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Title Fight For Best All-Time Game Scheduled

Posted by simoniker on from the duke-em-out dept.

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.

167 comments

  1. Gamespy Voters Need Sanity by Mukaikubo · · Score: 4, Insightful

    I mean really, just go look at the qualifying 'fights'. Among prominent losers:

    X-COM: UFO Defense Nethack The Legend Of Zelda: A Link To The Past

    and so on.

    1. Re:Gamespy Voters Need Sanity by Vaevictis666 · · Score: 4, Insightful
      This is what happens when you're voting for "best from a category" - if they had done a 20-vote multiselect on the whole list rather than radio boxes on the categories, yes it would've come out different.

      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.

    2. Re:Gamespy Voters Need Sanity by MilenCent · · Score: 1

      Oh, tell me about it! Donkey Kong, for its strengths, is NOT the best classic arcade game! Most of the people voting on this have never even heard of Tempest or Robotron, and only know of Donkey Kong because it's by Miyamoto. Not that he doesn't make great games, but let's face it, he was just learning his craft back then. Practically every poll on the list has some tragic wrongness to it. It saddens me greatly to see almighty Rampart's fortunes so abysmally low.

    3. Re:Gamespy Voters Need Sanity by dagbrown · · Score: 1

      And where the hell is Ico? For crying out loud. If there's any game that deserves to be high in a list of "Greatest Games Of All Time", Ico's it.

      There should be a "best abstract game" category as well, for things like Bejeweled and Tetris.

    4. Re:Gamespy Voters Need Sanity by JeanBaptiste · · Score: 1

      UFO defense ROCKED

      and Nethack ROCKED

      if those are prominent losers, you need to get back to your CS game.

    5. Re:Gamespy Voters Need Sanity by Mukaikubo · · Score: 1

      uhh... dude... I was listing them as prominent games that were losing in the polls. I mentioned them because I played (and still play) them, specifically.

    6. Re:Gamespy Voters Need Sanity by JeanBaptiste · · Score: 1

      my bad. sorry.

      next time i should RTFA

      but probably wont

      too bad all the UFOs(xcoms) have sucked since the first. 3 wasnt bad i suppose. this last one (aftermath) sure sucked.

      you should try silent storm if you havent yet. very xcom like and great graphics.

  2. First Post! by Dh2000 · · Score: 5, Funny

    Well? Isn't that the game all slashdotters are playing? :)

    1. Re:First Post! by dupper · · Score: 1

      I think you mean 'frist psot!!1!'

  3. Nethack != Interactive Fiction by OgdEnigmaX · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Whaaa? Nethack is lumped in with Infocom games and Adventure...

    1. Re:Nethack != Interactive Fiction by WWWWolf · · 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 know anything about good games (Ultima Online probably going to win when Ultima VII would be around, and freaking Warcraft III taking the jackpot when Warcraft II was the one that really shined, dammit... And by the time Chrono Trigger or whatever the hell it was was trashing Star Control II, I was almost ready to scream "Get a life, you freaking japanophiles", but I restrained myself from doing so =)

    2. Re:Nethack != Interactive Fiction by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Well, I don't think a "lupine technomancer from the cold north" has any right to tell anyone else to get a life. ;-)

    3. Re:Nethack != Interactive Fiction by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Hey come on, you have seen the geek hierarchy?

  4. Well, since it's Gamespy by Snowspinner · · Score: 5, Insightful

    And since Gamespy skews towards newer gamers against Nintendo, my guess is on a GTA3 victory.

    As for Nethack under text adventures, well, it doesn't have any graphics?

    That or Gamespy is stupid.

    Probably the latter.

    --
    Philip Sandifer's academic website
    1. Re:Well, since it's Gamespy by damiam · · Score: 1

      GTA3 is losing pretty conclusively to Vice City at the moment. It's doubtful it'll even enter the bracket.

      --
      It's hard to be religious when certain people are never incinerated by bolts of lightning.
  5. Trust me... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Vote Final Fantasy VII or you will die.

    1. Re:Trust me... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Bah! Everyone knows the series peaked at 6

    2. Re:Trust me... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Oh jesus, you must be kidding.

  6. This is impossible by superpulpsicle · · Score: 4, Insightful

    How can you group fighting games, RPG, sports, action and everything else in between with one pool of good games.

    Not to mention the different age groups.

  7. Catagorization Issues? by Cebu · · Score: 4, Insightful

    The initial qualifying polls seem to show a certain limiting view already. How this claim to be anywhere close to a good measure of "greatest videogame of all time"?

    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....

    1. Re:Catagorization Issues? by KeeperS · · Score: 1

      Agreed. If it's not that serious, they should just choose their favorite 64 games to start with. After all, everyone has their own personal favorite game, and GameSpy couldn't possibly include them all for qualifying.

      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.

    2. Re:Catagorization Issues? by AvitarX · · Score: 1

      What they should do is have nominations.

      Anyone can nomnate anything

      and then you get random pairin to vote on. if one game spanks consistantly drop the other one.

      It would be a lot more interstin then.

      --
      Wow, sent an e-mail as suggested when clicking on "use classic" banner, and got a fast response that addressed my msg
    3. Re:Catagorization Issues? by The+Snowman · · Score: 1

      And what about Doom, the greatest game of all time?

      ZDoom source port
      Doomworld
      Usenet group
      my Doom site

      --
      24 beers in a case, 24 hours in a day. Coincidence? I think not!
  8. Elder Scrolls? by (trb001) · · Score: 4, Insightful

    I don't see a category that Morrowind would fall under. Granted, it's a new(er) game, but without a doubt one of the most open ended, longest, replayable and fun RPGs I've ever played.

    --trb

    1. Re:Elder Scrolls? by drewmca · · Score: 3, Insightful

      I'll give you longest, replayable, and open-ended. It's all that. It's just not fun to actually play.

    2. Re:Elder Scrolls? by damiam · · Score: 1

      This is only half the bracket. Have patience.

      --
      It's hard to be religious when certain people are never incinerated by bolts of lightning.
  9. The winner will be recent. by Jodiamonds · · Score: 5, Interesting

    Because there are more and more gamers as each year goes by, the winner is extremely likely to be one of the more recent games to come out, just due to the population explosion.

    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).

