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The Internet Entertainment Games

GameFAQs' Own 'Best. Game. Ever.' Contest Launched 90

XtremeLeader writes "Just days after GameSpy releases its Best All-Time Game competition, GameFAQs answers with a much more interactive Spring 2004 Contest to vote for the best games (you need a GameFAQs account to view the page). Unlike the GameSpy awards, however, this is completely gamer controlled. It begins by a registered user submitting their choices for favorite games (one per system, with more than a few systems), of which any game you want can be nominated. Voting ends at the beginning of March, and the polls are slated to begin late March/early April. The top 64 nominations will be accepted and placed into a series of polls that we get to vote on. Hopefully, this one doesn't have great games like Chrono Trigger thrown into the potpourri category."
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GameFAQs' Own 'Best. Game. Ever.' Contest Launched

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  • Chrono Trigger (Score:5, Interesting)

    by Anonymous Coward on Friday February 27, 2004 @01:58PM (#8410376)
    As I browsed through the Gamespy game nomations, I kept wondering to myself "Where is Chrono Trigger" only to be offended when it made the misc. category. I was similarly offended that they would list all quake games, but not Half Life.
    • Re:Chrono Trigger (Score:4, Informative)

      by jwilloug ( 6402 ) on Friday February 27, 2004 @04:15PM (#8411774)
      Half Life didn't need to qualify, it went straight into its bracket as number 1 seed.

      Why they didn't roll Chrono Trigger and a couple other Square games into the Final Fantasy poll I don't know. It won the Potpourri qualifier, but I don't think it's going to go much farther. It faces off against FF7 on Monday.
  • Good idea. (Score:5, Insightful)

    by BigZaphod ( 12942 ) on Friday February 27, 2004 @01:58PM (#8410378) Homepage
    This is a much better idea than GameSpy's somewhat elitist approach. This just uses raw numbers to determine the best games instead of some wishy-washy "I think my friends liked this one a lot" kind of thing.
    • Re:Good idea. (Score:5, Insightful)

      by Torgo's Pizza ( 547926 ) on Friday February 27, 2004 @02:16PM (#8410554) Homepage Journal
      The only problem is that it's using the bracket system. There's always a bracket where two really good games/characters go at it and knock one out. Who's to say that if that game were placed in another bracket, it could have either lasted longer or win it all.

      As others will say, it'll end up being a popularity contest. The most recent games have a decided advantage while older games like M.U.L.E., Elite or Ultima IV will get killed off early. There just isn't any context for the vote. It's like pitting Canterbury Tales against Harry Potter.

      So what's the best way to find out the Greatest Game of All Time? Sigh, there will always be debate. There will probably need to be some organization like the American Film Institute that will consist of developers, fans, academics and historians that will come up with a list. Perhaps the AAIA? Who knows...

      • Re:Good idea. (Score:5, Informative)

        by Derkec ( 463377 ) on Friday February 27, 2004 @03:07PM (#8411177)
        Most recent games might have an edge, but it isn't a free ride. Check out the gamespy contest and see Mike Tyson's Punch-Out beat Madden 2004 a game that is not only hugely popular but also 16 years newer.
        • Check out the gamespy contest and see Mike Tyson's Punch-Out beat Madden 2004 a game that is not only hugely popular but also 16 years newer.

          I still consider the first Final Fantasy on the NES to be the best one in that series. I still have fond memories of Zelda, too. How about Impossible Mission on the Commodore 64? Doom is timeless. These games really do rank with modern titles, because so many of the whiz-bang 3D girls with big titties games are unimaginative and have zero replay value (fake big
      • Re:Good idea. (Score:4, Insightful)

        by Cecil ( 37810 ) on Friday February 27, 2004 @03:49PM (#8411565) Homepage
        When you come up with the perfect voting system, please let us all know. We'd love to apply it to things like American Politics.

        Until then, there's no such thing as a perfect polling mechanism. Any attempt to average the diverse views of a few hundred, hundred thousand, or hundred million people is NEVER going to be completely representative of how everyone truly feels, even if you have directly polled each and every one of them.

        With all that said though, I do concede that "bracket" selection is quite possibly slightly more 'flawed' than some other approaches, like approval voting.

