You know when you start discussing certain topics, passion, experience and personal preference are going to come in to play, but really when you talk of best movies for example its usually over the details of deciding if Citizen Kane is REALLY better than Casablanca or if Gone with the Wind is as good as Lawrence of Arabia or in what proper order to put The Godfather, Star Wars and Blade Runner in the top 10 is. There is no real debate about the best; sure every so often someone wants to throw in a 2010, or a Clockwork Orange or a Pulp Fiction much higher than it should be, but in the end ultimately and simply the best are the best because they are the best.
Placing video games in such a list is the same. Zelda, Mario, Metroid, Tetris, Final Fantasy...there are games that are going to be there. The details come down to which is #1 and which is #5. Basically some are going to say Zelda, some will say Mario, there may be an argument here or there for a Donkey Kong, or a Doom or even perhaps a Halo, but again ultimately the cream of the crop is not up for much debate.
I mostly agree with the list as I imagine most gamers will. Sure I personally would flip #1 and #2, but its a solid list; and ultimately a predictable and boring one. But even so, I am ALWAYS up for discussing and debating it of course. Believe it or not, I at times have been accused of being a fanboy. It is a tag I neither really dispute or argue. Of some things I am an unabashed fan boy. And proud of it. Most of the criticisms are because of my feelings towards Microsoft's Xbox family of machines. Now despite the original XBox's oversized controller and the failure rate of over 50% on the 360, I can agree that machines are fine. The graphics are fine and sure the 360 has done considerably better than its competitors in online gaming. But there is a reason no Xbox games show up in the top 10 of this list. Despite its popularity and its penchant for failing the XBox and the 360 just frankly have not had as important of an impact on gaming.
I've been told that I am flat out wrong on this a couple of times today, but I still maintain my stance. Using GI's list as a starting point, there are not that may games here and for good reason. Microsoft has used their gaming consoles to homogenize the gaming industry and really have just built on others successes and ideas. Again I am not saying everything about these consoles are terrible. The UI on the 360, Xbox Live, the S-controller, Halo. All good. But again my entire feeling on the Microsoft era of gaming is that they have not done anything unique, interesting, groundbreaking or compelling that has a lasting game-changing impact on gaming. I am a hard core gamer and even had the original Xbox for quite ahwile, but have never been compelled to get a 360. Everyone's argument is "xbox live xbox live! its so good!" Well it is an extra paid service, I would expect it to be good. But compelling? The want me to pay extra to have some 11 year old redneck kid cuss me out and shoot my ass in Halo? No thanks. And the Dreamcast had a great online experience. Just 8 years to early.
Show me Xbox's Zelda. No, not an RPG on the xbox that is similar to Zelda. Show me an RPG on the XBox that defined or redefined the genre. The broke down barriers. That created an iconic world renowned franchise.
Show me Xbox's Mario. Where is their genre defining, game changing, icon creating platformer? A franchise that reinvigorates itself with each new title, bringing unique innovations to the genre time and time again.
Show me Xbox's Metal Gear Solid. A game that rewrote the rules on what an action game should be.
Halo? Sure its great. I attended the private premier party thrown by Bungie in Chicago for fans and the media for the original Halo as a writer for the now defunct www.amazing-colossal.com website. I played it. I liked it. I saw it demoed on Macs. (Everything Bungie did that evening was done on a Mac, except of course playing the game on Xboxs ). But, I'll take Goldeneye and Quake 3 any day.
Honestly, I love my PS3 and think the UI is great now, but they are not really doing much compelling new stuff now, but the playstation family has. I think if I was new to gaming the choice between the 360 and PS3 would be difficult. I think really Nintendo is the only company still innovating and moving things forward in an interesting and unique way with the Wii and DS. There are lots of great games for PS3 and 360, but I do not see Microsoft or yes Sony now doing anything as important to gaming as Nintendo, Sega and Sony did in the past.
I am going to go play some Advanced Dungeons and Dragons or Tron Deadly Discs on my Intellivision now. Here are my top 10 in honor of GI's massive list.
