Guinness lists top 50 games of all time Comments by Ellie Gibson

i dont see the sense in having tekken and frickin soul calibur in the list but not even any iteration of virtua fighter???

Read it as 'Top 50 Console Games Since The Late 80's (More or Less), And Tetris', then it's not too bad.

i hate this perception that PC games aren't videogames. i mean come on! where is the distinction in play? i can play halo on PC and console and yet one is a videogame while the other isn't, just because of the platform it runs on? seems stupid to me. what meaningful distinction does computer vs video game serve anymore? by computer science definition any game played on a video display is a videogame... So screw your list guinness.

santino, more to lament this list with. VF is the original 3D fighter FFS!

Top 50 my arse.

The list was decided on by "a crack team of industry experts"... erm, no it was decided on by a team of industry experts on crack

how come some are specific (eg Ocarina) and others aren't (Mario Kart)..

PGR4 and Outrun 2 make the list, but Arcade Daytona doesn't??

o_0

also someone said they decided to omit arcade games (for some arbitrary reason no doubt), yet i see 4 games in the list that had their debut in the arcade...

they're not even sticking to their own criteria, whilst ommiting all the classics people have mentioned up the thread.useless.

Top 50 most important and influential videogames of all time (not including the systems with the most influential games).

Mmmmm...Guinness!

Ugh, probably one of the worst lists ever.

The 'no-arcade games' rule was a guess on my part. how else would you justify the absence of Pong, Pacman, Spave Invaders?

Funny, I only now noticed they have 3 GTA games on the list. 3? Really?

Looking back, I do think that this list is actually not worth discussing at all. It was probably concocted over lunch and had a requirement to be easy to relate to by kids.

I just discovered, via IMDB, a list made in the way that lists should be made. Clear explanation for the criteria, sound rules (one performance per actor, for instance) and detailed explanations for each choice.

But again, that's hard to do.

Woo Hoo I have played seriously 26 of them games here are the 24 I've never/barely played:

1. Call of Duty 4
2. Gran Turismo
3. Pro Evolution Soccer 4
4. Lego Star Wars Complete Saga
5. Tekken 2
6. Wii Sports
7. Pokemon Red/Blue
8. Guitar Hero
9. Project Gotham Racing 4
10. Super Mario Galaxy
11. Ico
12. Chrono Trigger
13. Gunstar Heroes
14. Advance Wars
15. Castlevania: Symphony of the Night
16. BioShock
17. Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic
18. God of War
19. Sega Rally Championship
20. Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion
21. WarioWare Inc
22. Saturn Bomberman
23. Crash Bandicoot
24. Outrun 2

Bollocks, where's Virtua Fighter? Shite list. Some fantastic games there but Mario Kart better than Tetris? I fucking LOVe Mario Kart but Really? Anyway, whoever compiled the list could have written it almost identicle to mine but I'd still want to shoot the Fucker. The Orange Box? It's a fucking compilation not a game! It's like those wankers who, when asked for their favourite film, say 'The Star Wars Trilogy' or 'The Lord of the Rings trilogy'. Cunts. Those people usually don't reall know jack shit about cinema so can we presume the same thing about these Arseholes? Including whoever it is that writes for Eurogamer?

List compiled by noobs

Where is "Nintendogs"? Seriously.

It brought countless numbers of non-gamers to the DS, it sold absolutely legions of copies as a series. And yet it is missing when things like CoD 4 are present.

I'm not saying CoD 4 is not an extremely good games, but "most important and influential"?


Where is "The Sims"? Where is "Populous"? Where is "Wii Fit" and "EyeToy"? Where is "PacMan"? Where is "Space Invaders"? Where is "Donkey Kong"? Where is the "Space Harrier" arcade cabinet? Is there even a single light gun game in that list?


Jesus wept. I could go on, but I'm drained of all motivation. I don't want to cause offense to anyone, and normally I don't ratty about these things. But the Guiness Book of Records is a serious and historical publication, yet this list seems to have been compiled by people who are a) hardcore gamers and b) not much older than 25. If this is going down in history as the most important and influential games of all time... OF ALL TIME... I can only wonder what kind of quality assurance the Guiness people are running these days.

Utterly disappointing. Sorry Ellie, but I hope you see where I am coming from. I don't what version of the word "influential" was being used here, but it wasn't one that I recognise.

WHERE IS BRAINTRAINING!?!?!

