Poll: What is the best video game of all time? (read the post)

[Purple Shrimp]

Goldeneye.

 

[Commander Jack Rankin]

Of those choices, I had to pick Super Metroid.

 

[AcacianLeaves]

I shouldn't have been called "What is the best video game of all time?" more like "What is your favourit eout of these".

Yeah, probably. Maybe I'm naive but I really didn't expect such a flame war to erupt. I thought people would read the post and understand the goal of the poll. But damn, even after I edited it I still get people like this:

2. wheres GTA3?

Also with this you are just going to get people who post the game that they think is best which is probably MW2 because of all the fucking hype.

That's one thing I was trying to prevent. 'Best Game Ever' threads are a dime a dozen and usually devolve into people saying that whatever game they're currently playing is the best game ever. I wanted to have a very specific criteria that was free of my own bias to see if there might be a consensus based on the games selected using that criteria. It's all very scientific.

 

[sephiroth1991]

As you can tell my tag name. It has to be Final Fantasy 7.

How come portal isn't there?

 

[Beartrucci]

Out of those, I would either say OoT or FFVII, but I haven't played FFVII yet so I voted OoT.

 

[floppylobster]

Tetris is the best game out of those. Almost anyone could pick and play it right now and enjoy it for at least five minutes. Doom is my personal favourite out of your list.

 

[Srcruls]

Ok your source is complete shit. It has taken the most frequent games from these kinds of lists for the past thirteen years. So basically the oldest games will be at the top, because they have been put in these lists since 1993; where as modern games, examples from this site include MW2 and halo 3, have come up in recent years. (Well a year)

So basically this source is saying the older a game is, the better it is; which is complete bullshit. Yahtzee said it best when he commented about old games in one of his video's. (i cant be arsed to remember which one, but he was pretty negative)

You really cant just copy a list from a bad source and try to start a flame war on a web forum, cause that would be just stupid. Give the forum goers some intellegence and try to
post something meaningful next time.

I don't disagree about that being a flaw in the list, but you're ignoring the fact that even the most modern lists shown still have tons of similarities to the older lists. Ocarina of Time is almost always included. Tetris is almost always there. Final Fantasy VII is still common even in the 2008-2009 lists, as is DOOM.

Personally I think for a game to be considered 'the best ever', it needs to stand the test of time. A game needs to show that it can age well, that it can span a generational gap, and still be fun even a decade or more after its release. I also feel that in order for a game to be considered it should be very influential and not just be a good game - but a good game that inspires others to create equally good games and further innovation for the industry (instead of just clones).

Therefore while it is, by its nature, biased to older games - I think the fact that those games are still included in nearly every list since their release says a lot about how great they are.

Ok, i didnt quite explain what i thought i had in my last post. basically your source chooses certain lists for a year. A list from any website or magazine. This is the serious flaw. your source has lists from nintendoworld, Nintendo Power magazine, Nintendorks, official nintendo magazine. He has included IGN and Gamespot amonst others only when they show certain games on there list. In fact gamespot dont even rank there greatest games of all time (http://uk.gamespot.com/gamespot/features/all/greatestgames/index.html) so he's just taken games to support his own views. Also there are no dedicated sony or microsoft magazines so no views by them.

Il admit though there not all nintendo games. Some are put in because even nintendo sites find some other games fantastic, so they will crop up on lists your source uses.

There are 2 reasons (that i can think of) for this.
1. The source author has a hard on for nintendo
2. The source author really likes at least half the games in this list.

I have gone down deep into the source here. The games on this list are good. Im not denying that. and even if i mentioned halo 3, mw2 in my last post i wouldnt say there the greatest games ever either. i guess im trying to say that trying to discuss the best game of all time ever, on a forum; is just a bad idea when you dont allow other users there own contributions.

 

[AcacianLeaves]

Ok, i didnt quite explain what i thought i had in my last post. basically your source chooses certain lists for a year. A list from any website or magazine. This is the serious flaw. your source has lists from nintendoworld, Nintendo Power magazine, Nintendorks, official nintendo magazine. He has included IGN and Gamespot amonst others only when they show certain games on there list. In fact gamespot dont even rank there greatest games of all time (http://uk.gamespot.com/gamespot/features/all/greatestgames/index.html) so he's just taken games to support his own views. Also there are no dedicated sony or microsoft magazines so no views by them.

Il admit though there not all nintendo games. Some are put in because even nintendo sites find some other games fantastic, so they will crop up on lists your source uses.

