Game Informer Top 200 Games of All Time

[vdub_bobby]

Got the latest Game Informer yesterday, and for the 200th issue they listed their top 200 games of all time.

 

Here's the list:

1 -- The Legend of Zelda (NES, 1987)

2 -- Super Mario Bros. (NES, 1985)

3 -- Tetris (PC, 1984)

4 -- Grand Theft Auto III (PS2, 2001)

5 -- Half-Life 2 (PC, 2004)

6 -- Doom (PC, 1993)

7 -- Metroid (NES, 1986)

8 -- Final Fantasy III (SNES, 1994)

9 -- Super Mario Bros. 3 (NES, 1990)

10 -- Ms. Pac-Man (coin-op, 1981)

11 -- World of Warcraft (PC, 2004)

12 -- The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past (SNES, 1992)

13 -- Super Mario 64 (N64, 1996)

14 -- Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare (PS3/360/PC, 2007)

15 -- Final Fantasy VII (PS, 1997)

16 -- Mike Tyson's Punch-Out!! (NES, 1987)

17 -- Chrono Trigger (SNES, 1995)

18 -- Resident Evil 4 (GameCube, 2005)

19 -- Metal Gear Solid (PS, 1998)

20 -- The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time (N64, 1998)

21 -- Super Metroid (SNES, 1994)

22 -- Contra (NES, 1988)

23 -- Galaga (coin-op, 1981)

24 -- Castlevania: Symphony of the Night (PS, 1997)

25 -- Street Fighter II (coin-op, 1991)

26 -- God of War (PS2, 2005)

27 -- BioShock (360/PC, 2007)

28 -- Diablo II (PC, 2000)

29 -- Half-Life (PC, 1998)

30 -- The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivious (360/PC, 2006)

31 -- Tecmo Super Bowl (NES, 1991)

32 -- GoldenEye 007 (N64, 1997)

33 -- Super Mario Kart (SNES, 1992)

34 -- Sonic the Hedgehog (Genesis, 1991)

35 -- Starcraft (PC, 1998)

36 -- Civilization (PC, 1991)

37 -- SimCity (PC, 1989)

38 -- Mega Man 2 (NES, 1988)

39 -- Halo: Combat Evolved (Xbox, 2001)

40 -- Gran Turismo (PS, 1998)

41 -- Resident Evil 2 (PS, 1998)

42 -- Pokemon Red and Blue (GB, 1996)

43 -- Final Fantasy X (PS2, 2001)

44 -- EverQuest (PC, 1999)

45 -- Final Fantasy Tactics (PS, 1998)

46 -- Grand Theft Auto IV (PS3/360, 2008)

47 -- Super Mario World (SNES, 1991)

48 -- Deus Ex (PC, 2000)

49 -- Guitar Hero (PS2, 2005)

50 -- Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty (PS2, 2001)

51 -- Super Mario Galaxy (Wii, 2007)

52 -- Pac-Man (coin-op, 1980)

53 -- Battlefield 2 (PC, 2005)

54 -- Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic (Xbox, 2003)

55 -- Ico (PS2, 2001)

56 -- Uncharted 2: Among Thieves (PS3, 2009)

57 -- Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 2 (PS, 2000)

58 -- Mass Effect (360, 2007)

59 -- Adventure (2600, 1980)

60 -- Arkanoid (coin-op, 1986)

61 -- The Legend of Zelda: Link's Awakening (GB, 1993)

62 -- Star Wars: X-Wing (PC, 1993)

63 -- The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask (N64, 2000)

64 -- Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas (PS2, 2004)

65 -- Fallout 3 (PS3/360/PC, 2008)

66 -- Zork (PC, 1980)

67 -- Soul Calibur (DC, 1999)

68 -- Double Dragon (coin-op, 1987)

69 -- Dr. Mario (NES, 1990)

70 -- The Sims (PC, 2000)

71 -- Age of Empires (PC, 1997)

72 -- Mortal Kombat II (coin-op, 1993)

73 -- Rock Band 2 (PS3/360, 2008)

74 -- Tomb Raider (PS, 1996)

