Time magazine's All-TIME Top 100 games

[DoPo]

OK, unrelated, really, but dafuq is wrong with Time's website? Look, I know Firefox hogs memory, but opening that website makes it really bad. As in, I just opened 10 pages and suddenly the RAM usage shot up by more than 300MB. And kept climbing. That shit can't be possible, or rather, shouldn't be possible.

 

[AstylahAthrys]

Marathon is on there. Obviously this list is smart! They did hit my favorite games, though I question Mass Effect 3, and I'd replace Oblivion with Morrowind or Skyrim.

 

[Chimpzy_v1legacy]

Not a bad list, though it seems that oftentimes 'best' is partly equated with 'influential'.

But then again, that is often the case with lists like these. I can understand why some games were included, given their impact on the industry and gaming in general, even if I don't consider them to be all that good.

 

[scorptatious]

Ooh. Shadow of the Colossus and ICO are on there. Nice.

Too bad games like Final Fantasy IX, Metal Gear Solid 3, and Fallout: New Vegas aren't on the list. But hey, what are you going to do?

 

[Zantos]

There are a few things I'd like to take out and a few things I'd like to put in. I mean, no Crash or Spyro? I'd have at least one. Also Bastion. Twice. And did someone mention Psychonauts?

But overall a good, pretty well thought out list. Certainly the best I've seen so far.

 

[T_ConX]

It's a list of safe choices, although some are just plain stupid.

-Pong
-Castle Wolfenstein
-Grand Theft Auto III

I will admit that these games have historical significance, but that's it. No serious film critic would ever put 'Exiting the Facotry' on a list of Top 100 Films, but any time someone puts together a list of top games of all time it always 'gotta put PONG on there!'

None of these games have aged gracefully. GTA3 is practically unplayable after you've experienced all the game-play improvements in the follow ups.

-Solitaire

Are you dead fucking serious?

This is not the kind of list you would get from an actual gamer. This is the kind list you would get if you kidnapped a 54 year old investment baker, tied him to chair, and told him you would kill him AND his family if he couldn't name 100 different video games.

 

[AD-Stu]

Secret of Monkey Island

Agreed - not having any Lucasarts point and clicks from that era (and particularly Monkey Island) seems like a bit of a mistake given how huge the genre got and how influential the games were. Not to mention how damn good they were.

 

[StriderShinryu]

Pretty solid list overall, and I can actually see a justification for the vast majority of entries, even in the cases where I don't agree on their inclusion.

The problem I have with lists like this, however, is that there is no distinction made between influence and quality. There have been many games that have been influential but have not always been great games, even for their time (to name a couple from the list, Mortal Kombat and Leisure Suit Larry). Conversely, there are also games that are great but are more a product of evolution rather than something that could truly be considered groundbreaking or truly innovative (again from the list, Oblivion and Final Fantasy Tactics).

 

[RedDeadFred]

It's actually one of the better lists I've seen.

I would add:
Skyrim
Wind Waker
Fallout 3
Mass Effect 2
ACII

I would take out:
Flower
Gears of War
Arkham City
Desk Top Tower Defense

 

[Saviordd1]

Marathon is on there. Obviously this list is smart! They did hit my favorite games, though I question Mass Effect 3, and I'd replace Oblivion with Morrowind or Skyrim.

Ehhhh

I think Oblivion was the good middle ground on that one.

Story/World wise it wasn't as good as Morrowind but it was miles better than Skyrim.
Combat wise it was miles better than Morrowind but behind Skyrim.

Good middle ground.

OT: No Planescape? That seems odd

 

[aba1]

It's a list of safe choices, although some are just plain stupid.

-Pong
-Castle Wolfenstein
-Grand Theft Auto III

I will admit that these games have historical significance, but that's it. No serious film critic would ever put 'Exiting the Facotry' on a list of Top 100 Films, but any time someone puts together a list of top games of all time it always 'gotta put PONG on there!'

None of these games have aged gracefully. GTA3 is practically unplayable after you've experienced all the game-play improvements in the follow ups.

-Solitaire

Are you dead fucking serious?

This is not the kind of list you would get from an actual gamer. This is the kind list you would get if you kidnapped a 54 year old investment baker, tied him to chair, and told him you would kill him AND his family if he couldn't name 100 different video games.

That is because games generally don't age as well as films do so if we truly only consider games on how good they are by todays standards and not over all based on when they did come out we would only have games from this gen with a few odd balls outside that.

OT: No Ocarina of time or smash bros that really surprises me less smash bros but Ocarina really needs to be on their. I consider smash bros because it is so popular and unique.

 

[AdumbroDeus]

.... why is oblivion there for doing the exact same thing morrowind did except earlier and much better and morrowind isn't?

WTF

 

[Captain_Dreadmor]

I can offer no justification for Leisure Suit Larry, though. That's one of the games I deeply disagreed with on the list.

I dunno - I'd be interested to read their justification for including that one. In a vacuum sure, it's just a smutty version of Kings Quest and not really anything special. But it was also one of the first games designed to appeal specificially to an adult audience. So in that sense I think it's an important moment in gaming history.

here a direct quote from the leisure suit Larry page

Remember King?s Quest from a few slides back? Imagine King?s Quest, except the hero is a loser in a leisure suit and the goal of the game is to score with women. And there?s nudity?sort of ? blocky, pixellated, 1987-era computer game nudity.

Leisure Suit Larry was porn you really had to work for. You played as Larry, a nerdy-looking salesman who lived in a city called Lost Wages and spent the majority of his time looking for love. If you?ve seen The 40 Year-Old Virgin, Larry?s less likable and more desperate than Steve Carell?s character.

Lest you think the game is merely computerized smut, it won the award for ?Best Fantasy, Role Playing or Adventure Game? from the Software Publishers Association the year it came out. Oh, and due to the game?s adult nature, it wasn?t even marketed or publicized initially. A humor-filled adventure game that wasn?t bashful about showing some skin? The world hadn?t seen anything like it.

 

[neonsword13-ops]

There's no Persona 4.

The list loses all credibility.

Seriously, why no Persona 4? It boggles my mind that Okami can make the list but not Persona 4.

 

[Akytalusia]

a sims movie? what the hell would it be about?

 

[Programmed_For_Damage]

Not a bad list. A few notable exceptions but I'd expect that from a mainstream publication like Time. I think I've played about 95% of those games.

 

[axlryder]

It's not a terrible list, really. Obviously put together by people who are at least decently aware of video games. That said, and as others mentioned, obviously there are a few games on there that likely shouldn't be, and who's position on the list are most likely skewed by bias, apparent popularity or general ignorance. I'd be more inclined to switch out a few with similar games rather than replace them with completely unrelated titles.

 

[axlryder]

a sims movie? what the hell would it be about?

I imagine it starting as a lighthearted, quirky drama which quickly spirals into a tragically existential tale that questions the nature of free will as characters and events seem to be manipulated by some celestial puppeteer. Written by Charlie Kaufman.

 

[Arslan Aladeen]

Seems like this list was put together by people who have had a passing interest in games and just put down titles they've heard of. I can see some of these, but why are titles like Mortal Kombat, Doom, Splinter Cell, etc. on their instead of their clearly superior sequels? And Mass Effect 3? No, just no.