    --
    - Jodiamonds
  10. Castlevania by GreenHell · · Score: 1

    Not to be picky (ok, I am being picky), but their Castlevania listing is hardly complete.

    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.

    --
    "I won't mod you down - I feel the need to call you a twit explicitly, rather than by implication."
    1. Re:Castlevania by Melchior_of_wg · · Score: 1

      Yes, they have for some reason totally avoided including the N64 game and the three (!) Gameboy games.

    2. Re:Castlevania by johannesg · · Score: 1

      I would sort of expect the MSX2 version to be there. It was, after all, the _very first_ of the series...

    3. Re:Castlevania by Frizzle+Fry · · Score: 1
      Not to be picky (ok, I am being picky), but their Castlevania listing is hardly complete.

      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 they aren't listing
      --
      I'd rather be lucky than good.
  11. missing titles by an_mo · · Score: 4, Informative

    spacesims: missing freespace 2
    I also couldn't find descent, the best game ever

    1. Re:missing titles by Mukaikubo · · Score: 4, Insightful

      If Freespace 2 isn't one of the staff picks (It got a Editor's Choice award IIRC), this poll instantly loses all meaning.

      "DIVE DIVE DIVE! HIT YOUR BURNERS, PILOT!"

    2. Re:missing titles by WTFmonkey · · Score: 1

      WHy isn't Freespace 2 on sale anywhere for less than like $50? People are asking $79 and $99 on amazon.com's used pages. What gives?

    3. Re:missing titles by Mukaikubo · · Score: 1

      The law of supply and demand is now kicking you in the groin- enjoy!

    4. Re:missing titles by Warpedcow · · Score: 1

      Agreed. There should have been a "pick the best Descent: 1, 2, or 3"!! Definitely the best game ever!

      --
      moo
    5. Re:missing titles by cbuskirk · · Score: 1

      I don't think it needed to go through the qualifier rounds. Notice Starcraft, and Pac Man were not on any of these lists. There were only 34 catagories to vote in. I belive that these were done so that you could narrow down those games that would other wise be difficlult to pick, IE numbers 36-64 in a best games competition. Also many of the catagories were there to pick the best of a given series to represent the series a whole. In addition there is no rule that says they can't pull more than one game voted highly in any one catagory.

    6. Re:missing titles by Deliveranc3 · · Score: 1

      This was really really hurting. X2 Is by all accounts a questionable title, Descent was the best ever.

  12. "best X of all time" contests are lame by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Insightful

    These kinds of contests are rediculous.

    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.

    1. Re:"best X of all time" contests are lame by Alkaiser · · Score: 2, Insightful

      Did you expect anything less of Gamespy? Especially AFTER they merged with IGN? The Best X of All Time articles makes up 95% of the stuff that comes out of Gamespy.

      --
      Netjak.com independent reviews of domestic & import video ga
    2. Re:"best X of all time" contests are lame by Rallion · · Score: 1

      That's why the GameFAQs character battles are far, far better than this.

      Oh, and the whole contest aspect...with the prizes!

    3. Re:"best X of all time" contests are lame by bigman2003 · · Score: 1

      AND- The Best X of All Time articles make up 100% of the links to Gamespy from Slashdot.

      --
      No reason to lie.
  13. Shows my age I suppose by Captain+Rotundo · · Score: 1

    I am not that old, but I can clearly see that the demo for gamespy is younger than I.

    There is no WAY Grim Fandango should beat Maniac Mansion. just NO WAY!

    1. Re:Shows my age I suppose by Captain+Rotundo · · Score: 1

      as I read on it becomes more absurd.

      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 remember.

    2. Re:Shows my age I suppose by imitier · · Score: 1
      Where is Loom among the adventure games? That's the real travesty.

      And I'm not sure why Symphony of the Night handily beating all comers makes you want to move to the woods. One, I think it's generally acknowledged that SOTN is the most popular Castlevania (at least, there's still a pretty involved community devoted to exploring the game, finding new areas, items, glitches, etc.) Two, have you played SOTN recently? It's better in some many ways by so many levels than Simon's Quest (the 2d best Castlevania) that it's not even close. Obviously that's just my opinion, but I think that of my various opinions that's one that's closer to objective truth than many of the others. Not to detract from Simon's Quest, but SOTN just does so much more -- I always think of SOTN being like a Super Metroid (SNES) treatment of the earlier Castlevanias. Metroid (NES) is a great game, and certainly has its place, but Super Metroid (SNES) just expanded on its predecessor in all the right ways. SOTN is the same kind of expansion of earlier Castlevanias.

    3. Re:Shows my age I suppose by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I have fond, fond memories of Simons Quest, but what Symphony of the Night did, in the dawn of 3D gaming, cannot be seen as anything but amazing.

      The control, overall design, and replayability of that game is a definite pinnicle of 2D gaming, regardless of what series it belongs to. I can totally understand how it would defeat Simons Quest, despite the fact that Simons Quest was a pinnicle of the Castlevania series.

      We should be lucky for that series in the first place. Not only does it have multiple high points throughout it's lifetime, but it's also one of the only ones to continue to excersize excellence in 2D. (What I mean is, despite their failures in the 3D versions of the game, they haven't abandoned side-scrolling like many other classic series have).

      There are some seriously flawed decisions in this rediculous Gamespy article, but SotN is really something to celebrate.

  14. My prediction by Cecil · · Score: 3, Insightful

    I predict the final to be a bitter, violent battle to the death between the Final Fantasy 7 Fanbois, and the Diablo 2 Drones. I don't think that any other two genres have a strong enough support foundation to make it. And those two specific games are the ones handily leading those genres at the moment.

    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.

    --
    Random and weird software I've written.
    1. Re:My prediction by Mukaikubo · · Score: 2, Interesting

      It was extremely disappointing to see FF7 beating FF6 so handily. Kids these days and their "3-D characters". Bah, I say.

    2. Re:My prediction by KeeperS · · Score: 1

      On the other hand, if it was just about graphics, FFX or X-2 would have easily won. Obviously people aren't just voting for FF7's "ohhhh, shiney" factor, because there's plenty of other shinier FFs these days. Of course, I was somewhat annoyed that Final Fantasy Tactics was nowhere to be found. Oh well.

    3. Re:My prediction by Mukaikubo · · Score: 1

      There's only so much utter shit in plot terms that even the ADD-inflicted Square Kiddies* can tolerate. FF6 had an outstanding story, FF7 a good one, and the later ones were bah.