75 -- Super Bomberman (SNES, 1993)

76 -- Mario's Picross (GB, 1995)

77 -- Ninja Gaiden (NES, 1989)

78 -- Command & Conquer (PC, 1995)

79 -- Kingdom Hearts (PS2, 2002)

80 -- Final Fantasy II (SNES, 1991)

81 -- Super Mario Bros. 2 (NES, 1988)

82 -- Left 4 Dead (PC, 2008)

83 -- Okami (PS2, 2006)

84 -- Shadow of the Colossus (PS2, 2005)

85 -- Metroid Prime (GameCube, 2002)

86 -- Super Smash Bros. Melee (GameCube, 2001)

87 -- Warcraft II: Tides of Darkness (PC, 1995)

88 -- Baldur's Gate II: Shadows of Amn (PC, 2000)

89 -- God of War II (PS2, 2007)

90 -- The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess (Wii, 2006)

91 -- Ratchet & Clank: Up Your Arsenal (PS2, 2004)

92 -- Medal of Honor: Allied Assault (PC, 2002)

93 -- Skies of Arcadia (DC, 2000)

94 -- The Legend of Zelda: Wind Waker (GameCube, 2003)

95 -- Silent Hill 2 (PS2, 2001)

96 -- Counter-Strike (PC, 1999)

97 -- Sonic the Hedgehog 2 (Genesis, 1992)

98 -- Grand Theft Auto: Vice City (PS3/360, 2009)

99 -- Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time (PS2/Xbox/GameCube/PC, 2003)

100 -- Portal (PC/360, 2007)

101 -- The Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind (PC, 2002)

102 -- Heroes of Might & Magic III (PC, 1999)

103 -- Donkey Kong (coin-op, 1981)

104 -- Batman: Arkham Asylum (PS3/360, 2009)

105 -- System Shock 2 (PC, 1999)

106 -- Resident Evil (PS, 1996)

107 -- Gears of War (360, 2006)

108 -- Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots (PS3, 2008)

109 -- Crash Bandicoot: Warped (PS, 1998)

110 -- Halo 2 (Xbox, 2004)

111 -- Tetris Attack (SNES, 1996)

112 -- Final Fantasy XII (PS2, 2006)

113 -- Earthbound (SNES, 1995)

114 -- Sid Meier's Alpha Centauri (PC, 1998)

115 -- Command & Conquer: Red Alert (PC, 1996)

116 -- Advance Wars (GBA, 2001)

117 -- Fallout (PC, 1997)

118 -- Team Fortress 2 (PS3/360/PC, 2007)

119 -- Splinter Cell: Chaos Theory (Xbox, 2005)

120 -- Mega Man X (SNES, 1994)

121 -- Lemmings (PC, 1991)

122 -- Panzer Dragoon Saga (Saturn, 1998)

123 -- NHL '94 (Genesis/SNES, 1993)

124 -- Warlords (coin-op, 1980)

125 -- Shadowrun (SNES, 1993)

126 -- Twisted Metal 2 (PS, 1996)

127 -- Oddworld: Abe's Oddysee (PS, 1997)

128 -- Metroid Fusion (GBA, 2002)

129 -- Homeworld (PC, 1999)

130 -- Kingdom Hearts II (PS2, 2006)

131 -- Pilotwings (SNES, 1991)

132 -- Quake II (PC, 1997)

133 -- Star Wars Jedi Knight: Dark Forces II (PC, 1997)

134 -- Borderlands (PS3/360/PC, 2009)

135 -- Final Fight (coin-op, 1989)

136 -- Star Fox (SNES, 1993)

137 -- Madden NFL '99 (PS/N64/PC, 1999)

138 -- Call of Duty 2 (360/PC, 2005)

139 -- Wolfenstein 3D (PC, 1992)

140 -- Diablo (PC, 1996)

141 -- Civilization IV (PC, 2005)

142 -- Maniac Mansion: Day of the Tentacle (PC, 1993)

143 -- Assassin's Creed (PS3/360, 2007)

144 -- Burnout 3: Takedown (PS2/Xbox, 2004)