        But GameFAQs has always done bracket voting, as quite frankly the intention is not to get the "one true answer" as much as it is to have a lot of fun in the voting process. And watching your favourite games traverse the ladder towards the top, voting for them each step of the way, that's a lot of fun compared to saying "I think this is the best game" and clicking "Submit" and waiting for the other results to tally.
      • Re:Good idea. (Score:4, Interesting)

        by Aerion ( 705544 ) on Friday February 27, 2004 @05:01PM (#8412184)
        The only problem is that it's using the bracket system. There's always a bracket where two really good games/characters go at it and knock one out. Who's to say that if that game were placed in another bracket, it could have either lasted longer or win it all.

        This is one of the advantages of a double elimination bracket over a single elimination bracket. Of course, a major disadvantage is that double elimination requires twice as many matches and can take more than twice as long (with 8 or 9 rounds required for a 16-entry bracket instead of 4 rounds).

        But, as has been pointed out by nearly everybody, there is no perfect voting system, and no really good way to narrow down a pool of 64 extremely dissimilar video games to just 1 winner.

        I think it'll be fairly interesting just to see what the top 64 are.
      • The same bracket system that put Chrono Trigger up against FF7 and Deus Ex up against System Shock 2 in GameSpy's first round? Yeah.

        With GameFAQs' Character Battles, I thought that that usually wasn't too bad. The real contenders tended to do battle later on. Hell, I was hoping for a final showdown between Cloud and Sephiroth in that last one. Would have been awesome. And that, the filling out of the brackets for prizes, is really what makes the GameFAQs one fun.
      • True, the old games will get killed off because the kiddies of today never played them. I was glad to see such an extensive list of systems, though, and it will still be interesting to see which games win on each system. I hope they make complete stats public, that would be great.

        Here's my list, below. I only voted for a few, since these were the only ones I felt strongly about. Most of them are old, but I'd love to hear from anyone who shares any favorites. As you can see I don't limit myself to a pa
    • by b0r0din ( 304712 ) on Friday February 27, 2004 @03:57PM (#8411625)
      Let's face it, there's no such thing as a greatest game ever. Super Mario Bros 3 was maybe the standard for its time, and before that, I dunno, Pong, but a lot of games nowadays have depth that isn't pinned down by that 16k of memory you could use. Arguably they're better but then they're still not necessarily as enjoyable.

      Maybe you could put up a list of games that have the greatest historical significance, but history is written by the victors, ie. the Nintendos of the era and not the Ataris. Whose to say that some games on the TurboGrafix 16 or NeoGeo weren't the best for their time? And how do you even approach this with numbers and different age groups?

      Back in the day, there could be some sort of consensus, maybe, because the demographic was similar. But now you have 50-yr olds who play, you have teenagers whose minds have been captivated (I would almost say brainwashed) by Anime and Pokemon. Different people define greatness differently in a game. It's like defining the greatest movies - a futile exercise created by basic greed - the AFI wants you to buy their newest AFI100 DVD or VHS, just as Lucas wants to sell you his newest 6-movie Super Humungo Collector's Director's Extended Limited Edition Star Wars set. Nevermind that Citizen Kane bored me, it had historical significance. People will no doubt continue to do these lists, as companies like GameSpy release Top10 after Top10 so they can keep people interested in going to their site so they can sell ads and subscription and generate new debate. Now granted, I think these current debates are fun, and you might even find a game you hadn't heard of sorting through them. But raw numbers aren't going to tell you what game is best.
  • by Anonymous Coward on Friday February 27, 2004 @02:02PM (#8410409)
    Goldeneye definitely stood the test of time with me, for nearly a year that was the only game I played.

    • I agree. We used to have this elaborate cardboard and blanket shield that we would put up next to the TV, so that we couldn't look at the other players' screens to determine their location. I can't imagine going to such lengths over any other game.

      It was pretty competitive, and really defined what a fun video game should be. If you don't agree, you might set off the proximity mine that I put down earlier.