      *To be distinguished from the many intelligent, rational fans. I think everyone knows someone like whom I'm talking about.

    4. Re:My prediction by BTWR · · Score: 3, Insightful

      Well, to the kiddies today, 1999's Final Fantasy 7 is "nostalgia."

      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!

    5. Re:My prediction by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      FF7 fanboys are self-delusional. For example, claiming that FF7 had the best graphics of its time, which I've actually seen some claim, is an obvious falsehood, whether it's intentional or not. It's a symptom of fanboyism, however, that one would make such a claim to bolster one's own belief that a particular game is the best. The belief becomes self-perpetuating, and any attempts to dissuade the fanboy actually increase his fanaticism. When multiple fanboys are together, there is a multiplier effect that sustains each fanboy's fanaticism at a high level. The best thing we can do for them all is to quarantine them in their own little corner of the web (game website forums) until they tire of the game on their own, one by one, and rejoin gamer society.

      Diablo 2 drones, on the other hand, do not suffer from the same ailments as FF7 fanboys. D2 fans are victims of a psychological addiction that compels them to play what is otherwise one of the most boring games ever in almost futile quests for stat-boosting items. It's a Skinner box, plain and simple. Eventually, they also tire of the game and return to gamer society.

      Note that there are plenty of well-adjusted people who enjoyed one or both of those games, but I'm not talking about well-adjusted people. IANAPsychologist. I intended this to be at least slightly amusing, but now that I look at it I'm pretty sure this counts as flamebait. I don't mind. Mod it down. :)

    6. Re:My prediction by Rallion · · Score: 1

      That last category was just terrible. By which I mean that it was awesome. But only having one vote to spread among that selection of classics was mind-wrenching.

      I voted for Chrono Trigger. And that hurt. Because it was right under XCom. And...argh...too painful.

      I am a betrayer.

    7. Re:My prediction by Cecil · · Score: 1

      And right below that was Total Annihilation. I hate Gamespy.

      --
      Random and weird software I've written.
  15. I am probably an elitist bastard, but by Flyboy+Connor · · Score: 1, Insightful

    ...I don't think the gaming public is qualified to choose the best game of all time.

    1. Re:I am probably an elitist bastard, but by BTWR · · Score: 1

      ...I don't think the gaming public is qualified to choose the best game of all time.

      yes. let's leave it to the "professionals" at GameSpy (ha).

  16. Incredible by Snowspinner · · Score: 2, Insightful

    I just went through all 34 categories, and never once did I pick the winning game.

    (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.

    --
    Philip Sandifer's academic website
    1. Re:Incredible by Alkaiser · · Score: 1

      Any ONE person who votes Civ 3 better than Civ 2 is a travesty.

      --
      Netjak.com independent reviews of domestic & import video ga
    2. Re:Incredible by Rone · · Score: 1

      Any ONE person who votes Civ 3 better than Civ 2 is a travesty.

      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), but the lack of borders absolutely sucked.

    3. Re:Incredible by Maserati · · Score: 2, Insightful

      Civ 3 is far more involved strategically than Civ 2 was. Just the addition of the Culture rating makes it a significantly deeper game. And with Luxuries and Resources, Civ3 becomes a very different game - trade with the AI is much richer. The strategic thinking required for Civ3 is closely akin to Go in how you have to plan out your expansion. You have to cast your net widely, but not leave gaps where an AI could snag a luxury or resource from you.

      I played a lot of Civ2. For Civ3...

      "Hi, my name is Maserati and I play Civ3"

      --
      Veteran, Bermuda Triangle Expeditionary Force, 1992-1951
  17. FF7 by IshanCaspian · · Score: 1

    I hardly think FF7 is the best game ever produced, but I'm calling it right now...there's just so many tifa fanboys it's GOTTA win. Personally, I think the laurels should go to Mario 64. Sure, I think there are a lot of games that are more technically impressive (Halo), have better stories (FF6 / FFX), but Mario 64 is really what bridged the gap for me between 2D and 3D gaming. Everything about it, from the new controller to it's vivid 3d world was just amazing to me. I really have some great memories of staying up all night with my friends, trading off, trying to beat that damn penguin. To me, the measure of a truly great game is not how much fun it is years later, but how revolutionary it was at the time.

    --

    But there is another kind of evil that we must fear most... and that is the indifference of good men.
    1. Re:FF7 by OmegaWeaponE · · Score: 1

      Wow...for me it is so difficult for me even to begin as to which is the best game of all-time is...there have been so many great games over the years...i cant choose...i wouldn't be suprised if it were a mario game though. Over the years, maroi games have been favored by many because of its incerdibly simple yet incredibly fun gameplay...

  18. Statistical fun by OgdEnigmaX · · Score: 2, Insightful

    Good point. Now, if Gamespy could record and make the age breakdown of the voting block publicly available, there'd be a lot of fun statisticking to be done.

    "Looking at the data here, it's no surprise at all that so few voted for Missile Command, only such-and-such percent of the voters were even *alive*, let alone of gaming age, when that was in popular circulation!"

  19. Even for a "Best Game" poll, this is retarded by Mirkon · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Honestly, it would have been difficult to do a worse job on the qualifying crap. How can you take a single Final Fantasy on one hand, then use the other to decide between Diablo and its own sequel? How is it that only one among the Marios or Zeldas will progress, while an Age of Empires or GTA3/VC is guaranteed qualification? How can you put Chrono Trigger, River City Ransom, and Perfect Dark in the "potpurri" category?

    And considering it was mentioned on the front article page, where the hell is Starcraft?

    --
    Glog!
    1. Re:Even for a "Best Game" poll, this is retarded by Ondo · · Score: 1

      And considering it was mentioned on the front article page, where the hell is Starcraft?

      It's in already, of course. The qualifying is only for about half the spots.

    2. Re:Even for a "Best Game" poll, this is retarded by OmegaWeaponE · · Score: 1

      I can't say i disagree...I think the premise of having any game being automatically qualified is foolish...let the fans have total control over the voting...

  20. Not fair by (trb001) · · Score: 1

    Okay, did anyone else see what should have been the obvious option under Pokemon? I didn't see "None of the Above" anywhere.

