racketboy.com

Menegrothx wrote:

Luke wrote:That list is jacked. Super mario bros. over smb.3? Madden '95 over NHL '94?

Super Mario Bros has a far greater influence than smb3, it's by far one of the most influental video games of all time. See my comment in the other thread

I don't see at all where Time said they were listing the most influential games. And per your list, not one of the games you listed had any influence on me. So then it becomes an argument of who and what did a game influence, and that is a subjective argument.

I stand by comment saying the list is jacked.

Luke wrote:I don't see at all where Time said they were listing the most influential games.

this.

People seem to comment on these sorts of lists before even figuring out what the criteria or goal of the list was supposed to be.

noiseredux wrote:

Luke wrote:I don't see at all where Time said they were listing the most influential games.

this.

People seem to comment on these sorts of lists before even figuring out what the criteria or goal of the list was supposed to be.

And that's why I don't care for lists like this. I don't think units sold is a good criteria for a "best of" list, but if at least I was told it was based on units sold at least I know where they are coming from.

The members of Racketboy are not exactly the audience for these type of pieces in magazines like TIME but I was pretty surprised at the detail of some of the selections.

It flat-out states it is their (about five collaborators it seems) opinion of the top 100 games of all-time. It is an entertaining piece. Getting upset over the approach is foolish and a waste of energy. This is a fun read that does our hobby an actual service.

What I found most interesting are the poll results at the very bottom in the deslided link. The polled choices for each selection are "Definitely" or "No Way".

While I initially thought the Paperboy inclusion was more based on nostalgia (the writer there clearly had a lot of experience with the game), the poll results were very positive towards it being a good choice. Paperboy 140 39

The ones readers disagreed with most:

Castle Wolfenstein
Zork
Adventure
Leisure Suit Larry
Tempest
Wizardry
Hunt the Wumpus (ouch)
Flower
Rez

retrosportsgamer wrote:The members of Racketboy are not exactly the audience for these type of pieces in magazines like TIME but I was pretty surprised at the detail of some of the selections.

It flat-out states it is their (about five collaborators it seems) opinion of the top 100 games of all-time. It is an entertaining piece. Getting upset over the approach is foolish and a waste of energy. This is a fun read that does our hobby an actual service.

What I found most interesting are the poll results at the very bottom in the deslided link. The polled choices for each selection are "Definitely" or "No Way".

While I initially thought the Paperboy inclusion was more based on nostalgia (the writer there clearly had a lot of experience with the game), the poll results were very positive towards it being a good choice. Paperboy 140 39

The ones readers disagreed with most:

Castle Wolfenstein
Zork
Adventure
Leisure Suit Larry
Tempest
Wizardry
Hunt the Wumpus (ouch)
Flower
Rez

Seeing so many people disagreeing with Adventure being on the list makes me sad.

In my opinion, the problem with lists like these is that games that were groundbreaking 20 years ago are relatively simplistic by today's standards. (In other words, Super Mario Bros. was an incredible plaformer at the time of its release - and it remains a good game to this day - but is it really "better" than the recently-released but much less influential New Super Mario Bros. Wii or Rayman Origins?) Accordingly, lists that try to determine the "best" games of all time usually end up blending the "best" games with the "most influential" games.

I have only seen two lists that ever nailed it. The first appeared in EGM's 100th issue:

http://kirkjerk.com/vgames/powerlist/egm100.html

and it is hard for me to argue that the games on this list were not the "best" games available in 1997. The second appeared in EGM's 200th issue:

http://www.1up.com/features/egm-200-greatest-videogames

This list contains the best of games of their time, and I read it as a list of the "most influential" games.

(It is important to note that, since EGM was a magazine about consoles, it excluded PC games from both lists. Accordingly, some classic PC games such as Doom, Starcraft, etc. do not appear on either list.)

EDIT: That said, I consider Super Mario Bros. to remain one of the best, most influential, and most perfectly constructed video games of all time. For me, it would rank very highly on both a list of "best" games and a list of "most influential" games.

I like that EGM list and recall reading it before.

#31 NFL Gameday '98 (!) - a great game somehow topped by Madden '98 at #19 for the Saturn and PSX (not sure I agree with that but dont think i've played those versions).

retrosportsgamer wrote:I like that EGM list and recall reading it before.

#31 NFL Gameday '98 (!) - a great game somehow topped by Madden '98 at #19 for the Saturn and PSX (not sure I agree with that but dont think i've played those versions).

I still have the original issue 100 - which, BTW, is the best issue of EGM ever - and it contains relatively detailed explanations as to why each game: (1) made it on the list; and (2) placed where it did on the list. I have not paid much attention to the sports game rankings, but I will take a look at it and see why EGM's editorial staff ranked Madden above Gameday.

The EGM list from '97 had Axelay on the list. Their place in history is secure

(it also was the place where they said an Axelay 2 was to come out!)

ExedExes wrote:The EGM list from '97 had Axelay on the list. Their place in history is secure

(it also was the place where they said an Axelay 2 was to come out!)

No doubt. Axelay was boss back in '97...who am I kidding, it's STILL boss!

I am still waiting on Axelay 2, however. Get on that Konami.