Title Fight For Best All-Time Game Scheduled 167
Decaffeinated Jedi writes "Title Fight: The Ultimate Gaming Grudge -- a tournament in which gamers can vote to determine the greatest game of all time -- is underway at GameSpy. The rules for the tournament are simple: '64 games enter, one game leaves.' Polls are now open for the qualifying round, allowing gamers to choose titles from a wide range of genres that will eventually comprise approximately half of the 64-game final bracket. Qualifying will last until February 22, and first-round voting will begin on February 23." This is somewhat reminiscent of the GameFAQs Character Battle tournaments, but featuring entire games, not just videogame characters - predictions for the finalists and overall winner are welcome.
Gamespy Voters Need Sanity (Score:5, Insightful)
X-COM: UFO Defense Nethack The Legend Of Zelda: A Link To The Past
and so on.
Re:Gamespy Voters Need Sanity (Score:5, Insightful)
OTOH, keep in mind that this is just for half the spots - I'd be surprised if none of the 2nd-runners-up made it into the final 64 in staff picks.
Re:Gamespy Voters Need Sanity (Score:2)
Re:Gamespy Voters Need Sanity (Score:2)
First Post! (Score:5, Funny)
Re:First Post! (Score:2)
Nethack != Interactive Fiction (Score:5, Insightful)
Re:Nethack != Interactive Fiction (Score:3, Insightful)
Yeah, a bit funny. Just about to vote for Suspended, in retrospect probably the most unusual game I've ever played, when my 3 AM brain notices Nethack at the bottom of the list. Good adventure... or the grand adventure. Tough choice. Had to be the grand adventure.
And then I trudged on, puzzled by these odd categories (Best Tony Hawk Game? The one favored by barkeepers as a coaster... The Best GTA Game? "Minor Traffic Violation", bleah, who cares...), and got boundlessly frustrated when the noobs don't kno
Well, since it's Gamespy (Score:5, Insightful)
As for Nethack under text adventures, well, it doesn't have any graphics?
That or Gamespy is stupid.
Probably the latter.
Fear FFVII (Score:2)
This is impossible (Score:5, Insightful)
Not to mention the different age groups.
Catagorization Issues? (Score:5, Insightful)
Granted I do realize this isn't at all serious, but having such odd catagorizations for the initial polls seems odd. We have such wonderfully unrelated qualifying polls such as "8-bit / 16-bit platformers" versus "Mario series" and "Mario Kart series". They want to know which "Pokemon series" game we love the most (or possibly hate the most, or have even seen). Who said anything about "Tony Hawk's Pro Skater series" games being some of the best games of all time?
Strange....
Re:Catagorization Issues? (Score:1)
At least the GameFAQs character battles don't try and fool anyone into thinking they're actually measuring the best game characters ever. They're pretty much unashamed popularity contests, but it's still interesting to see how people vote.
Re:Catagorization Issues? (Score:2)
And what about Doom, the greatest game of all time?
ZDoom source port [zdoom.org]
Doomworld [doomworld.com]
Usenet group [computer.doom.editing]
my Doom site [johngaughan.net]
Elder Scrolls? (Score:5, Insightful)
--trb
Re:Elder Scrolls? (Score:3, Insightful)
Re:Elder Scrolls? (Score:2)
The winner will be recent. (Score:5, Interesting)
You can bet 8-bit games won't win this one, while something like Grand Theft Auto has a huge audience to vote for it (even if only a relatively small percent actually vote).
Statistical fun (Score:2, Insightful)
"Looking at the data here, it's no surprise at all that so few voted for Missile Command [klov.com], only such-and-such percent of the voters were even *alive*, let alone of gaming age, when that was in popular circulation!"
and what's wrong with that? (Score:5, Insightful)
I can see this same logic applied to FPS games back when Half-Life came out: "Well, just because half-life came out this year it's going to get all the awards while Wolf3D is really a good game as well." Yeah! No shit newer games may get awards...could it be possible that they are...better?!?!
Re:and what's wrong with that? (Score:2, Informative)
Re:and what's wrong with that? (Score:2)
Castlevania (Score:1)
I can remember playing a Castlevania on the original GameBoy which isn't listed there, and wasn't there one for N64?
Gamespy should know better than to skimp on things when catering to the obsessive set that is gamers.