    --trb

    1. Re:Not fair by Tom7 · · Score: 2, Insightful

      The Pokemon games were really good. I'd place Pokemon red/blue under as my third or fourth favorite RPG of all time, and I didn't play it until I was 21.

    2. Re:Not fair by TLSPRWR · · Score: 1

      I disagree. The first Pokemon games (red/blue) was an amazing RPG. I remember me and my friend playing it for hours at a time together before it became massively popular. I mean, it had tons of replayablility (gotta catch 'em all, after all) interactivity (have to rely on a friend's cart to get all 150) and overall fun factor. Then Nintendo realized the cash cow capability and raped it for all the milk it was worth... and is still doing so.


      Although a 3D Pokemon RPG would be rather cool, as long as they didn't include all these nonsense Pokemon they've added to make each new version different and 'exciting'

      But, that's just my 1cent.

  21. Young Gamers by t1nman33 · · Score: 1

    I notice that, in many cases, more recent games are winning out over the older classics. I suspect that the target demographic of this poll has something to do with this...Perfect Dark with more votes than Prince of Persia? Hmm...

    --
    --- Where's my car, and why are these grass stains on my pants?
  22. Hm... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Did I miss something? Almost all my favorite games aren't even mentioned. No GTA: London, no Solar Eclipse, no Rouge Leader, no Afterlife, no Die Hard Arcade. Ah, well atleast Daytona and Civilization made it on the list. And where was the 2D, 3D fighting game category? What about all the Mortal Combat/Street Fighter/SNK/Virtua Fighter fans?

  23. How utterly pointless by lightspawn · · Score: 1

    Let's generalize a step further:

    "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?

    1. Re:How utterly pointless by OmegaWeaponE · · Score: 1

      I don't think the poll was meant to hold any thing meaningful. Its just a chance for game fans to Vote on what their favorite game of all-time is...instead of argueing mindlessly over the subject...

    2. Re:How utterly pointless by lightspawn · · Score: 1

      I don't think the poll was meant to hold any thing meaningful. Its just a chance for game fans to Vote on what their favorite game of all-time is...instead of argueing mindlessly over the subject.

      Why not do neither?

    3. Re:How utterly pointless by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      "Best thing ever"

      Duh. Sliced bread!

    4. Re:How utterly pointless by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Well, that's easy.

      The best thing ever is sex and ice cream (which is, of course, a combination of the two runner-ups).

      If everyone would just stop and realize this, the world WOULD be a better place.

    5. Re:How utterly pointless by OmegaWeaponE · · Score: 1

      "Why do neither"
      Because the people that are voting obviously want to..

  24. Tetris by wizarddc · · Score: 1

    That is all. GO home now, nothing to see here. If Tetris doesn't win, it's a travesty.

    --
    Th
    1. Re:Tetris by renelicious · · Score: 1

      If only I had mod points, I'd give them all to you.

      --
      "Luke, I am your node.parent();"
  25. Popularity Contest by cgenman · · Score: 5, Insightful

    I bet if you took a poll of the best movies of all time of the moviegoers in the United States today, you would find very few instances of films released before 1990. You would find very few art-house releases. You would find very few releases without a lot of blood and / or action. In fact, you would probably find that if you did that movie poll on GameSpy, The Matrix would come out #1.

    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.

    --
    The ______ Agenda
    1. Re:Popularity Contest by angelspit · · Score: 1

      I'm curious as to when was the last time you saw a fair poll in the gaming industry?

    2. Re:Popularity Contest by BTWR · · Score: 1

      you would find very few instances of films released before 1990.

      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.

    3. Re:Popularity Contest by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I'm curious as to when was the last time you saw a fair poll in the gaming industry?

      I think it was best breasts.

    4. Re:Popularity Contest by Pendersempai · · Score: 1
      I bet if you took a poll of the best movies of all time of the moviegoers in the United States today, you would find very few instances of films released before 1990.

      IMDB user rankings puts The Godfather first, and it was early 1970s.

    5. Re:Popularity Contest by mobby_6kl · · Score: 1

      Yeah I just wanted to point to this page. And not only the Godfather, there are only 19 movies made after 1990 in the first 50 (sorry, didn't go further, it's 3:AM here after all :)

    6. Re:Popularity Contest by MMaestro · · Score: 1
      I disagree. I think most movie snobs are actually biased AGAINST modern movies.

      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.

    7. Re:Popularity Contest by BTWR · · Score: 1

      my bad. i didn't see that part of parent's post. i agree with your lotr vs. casablanca thing, and i still feel that movie snobs are the opposite. In fact, movie snobs are worse. At least the average watcher can like both (Yes, I'd be shocked if out of 100 people, movies like The Wizard of Oz and Godfather don't make at least 50% of people's top 25 movies), but movie goers will NEVER admit to liking a movie that they're not supposed to like. "Maybe" they'll admit to liking something that isn't normal but won't get them tarred and feathered ("I think 'Se7en' is one of the best psychological thrillers ever"), but they'll NEVER say something like "You know, in my opinion, Armageddon was the best popcorn flick ever made." - Normal people have quirky interests and we all have our numerous guilty pleasures. Film critics all think the same, for the (98%) most part (Case in point: NO Adam Sandler film has EVER gotten 4 stars. In his dozen movies, not a SINGLE critic in ANY of his movies liked it enough to say it was perfect. I'll bet 10,000 people think Billy Madison is 10x funnier than Young Frankenstein, which 8/10 critics might say is the "funniest film in history")

    8. Re:Popularity Contest by ninjamonkey · · Score: 1

      I bet if you took a poll of the best movies of all time of the moviegoers in the United States today, you would find very few instances of films released before 1990. IMDB user rankings puts The Godfather first, and it was early 1970s.
      I agree that this was a bad analogy, however I do think that the demographic that will ultimately participate in this poll will have a much lower average age than those that vote the top 100 films of all time on IMDB, and therefore will vote for games that appeal to them - games that have been popular most recently.

      This will skew the "greatest game of all time" and become a "greatest game for the average age-group of the participants" poll.
    9. Re:Popularity Contest by onewing · · Score: 1

      Clearly River City Ransom didn't hold up very well to the rigors of aging

      I would have to disagree whole-heartedly. It remains one of the most fun games to play to this day, and holds up better than 95% of the games of its time.

      I'm still reeling from this statement.

