Well if you are going to the trouble of making a thousand game list, you might as well make it grandiose and call it "1001 Games that every gamer should try before they die" or something in the like. Making it just a list of "1001 good games" or "1001 games the racketboy community liked" diminishes the accomplishment and hard work of creating such an extensive list.
Once you get the title right (which is important and should not be overlooked), time to develop some criteria.
Games included should fit into at least one and hopefully more of the following potential categories, without being elitist dicks
:Cultural impact- Games that broke barriers or raised awareness for VGs in pop culture or the world stage. Games that bridged gaps between casual non-gamers and hardcore gamers and/or games that defined a generation or genre that exists today. Potential examples: Donkey Kong, Super Mario Bros., Tetris, Pokemon, Angry Birds
Industry impact- Games that set industry standard, set sales records and/or influenced many games that followed them. Games that helped sell a console/brand or became flagship titles for a developer/publisher. Potential examples: Starcraft, Halo, Gran Turismo, FF7
Technological impact- Games that ushered in new technology, chipsets and pushed the boundaries of the consumer technology they were provided on. Games who's hardware or development that spurred the next great leaps in gaming technology. Potential examples: Starfox, Goldeneye, Unreal, Quake
Games that spawned successful franchises- Nuff said. Games that not only put out a ton of sequels or pushed product lines, but also have huge fanbases. Potential examples: Zelda, Super Mario, Sonic, Tekken, Street Fighter, Warcraft, Call of Duty, Madden etc. Then take from those franchises the most beloved and impactful titles out of each franchise for consideration.
Games that have universal critical/fan acclaim- Games that almost unanimously scored near perfect in all reviews or are beloved for any number of reasons. This would be the catchall kind of category...Potential examples: Chrono Trigger, Metroid Prime, Mass Effect, Portal, DK Country etc.
Again the above is just EXAMPLE categories and titles. The point was just trying to get some kind of structure to start listing games under, and eliminating them from there. Don't get hung up on categorizing them however, it's only meant to be used as a guideline for games making a cut.
Where a "group" will be useful is- you shouldn't just list the game and put a number next to it or a link to it's wiki page. I think to make such a list even more impressive than those who have attempted it before, is to provide a personal (and contributor group approved) explanation, in detail, for every single game on the list. Maybe a paragraph or two citing the reasons WE THINK they should play it and acknowledge it.
Daunting? Sure, but since there is no time limit and urgency to complete it... why not ball the #$%! out with it? Go hard or go home. #insertinspirationalphraseolgyhere
I'm interested to see how you'd even start going about this.