145 -- Unreal Tournament 2004 (PC, 2004)

146 -- Power Stone 2 (DC, 2000)

147 -- Super Castlevania IV (SNES, 1991)

148 -- Super Mario RPG (SNES, 1996)

149 -- Warcraft III: Reign of Chaos (PC, 2002)

150 -- ActRaiser (SNES, 1991)

151 -- Fable (Xbox, 2004)

152 -- Xenosaga Episode I: Der Wille zur Macht (PS2, 2003)

153 -- Asteroids (coin-op, 1979)

154 -- LittleBigPlanet (PS3, 2008)

155 -- Crackdown (360, 2007)

156 -- Gauntlet (coin-op, 1985)

157 -- Devil May Cry (PS2, 2001)

158 -- Pong (coin-op, 1972)

159 -- Battlefield 1942 (PC, 2002)

160 -- Thief (PC, 1998)

161 -- Geometry Wars: Retro Evolved (360, 2005)

162 -- Far Cry (PC, 2004)

163 -- Robotron: 2084 (coin-op, 1982)

164 -- X-COM: UFO Defense (PC, 1993)

165 -- Peggle (PC, 2007)

166 -- King's Quest VI (PC, 1992)

167 -- Doom II (PC, 1994)

168 -- Tempest 2000 (Jaguar, 1994)

169 -- Braid (360, 2008)

170 -- Ridge Racer (PS, 1995)

171 -- Bully (PS2, 2006)

172 -- Ikaruga (GameCube, 2006)

173 -- Lode Runner (Apple II, 1983)

174 -- Gunstar Heroes (Genesis, 1993)

175 -- Dig Dug (coin-op, 1982)

176 -- Castlevania (NES, 1988)

177 -- Tekken 3 (coin-op, 1997)

178 -- Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney (DS, 2005)

179 -- NBA Jam: Tournament Edition (coin-op, 1993)

180 -- Max Payne (PC, 2001)

181 -- Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 (PS3/360/PC, 2009)

182 -- Samurai Shodown (Neo Geo, 1993)

183 -- NFL 2K5 (PS2/Xbox, 2004)

184 -- Vagrant Story (PS, 2000)

185 -- Super Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island (SNES, 1995)

186 -- Marble Madness (coin-op, 1984)

187 -- Infamous (PS3, 2009)

188 -- Planescape: Torment (PC, 1999)

189 -- Kid Icarus (NES, 1986)

190 -- The Chronicles of Riddick: Escape from Butcher Bay (Xbox, 2004)

191 -- Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater (PS2, 2004)

192 -- Eternal Darkness: Sanity's Requiem (GameCube, 2002)

193 -- Jak 3 (PS2, 2004)

194 -- Marvel vs. Capcom 2 (DC, 2002)

195 -- Ultima (PC, 1981)

196 -- Call of Duty (PC, 2003)

197 -- NHL 09 (PS3/360, 2008)

198 -- Splinter Cell: Pandora Tomorrow (Xbox, 2004)

199 -- Tactics Ogre (PS, 1997)

200 -- Beyond Good and Evil (PS2/Xbox/GameCube, 2003)

 

A few fun facts:

 

count by 5-year span:

1970-1974: 1

1975-1979: 1

1980-1984: 13

1985-1989: 15

1990-1994: 35

1995-1999: 45

2000-2004: 48

2005-2009: 42

 

count by platform:

PC 60

PS2 24

360 20

SNES 19

coin-op 18

PS3 15

NES 13

Xbox 11

GameCube 8

N64 5

Dreamcast 4

Genesis 4

Game Boy 3

GBA 2

Wii 2

2600 1

Apple II 1

DS 1

Jaguar 1

Neo Geo 1

Saturn 1

 

Top franchises:

Super Mario 7

The Legend of Zelda 7

Final Fantasy 6

Metal Gear Solid 4

Metroid 4

Call of Duty 4

GTA 4

Castlevania 3

Resident Evil 3

Warcraft 3

Battlefield 2

Civilization 2

Command & Conquer 2

Diablo 2

Doom 2

Fallout 2

God of War 2

Half-Life 2

Halo 2

Kingdom Hearts 2

Mega Man 2

Pac-Man 2

Sonic 2

Splinter Cell 2

Tetris 2

The Elder Scrolls 2

 

My comments and thoughts:

Ok, sure, like every one of these lists, it has some glaring weaknesses and giant blind spots. However, overall, it isn't too bad. It's probably the best of these lists I've seen.