  26. difficult by mwheeler01 · · Score: 1

    I think it will be difficult to sort out the popular games from the good games. Sure lots of popular games are good but often the best are second or third place winners. Of course this is all just my lowly opinion, feel free to flame. Also comparing some games will be like comparing apples and oranges, you'll be able to find a pretty damn good apple and a pretty damn good orange but how will you be able to judge which is better?

    --
    Pretty widgets? What pretty widgets?
    1. Re:difficult by OmegaWeaponE · · Score: 1

      Peoples definition of a good game differ from others...its a simple as that...

  27. Praise... by OmegaWeaponE · · Score: 1

    I think the premise of having such a poll is a good way to get to the bottom line to deside what the gamers think the best game of all time is...

  28. they missed somthing by raised+fist · · Score: 1

    I liked voting for the games I played in days of yore...but...i think they missed a little. With the GTA titles,..why didnt they include the two that busted out on PS1. And somthing else a little off subject..how come they didnt put any of the Mutant League titles in. ( they rule!!!)

  29. Insane!! by Tom7 · · Score: 1

    These voters are fucken insane.

    Quake 2 beats both Quake 1 and Quake III?
    Mario Kart 64 beats Super Mario Kart?!?!

    1. Re:Insane!! by OmegaWeaponE · · Score: 1

      Its all about opinions my freind...opinions...

    2. Re:Insane!! by Bombcar · · Score: 1

      I voted QuakeII because Action Quake II rocked my world.

      QIII was more of a demo for the engine; and things based on that engine were much better games, IMHO.

      --
      Fellowship 9/11
    3. Re:Insane!! by Tom7 · · Score: 1

      Wasn't Action Quake II just a mod for Quake II? There are plenty of great Quake III TCs.

      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 ?!?!?! ;)

    4. Re:Insane!! by egomaniac · · Score: 1

      I must be insane too, because I preferred Mario Kart 64 to Super Mario Kart.

      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.

      --
      ZFS: because love is never having to say fsck
    5. Re:Insane!! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      yup

  30. Simplicity... by OmegaWeaponE · · Score: 1

    It would be simpler to do the following, 1.Seperate the categories by specific genres such as "First person shooters" or "Sports" instead of "pokemon" and "Tony Hawk games". or 2. Let the gamers type in their favorite game...though this might be a little sloppy...

    1. Re:Simplicity... by BTWR · · Score: 1

      Well, I think their idea was to not have 20 of the 64 games be 5 zelda, 6 mario, 6 Final Fantasy and 3 Quake games alone...

  31. closest race by WordUpCousin · · Score: 0

    The closest race I noticed between 2 games in the same category was between two 90's arcade favorites, Street Fighter 2 and TMNT.

    Is there a PART 2 of the voting? I did not even see Starcraft or Madden!

    1. Re:closest race by Ondo · · Score: 1

      Is there a PART 2 of the voting? I did not even see Starcraft or Madden!

      Yes. RTFA.

    2. Re:closest race by D0X · · Score: 0

      Hey thats interesting Starcraft ? Madden. You play Starcraft ? interesting do you play starCraft ? anyway Hmm What are you in Refering to ?

  32. Game polls not like other media... by Captain+Rotundo · · Score: 1

    Its so difficult with game polls. They aren't like Books or Film... the tech is so intertwined with the games that anyone who comes after the tech moves on just CAN'T aprpreciate it. Music suffers from the same problem but instead of tech its a cultural thing, you like your music better than your parents because your music reflects your culture.

    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 entertaining, and balanced that the Ocarina of Time or Majoras Mask... Its just simply a better game.

    Now with movies I can take a younger person to see 2001, or "Citizen Kane" and the film stock doesn't get in the way of the acting, story, shots etc... but my younger siblings just don't have the skills to enjoy a game that is such a huge departure from the current gameplay interface.

    and yes personally I would call "The Legend of Zelda" the "Citizen Kane" of console games.

  33. After the "competition" is over... by corporate+trinket · · Score: 1

    Give it a month... It'll take GS that long to mine the data and offer free versions of the winning games...oh...you mean you're not a Founder's Club member? -CT

  34. Pool by babbage_ct · · Score: 1

    who's going to organize the pool? this will be just like march madness. hmmmm, gaming gala?

  35. The best way to determine your favorite is... by MBraynard · · Score: 1

    Seems hard to determine which one you should vote for? Just gotta look back and choose the one you spent the most time playing and not getting bored. That's really the best single way to determine it. Maybe not if that was the _only_ game you had to play, but if you had alternatives (and reading a book counts), the game you played the most is probably the 'best.'

    1. Re:The best way to determine your favorite is... by Bambi+Dee · · Score: 1

      A few of my favourite games took about an hour or three to play through and had very little replay value. Still they left an impression not unlike that of leaving a movie theatre after a particularly impressive film. (Of course, none of these games are on the list as they're sort of ...under the radar for most.)

    2. Re:The best way to determine your favorite is... by MBraynard · · Score: 1

      Funny how many games they missed. It was quite rediculous how many they missed. I mean, just among those that made their 'game of the year' for the last couple of years.

    3. Re:The best way to determine your favorite is... by Rallion · · Score: 1

      That would be StarCraft. I spent more than half my gaming time ( which averages at about 7 hours a day) on it up until about a year ago...ahhh.

      And yet, I've already completely stopped playing WarCraft III. What's up with that?

  36. Turn Based? Hello? by jayhawk88 · · Score: 1

    I know this is just "qualifying", but if this is indeed the definitive list of games that will be used in this thing, these guys are smoking crack. An entire qualifing poll for Age of Empires (all three of them), System Shock (great games, but hardly a class unto itself), and Tony Hawk for God's sake? But no turn-based strategy? Where the hell is Master of Orion and Master of Magic? Three freaking catagories for Adventure titles, but not an RPG outside of Diablo and Final Fantasy? Where the hell are the racing or flight sim games? You're going to tell me you can have a "Greatest Games of All Time" battle without Gran Turismo 3 or Falcon 3?

    1. Re:Turn Based? Hello? by Bambi+Dee · · Score: 1
      (...) but if this is indeed the definitive list of games that will be used in this thing (...)

      It's not. According to the blurb on the linked page, the qualifying polls determine about half the games in the tournament. I kinda wonder where the other half is coming from, but I'll try not to care...

      (...) but not an RPG outside of Diablo and Final Fantasy?