      • Man, I didn't think anybody was as nerdy as our group was playing Goldeneye. We did the cardboard coverups, too. We'd split the signal to the tv so we could have 2 TVs running and then place them back to back. Then we would cover the half of the screen that was the other team's. Tons of fun especially with no radar on. As close to a PC lan party you could get with a N64.
    • For us, that game was Mario Kart 64. Freshman year, we played more MK than I've played any one video game since. Good times. :)
  • Other Great Games (Score:5, Interesting)

    by Nasarius ( 593729 ) on Friday February 27, 2004 @02:03PM (#8410421)
    Also listed on that GameSpy page are Star Control II and X-COM, surely two of my favorite games of all time. SC2 doesn't have a ton of replay value (though I've played through it at least 3 times), but I still play X-COM every once in a while.
    • SC2 doesn't have a ton of replay value

      Blasphemy! How can you say that when StarCon2 clearly had an awesome melee option. I can't count the number of times that I played that against my friends, seeing if I could position my Shofixti Scout just right against that Chmmr Avatar.

  • I hate (Score:5, Insightful)

    by Apreche ( 239272 ) on Friday February 27, 2004 @02:04PM (#8410430) Homepage Journal
    I hate stuff like this. It makes the false assumption that the most popular games are the best games. Look at any other medium of entertainment and you can see how plainly false this is. Movies, Star Wars is probably one of the most popular, yet Citizen Kane is "the best" whether you like it or not.

    With a poll on gamefaqs there are sure to be a zillion 12 year olds voting for GTA 3 and a million dumbasses voting for FF7. Heck, I'm almost 22 years old. Some of the 18 year olds who are coming into college now never owned an NES and were all about the Playstation. Playstation! Not even SNES! Just as if you've never seen Citizen Kane you can't be a movie critic you can't be a video game critic if you haven't played Zelda 1. Well, I guess you could be a critic, but you wouldn't have any credibility.

    Zelda 1 is probably the Citizen Kane of video games. Although Mega Man 2 is #1 in my personal book. PC games? TIE Fighter or Civ2. I mean, it is so plainly obvious which games are the best to anyone who knows their shit.

    Really I just wish they would rename the contest to "most popular video game as of right now". As opposed to "best game ever".
    • You do make something pretty spot on, however. The masses generally may not appreciate something that you have, especially if they're a generation below you.

      For people like you and me, NES, SNES, Atari were all the rage in our youth (rose colored glasses and all). Nowadays, it's p-iv's and PS2 and everything else new.

      Anyways, my point being that even as little as a 5-7 year gap in age difference can make people feel very different about what is "the best". I agreed with most of your list, but I'm in th
      • Re:I hate (Score:5, Interesting)

        by Pluvius ( 734915 ) <pluvius3NO@SPAMgmail.com> on Friday February 27, 2004 @02:43PM (#8410895) Journal
        GTA3 is one of my favorite games, and I am 22. The correlation might work one way, but that doesn't make it work the other way. I'm actually insulted by the suggestion that it does work the other way. Just because I'm old and embittered compared to the young punks that are now playing video games doesn't mean that I can't appreciate progress.

        Anyway, if anyone cares:

        PlayStation - Final Fantasy 8
        Genesis - Phantasy Star 4
        Master System - Phantasy Star
        Sega CD - Lunar: The Silver Star
        Nintendo 64 - The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time
        NES - Dragon Warrior 4
        Super Nintendo - Chrono Trigger
        Turbo CD - Ys Books 1 and 2
        TurboGrafx 16 - Military Madness
        DOS/Windows - Planescape: Torment
        Macintosh - Marathon Infinity
        MSX - Metal Gear 2: Solid Snake
        Dreamcast - Soul Calibur
        PlayStation2 - Grand Theft Auto 3

        (Notes: Picked FF8 instead of FF7 or MGS because I figured it would be underrepresented. Picked Lunar because I haven't played Snatcher or Dark Wizard. Planescape: Torment is my favorite game in general.)

        Rob
        • The one-PC-game thing is really too bad. I have a friend who was surprised when I told him I didn't pick Torment, but when I reminded him about the countless games of StarCraft we used to play, he felt obliged to change his vote.

          It'll work out in the end, though. I'm sure we'll see a great list of contenders.
        • Just because I'm old and embittered compared to the young punks that are now playing video games doesn't mean that I can't appreciate progress.