Re:Castlevania (Score:2)
Re:Castlevania (Score:2)
Now that you mention it looks like a few of their other listing aren't complete either. For example, I believe that there were more than 16 games in the category of "8-bet / 16 bit platform game". And wasn't there a grand theft auto game before III? Or a mega man game between 4 and 8 other than "X".
Oh wait, maybe they're not trying to list every game ever made. I think a more reasonable criticism is how many games the
missing titles (Score:5, Informative)
I also couldn't find descent, the best game ever
Re:missing titles (Score:5, Insightful)
"DIVE DIVE DIVE! HIT YOUR BURNERS, PILOT!"
Re:missing titles (Score:2)
Re:missing titles (Score:2)
Any greatest game competition... (Score:2)
Re:Any greatest game competition... (Score:2)
Re:missing titles (Score:2)
Re:missing titles (Score:2)
Re:missing titles (Score:2)
"best X of all time" contests are lame (Score:3, Insightful)
Game experiences are so relative to the gamer, and there are so many conflicting genres, you can't possibly chose any "best game of all time".
You might get away with a genre based "best of all time" contest at least, but even then you're really not going to find one pinnacle title because so many others do different things well.
Re:"best X of all time" contests are lame (Score:3, Insightful)
Re:"best X of all time" contests are lame (Score:2)
Re:"best X of all time" contests are lame (Score:2)
Oh, and the whole contest aspect...with the prizes!
Shows my age I suppose (Score:2)
There is no WAY Grim Fandango should beat Maniac Mansion. just NO WAY!
Re:Shows my age I suppose (Score:2)
Gabriel Knight beating Kings Quest 4 ? - That is a travesty, I played teh Gabrial Knight II game and it sucked compared to the earlier sierra titles.
And of course reading that Symphony of the Night is beating Simon's Quest makes me want to give on on society and move off into the woods.
There is no competition here.... one of the glaring problems with the Castlevania series has been that its all down hill since Simon's Quest.... cleary the majority of voters jsut don't
My prediction (Score:4, Insightful)
And I don't think it really needs to be said, but this poll, along with anything coming out of GameSpy makes Slashdot polls look scientific.
Approval voting is such an underutilized concept. It makes sense in most cases in my opinion, but at the very least, it makes sense to narrow down large fields into smaller ones for more targetted voting. What a waste. X-COM should really get at least into the semi-finals, but I suspect it won't even make the qualifiers.
Re:My prediction (Score:3, Interesting)
Re:My prediction (Score:1)
Re:My prediction (Score:2)
*To be distinguished from the many intelligent, rational fans. I think everyone knows someone like whom I'm talking about.
Re:My prediction (Score:4, Insightful)
I used to babysit a kid and I asked him if he ever played the original Super Mario Bros. He said "Yeah! I own it!" and he put it in the machine. Sure enough, on the screen comes "It's-a-me... Mahhhhhrio!" - he thought Super Mario 64 was the original Super Mario game!
Re:My prediction (Score:2)
I voted for Chrono Trigger. And that hurt. Because it was right under XCom. And...argh...too painful.
I am a betrayer.
Re:My prediction (Score:2)
I am probably an elitist bastard, but (Score:2, Insightful)
Re:I am probably an elitist bastard, but (Score:2)
yes. let's leave it to the "professionals" at GameSpy (ha).
Incredible (Score:2, Insightful)
(Note: In some categories, I didn't vote because I hadn't played enough of the games.)
Mega Man 2 beat by Mega Man X?
Civ2 beat by Civ3?
Quake 3 beat by Quake 2?
Gabriel Knight outperforming Kings Quest's IV-VI combined?
Ultima Online as the best Ultima?
I knew Gamespy readers were dumb, but wow.
Re:Incredible (Score:2)
Re:Incredible (Score:2)
Sorry, but the lack of borders in Civ 2 almost completely undermine the game. You can have had fortified soldiers within 2 squares of a city for dozens of turns, but the second that the AI decides to build a city within 2 squares of the soldiers, the computer gets to force you to move, or else YOU are held responsible for breaking the peace treaty.
Civ 2 did a few things better than 3 (I never got tired of the high council or wonder movies
Re:Incredible (Score:3, Insightful)
I played a lot of Civ2. For Civ3...
"Hi, my name is Maserat
FF7 (Score:2)
Re:FF7 (Score:1)
Even for a "Best Game" poll, this is retarded (Score:5, Insightful)
And considering it was mentioned on the front article page, where the hell is Starcraft?
Re:Even for a "Best Game" poll, this is retarded (Score:2)
It's in already, of course. The qualifying is only for about half the spots.