That said, they didn't include Space Invaders, so the list is a fat FAIL pretty much by default. And the early 80s are clearly the Time Video Game History Forgot - though, strangely, they managed to include a nice range of pre-1985 coin-op machines - but they clearly have no clue about other video games from that era. The only console title before the NES is Adventure (#59) and the only computer games are Lode Runner, Ultima, and Zork. Seriously?

 

Including only 2 Wii games vs 30 PS3/360 games is a little silly. Including 4 Grand Theft Auto games while only selecting a single King's Quest, Ultima, Zork, etc. Giving the SNES almost 20 spots while the Genesis gets 4? Only 6 handheld games out of 200? Really?

 

I guess, ultimately, where this list fails is where all the others do: a real lack of knowledge of the history of video games. You go back 20 years and all they know is the NES plus a few big names. Every time one of these lists comes out I hope that, this time, they'll have really researched it and done their homework - but in the end, they just rely on their memory.

 

Still, like I said, as far as these things go it isn't half bad.

[Jess Ragan]

Huh. Given the magazine's penchant for Sony dicksucking, I would have expected at least half the games to be for the Playstation and its successors.

[jboypacman]

What!?! No Space Invaders and more than 1 GTA game? Sure there other good games on the list but SI needed to be on this list and we seriously did need more then one GTA on this list.

 

It was nice to see games like Dig Dug,Marble Madness and Ms.Pac-Man however make the list.

[RickHarrisMaine]

No Atari games at all?

 

Seriously?

[thebiggw]

No Atari games at all?

 

Seriously?

 

#59 is Adventure

 

Myself personally I can think of more than one Atari game that simply beat those others hands down!

[Reaperman]

actually I think this list looks pretty good compared to a lot that have popped up recently. Nice to see tetris getting proper respect.

 

my list would be skewed a bit more toward cockpit space games, but there's a lot of good games here. As I scan down it, I'm seeing plenty of games I would have forgotten if I were putting one of these together. I say good job--considering none of these lists are going to please everybody.

Edited November 16, 2009 by Reaperman

[VectorGamer]

Any of these "top lists" are going to be flawed, but just for fun...

 

Because I am a classic gaming bigot, here is an extraction of the top games from this list up to and including 1990 (although I only consider that era up to and including 1984):

 

The Legend of Zelda (NES, 1987)

Super Mario Bros. (NES, 1985)

Tetris (PC, 1984)

Metroid (NES, 1986)

Super Mario Bros. 3 (NES, 1990)

Ms. Pac-Man (coin-op, 1981)

Mike Tyson's Punch-Out!! (NES, 1987)

Contra (NES, 1988)

Galaga (coin-op, 1981)

Mega Man 2 (NES, 1988)

Pac-Man (coin-op, 1980)

Adventure (2600, 1980)

Arkanoid (coin-op, 1986)

Zork (PC, 1980)

Double Dragon (coin-op, 1987)

Dr. Mario (NES, 1990)

Ninja Gaiden (NES, 1989)

Super Mario Bros. 2 (NES, 1988)

Donkey Kong (coin-op, 1981)

Warlords (coin-op, 1980)

Final Fight (coin-op, 1989)

Asteroids (coin-op, 1979)

Gauntlet (coin-op, 1985)

Pong (coin-op, 1972)

Robotron: 2084 (coin-op, 1982)

Lode Runner (Apple II, 1983)

Dig Dug (coin-op, 1982)

Marble Madness (coin-op, 1984)

Kid Icarus (NES, 1986)

Ultima (PC, 1981)

 

Reason I go up to 1990 is because the NES is a bridge between the classic and the next gen era. I also wanted inclusion of Super Mario 3 as a continuation of that classic series. I believe there is a significant number of classic arcade ports available on the NES to consider it a "hybrid era" console. Video games lost my interest in the second half of the decade so I'm not familiar with most of them on the list.