      Well, they have the Ultima and Zelda series. Not Pac Man, though. Not that I consider it an RPG.

  37. Any greatest game competition... by Senjutsu · · Score: 1

    that doesn't even include Super Metroid is completely invalid.

    1. Re:Any greatest game competition... by fredrikj · · Score: 1

      Any greatest game competition that doesn't even include Super Metroid is completely invalid.

      Seconded.

    2. Re:Any greatest game competition... by damiam · · Score: 1

      This is only half the bracket. Have some patience.

      --
      It's hard to be religious when certain people are never incinerated by bolts of lightning.
  38. Rediculous... by bluemeep · · Score: 4, Funny
    I wonder... What would it be like if IMDB did a poll like this...?

    *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."

  39. Show poll results before voting = brilliant. by Teddy+Beartuzzi · · Score: 3, Insightful
    I mean really, what fool shows the prior results while you're voting? All it does is skew the voting. Hell, I passed over numerous categories because I could see my choice had 12 votes, and some recent crap thing I never heard of had 3400 votes.

    And as mentioned here already, it's obvious most of the voters weren't even alive when the real quality games were popular.

    1. Re:Show poll results before voting = brilliant. by Bambi+Dee · · Score: 1

      Like a poll can determine the "best" game. Even *if* every voter had played every game, there'll still be *many* "best", or rather: favourite, games. Oh, and neither "Zork" nor "Hitchhiker's Guide" are Infocom's best. One is in many ways the most *important*, the other is, well, the Hitchhiker game.

    2. Re:Show poll results before voting = brilliant. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Funny

      Slashdot does...you insensitive clod!

    3. Re:Show poll results before voting = brilliant. by Teddy+Beartuzzi · · Score: 1

      Not for me. It shows a *link* to the results if I wish to check them first, not the results themselves.

  40. and what's wrong with that? by mrpuffypants · · Score: 4, Insightful

    GTA3 and Vice city were Really Good games. Just because you may think that an 8-bit game is better back in the day doesn't mean that nothing will ever supercede it.

    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?!?!

    1. Re:and what's wrong with that? by OgdEnigmaX · · Score: 2, Informative

      I believe the point is that the playing field is skewed by the age of the readership and thus what they've been exposed to. It is certainly *possible*, and in many cases true, that many newer games are better than their older counterparts...but you can't trust someone without working familiarity with (or even awareness of) all games in a given category to be able to choose the best of them. If I say that The Maltese Falcon is a far superior film to Casablanca, it's a totally meaningless claim because I haven't seen either of them.

    2. Re:and what's wrong with that? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0
      "If I say that The Maltese Falcon is a far superior film to Casablanca, it's a totally meaningless claim because I haven't seen either of them."

      You poor man. Run right out to the videostore.

    3. Re:and what's wrong with that? by mrpuffypants · · Score: 1

      well put. totally agree with you ;p

    4. Re:and what's wrong with that? by laiquendi · · Score: 1
      If you make a reference to Guybrush Threepwood in your comment I always mod it up. Go Monkey Island!

      I guess we know which LucasArts game you voted for.

  41. I'm curious . . . by superultra · · Score: 1

    I wonder if Bard's Tale and Prince of Persia would have made it in their potpourri list if they had not had recent remakes. At least they spelled Broderbund right.

  42. Noo! Where's PacMan? by Lord+Graga · · Score: 1

    I CAN'T FIND PACMAN! DOH! >:(
    GameSpy has destroyed my dreams!

  43. pacman? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    where's pacman? I looked in the arcade classics, and it ain't there. no pacman option. I thought the category system was stupid, but I thought, ok, I'll deal with it.. until I saw that pacman wasn't in the list. how can they leave out pacman? I mean, pacman is even in the title graphic, but not in the poll? preposterous!!!

  44. No Pac-Man? NO PAC-MAN?!! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    What kind of game list doesn't have PAC-MAN on it? It doesn't need to win, but it turned the entire gaming world on its head when it came out! Half the reason the gaming industry is banking so much these days is owed to how many quarters such a simple game could suck in. No other game in histry has had as many licensing deals as Pac-Man has. They even made Pac-Man toilet paper for crying out loud!

  45. Not sure why they bother by claytongulick · · Score: 1

    when it is incredibly obvious to anyone that Halflife is the Best Game Ever.

    --
    Drinking habits can be dangerous. You can choke on the cloth and the nuns will wonder where their clothes are.
  46. Invalid survey based on poor starting selection... by gmezero · · Score: 1

    this is some guy sat down and did up a list of all the popular games he could think of... There are so many games not included under many of these voting catagores that it's not even funny. Like with the "Adventure classics" listing, why wasn't Scorceror included? What about any of the popular Scott Adam's games, or Eamon Quest series... and let's not forget other graphic adventure variants from the exact same time that would go under this catagory such as any of the classic Penguin ("Transilvania", to name one) or Sierra titles.

    Oh well...

  47. Apples, oranges, and idiots. by seraph93 · · Score: 3, Interesting
    Quick, everybody, which was a better game, River City Ransom or Civilization? Fallout or Quake? Castlevania or Dance Dance Revolution? Apparently the people at GameSpy don't agree with me, but I don't really think that a meaningful comparison can be made between many of the games.

    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.

    --
    Ph-nglui mglw'nafh Cthulhu R'lyeh wgah'nagl fhtagn.
    1. Re:Apples, oranges, and idiots. by hambonewilkins · · Score: 1
      Read the forums on the page. The editors are holding off on some "must be on the list" games (perhaps 32 games) that will likely include many you mention. Also, Tetris, most likely.

      So, wait until that list comes out to get riled up.

      --

      God Bless America. Why? Did it sneeze?
    2. Re:Apples, oranges, and idiots. by prockcore · · Score: 1

      Quick, everybody, which was a better game, River City Ransom or Civilization? Fallout or Quake? Castlevania or Dance Dance Revolution?

      A. River City Ransom
      B. Fallout
      C. Castlevania.

      What do I win?

    3. Re:Apples, oranges, and idiots. by default+luser · · Score: 1

      Yeah, I noticed that in every single category, if they had a runaway winner, it just happened to be a game made in the last 10 years.

      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.

      --

      Man is the animal that laughs.
      And occasionally whores for Karma.