Re:Even for a "Best Game" poll, this is retarded (Score:1)
Not fair (Score:2)
--trb
Re:Not fair (Score:2, Insightful)
Young Gamers (Score:1)
How utterly pointless (Score:2)
"Best work of art ever"
Or even two:
"Best thing ever"
How can the result be meaningful to anybody or make the world a better place?
Re:How utterly pointless (Score:1)
Re:How utterly pointless (Score:2)
Why not do neither?
Tetris (Score:2)
Popularity Contest (Score:5, Insightful)
Why? Because it was popular.
No gamer who has played the genius that was Gunstar Heroes walked away without being impressed, yet the game sold relatively poorly. Now look where it is... losing to duck tales. Castlevania IV was revolutionary for its time, yet it is losing badly to Opera of Tragedy, a clear Super Metroid clone. Dracula X hardly registers on the scale, despite being a truly superior game overall, yet never having had a proper US release.
Pitting Perfect Dark against River City Ransom is like putting Bettie Davis as she is today on a stage and having her mocked by the Star Search talent of the moment for her wrinkles and her frail old body. Clearly River City Ransom didn't hold up very well to the rigors of aging, but in its day it could walk off with any player it introduced itself to. And it deserved to, too.
Many great games aren't on this list at all, yet were truly worthy contenders for their time. Gargoyle's Quest? Strider? Smash TV? Sega's Heavyweight Boxing? Teleroboxer? Einhander? Herizogs Wei? Rocket Knight Adventures? EWJ? Lunar? 7th Guest? Out of this World? Little Nemo? Skate or Die? Puzzlefighter? Tetris MUST be on there somewhere, but I have yet to find it. Castlevania 2 is obviously only under consideration because of Nepotism, but where then is Castlevania 64?
Obviously this poll is an unofficial popularity contest, and an unfortunately limited one at that. Why not just take every game in their index that got higher than a 7.5, and weed them out over the weeks to a true victor using a random distribution system rather than fixed competitors, with players given the option of "never played that." Only the games with the highest percentage of choices would advance, and the cycle would repeat.
That would be fair. This? This is going to be a popularity contest, with the prom queen coming out on top.
Re:Popularity Contest (Score:2)
I disagree. I think most movie snobs are actually biased AGAINST modern movies. Take "enlightened" movie people like the AFI or (haha) Harry Knowles. They gizz all over some 1932 "Frankenstein meets Tarzan" movie but don't give modern movies their props (except LOtR, which I'm sure Knowles literally masterbates to). When the AFI top 100 movies came out they were mostly films from 1960's and that era.
Re:Popularity Contest (Score:2)
I bet if you took a poll of the best movies of all time of the moviegoers in the United States today
Considering the parent post is referring to Joe Averages who see movies, you argument about movie snobs is moot. And the parent post is probably right. If there was a WIDESPREAD GENERAL PUBLIC poll between Casablanca and the LOTR (any of the three), chances are the LOTR movie would win by a landslide.
Re:Popularity Contest (Score:2)
Re:Popularity Contest (Score:2)
IMDB user rankings [imdb.com] puts The Godfather first, and it was early 1970s.
difficult (Score:1)
Insane!! (Score:2)
Quake 2 beats both Quake 1 and Quake III?
Mario Kart 64 beats Super Mario Kart?!?!
Re:Insane!! (Score:2)
QIII was more of a demo for the engine; and things based on that engine were much better games, IMHO.
Re:Insane!! (Score:2)
Quake II was a decent game, but it only gently improved (if you can call it that) on Quake I. On the other hand, Quake III was a giant step forward (at least in terms of graphics and AI). IMO Q1 stands head and shoulders above 2 and 3, so de-empasize the "Quake 3" part of my ?!?!?!
Re:Insane!! (Score:2)
Oh dear... apparently I have an opinion that disagrees with yours. I will report myself to the Reeducation Center immediately so that this grevious situation may be corrected.
Game polls not like other media... (Score:2)
This christmas I got the gamecube, and the one thing that shocked me the most was how I discovered that I found the original Legend of Zelda for more engaging and
The best way to determine your favorite is... (Score:2)
Re:The best way to determine your favorite is... (Score:2)
And yet, I've already completely stopped playing WarCraft III. What's up with that?