 

There are several problems I have with this list. First off, is it the best games of all-time or the most significant games of all-time? If it is the former, how can Pong be on that list? If it is the latter, then why the omission of Computer Space?

 

As others have mentioned - the glaring omission of Space Invaders. How can the coin-op that kicked off the craze of the classic era be omitted? How can Pong be included and Space Invaders omitted? It doesn't add up.

 

Arkanoid is questionable. An updated take on Breakout was clever and fun to play but it wasn't ground breaking. You didn't have to wait in long lines to play this game either.

 

Warlords in front of Asteroids - no way. A fun game but I question it's inclusion in the top 200.

 

Robotron: 2084 - I can see that but why include this title and snub the first title in the series? Another glaring omission - Defender. This just doesn't add up.

 

Dig Dug was popular but was it better than Mr. Do!? Again, I have to question whether the list is best, most popular or significant titles of all-time.

 

Here are some other classic considerations:

Pole Position - a HUGE omission

Centipede

Atari Football

Missile Command

Pitfall - wasn't this one of if not THE top selling 2600 cart of all-time?

Combat

BerZerk

Frogger - this was an extremely popular coin-op

Q*bert

Tron - another HUGE omission

Zaxxon - the game play wasn't hot but a significant release for its graphics alone

Juno First - similarities with Defender make this another great game

 

 

They get it right with Ms. Pac, Galaga, Pac-Man, Adventure, Asteroids, Donkey Kong and the Mario series. Those are obvious yet there are obvious omissions in this list. I'm split on Gauntlet because it was popular and fresh but the game play gets old.

 

Again, I'm not following the logic of the top 200 titles being selected.

Edited November 16, 2009 by rmaerz

[vdub_bobby]

Again, I'm not following the logic of the top 200 titles being selected.

In the magazine, they write that they considered..."quality, cultural relevance, and industry impact."

 

To me, it looks like they used two standards:

1. For games before the 3D era, they pretty much only looked at influence, significance, industry impact.

2. For games of the "modern" era, they looked at quality and which were most fun to play.

 

So you have weird juxtapositions like...two Kingdom Hearts games vs. one Ultima game. In 20 years will anybody even remember Kingdom Hearts II? Unlikely! And if you were going to pick a single Ultima game as best, would you pick Ultima I? I doubt it!

 

What drives me nuts is this: video game history is short, but not that short - you're talking 35+ years of history here. If you were going to list the top 200 movies of the last 35 years, would you get together with a couple of 30-year-old movie fans and make a big list of all movies you have ever seen or heard of? Do you think that would make a good list? Video games were a huge, worldwide business before most of the guys that made the list could read (or were alive!), yet it's pretty apparent that they relied almost solely on their memories.

[Matt Fisher]

I like Tempest 2000 as much as the next guy, but how do you include that and not the original? The spinner alone makes it a better game overall, in my opinion, not to mention the vector graphics. (Which reminds me, where's Minestorm?) I guess I'm just an old fart, but how do about fifty fighting games make the list but not Tempest? Oh well, at least they included Robotron and Asteroids.

[VectorGamer]

Here's the thing - with us "old farts" that were there during the classic era, it's easy (at least for me) to tell who was actually there (i.e. alive or old enough to see the cabinet monitor) or not during that time period.

 

Some of the articles you find on the Net read like a term paper which tips me off that they are basing their info on e.g. Wikipedia.

 

This list appears weighted on titles after 1990 and with the glaring omissions it suggests that some of these folks were still in their old man's balls during the classic era.

[Jess Ragan]

Yeah, there's no historical perspective at all. Gaming existed before 1995, Game Misinformer. Hell, you existed before 1995, although I suspect most people were using your pages to line their birds' cages or for wiping after running low on Charmin.