    4. Re:Apples, oranges, and idiots. by metroid+composite · · Score: 1
      Actually, no. Contra is winning in a category that also contains....
      Contra Hard Corps (Konami, 1994, Genesis)

      Zork is winning in a category that also contains...
      The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy (Infocom, 1984, C64/Apple II/DOS)
      A Mind Forever Voyaging (Infocom, 1985, C64/Apple II/DOS)
      Trinity (Infocom, 1986, C64/Apple II/PC)

      StreetFighter 2 and Ninja Turtles are winning in a category that contains...

      Daytona USA (Sega, 1994)
      Sega Rally Championship (Sega, 1995)
      Time Crisis (Namco, 1996)
      House of the Dead (Sega, 1997)
      Dance Dance Revolution (Konami, 1999)

      Super Mario Bros. 3 is winning in a category that also contains...

      Yoshi's Island (1995, SNES)
      Super Mario 64 (1996, N64)
      Super Mario Sunshine (2002, GCN)

      (and for the record, I personally voted for Mario 64; it broke more ground, and it has an open-ended style of gameplay which I like).

      Don't get me wrong, a lot of the people there got their start in N64/PSX days (see: FFVII). It's definitely skewered against classic games, but more experienced gamers are clearly a non-negligible voting base as well.
  48. Mario Kart 64 beating Super Mario Kart?!? by mmport80 · · Score: 1

    How can Mario Kart 64 be more popular than Super MK. Super MK is the best game ever. MK64 is the worst in the series...

  49. This is insane. by foxtrot · · Score: 1

    What graphic does Slashdot use for "Classic Games"?

    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 not like nobody's ever heard of it. It's not out of the depths of obscurity. I mean, sure, Fallout was a good game, but can it possibly deserve its own category when Pac Man isn't even on the list?

    -JDF

  50. The Best Game of All Time.... by fondue · · Score: 1

    ...as voted by readers (gawpers? droolers?) of GameSpy. Can you see the inherent flaw in this plan?

    I say again, no more fucking GameSpy non-stories. We don't want to give them *more* ad revenue.

    --

    Preferences > Homepage > Customize stories on homepage > Authors > Zonk > Uncheck

  51. Oops! Got riled up too soon! by seraph93 · · Score: 1
    Ah, I see. I didn't think to check the forums. Yep, it looks like you're right:

    These polls are only 34 out of the 64 games. We've already got 30 games on the list that will be revealed on Monday. A lot of the stuff that people keep saying we missed are already in the tournament.

    Okay, so that's one thing I can't bitch about (until Monday anyway--Monday's a good day for bitching :), but my other point still stands: The best part of the GameSpy contest will be found on Penny Arcade. Until then, I guess I'll just have to get riled down again.

    --
    Ph-nglui mglw'nafh Cthulhu R'lyeh wgah'nagl fhtagn.
  52. Let's just end this right here and now... by Terminal+Saint · · Score: 1

    System Shock 2. Best. Game. Ever.

    --
    It's sad when choosing an installation directory on your own qualifies you as an "advanced user."
  53. I have the results of the vote predicted by Operating+Thetan · · Score: 1

    1. Final Fantasy 7
    2. Final Fantasy 6(voted for by kids who are too young to actually remember the SNES)
    3. Chrono Trigger
    4. Final Fantasy 10
    5. Chrono Cross(again, voted for by kids who are too young to actually remember the SNES)
    6. Obscure Square game that no one but the legions of wapanese fanboys have heard of
    7. See 6
    8. See 7
    9. See 8
    10. See 9

    --
    Worried you might not keep your virginity forever? Try new Linux(TM), guaranteed twice as effective as LARPing
    1. Re:I have the results of the vote predicted by damiam · · Score: 1

      Of course not. Rockstar, Blizzard, and Nintendo will each have at least one game in the top five.

      --
      It's hard to be religious when certain people are never incinerated by bolts of lightning.
  54. Where's NiGHTS? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    I wanna know were NiGHTS into Dreams is. They much be crazy for not putting that up.

  55. Metroid? by Object01 · · Score: 1

    Metroid? Super Metroid? Metroid Prime? Metroid: Zero Mission?

    Not -one- of these made it in there?

  56. Somewhat strange sports choices... by WWWWolf · · Score: 1

    Hrrrrrrrrm. 7 out of 21 games are baseball or american football. One soccer game (PES2). (Where's Microprose Soccer??? Or even the true fossil of C64 games that makes all other games look modern in comparison, Commodore International Football from, what was it, 1982 or 1983?)

    Okay, there probably wouldn't be any problem with this, but they didn't put in C64 California Games! Or, for that matter, any of the track and field games on the 8-bit machines, some of which notably Destroyed Joysticks far more throughoutly than any of the modern offerings - and that's not because they build sturdier joysticks these days.

  57. RTS... by JFMulder · · Score: 1

    I dunno, but having a category for the Warcraft games, another for the C&C games and anothe for the Age of Empire games, but not one for Starcraft or Total Annihilation, which both have huge community behind them, seems totally wrong... I never was into TA, but it had a huge following. And Starcraft is still said to be the best RTS ever by a lot of people. Most of the people I know and play RTS have just stopped playing the most recent RTSes and gone back to Starcraft Broodwar.

  58. Conspicuously Missing: by dupper · · Score: 1
    Starcraft, KoTOR, Tetris, Doom, UT, Rollercoaster Tycoon(-ish)

    And I weep for the future if Nethack loses.

  59. Dumb grouping by Spleener12 · · Score: 1
    The most completely asinine thing about this poll is that it groups everything by series or company as opposed to genre. Don't have separate polls for AoE and Warcraft, put them both together with C&C and do it for best RTS. (Or at least throw in Starcraft with the Warcrafts, SC is gameplay-wise a sucessor to WC2 and the predecessor to WC3.) Throw all the RPGs together in one category, too, though as it is right now it'll be fucking HUGE. But it's better than what GS is doing now, whoring dozens of games that deserve to be in there.

    Oh, and I agree that the FF7 fanboys will most likely be victorious in this battle. I'm not entirely sure why so many people still hold it up as the GREATEST GAME EVAR. I mean, I like it and all, but I personally think 10 kicks its ass both story-wise (the voice acting, though kinda so-so at times, helped a lot) and gameplay-wise(10 kicked my ass more than any game since 4.)