          What's interesting is that I, at 26, usually think of the guys in their low 20's as the "young punks" while *I'm* the old embittered one. ;) And many of my friends, in their mid-30's, consider me a young punk gamer.

          Perception is everything, eh? =)

          Besides, if you're familiar with the GameFAQs audience, you'll know that the largest gamer contingent there is th

    • Re:I hate (Score:4, Insightful)

      by Pluvius ( 734915 ) <pluvius3NO@SPAMgmail.com> on Friday February 27, 2004 @02:50PM (#8410976) Journal
      Star Wars is probably one of the most popular, yet Citizen Kane is "the best" whether you like it or not.

      ITYM "the greatest." "The best" is almost entirely subjective, and relies mostly on personal taste. I think the best movie is Adventures of Buckaroo Banzai: Across the Eighth Dimension. How could you prove me wrong?

      Now, when Gamespy referred to its poll as being for "the greatest game of all time"? That was wrong. Especially when you consider the piss-poor way the poll was designed.

      Really I just wish they would rename the contest to "most popular video game as of right now". As opposed to "best game ever".

      As noted above, those are basically equivalent.

      Rob
      • As noted above, those are basically equivalent.

        No they aren't. They're two totally different meanings.

        "Most popular video game as of right now" implies NOW. Not 5 years ago, not 5 years into the future, not after you take a bathroom break. Now means NOW.

        "Best game ever" means ever. Theres a huge difference based on how you phrase something. Saying "I think Final Fantasy is the shittest of them all" is not the same as "I think Final Fantasy is the shittest RPG series of them all" nor "I think Final Fantasy

        • "Most popular video game as of right now" implies NOW.

          He didn't say "now," he said "as of right now." Which is redundant. I mean, how the heck are you supposed to vote on games that aren't out as of right now? And if most GameFAQs voters vote for games that are new (which they probably will), then how would "now" be any different from "ever" in the first place?

          Rob
    • I've played Legend of Zelda. And I've played Link to the Past. I remember being incredibly impressed by the game. It improved upon the first in many unfathomable ways. I've also played the GBA version of link to the past, and I'm looking forward to Four Swords Plus. How you can tell me that Legend of Zelda is some sort of Citizen Kane when it gets better with every reiteration?

      Thats the thing with sequals in video games. In cinema sequals suck, they're hampered by continuity and form. With video games its
    • it's just to get some viewers and spur up the 'discussion'.

      however, my pick for today is star control 2.

      for tomorrow it might be fallout 2..

      and last week I might have said ultima underworld 2.

      see where this is going? I can't give out a definite answer.
    • Re:I hate (Score:5, Funny)

      by J. Jacques ( 708438 ) on Friday February 27, 2004 @03:12PM (#8411226) Homepage
      In other words: "I am angry that the opinions of others may differ from my own! Raar!"
    • I'm also annoyed by the fact that a lot of older games tend to get shafted in these things, simply because the majority of gamers are too young to remember the early 80s games.

      Where's Lode Runner in any of these polls? Archon? I was even going to add Lemmings (which is almost universally ignored), until I looked at the gamespy potpourri category and flipped when I noticed they had included it.

      my personal favorite *old* game was for the Atari 800, Dandy. Kinda like a gauntlet type game; you played the s
    • You're way too angry, and assuming far too much. I'm 18, and I played plenty of oldies when they were new, young as I was. XWing and TIE Fighter both hold dear places in my heart. For a few months I played Civ2 constantly. And I got started on a nice NES, playing Zelda and SMB.

      Still, I have Final Fantasy 7 on my list of nominations, because nothing else ever drew me in that much. I love that game, and I say that having played nearly all of the great RPGs of all styles...from NetHack, to Wasteland, to Dagge
  • by Xlipse ( 669697 ) on Friday February 27, 2004 @02:08PM (#8410471)
    Anyone who reads and pays attention to the site will know that it's very biased towards Sony and Nintendo. PC games and the XBox won't get a fair representation on Gamefaqs. All you have to do is read the discussion forums on Gamefaq's for a while and you'll come to realize this. The site itself may cater to all systems, but the userbase is definately Sony and Nintendo fanboys.
    • by Anonymous Coward
      Saying this just makes you sound like a bitter Microsoft fanboy. I've seen arguments in favor of all the systems on gamefaqs, and all the fanboys seem equally lame. The only thing I've seen to suggest that there is less support for the XBox are the Polls based around "What's your fave system" or "What systems do you own", which lead me to believe that it's not a site dedicated to Nintendo and Sony fanboys as much as Xbox owners are simply in the minority. (No, that's not an attack on them, it's just an o
      • Saying this just makes you sound like a bitter Microsoft fanboy.

