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Time Magazine's Top 10 Games of the Year
Sol Invictus
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Lev Grossman has written a pretty interesting list of the "Top 10 Games of 2008" for Time Magazine.
It's got games like Braid, LBP and GTA IV up there, but some of the choices just leave me puzzled. Here they are, if you don't want to bother with clicking 'next' 10 times:
I'm not going to rag on Spore (everyone's already admitted that it sucks), but what the heck are the games in 7-9? I could think of a number of games that could fit that list, like Fallout 3, L4D, King's Bounty or some console games, like MGS4 or Valkyrie Chronicles or some other gem from Japan.
The pick for Star Wars: Force Unleashed is just terrible. There's no way to argue against that.
Their Top 10 movies list is arguably just as bad (Speed Racer is #9). It also looks like they're pandering to the lowest common denominator with their instructions on how to play a Youtube video on their Top 10 Viral Videos list. "Click center arrow to play". Yeah.
It's got games like Braid, LBP and GTA IV up there, but some of the choices just leave me puzzled. Here they are, if you don't want to bother with clicking 'next' 10 times:
1. GTA4
2. Braid
3. Little Big Planet
4. Rock Band 2
5. Gears of War 2
6. Dead Space
7. Star Wars: The Force Unleashed (WTF?)
8. Hunted Forever
9.Field Runners
10. Spore
I'm not going to rag on Spore (everyone's already admitted that it sucks), but what the heck are the games in 7-9? I could think of a number of games that could fit that list, like Fallout 3, L4D, King's Bounty or some console games, like MGS4 or Valkyrie Chronicles or some other gem from Japan.
The pick for Star Wars: Force Unleashed is just terrible. There's no way to argue against that.
Their Top 10 movies list is arguably just as bad (Speed Racer is #9). It also looks like they're pandering to the lowest common denominator with their instructions on how to play a Youtube video on their Top 10 Viral Videos list. "Click center arrow to play". Yeah.
Sol Invictus on
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Here's IGN AU's top 10...
2. Fallout 3
3. Left 4 Dead
4. Dead Space
5. Mirrors Edge
6. Fable 2
7. LittlebigPlanet
8. Braid
9. MGS4
10. Resistance 2
With the except of Mirrors Edge I think its pretty decent.
I think Fallout 3 should be on that Time list
Really?
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It's a horrible thing when me and DarkWarrior both agree that it sucks.
I love how, every year, these lists (polls) make the people here die a little bit more inside.
I both loathe and enjoy it.
Let 'em eat fucking pineapples!
There was a patch? Son of a bitch. Never have I beaten a game so quickly yet with so much frustration ...
Pro tip: A lot of the times, frustrating fights can be avoided by, you know, running away to the next check point.
Edit: 8. Hunted Forever
9.Field Runners ... I've never heard of these and I follow games pretty much religiously. What the fuck?
Edit 2: Oh flash game and iPhone. Fuck that, those aren't games.
I don't think "sucks" is the right word, but it sure as fuck isn't the best game to come out this year.
I didn't really enjoy Mirror's Edge, but the innovation alone makes it worth a mention, and I think that it did a lot of things that future games should incorporate.
The time list was just objectively bad. Hunted Forever looks like a slower, duller Mirror's Edge. GTAIV, while a decent game, doesn't tie story with gameplay at all (there was a discussion about this in the last GTA thread, about how you can be filthy rich yet Nico is still willing to do anything for cash, and how
All in all, I get the feeling that these are not the ten best games of the year, but the only ten games he's played this year. There's no other excuse.
Only the good ones.
though to be fair, Dead Space is supposedly really good, but I haven't gotten around to trying it.
A very dull coat of paint. Vice City and San Andreas were better.
Braid and Dead Space are good games. The rest... aren't my genre, so I won't comment.
That said, it is too bad Fallout 3 didn't make it--I think such deep, involving tpyes of games are better to get the non-gamer, Time magazine kind of crowd interested in games rather than this lowest-common-denominator crap like Rock Band, Guitar Hero, and Wii Sports. That kind of stuff just reinforces their opinion that there's not a lot to this hobby.
Also, interesting quote from IGN's runner up section for Brawl:
Come to think of it, this was a godawful year for Wii games, wasn't it? I wonder how a company goes from having Twilight Princess, Mario Galaxy and Metroid Prime 3 all in a few months to...this.
Nice list, Time.
I don't know if I'd even write a "top 10 best" games list. There were a lot of mediocre games and none of them deserve any sort of inclusion into the list just because there's nothing better to fill the slots.
My own list would read as follows (PC only):
1. Left 4 Dead
2. Fallout 3
3. Dead Space
That's pretty much it. There's no reason to throw some mediocre title like Spore, Mercenaries 2, Far Cry 2 or Mirror's Edge in there just because there's nothing better, y'know? That's what bugs me about these lists. It's as if anything above 5 is filler.
Were I to write my own list, on my blog or whatever, it'd probably be something more interesting than "Best" or "Worst". Most influential to the development of future games, perhaps? Games which raised the standard? Something like that.
The inclusion of Gears of War 2 makes me just go, "Really? Really, really? You have two lifelines remaining, would you like to use one of those instead?". It's the pinnacle of big-budget mediocrity, right next to Too Human and Resistance 2, of course.
"That's, like, your opinion man."
I dunno, I think it's very possible to have a top ten list with the 'that's so dumb' being centered around ranking as opposed to inclusion/exclusions.
The IGN AU list for instance. I disagree with placement and grumble a bit at some of the inclusions, but I can see why someone would choose that list. The Time list really makes me wonder what intern came up with it.
They can't even claim the horrible bias that Spike's VGA's have.
LoL: BunyipAristocrat
Then again, I only own a gamecube and a shitty laptop...
It would probably be in my top ten flash games of the year, but not even definitely.
My list would probably have World of Goo, Space Invaders Extreme, Mirror's Edge and Fallout 3 on it too.
On the other hand Left 4 Dead not being in the top 5 is complete bullshit
Fallout 3 and Left 4 Dead are definitely my favourite 2 releases of the year and not putting them in the top 10 ain't right, even with L4D shitty lobby system and Fallout 3's GOD FREAKING SHIT POOP crashes.
The wii unfortunately is still gathering dust, it was over taken by GH/Rock Band as the party game/thing of choice months and months ago. But my mum does want to get wii fit maybe it'll get some action soon..
The thing I like about the IGN list is that 5 out of 10 of the games are new franchises, its irrational but it makes me happy.
They've even got a Top 10 Viral Videos list, one of which is an update to one that was made in 2005 (Guy who dances a jig across the world.). I can't be bothered to keep clicking 'next' to find out what the others are, but I bet it has Chocolate Rain, Sneezing Panda, Laughing Baby, Talking Cats, and What What In The Butt.
Christ, did all that shit happen this year? Fucking internet.
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Needs more beached kiwi whales.
Where the fuck is TWEWY on these lists!?
That game is awesome.
Well it's that time of the year.
Yeah. You know how the more information there is out there for us to process, the more compressed time seems to become? Like, a year becomes the equivalent of a decade in terms of the amount of stuff that happens. It's the same way with evolution and technological advancement, with increasing complexities and what.
The only game on that list that doesn't fit that mold is maybe Dead Space, but GTA4 had a stupidly huge launch and backlash, Braid was innovative, likewise with LBP, Rock Band was Wii-Sports-big, and so on.
p.s. You would be a piss poor magazine if you mentioned game progress throughout the year and you neglected to mention any iphone games. That was a huge explosion in the industry, like it or not.