This is a cool idea for a thread. That website is interesting, too, if obviously flawed in a lot of ways.
At 5/4/11 12:33 AM, The-Great-One wrote:
we can certainly accept that it's a good movie which I guess is the reason why it is stated as being the greatest.
Nope, that's actually not really the reason. Citizen Kane is frequently cited as the Greatest Movie of All Time mostly because of its influence. Arguably more than any other single film, it helped to establish the language that movies use to tell their stories and/or express their ideas and innovated or refined techniques that have been used by countless films ever since (particularly the use of deep compositions and nonlinear narrative, but there are lots of other things as well).
Basically, if you wanted to, you could split cinematic history into Before Citizen Kane and After Citizen Kane. There's really no other movie you could do that with, except maybe Birth of a Nation, but, you know...
In that respect, I think that there's really only one game that can even be considered as the Greatest of All Time, which I'll talk about farther down in my post. I don't think gaming has quite reached its Citizen Kane yet, but this is certainly our Birth of a Nation (and thankfully it holds up much better to modern sensibilities than the actual Birth of a Nation).
I will stand behind The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess as taking what "Ocarina of Time" and perfecting it.
You encouraged us to bitch at each other, right?
I think that Twilight Princess only improves on Ocarina of Time in a few technological aspects, but that's about it. Other than that, I don't think it refines what OoT did so much as it dumbs it down, and I say this as someone who tends to prefer games that are a little too easy to games that are a little too hard. I dunno, I like TP a lot, but I just don't think it's got the magic. A big part of the problem for me is that the game seems to take a lot of pains to do the things that other modern games do, and it's kind of incongruous and awkward to have things like action set-pieces and quick-time events in a Zelda game.
That big fight on horseback with the goblin dudes was pretty awesome, though, as were some of the clearly Shadow of the Colossus-inspired bosses.
If you asked me what the greatest video game of all time would be I would say Tetris. It's the universal game that anyone and everyone can play.
Good choice. It's definitely in my top 5, maybe even #2 or #3. Though when I think about it purely in the Citizen Kane-y terms I talked about, there's at least one game that I feel has to surpass it...
Overall though we don't think of what would be the greatest, we're just excited when one of our personal favorites hits these lists or better yet our all time favorite.
Yeah, too bad almost none of my personal favorites even make a dent in any of those lists. I'm especially surprised at the lack of love for Chrono Trigger.
Questions of the Day
1. What is your all-time favorite video game?
Shadow of the Colossus. It should be our Citizen Kane, it just isn't because modern mainstream game companies seem to only be taking influence from all the wrong places. But whatever. I can see how it might not be everyone's cup of tea, but it's my favorite game of all time.
2. What are your thoughts on "The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time" at the No. 1 spot?
It's one of my favorite games, and I understand why it would be chosen, but eh, I can't really agree.
3. What do you think is the greatest game of all time?
Super Mario Bros. It is the first modern video game, and everything that's come since is in some way indebted to it. It radically altered the basic conception of what a video game could be, in level design, scope, complexity, control, physics, visuals, music, everything. It proved that games were more than just gimmicky diversions, they were a fully formed entertainment medium with the power to immerse audiences and create worlds.
And the game is more or less perfectly designed: challenging but not frustrating, easy to learn and difficult to master, full of secrets and tricks but not overcomplicated, full-featured but not stuffed with extraneous bullshit, and the player's control over Mario's movements was impeccable and unprecedented. Pretty much everything that's there is there for a reason. Just look at the first fifteen seconds or so of World 1-1, arguably the most brilliant little chunk of gameplay ever made. In a matter of seconds, without explicitly telling you anything, the game teaches you everything you need to know about playing Mario, maybe even everything you need to know about playing all video games. What else can claim to do that?
4. Out of all of the lists on that website which one do you agree with the most?
I guess "Dorkclub.com," which is a site I've never even heard of before now, had a pretty good one. They even included EarthBound!
5. Out of all of the lists on that website which one do you disagree with the most?
"Gamer.Blorge," whatever that is. Yikes.
6. What color would you have made Mario's hat?
Blue, no, yell-AAAAAAAAAAH!