[8th lutz]

This list shows what is wrong in my eyes in with top 100 or top 200 game lists of all time. I expect the list than it was.

 

7 Game Informer Staff Members played Atari 2600 games. They even have an Intern that is a big time game collector that wants to own every game and game console ever released. I know that some of the Staff members got their start in gaming with the Nes, but Game Informer also people that got their start with the C64. That is what makes the list sad. I figured that list would have more old games with some of the staff members played Atari 2600 games growing up, C64 games or very old pc games.

 

I think what happened here is Game Informer wants Game stop to be happy with them by mentioning a lot of the newer games in the decade. There is no excuse for the amount of Ps 3, 360 games on this list.

 

I found information on the Game informer website on staff members there. Here is the following information on each staff member:

 

• 
   
  
• Andy McNamara - besides working at Game Informer since 1991 with him being an editor and reviewer there, he played video games even back in the early 1980's. He played Atari 2600, ColecoVision and Intellivision games. The Nes rekindled his love of video games with the releases of Metroid and Legend of Zelda.
   
  
• Andrew Reiner - Andrew has been working at Game informer since 1995, but he has been playing videogames since the late 1970's or early 1980's if you look at his profile. He played Asteroids at a Pizza Hut when he was a little kid. His profile claims that he owns every game system since the Atari 2600.
   
  
• Matthew Kato - He has been a part of the staff since 2000. His past and present systems were NES, 2600, PS3, 360, Genesis, Arcade, PSP, DS, Apple IIE, PS2, PS-X, Xbox, GC (but only briefly).
   
  
• Matt Bertz -He has been on the Game Informer Staff since 2001. He played Mattel Football, but it seemed like he didn't own a game console before the Nes. The systems he owned in the past and present are Xbox 360, PS3, Nintendo DS, PSP, PC, PS2, Xbox, GameCube, GBA, PSOne, N64, SNES, NES .
   
  
• Jeff Cork- Game Informer Editor. He owns the following systems in the past or present: Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, Nintendo Wii, DS, PSP, Xbox, PlayStation 2, GameCube, Dreamcast, GBA, Atari Lynx, Sega Saturn, Atari Jaguar, Sega Master System, NES, Nintendo 64, SNES, Atari 2600, 3DO, Game Gear, Amiga 500.
   
  
• Nick Ahrens - His profile claims he owns or played every game system since the Atari 2600.
   
  
• Adam Biessener - His profile makes him sound like a long time computer game player. He does play game consoles games according to his profile, but I didn't see a game system that he owns. He played games like Rogue and Wizardry at a young age. He also got hooked on computer game series like Ultima, Might & Magic, and Civilization.
   
  
• Matt Miller - Has been working at Game Informer since 2004. His profile claims that his gaming back ground stretches back to the Atari 2600, and the early PC.
   
  
• Ben Reeves: His gaming background started with the C64. The game systems he owns past and present are Commodore 64, NES, Genesis, SNES, Game Boy/GBA, Game Gear, Sega CD, PlayStation, Nintendo 64, Dreamcast, Playstation 2, Gamecube, Xbox, DS, PSP, Xbox 360, Wii, Playstation 3, and PC.
   
  
• Bryan Vore - working at Game informer since 2004. His gaming background started with the Nes.
   
  
• Meagan VanBurkleo -working at Game Informer since 2008. System she owned past and present are NES, Famicom, SNES, N64, GameCube, Wii, Sega Genesis, Sega Saturn, PlayStation, PSOne, PlayStation 2, PlayStation 3, Dreamcast, Xbox, Xbox 360, Game Boy, Game Boy Color, GBA, Game Boy Micro, DS, DS Lite, PSP.
   
  
• Jeff Marchiafava - game systems he owns are Super Nintendo, Nintendo 64, Xbox, Nintendo DS Lite, Xbox 360, Wii.
   
  
• Tim Turi - intern at Game Informer. He got his start in gaming from playing Atari 2600 games after his older brother got bored with it. His profile makes it sound like he is a big time video game collector despite his age. He wants to own every game console that every existed and every video game for that matter.
   
