game genre deserves the title of a human accomplishment.  In addition, every simply great game or series of games deserves the title of a human accomplishment, for the same reason that no one ignores Leonardo just because Michelangelo exists.

If paintings and sculptures are big deals, why not video games?  Video games have more man-hours of labor put into them, more money invested, a plot, music, animation, gameplay mechanics, and keep people's attention for hundreds of hours.  Even more so with entire game franchises.  I don't see how painters beat software designers in any way.

If we look at all the great gaming franchises that have sprouted up starting around the time of the Nintendo, this is what we get:

Role-Playing Games:

Final Fantasy
Tales of 'x'
Chrono-
Xeno-
Dragon Quest
Zelda
Lunar
Grandia
Star Ocean
Parasite Eve

Octopath Traveler

Bravely Default

Granblue Fantasy Relink

Sandbox Games:

Star Control
Shenmue

Massive Multiplayer Online RPG:

World of Warcraft

Tactical RPG's:

Ogre Battle

Final Fantasy Tactics
Disgaea
Soul Nomad
Phantom Brave
Valkyria Chronicles

Fire Emblem

Triangle Strategy

Real Time Strategy:

Starcraft/Warcraft
Dune II 

Real Time Tactics:

Warhammer:  Shadow of the Horned Rat, Dark Omen
13 Sentinels: Aegis Rim

Unicorn Overlord

Strategy Games:

Colonization
Master of Orion
Heroes of Might and Magic
Warlords
Master of Magic

Racing:

Mario Kart

Platformer:

Mario
Mega Man
Donkey Kong

Side Scrolling Beat-em-up:

Double Dragon
X-men
The King of Dragons

Fighters:

Street Fighter
Powerstones
Smash Brothers
Mortal Kombat
Guilty Gear
Bloody Roar
Dead or Alive

First Person Shooters:

Star Wars: Dark Forces

Hack and Slash:

Dynasty Warriors



To align with my other hall of fame posts, I'll also provide a rough ranking of how good these game franchises are compared to each other, from an entirely subjective point of view:

1.  Final Fantasy

2.  Xenoblade/Xenogears/Xenosaga

3.  Fire Emblem

4.  Tales of 'X'

5.  World of Warcraft

6.  Dynasty Warriors

7.  Final Fantasy Tactics/Tactics Advanced

8.  Unicorn Overlord
9.  Chrono Trigger/Cross

10.  Ogre Battle/Tactics Ogre Reborn/Knight of Lodis

11.  Powerstones

12.  Mega Man

13.  Lunar

14.  Dragon Quest

15.  Octopath Traveler

16.  Starcon
17.  Master of Orion
18.  Warlords
19.  Heroes of Might and Magic
20.  Guilty Gear

21.  Valkyria Chronicles

22.  Soul Nomad
23.  Phantom Brave
24.  Street Fighter
25.  Star Ocean

26.  Master of Magic

27.  Mario Kart

28.  Parasite Eve

29.  Triangle Strategy
30.  Shenmue
31.  Disgaea

32.  13 Sentinels: Aegis Rim

33.  Granblue Fantasy Relink

34.  Mario
35.  Star Wars: Dark Forces
36.  Warhammer: Shadow of the Horned Rat, Dark Omen
37.  Zelda
38.  The King of Dragons
39.  Dune II

40.  Grandia
41.  Warcraft/Starcraft

42.  Bloody Roar

43.  Colonization

44.  Bravely Default

45.  X-men (side scroller for arcades)

46.  Donkey Kong

47.  Smash Brothers

48.  Mortal Kombat

49.  Dead or Alive

50.  Double Dragon

I'm sure I'm missing a number of valid inclusions into this list (Sort of like how Dynasty Warriors still has a lot of characters it needs to add, despite already having 94).  But the important thing is to get your mind around the concept of how many different types of video games and how many different types of gamers there are in the world.  Once you realize how sophisticated and innovative the industry is, you'll start to appreciate how many great people are working in this field.

Video games are a larger industry that entertains people for more total hours than movies.  It's absurd to talk about how great various movie directors are from an artistic viewpoint while ignoring the much more important video game industry.  Granted, Charles Murray avoids this hypocrisy by throwing movies under the bus too (just like he throws rock music, television shows, comic books, and all other modern art under the bus), but that isn't a sane position so it isn't necessary to refute.