        Unfortunately, it's also the truth. Even though he neglected to mention the significant (though not huge) number of Sega fanboys as well.

        I clearly remember the day when a character who does nothing but buy things from vending machines and pet kittens (Ryo Hazuki, Shenmue) defeated one of the most hilarious video game protagonists of all time (Guybrush Threepwood, Secret of Monkey Island) in one of those big GameFAQs polls. I think I heard
    • by metroid composite ( 710698 ) on Friday February 27, 2004 @08:42PM (#8413768) Homepage Journal
      Actually, from my understanding the hit PC games simply don't sell as well as the hit console games. Off the top of my head, I seem to rememer Myst was about 6 million, and Super Mario Bros was about 40 million...and PC games drop off a fair bit after Myst and the Sims IIRC. I couldn't find any lists to see if this is true or not (anybody know one of those list sites?) though I did find this for 2001 PC sales:
      1 / The Sims / Electronic Arts / 11-1999 / $41

      2 / RollerCoaster Tycoon / Infogrames / 02-1999 / $23
      3 / Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone / Electronic Arts / 11-2001 / $28
      4 / Diablo II: Lord of Destruction / Vivendi Universal / 06-2001 / $34
      5 / The Sims: House Party / Electronic Arts / 02-2001 / $28
      6 / The Sims: Livin' Large / Electronic Arts / 12-1999 / $28
      7 / The Sims: Hot Date / Electronic Arts / 11-2001 / $27
      8 / Diablo II / Vivendi Universal / 03-1999 / $38
      9 / SimTheme Park / Electronic Arts / 11-1999 / $19
      10 / Age of Empires II: Age of Kings / Microsoft / 08-1999 / $41

      I mean yes, Myst and the Sims break the trend, but...well for example I had heard the name Age of Empires vaguely, but didn't realize it was made by Microsoft; it doesn't strike me as a well-known game; heck anything that gets outsold by three different $30 expansion packs just isn't that impressive for recognition.

      To be utterly blunt, I'm not convinced it's GameFAQs that's biased against PC games (though it might be). I think it's more that Slashdot which is baised for PC games. This is a crowd which just likes modding/upgrading their PCs, so using them for gaming is a logical extension.

      As for the XBox..........
      Well to quote Maddox [xmission.com]
      People who own the Xbox don't play video games.
      Yes this is false...or at least there are plenty of exceptions (seeing as 10% of all GameFAQs readers owned all three by 11/10/2002 [gamefaqs.com], let alone today which I'd ballpark as closer to 20%) and the XBox has improved a fair bit since Maddox wrote that in 2002. Still, the stereotype that XBox has a weak game lineup frankly does hold some water. Despite all this, there's certainly numerous people who like the XBox on GameFAQs. I wouldn't worry about its games being underrepresented.

      If there's any system I'd be worried about getting underrepresented here it's the Dreamcast. Never owned one actually, though I keep looking at the title lineup and old reviews and thinking "dude, I missed a fair bit".
    • Moderators, you shoudl mod parent down. He's nto syaign anythign significant. Only his opinion that soem system is biased because his favorite is underrepresented. +4 insightful is most definetly not deserved.
  • Final Fantasy 7 (Score:5, Interesting)

    by oskillator ( 670034 ) on Friday February 27, 2004 @02:16PM (#8410544)
    Considering that Final Fantasy 7's Cloud and Sephiroth, who have been in exactly one game (the same one, in fact), topped GameFAQs's "favorite character" contest last year, barely beating out Mario and Link, who each have an enormous legacy of beloved games, I think FF7 is pretty much a shoo-in.

    (GameFAQs's user base is primarily RPG-oriented, which makes sense considering that RPGs are the games you usually go to FAQs for, and console-oriented, which is largely arbitrary.)