  
• Annette Gonzalez - game system she owns in the past or the present are NES, SNES, GameBoy (original, Color, Advance), Genesis, N64, Dreamcast, PS2, Xbox, Gamecube, DS Lite, PSP, PS3, Wii, Xbox 360.
   
  
• Phil Kollar - profile really didn't say what systems he owns. All I know is he has been gaming in his entire like with him owning Game Informer and Egm issues during his Childhood.
   
  
• Dan Ryckert - game systems he owns in the past and present are NES, Genesis, SNES, Game Boy/GBA, Game Gear, Sega CD, Playstation, Nintendo 64, Dreamcast, Playstation 2, Gamecube, Xbox, DS, PSP, Xbox 360, Wii, Playstation 3.
   
  
• Jeff Akervik - game systems he owns in the past or the present are PS3, PS2, Dreamcast, Gamecube, N64, Super Nintendo, NES, Commodore 64, Genesis, Game Boy.
   
  

Edited November 17, 2009 by 8th lutz

[8th lutz]

I have problems with the list besides mentioning the backgrounds of the staff.

 

There shouldn't be any video games or computer games that got released after 2005. It is too soon to see Ps3, Wii, and 360 games on a greatest 200 games of all time list. Those games are too recent and I don't see all the 360, PS3, and Wii games mentioned being on there being on a greatest game list 5 years from now.

 

There shouldn't be two different set rules for for 3d and 2d games.

 

Since the games are based on quality, cultural relevance, and industry impact there have been games left out that should be on the list.

 

Here is a list of games I felt that should have been on the list

• 
   
  
• Oregon Trail - Apple II
  
• Space Invaders
  
• Shining Force or Shining Force 2
  
• Karateka - Apple II
  
• Pitfall!
  
• Smash TV
  
• Pole Position
  
• Q*bert
  
• Devil's Crash
  
• River Raid
  
• Defender (Arcade)
  
• Shinobi - Arcade
  
• Shinobi 3: Revenge of the Ninja Master
  
• Frogger (arcade)
  
• Zaxxon (Arcade)
  
• Berzerk
  
• Centipede
   
   
   
   
  

[Gregory DG]

It should be law that video game lists should only be made by people who have been gaming for at least 20 years...

[VectorGamer]

Glad to see someone echo Frogger. This cabinet was right next to Pac-Man in the local arcade and there were quarters lined up to play both of these games on Friday night.

 

Good point about year 2005. And that's why I question Gauntlet. The game was hot in its day but I hate playing it now. The game goes on and on and on and on...The fact is that a "Top xxx of All-Time" has to have staying power and IMHO Gauntlet does not.

Edited November 17, 2009 by rmaerz

[Tr3vor]

oh, great. not another one of these...

[Rev. Rob]

Any list containing Halo 2 without Halo 3 way ahead of it, is total bullshit. Fuck this list.

 

Not a single Atari 2600 game?

 

Left 4 Dead?

 

Really?

 

Fuck this list.

Edited November 17, 2009 by Rev. Rob

[VectorGamer]

 

 

Not a single Atari 2600 game?

 

 

 

Adventure was on the list...

 

Doesn't matter - how valid is a Top 200 of All Time without Space Invaders?

[Gregory DG]

how valid is a Top 200 of All Time without Space Invaders?

No kidding. Talk about an Epic Fail...

[BassGuitari]

I'm noticing that Nintendo is grossly overrepresented.

 

It's not surprising though. These lists are published to promote software, and are correspondingly crowded with new/newish games and/or franchises that sing Sony/Nintendo/Microsoft's praises. There are always a handful of token oldies included for "street cred," but be real: these lists amount to little more than advertisements, and they should be treated as such.

 

And somehow, I can't see a Game Informer editor playing Battlefield 1942 and Pong in the same breadth (they are numbered 159 and 158 respectively). Judging by the list, they're saying they do, but I don't believe them. Again, ads (in case, for the Battlefield franchise) with a little "street cred" thrown in.