    Good thing Pac-Man isn't on the ballot, though, otherwise Gabe might bust out his robot again.

  60. Oh, and... by Spleener12 · · Score: 1
    Penny Arcade sucks! Gabe and Tycho are hacks!

    ... just had to say that. Because, you know, whenever someone makes a PA reference, someone else has post a reply mindlessly bashing Penny Arcade, so I figured I'd just do that for you guys.

    I'd also flame myself for being a SHAMELESS GRAFIX WHOR because I like FF10 more than any other game in the series, but I figure I'd better leave something for you guys, right?

  61. Vote Duke Nukem Forever by Foofoobar · · Score: 1

    I hope Duke Nukem Forever wins. Oh the irony.

    --
    This is my sig. There are many like it but this one is mine.
  62. more idiocy by Goldsmith · · Score: 2, Insightful

    Did they even notice that they started off the GTA series with GTA III?

    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.

  63. Re:Oops! Got riled up too soon! by Maserati · · Score: 1

    Ico had better be one of the 30. It's a work of art as well as a *very* well crafted game.

    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.

    --
    Veteran, Bermuda Triangle Expeditionary Force, 1992-1951
  64. Massive ommisions! by necronom426 · · Score: 1
    I thought I would have a look at this and when I saw 8/16 bit platform games I thought it was a bit strange to put the C64 and Spectrum with the Amiga since they are totally different. Also, why only platform games? That's one small part of all the games I have ever played. I clicked the link anyway.

    I almost fell off the chair when I saw that it didn't have the two most important platforms in my life (C64 and Amiga), but instead some crappy children's consoles that I have never seen (no-one I know had any of those).

    I was disgusted.

    When I saw the other categories I was wondering which monkey put the thing together.

  65. O Ignorance... by Haeleth · · Score: 1

    So I went in there to vote for the greatest game of all time, Elite.

    I'm slightly surprised to find it's actually listed, but - what's this?

    "Elite (Firebird, 1985, C64/PC)"

    Um, what?

    Elite was released in 1984, guys, by Acornsoft, for the BBC Micro...

  66. HORRIBLE. Massive omissions. by metroid+composite · · Score: 1

    Let me go down my list that I made recently of my top 15 games (roughly in order, though I'm playing a few of the newer ones at the moment so can't judge them well yet).

    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 missing is not surprising)
    Metroid Prime (omitted entirely)
    Super Mario 64 (present)
    Koudelka (omitted, but it's a small cult following at best)
    Warioland 2 (again, not well known)
    Valkyrie Profile (slightly larger cult following, but yeah)
    Mario and Luigi (omitted entirely)
    Metroid (omitted, but I'd expect that)
    Metroid 2 (omitted, and I'd definitely expect that)
    Zelda 2 (present and getting its butt kicked; why is this game so maligned by Zelda fans again?)

    In short, either some games got an automatic "in" or my respect for GameSpy just fell through the floor. Was Starcraft even on there? I don't remember seeing it. I mean I can understand leaving off Kings Quest 2, even though I thought the first two games were the best of that series, but the further I got in that pole the more disgusted I became. Is there a write-in section anywhere?

  67. I'm a moron... by metroid+composite · · Score: 1
    Just noticed this:
    Although it's mentioned in the intro, it's important enough to point out again before too many people ask, "AAAAH! where's game xxx!?!" -- if a game isn't in these qualifying polls, that doesn't mean it's not in the full tourney.

    These qualifying polls should determine roughly half the field; we'll be announcing all the final brackets on Monday. There are some pretty obvious omissions in the qualifying polls; I'm sure a lot of people can guess what a lot of those games are. :)

    So feel free to utterly ignore/mock my previous post.
  68. Fear FFVII by metroid+composite · · Score: 1

    It may not be the best FF, but its popularity has caught me off guard before, even though I already knew it was high. Even if it doesn't win, I somehow doubt a GTA game will win. Given the strong PC influence on GameSpy I suspect Starcraft, actually.

  69. Ridiculous categorization by An'Desha+Danin · · Score: 1
    The categories are completely rigged. There's no justification for separating series into their own categories except to guarantee than one of them winds up in the brackets. They give entire categories to series comprised of only two or three games, while almost any game in the "potpourri" category is worlds above most of the series games. Why should an Age of Empires title be guaranteed a position while choose between two Mario games, or two Zelda games, or Chrono Trigger and X-Com?

    Age of Empires shouldn't even be in the qualifiers when these people are omitting games like ICO, which is a very strong competitor. And from an even more mainstream perspective, where the hell is any Metal Gear game on this list?

    --
    Anything you might ever need to say about anything has already been said better by Penny Arcade.
  70. Has to be Doom by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    I don't even know where to begin lauding Doom. What other game created a genre, one as popular as the FPS? Seriously. I'm not a huge FPS player or fan of the Doom or Quake series, but that game was a quantum leap over anything during its time. I'd say Doom largely started the graphics card craze too.

    1. Re:Has to be Doom by Goldfinger7400 · · Score: 1
      I'd say Doom largely started the graphics card craze too.

      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...

  71. Turn in your geek card! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Wait... you don't know what Chrono Trigger is!?

    Bah, we should recind your geek card right now!

    (Hint: Chrono Trigger was released in America, it's not just some random Japanese ROM. Next you're going to tell us that you don't know about Chrono Cross, either, right!? Try gamefaqs.com, Chrono Trigger was one of my favorite games of all time--one of the few games that could make /good/ use of time travel as part of the plot. Moreover, it was incredibly original, especially given that other RPGs were xxx II, now with more kinds of swords, insane HP inflation, and endless leveling + sublevels to increase!)

    1. Re:Turn in your geek card! by WWWWolf · · Score: 1
      Wait... you don't know what Chrono Trigger is!?

      I know... it's one of them Japanese RPGs. And none, no matter how in-depth they supposedly are, can beat the epic and fun of Star Control 2, which has been voted the Best Game Ever hundreds of times already and that still feels completely underrated. =)

      Here we face the usual dilemma of putting games of different genres in same category in a "best game ever" competition - or even arranging such competition.

  72. About that GameFAQs thing... by Rallion · · Score: 1

    GameFAQs is doing a game battle this spring. Currently taking nominations. Of course, in the end, I think CJay will just use the data to make his own selections. And it'll still be better than GameSpy.

    Plus...filling out brackets! With prizes!