    • console-oriented, which is largely arbitrary

      Not really. There are a lot more console gamers out there, it is a lot more international (a lot of computer types are far more specific to regions, historically), and there are a lot more console games. Makes sense to me.
    • Actually, they HAVE been in more than one game. I know Cloud has been in 4 at the very least.

      FF7
      FFT
      Kingdom Hearts
      Eherhiz (or however the heck you spell that).

      Sephy has been in FF7 and KH as well at the very least...
  • two 3DO games stand out... Plumbers Don't Wear Ties... and Shadow. No fighting game can come close to Shadow. And PDWT is the best RPG ever.
    • Your title had there for a sec. I was thinking you would say need for speed or space hulk etc. But.. Plumbers & Shadow were no are horrific. Funny thing is I know someone that actually like and bought shadow from me over samurai shodown & way of the warrior.
  • My picks... (Score:5, Informative)

    by pb ( 1020 ) on Friday February 27, 2004 @02:40PM (#8410860)
    Best RPG Evar: Legacy of the Ancients [legacyoftheancients.com] -- on a Commodore 64, no less; it's amazing what they could pack in there!

    Other than that, and in no particular order, Masters of Magic, Star Control II, Super Mario Bros. 3, Leisure Suit Larry 4*, Final Fantasy V, and Ultima VI...

    * Yes, I realize that this game does not exist... :)
    • I agree with most of those, but I also think Final Fantasy V will get totally passed up in about all of these game contests, being as it never made it to the SNES in the United States, where it would've had a lot more of an impact. It DID come out later with one of those anthology collections, but never had the impact in the US like Final Fantasy 2(4) or 3(6) did.
      • FFV was a great game, as were all of the Nintendo-era Final Fantasy games, but I don't think it can really be placed on the same level as 3/6. Hell, not much can, IMO.
    • I played Legacy of the Ancients on my ][gs. That game really is amazing. The world was massive and you could do tons of things. No other RPG let you rob store owners and be hunted by the law at that time (even now it's a rarity).
  • Preset Mentality (Score:5, Insightful)

    by VGMSupreme ( 228396 ) on Friday February 27, 2004 @02:45PM (#8410919) Homepage
    There is not much you can do to change the mentality of the GameFAQs userbase. They are not going to understand the real games that made an impact on the industry as we know it. I will also agree that they gear more towards RPGs characters than anything else.

    That being said, yes, it does boil down to a popularity contest. But I do have some faith in the people who are willing to show what real games were about. We will have to remind them about the times of the SNES, NES, and maybe even the Atari days.

    Mainstream marketing is what is driving a lot of the younger crowd that is buying games. That is why the FF series is flying off the shelves, but games like Zelda and SMB are being turned into EB and not being brought again.
  • by HomerJ ( 11142 ) on Friday February 27, 2004 @02:53PM (#8411020)

    Be sure to pick Grow [eyezmaze.com] Can you make everything GROW! and get 20,000 points?

  • By the way, the old slashdot story only links to the qualifying of the games, the actual bracket is here [gamespy.com].
  • WTF?! (Score:5, Insightful)

    by Haeleth ( 414428 ) on Friday February 27, 2004 @05:09PM (#8412257) Journal
    Who on earth chose that list of platforms?

    I see I can nominate games from popular platforms like the Virtual Boy, but there's no option for the BBC, which only brought us games like Elite and Exile (as mentioned here not two days ago [slashdot.org]). Ah well, "Computer Misc" here we come.

    I wouldn't mind the arbitrary list so much if it was even in alphabetical order...
  • You do realize... (Score:3, Interesting)

    by Incoherent07 ( 695470 ) on Friday February 27, 2004 @06:06PM (#8412715)
    According to the announcement on the front page of GameFAQs, the contest starts in the beginning of April. For those of you not aware of this, CJayC occasionally does something really off-the-wall to GameFAQs on April 1. Anyone else thinking what I'm thinking?

    Best. Game. Ever. == Best. April. Fools. Day. Scam. Ever.
  • Have a slashdot poll on the subject. there can be no debate to /. authority!
  • civ
    That's really all I have to say, but the lameness filter might block the post unless I add some useless drivel like this line.
    did I mention civ?

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