 

I do agree with things like Super Mario Bros., Tecmo Super Bowl, Twisted Metal 2, and the Resident Evil games being included, though. And while I don't have 20 years of gaming experience -I'm getting there, though; I must be on year 18 or 19- my list would include them among things like:

 

-Incredible Wizard (Astrocade)

-Space Dungeon (Atari 5200)

-Tenchu: Stealth Assassins (Playstation)

-Voodoo Castle (Apple II, various)

-Out Of This World! (3DO)

-K.C.'s Krazy Chase! (Odyssey 2)

-Blue Max (Commodore 64)

-Video Whizball (Channel F)

-House Of The Dead 2 (Dreamcast)

-TI Invaders (TI-99 4/a)

-Advanced Dungeons & Dragons (Intellivision)

-F-Zero (SNES)

-Alien³ (Genesis)

-Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles II: The Arcade Game (NES)

-Die Hard Arcade (Saturn)

-Resident Evil (GameCube)

-Sky Blazer (Atari 400/800)

-Dynasty Warriors 3 (Playstation 2)

-Armor Attack (Vectrex)

-H.E.R.O. (Atari 2600)

 

Nothing from the current generation, though. Calling a game that has yet to be tested by time one of the "Top Games Of All Time" is absurd. Actually, though, the title "Top Games Of All Time" itself is absurd, since there's no way to know that will be around in the future. It should be, "Top Games Of All Time So Far."

[vdub_bobby]

I agree with most of the comments here, but I think that it is legit to include post-2005 games. It's the games that were released a month ago that crack me up. Ok, Borderlands is awesome, I'm sure, but seriously? The game has been out for under a month!

[JamesD]

Top Games of All Time... for that author anyway.

[Rev. Rob]

I just noticed this. I think they're trying to tell us something.

 

30 -- The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivious (360/PC, 2006)

 

Oblivious*? Damn right, the authors of this list are totally oblivious.

 

 

 

 

The actual name of the game is "Oblivion."

Edited November 18, 2009 by Rev. Rob

[vdub_bobby]

I just noticed this. I think they're trying to tell us something.

 

30 -- The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivious (360/PC, 2006)

 

Oblivious*? Damn right, the authors of this list are totally oblivious.

I don't have the magazine with me right now to check, but I'm 99.9% sure that's my own typo, not GI's.

[kevincal]

It should be law that video game lists should only be made by people who have been gaming for at least 20 years...

 

This got me to thinking. It's coming up on my 20th anniversary of being a hardcore video game player. My sister and I received our very first system, an NES, at Christmas 1989.

 

I can understand you OLDER Atari guy's frustration. In 1989, Nintendo ruled the world for kids like me. Atari and Sega were mocked and we demanded to our parents to NEVER get us an Atari or Sega. IT MUST BE NINTENDO! At my school, all any of the kids talked about was Nintendo and Mario 3, mostly.

 

So I'll go one step further on the 20 year rule. To have a TRULY accurate list, it must be compiled by true blue legends of the video game world, who have been around since the beginning (early to mid 70's?) and bought every new system that came out. Surely there are people like this around, but not many of them. They would give you the most accurate list.

 

I am convinced of something though. ALL of us have a soft spot for particular companies, systems and games. It's pretty much impossible to be truly unbiased when it comes to video games. It's a lot like sports in this regard. Video gamers are just as much fanatics as any sports guys. They have their favorite teams, we have our favorite companies. Be it Atari, Nintendo, Sega, SNK, NEC, Sony or Microsoft. Or a whole host of others.

 

Lastly, I NEVER have very much enjoyed the original Zelda, so I role my eyes at it being #1. That game wouldn't even be in my top 200. I've never gotten far in that game, I always end up wandering around, lost, wondering where in the hell I'm supposed to be going and what I'm supposed to be doing! I don't enjoy games like that!

 

And in reality, lists NEVER work because there are SO MANY AWESOME games out there. And none are really better than the other. It would be best to make these lists WITHOUT numbers. There must be MILLIONS of different video games out there. Surely the top 200 of them are EQUALLY as good. Impossible to assign numbers to them.

Edited November 18, 2009 by kevincal