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Top 50 Computer gamers of all time! (1 Viewer)

Bill Slack

Supporting Actor
Joined
Mar 16, 1999
Messages
837
Civlization and Doom are my favorites, by far.
I still play Civilization 1.
I used to play Doom against my best friend when we were in highschool. We'd hook up via a null-modem cable and frag for hours upon hours.
The atmosphere in the game was erie at times. My fondest gaming memory comse from him incessantly asking me 'What's that noise' and he finally walks into the room where I'm hiding and I own him with my chainsaw. He was so shocked, he didn't even fight back. :)
Myst and Tomb Raider seem quite high to me. Tetris is top 5, to me. Again, I STILL play Tetris. It keeps me entertained for hours at a time.
One of the most memorable games of my youth is Mike Tyson's punchout, but it's not a classic in terms of gameplay. Now, Bionic Commando.. THAT is a sweet game.
 

Dean DeMass

Screenwriter
Joined
Jun 30, 1997
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Now, Bionic Commando.. THAT is a sweet game
Indeed it is.

This is one list I really diagree with. Not one Castlevania game is on the list. Mario 64 is on it (way too low IMHO), but Super Mario Bros. isn't? Who the hell made up this list anyway?

I am still trying to comprehend how Myst is on the list but the original Legend of Zelda isn't?

BTW, the orignal Tomb Raider is a fantastic game and I actually like the 2nd one as well, but there is no way in hell that this game deserves to be in the Top 10 and yet Mario 64 is #21.

-Dean-
 

Scott_G

Second Unit
Joined
Jun 18, 2000
Messages
268
Too heavy on PC games vs. consoles.
Speaking of PC games ... no King's Quest or LS-Larry's?
Lode Runner, The original Star Trek that ran on old Mainframes.
 

Iain Lambert

Screenwriter
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Jun 7, 1999
Messages
1,345
This list is clearly garbage. After all, I refer anyone defending it to the fact that you need to go back as far as Halo (already number 20, despite insufficient time passing to really make a judgement) before you find a game that you'd need to buy a console in order to play. If this was remotely the case why would they be so much more popular than PC gaming?

The lack of Asteroids is pretty damning as well; this is a genuine masterpiece, unlike games like the thoroughly average Playstation Medal Of Honour.

Oh, and if you had to pick a platform that Elite was for, well. C=64? Don't make me laugh - it pales next to the BBC and Spectrum versions.

Finally, am I the only one that always hated Duke Nukem 3D? It was just Doom with a terrible level design and a bunch of uncredited Evil Dead samples. Better than GoldenEye? Don't make me laugh.
 

John Spencer

Supporting Actor
Joined
Mar 2, 2000
Messages
857
I'm having trouble with the list for many reasons, most of which have already been stated. A couple of my problem points that haven't been stated:
1. No "Adventure" - The first text-based fantasy game I remember. Who can forget "You are standing on a hill...? "I still remember spending days in front of my uncle's green-screen IBM 8086 until I waved my magic wand...And this was at least a couple of years before the magic of Zork.
2. Nothing from the SSI Dungeons and Dragons series. This series alone kept the Commodore 64 alive at least 4 years past when it should have died.
3. Combat - If you owned an Atari 2600, you owned Combat. And when your other games got boring, admit it. You and your friends would waste hours blowing each other up with various poorly rendered combat vehicles!;)
4. Nothing from the John Madden EA football series. Since it first appeared, nothing brought more friends over to the house to have tournaments on my Genesis, and Super Nintendo, and Playstation, and...etc. The fact that this game has stood the test of time into a 10th year, should warrant at least a 40-50 placement.
Perhaps the list should have been called "My 50 Favorite Electronic Games" to reflect it being the author's preference, because I have a serious doubt that it was compiled by any kind of polling. But that, of course, is my opinion.
 

Masood Ali

Supporting Actor
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Jan 31, 2002
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921
I don't think a comprehensive "All-Time" list could be made without either A)Categorizing games into several areas, each with its own list or B)Making the list 500 games long.
 

Todd H

Go Dawgs!
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The list is way too PC heavy. I remember back in the day Next Generation magazine had the BEST all-time lists. It was a good mix of arcade, console, and PC games. Damn, I miss that magazine. :frowning:
 

John Thomas

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Mar 23, 2000
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To be fair though, the PC is probably the best overall gaming machine. The consoles have gone through several generations and different games on each (or rehashes of same games) while the PC has been able to rack up numerous games that are still viable on a newer machine. For example, Castle Wolfenstein up to the upcoming Doom 3. Whereas, the Playstation (arguably the most successful console) hasn't been able to display the same track record.
No offense to those who own consoles. They definitely excel at certain types of games (mainly driving and sports games) but overall, the PC is the old standby, the one that's always been there and that's why there's more PC games on the top 50 list. At least, IMO. ;)
 

Darrel McBane

Second Unit
Joined
Oct 8, 1999
Messages
363
I'd add,

1. Fighter Duel ( Amiga ). On of the best flight models ever. Head to Head was a blast and the game had a huge learning curve. Graphic were in glorious 16 colors on the Amiga.

2. World Circuit Grand Prix (Amiga and PC). Once again a game that took hours to learn the car setups and track layout. Love this game for years.

For all time fun to play. I'd say Duke Nukem. Great humor and a jet pack. Head to Head was as fun as it gets. Nothing like laying a room full of pipe bombs and waiting for you buddy to walk into your trap. And it had a jet pack!