/falls back down into disrupted sleep

FFXII above FFVII!? *picks up buster sword*

Nice to see Chrono Trigger and Ico in there but where is Okami?

What was the best selling racing game on the GBA? :P

Doom and Wolfenstein establised the entire FPS genre, within which several of the existing listed games sit.

/turns purple and faints again

Actually, there don't seem to be any handheld games there. They used a very narrow definition of "videogame", no doubt. Even allowing for that, the list is poor.

(I was sure I already made this comment, but it seems to not be here.)

Hm, no Mass Effect and no Fallout 3. At least one of those games should be on the list.

Sorry but that list is absolutely shockingly bad. Lemme guess, you had a team of console fanboys on crack?

@kangarootoo
But the Guiness Book of Records is a serious and historical publication

Naw, it used to be.

I got it this years one for Christmas and it was far from a serious publication. Too many "Most bees worn as a beard" or "Longest distance covered while unicycling backwards by a left-handed woman" nonsense and not enough "Fastest time to run 100m" style records for my liking.

Reading some of the nonsense in it almost caused my brain to shut down so I handed it over to my niece who enjoyed the 3D pictures more than anything else (old-tech 3D glasses). To people planning on future record attempts: you may be the person who ate the most live beetles in 1 minute but it's really not noteworthy. It's no fantastic human achievement.

BiscuitBase: Your logic is flawed. On the one hand you say that if there was a console port of wow, it would be in there, but on the other hand you say that a game like doom (which has to be the most ported game of all time) isn't up there for that reason. Also, removing the PC is stupid beyond reason, simply because the pc and it's predecessors are responsible for inventing and innovating about 90% of all genres.

Where's the Guinness World Records game in that list!?!?! Guess they didn't pay you enough.

Any top 50/100 list (regardless of justifications) that excludes Shenmue, Rez, and Daytona is either compiled by:

non-gamers
people without souls
morons
someone having a laugh
or all of the above

.

@GiarcYekrub

Never seriously played Outrun 2, CoD4, PES 4 (still the best!!!), SMG, Advance Wars (!!!), Bioshock, or SEGA Rally.....

.....

.....really? You've got some catching up to do mate!!!! ;0)

what a completely pointless and meaningless list..

Congratulations!

(sarcasm) Im sure bioshock is really influential....

I think Bioshock is more influential that "Wii Family Trainer 3: Lets Get Silly" or other such shovelware

Great to see Mazza Kart at number 1, I played that to death back in the day, still give it a whirl every once in a while.

Surprised to see Final Fantasy XII that high above Final Fantasy VII considering that the latter raised JRPG awareness in the West considerably.

@sneetch

Hmm, looks like I'm stuck the past (in an age where quality and standards meant something. "Harumph" /taps pipe out on servant's shoe).


@dustrat

I would in no way dispute that both Mass Effect and Fallout 3 are both great games (a coiuple of my favourite in recent years), but I would question whether either of them are influential.

They are both within well trodden genres, they both sell to an existing market whose borders are pretty well defined, they don't do anything that revolutionary in terms of interface or presentation.

For me, any game that can be defined as "important and influential", ESPECIALLY when it is suffixed by "of all time" has to have pushed the industry in a new direction. Either by creating a new genre of gaming, or by profoundly changing the gaming market.

PacMan did exactly that by creating a household name franchise out of a video game. WiiFit and Braintraining did that by putting gaming firmly in the mainstream line of sight (Phillip Schofield and Fern Britain advertising a video game on prime time terrestrial TV). Doom/Wolfenstein did that by creating the FPS genre.

So you see what I mean I hope, whilst FO3 and MS are both great games, they are evolution rather than revolution. If neither game had been made, the games industry would almost certainly keep on rolling in its current direction with little or no change. In my book, an influential game should change the industry that surrounds it in some way. Most of the published list has done nothing of the sort.

@andywilkie35

I loved Bioshock, but who did it influence and in what way? Can its influence really be compared to something like (for example) Populous?

I aint saying its influenced anything, I'm sure there's a number of things on that list that haven't influenced much (e.g. PGR4, I love that game and its another I've played for hours on end but it hasn't exactly influenced anything after it?)