Re:The best way to determine your favorite is... (Score:2)
Turn Based? Hello? (Score:2)
Rediculous... (Score:4, Funny)
*wavy dream sequence lines*
Tim: "Hey, Bob, would you think Casablanca would be better under Romance or Drama?"
Bob: "Casawhatta? Why're you wasting poll space with that?"
Tim: "It's a good movie, Bob."
Bob: "But it doesn't have any special effects or hot babes."
Tim: "Ingrid Bergman has her charms."
Bob: "But she ain't got DD ya-yas, does she?"
Tim: "...I hate you, Bob."
Bob: "Shut up and get back to work on the Best Evil Dead Movie category."
Show poll results before voting = brilliant. (Score:3, Insightful)
And as mentioned here already, it's obvious most of the voters weren't even alive when the real quality games were popular.
I'm curious . . . (Score:2)
Invalid survey based on poor starting selection... (Score:2)
Apples, oranges, and idiots. (Score:3, Interesting)
GameSpy readers seem to be no brighter than the editors. For example, in the text adventure category (which Nethack does not belong in, btw), Adventure is miles ahead of Planetfall right now. A plotless game with a verb-noun parser outshining one of the best stories in all of video gaming. Nice.
And there are so many missing games! Where's Wasteland? What about Master of Orion? Rampage? Metal Slug? What about that little-known series from Nintendo, Metroid? How can anyone hold a "Best Game Ever" contest that's missing so many games, and still keep a straight face? By being GameSpy, I guess.
I suppose it shouldn't be much of a surprise to me: GameSpy sucks. Maybe it'll be good for a laugh when it's all done with. I can't wait to read the inevitable Penny Arcade strip that mocks this travesty.
Re:Apples, oranges, and idiots. (Score:2)
A. River City Ransom
B. Fallout
C. Castlevania.
What do I win?
Re:Apples, oranges, and idiots. (Score:2)
These kids aren't qualified to judge the difference between Zork, Pitfall or anything from the NES...it's all before their time.
Count 'em, every single major series category that had a game release in the last 10 years, a game from that time period was always chosen as #1.
Kids.
Re:Apples, oranges, and idiots. (Score:2)
Zork is winning in a category that also contains...
StreetFighter 2 and Ninja Turtles are winning in a category that contains...
Re:Oops! Got riled up too soon! (Score:2)
I'll apologise to the Gamefly customers waiting patiently, I'm not *quite* done with it yet. I'm not finishing everything I rent, but I'm finishing Ico.
This is insane. (Score:2)
What classic, that spawned almost an entire genre of sequels, ain't even on the list?
I mean, sure, there are hella great games that didn't make the list. Uniracers for the Super Nintendo isn't here, but while a really incredible game, it was obscure. I've yet to find a single Intellivision title, but okay, that was a long time ago.
But you gotta tell me, how the heck can they try to do a "Title Fight for the Best All-Time Game" and forget PAC-MAN. It's n
The Best Game of All Time.... (Score:2)
I say again, no more fucking GameSpy non-stories. We don't want to give them *more* ad revenue.
Re: (Score:2)
Conspicuously Missing: (Score:2)
And I weep for the future if Nethack loses.
Vote Duke Nukem Forever (Score:2)
more idiocy (Score:3, Insightful)
How hard is it to think to yourself: "gee, I wonder if there was a GTA one or two?"
Given all the other games you can vote for, I would like to see GTA one and two in the catagory devoted to the GTA SERIES! Personally (though I realize I'm in the minority) I would have voted for GTA 1.
HORRIBLE. Massive omissions. (Score:2)
Super Metroid (omitted entirely)
Wario Ware (omitted entirely...and this was in runner up for GameSpy's game of the year too. Come to think of it, the winner, KotOR, isn't there either).
Final Fantasy Tactics (omitted entirely)
Paper Mario (omitted, but it's a cult hit)
Super Smash Bros (omitted; for both SSB and SSBM)
Wario's Woods (okay, this
I'm a moron... (Score:2)
So feel fr
About that GameFAQs thing... (Score:2)
Plus...filling out brackets! With prizes!
Re:Simplicity... (Score:2)
Re:Has to be Doom (Score:2)
That'd be an awfully hard thing for it to do, since DooM didn't use any hardware graphics acceleration (unless they had 2D accelerators back then, if they did I didn't notice). I'm a little curious though as to what really did kick off the rush to buy graphics cards, was it Unreal, which supposedly required hardware acceleration (but really didn't) or the special version of Quake that came with the Voodoo cards? Or am I missing a milestone...