What made Quake work IMO. Was that fact that it was in 3D. Using a standard 2D card the game looked like crap. But, once a Voodoo1 card was installed. The game came alive.
 

Graeme Clark

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Jan 5, 2000
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I don't think a comprehensive "All-Time" list could be made without either A)Categorizing games into several areas, each with its own list or B)Making the list 500 games long.
Next Generation Magazine did a much much much better job the 2 times that they attempted it. The only concession that they really made was that series were usually grouped together.

Despite their pick of number 1 both times, Mario 64 the first time and Zelda (due to Ocirina of Time) which were both pretty new, I'd say that it was as close to definitive as we're likely to see.

Obviously no list is ever going to please everyone, but this one was obviously written by a single person that got more fun out of his Donkey Kong watch than some true classics.
 

Mark Evans

Supporting Actor
Joined
Oct 10, 2001
Messages
585
I second the lack of M.U.L.E. on that list. I swear, the person who figures out how to code this in Java and set up a server somewhere is sitting on a four-player goldmine for 'net gaming.
 

Andy Sheets

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Aug 6, 2000
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2,377
No Defender? No Joust? I like classic arcade games in general but those are a couple that I still play regularly :)
I agree with whoever it was that mentioned King's Quest not being on the list. I don't care if the genre is mostly dead, that was a huge series once upon a time and it shouldn't be omitted from a list like this.
 

Aaron Copeland

Second Unit
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Nov 3, 2000
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Aaron
Hmmm...another thing to consider is whether or not you are truly listing the best games of all time or just the best games in their own time. Sorry, but a game like Pitfall just blows today, IMO.

I think nostalgia clouds many peoples judgment of older games. I too get the urge to go play a game from my childhood from time to time. I'll break out an emulator, download some ROMS, and start playing. Far more often than not I'll find that many of the games that enthralled me as a child are simply lame compared to today's games. Just before I wrote this post I broke out the Stella emulator and played a little Pitfall. It was interesting for a few minutes, but it's just so simple. Jumping over logs, holes, alligators, etc... It's just repetitive and boring, IMO. A whole lot of the "classics" I find to be the exact same way when I get nostalgic and decide to play a few.

There are exceptions. Some games like Super Mario Bros, Zelda, and Mike Tyson's Punch Out have aged very well and are still enjoyable today. But they are clearly the exceptions and not the rule, IMO.

Now I know this may not be the most popular view around, so flame away. But before you do, break out a game like Pitfall or MULE (another one I don't care for at all, never did) and play for a while. Then ask yourself this...if you could only have one game to play, would you rather have a have a game like Pitfall, or a more modern game like Halo (which isn't even mentioned in this thread and not saying it should be)? Truthfully, I can name many more modern games I would rather have than many of the "classics" named in this thread...and, yes, I've been gaming as long as most of you.

So that's one of my main contentions with lists like this. Besides the obvious fact that people have tastes as varied in games as they do in movies, is a list like this supposed to be viewed according to the time period each game was developed, or truly the best games ever?

Aaron
 

John Thomas

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(ducking the bottles and cigarette butts of the console gamers...;))
Yeah, M.U.L.E.! I did a search for it about a month or two ago (eventually getting sidetracked by a C=64 emulator and the games that go along with it) but never could find a port of it. I found several other games (Karateka, Ghostbusters, Hacker, Psi 5 Trading Company, Yie Ar Kung Fu, etc) but no MULE. Ack.
That was truly one of the best games of its time. I'd like to see a polished version come out for the PC.

Aaron, I'd like to think that people have fond memories of playing such older games and it stuck with them. Heck, I thought Space Invaders was terrible and still have the same, unclouded-by-nostalgia dislike for it today. :D
 

Mark Evans

Supporting Actor
Joined
Oct 10, 2001
Messages
585
Aaron, I think that's an unfair comparison. Half-Life is a phenomenal game, but it too will be substantially less impressive in a decade by your criteria. Games have to stand up over time, and some of the much older titles do have their merits.
Personally I still think Pitfall is kinda cool, but that's just me. It was one of the first games to actually offer exploration rather than side-scrolling or one-screen of endless action.
And I'm a big sucker for grabbing that little blocky vine and swinging over the river :D
 

Aaron Copeland

Second Unit
Joined
Nov 3, 2000
Messages
445
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Aaron
Aaron, I think that's an unfair comparison. Half-Life is a phenomenal game, but it too will be substantially less impressive in a decade by your criteria. Games have to stand up over time, and some of the much older titles do have their merits.
Ahhh...but it's not unfair at all! It makes my point perfectly. I was merely pointing out that these "all-time" lists often do not specify whether or not the games are to be considered in regards to their time period/influence or whether they TRULY mean the top XX games of all time as is often stated in their titles. I personally would like to see a list of what people truly consider to be the best games instead of cluttering the list with [now] inferior games picked for reasons of nostalgia.

If you were going to make a list of the top 20 fastest production cars of all time (top speed), would you put the actual top 20 fastest or would you add in cars that were "fast for their time"? The answer is obvious in that scenario, but it often seems to become ambiguous when talking about games. Which is why I dislike "all-time" lists when talking about games. Too many ambiguous criteria and differences in personal tastes to make a list that is honest for anyone other than the person that made it.

Aaron
 

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