I was merely taking issue with Smelly's repeated trolling of anything that isn't Wii based. I've got a Wii and I play it a fair bit because it has got some great games. Just can't stand the attitude! :-)

One thing I think we can all agree on is that any list like this isn't going to please everyone

no Command and Conquer fail
no Sims fail
no System Shock fail
no Fallout fail
no Monkey Island fail
no WoW fail
no Civilization fail
no Half-Life fail
no Doom fail
no Quake
no BattleField fail
no Flight Simulator fail
no Rollercoaster Tycoon fail
no Total War series fail
no Total Annihilation fail

that list is pure F-A-I-Ll

I think for impact at the time and longevity, Mario Kart is very deserving of being at the top. As is Tetris.

In fact, the whole top of the list looks fine to me, although I'd personally have GTA a bit further down the top ten. And Tomb Raider had impact but not enough lasting appeal to be that high.

I can not understand Final Fantasy XII being above VII at all.

What about the top Game Characters of all time. Here's my top ten:

Mario
Link
Sonic the Hedgehog
Pacman
Vincent Valentine
Guybrush Threepwood
Cloud Strife
Yoshi
Lara Croft
Kirby

@andywilkie35

Well the anti-trolling is fair enough. But surely being influential is pretty important if that is the name of the list, no?

I shall bow out now. I'm sounding like a stuck record harping on as I do. My closing comment is that just because you like a game a great deal, it doesn't make it influential. Most of my very favourite games aren't influential, but that is why they shouldn't be in that list.

This is me, at 4:15pm GMT, shutting up.

Zelda Orcarina of time should be at no.1

It appears according to this list that the "golden era" of gaming consists largely of games post-1999 with very few from the mid-to-late-90s. The early arcade / PC era of the 80s has been forgotten and/or ignored. In fact most PC games despite their groundbreaking work in many genres are not on this list.

The definition of all time to me means games that were historically "relevant" and/or "innovative" that were great to play.

This list is bogus.

Also struggling to see how two 3D iterations of GTA can both make it onto such a list. I could understand why GTA and one of the 3D efforts could make the list as they've both been pretty influential in their own way.

Certainly a bizarre list, hard to see how things such as PGR4 can make it when then are genuinely classic original 3D racers missing (Daytona, for one)

Surprised nobody has mentioned the lack of Sensible Soccer, either.

Ugh, probably one of the worst lists ever.

Best comment ever.

Ocarina should not be number one. Not massively influential and lacking in lasting appeal. Going back to play it now is a chore. Hyrule field weighed the game down hugely. I loved OOT at the time, and still do, but time has taken it's toll on it. I'd rather go back and play Twilight Princess.

Sensible Soccer is a good shout.

@robg

Sorry, I didn't have time to compile every complaint I have with it, unlike the mangod Kangarootoo, so short and sweet it was.

I still firmly believe this list is utter bobbins.

Anyone who cheerfully puts GTAIII above Zelda: Ocarina of Time is, simply, a fucking idiot. Or someone who hasn't played either of them.

And Mario Kart number 1? Just... no.

(That's the problem with lists like these - they're divisive and basically pointless. But they do get the hits up)

Final Fantasy XII

need to look no further - crap list

Daytona is apparently the highest earning arcade cabinet of all time. They must be ignoring the Arcades, which immediately makes the list a nonsense:

Pac Man
Track & Field
Space Invaders
Daytona
Mortal Kombat
Street Fighter II

No list that includes the arcades could miss these games without being way off the mark. The only arguable entry here is MK, as it was popular, but stood on SFII's shoulders.

Sega Rally should be swapped for Daytona. Sorry!


@andywilkie35

The guy's just a 1st class cock. Get used to it, or just hit ignore.

FFXII at eight? Higher than FFVII? Really? REALLY?

Am I blind or is Super Mario Bros. 3 not on the list? Where the fuck is Super Mario Bros. 3?

How can you make a list of the 50 best games of all time, and then include Crash Bandicoot, but not include Super Mario Bros. 3?

It boggles the mind 0_0

What a pointless list, sorry.

Without the PC and home computers it carries zero credibility. I don't care if you say it is solely for Video games. That is like saying the PC is not a games platform therefore not worthy of inclusion even though it would dominate this waste of a list.

FFXII in front of VII ??

No.

"I think Bioshock is more influential that "Wii Family Trainer 3: Lets Get Silly" or other such shovelware "


????!?

WTF are you talking about? That's like saying "noel edmonds is influential because he's not as shit as the chuckle brothers"