There are 2 reasons (that i can think of) for this.
1. The source author has a hard on for nintendo
2. The source author really likes at least half the games in this list.

I have gone down deep into the source here. The games on this list are good. Im not denying that. and even if i mentioned halo 3, mw2 in my last post i wouldnt say there the greatest games ever either. i guess im trying to say that trying to discuss the best game of all time ever, on a forum; is just a bad idea when you dont allow other users there own contributions.

That's...not really true. I first read your post and thought "wow how did I miss something like that?" But then when I checked back the source just doesn't really reflect your statement. I mean it would be a valid complaint, but looking over the material that's just simply not the case. An official 'Nintendo' source is included only 4 times out of the 38 lists.

- UK Official Nintendo Magazine - 2009
- Nintendo Power - 2006
- Nintendorks.com - 2000
- Nintendo Power - 1997

For interest's sake let's say those lists are biased and remove them from the equation. Let's also remove a two other sources that aren't wholly reliable. Doing that, and applying the same points system as the original source did, we come up with a top 20 that looks like this:


1. Legend of Zelda: OoT ? 185
2. Tetris ? 126
3. Super Mario 64 ? 120
4. Legend of Zelda: Link to the Past ? 79
5. Super Mario Bros ? 73
6. Final Fantasy VII ? 71
7. Super Metroid ? 61
8. GoldenEye 007 ? 58
9. Super Mario World ? 53
10. Resident Evil 4 ? 52
11. DOOM ? 49
12. Half Life 2 ? 46
13. Street Fighter II ? 43
14. Chrono Trigger ? 42
15. Metal Gear Solid ? 36
16. Final Fantasy VI ? 29
17. Super Mario Bros 3 - 28
18. Civilization II ? 23
19. Half Life ? 21
20. Soul Caliber ? 21

Note: Some score have increased, as there are now 38 lists and when the original calculations were made there were only 32 lists.

Now, if we apply my 'one entry per franchise' rule, and cut it down to fit into a poll with 8 options we get:


1. Legend of Zelda: OoT ? 185
2. Tetris ? 126
3. Super Mario 64 ? 120
6. Final Fantasy VII ? 71
7. Super Metroid ? 61
8. GoldenEye 007 ? 58
10. Resident Evil 4 ? 52
11. DOOM ? 49

The exact same results as the options I provided in the polls. Nothing has changed by removing the 'biased' lists. Feel free to do the calculations again, but I promise you that is accurate. If anyone is interested in the full list and ordered results, IM me and I'll be happy to provide the word/excel files.

Biased they may be, but it's not towards the Nintendo brand, or because the author chose a specific set of lists and poll results. It's biased towards a certain 'era' because a large majority of gamers are biased towards these games. Even looking at just the last 5 years, Ocarina of Time is the clear winner. When it becomes this universal, it's no longer a 'bias' and starts getting closer to a 'consensus'.

Compiling this data basically delivered the same results, even as recent as all the lists just since 2007. The biggest contributors were IGN with 3 users polls and 2 editor's choice lists, EGM with 3 lists, and EDGE with three lists.

I'm not necessarily trying to determine what the best game of all time actually is. We all have our own personal choices. What I'm trying to determine is what members of the escapist think the best game out of the "best games of all time" is. (quotes heavily emphasized)

 

[Nouw]

Yeah, that's right: no 'Other' option. I know its a sin and somewhat distorts the results of the poll, but I did my best to research games that are widely considered to be contenders for the 'best ever' title in gaming. I basically used the source I listed below, enacted a 'one entry per franchise rule', and these are my results.

So vote based on the options available, even if your personal favorite isn't here, what do you consider the best game of all time?

If your answer is 'none of the above', then vote for the game you think best deserves the title - or don't vote and complain about it.

(Source of my Research: http://www.filibustercartoons.com/games.htm )

No RTS? -BEEP- you man. -BEEP- you.

OT: Tetris. I only played like 1 of them. Tetris!

P.S Whats your avatar from?

It's a Troll from the MMO Dark Age of Camelot.

Also, stop censoring yourself and tell me how you really feel

I find it odd that you quoted my post but apparently didn't read it

I will number my thinkings to organise my rebuttal.

1. Thanks for telling me. At first I thought you meant I was the troll.

2.Are you saying I should swear on the forums? Do you want me to swear to you? No, I don't want to get probed so I'm going to say -BEEP- for now or fcking or etc. You're the first person to tell me to say fck you to yourself

3. It just feels like you completely ignored the strategy genre. Maybe PMing you might of been more sensible.