1. Super Mario Bros. (NES)
2. The Legend of Zelda (NES)
3. Metal Gear Solid (PlayStation)
4. Super Mario 64/Super Mario Galaxy (tie) (Nintendo 64)/(Wii)
5. Metroid (NES)
6. The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time (Nintendo 64)
7. Mario Kart (Super Nintendo)
8. Quake 3/Goldeneye (tie) (Dreamcast)/(Nintendo 64)
9. Resident Evil: Code Veronica (Dreamcast)
10. Gran Turismo 2 (Playstation)
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and for the record Billy Madison is the best Adam Sandler movie. Ever.
Rich and I talked at length about this topic today and we sit on opposite sides of this issue.
I flat out love my XBOX 360 and sold off both the Wii and the PS3.
The 360 has evolved into not just a gaming system but an entertainment device - I can play all the great games, but now I can play Netflix, listen to Last.FM, stream content to it from a computer, and if you are in the UK you can watch IPTV on it with DVR functionality.
I agree with the failure rate. As someone who has had three of them it's saying something about the quality of the experience that I keep coming back to it time and time again.
Yes, the online service is paid -- and you get what you pay for. I'm not going to disagree that there are times where some punk kid will heckle you while you play your favorite shooter, but you can choose to mute them.
I've had amazing experiences teaming up with friends of mine in a party and just chatting while one is playing Halo 3, another is playing the latest Madden, and I'm playing a relaxing game of Uno. We can also all jump into a movie on Netflix and watch it together -- much like our own version of Mystery Science Theater 3000.
And where I really think that the 360 is showing innovation is in the XBOX Primetime Channel. Two days a week I play what is basically an interactive game show complete with a live host and prizes... this is just the beginning, Microsoft is realizing that they can provide a rich interactive experience through it's Xbox Live service -- sure to get to the good stuff you pay $50 a year, but to me it's worth it for a dead simple friends interface, a seamless multiplayer experience, a buddy list that is connected to other social media sites like Facebook and Twitter, and much much more.
I've since connected with friends from my past and we've played online together, and it's been a very very rewarding experience. We can move our chat into a private party and never talk to the 13 year olds playing in our game - which is a beautiful thing.
If anything, Microsoft coming to the party has pushed Nintendo and Sony into new directions... to not rest on doing the same things over and over again.
I think the industry as a whole is better for it.
Nintendo could really screw up this Wii experience. There's an abundance of shovelware on the system. It seems to me that the only developer who can make a stellar game on the Wii is Nintendo themselves. I liked Mario Galaxy, but I thought it was too much like Mario64 - which was great in 1996.
The new SMB for Wii is a back to basics platformer that we saw on the DS... and there needs to be more of that.
Wii games can be fun, but I feel like with each Nintendo hardware release I feel like I'm getting the same meal, each wrapped up in a prettier wrapper each time.
There is some tugging at the heart strings that Nintendo brings to the table... I had an Atari and a Commodore 64. But it wasn't until I got my NES in 1986 (w/ROB!) that I truly new what gaming was.
I really really wanted to like the PS3... I was excited when I got one. Then I tried to connect with my friend Bryan to play some Warhammer, and it was a nightmare to do. It wasn't elegant, it felt that each game was different in how you connected, and there was no uniform way to do so. I found myself when it came time to buy a game that was on both the 360 and PS3 that I chose the 360 because of how everything is laid out, it just felt more refined.
I sold the PS3 for $300, and the Wii for $350 -- do I regret it? Sometimes... when I see Drake's Fortune 2, or the new SMB. But I had to choose one and get behind it, and for me that was the 360.
(I have a DSi now, so I get my Nintendo fix)
I like that Rich and I can have different views and neither one of us are wrong... maybe we should do a podcast.
Oh my Top Ten
1. Tetris (Gameboy)
2. SMB 3 (NES)
3. Zelda 1 (NES)
4. Halo 3 (XBOX 360)
5. NFL 2K5 (XBOX)
6. Starcraft (PC)
7. Half-Life (PC)
8. Day of the Tentacle (PC)
9. Soulcalibur (Dreamcast)
10. Gabriel Knight (PC)
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