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As I mentioned in yesterday's Mailbag, one question we received nearly brought the entire staff to blows. That question? The top 10 games of all time, of course.
And if that question wasn't hard enough to answer on its own, just wait until you see the rules imposed on us...
Remember: Send your own questions, comments, and diabolical metagames to letters@bitmob.com (subject: "Mailbag") to be included in a future edition of the Mailbag!
At PAX East, Stephen Totilo of Kotaku and N'Gai Croal held a panel on a "game" called "Canon Fodder," which sought to determine once and for all the top 10 games of all time. They asked some well known industry folks to contribute, and I'd love to hear your take on the final list:
1. The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time
2. Super Mario 64
3. Metal Gear Solid
4. Chrono Trigger
5. Portal
6. Half-Life
7. World of Warcraft
8. StarCraft
9. Super Metroid
10. Tetris
With this list, you can do one of two actions: (1) Swap the spots of any two games on the list or (2) remove one game from the list and substitute in your own.
-Byung J. Park
Brett: Since we're all gamers here, we couldn't resist the challenge of a game about games. I passed Byung's list and instructions to the staff, and the resulting email thread spanned 34 messages. Here is that thread:
Brett's move:
1. The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time
2. Super Mario 64
3. Metal Gear Solid
4. Chrono Trigger
5. Portal
6. Half-Life
7. World of Warcraft
8. Starcraft Super Mario Bros.
9. Super Metroid
10. Tetris
Rob's move:
1. The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time X-Com: UFO Defense
2. Super Mario 64
3. Metal Gear Solid
4. Chrono Trigger
5. Portal
6. Half-Life
7. World of Warcraft
8. Super Mario Bros.
9. Super Metroid
10. Tetris
Mike's move:
1. X-Com: UFO Defense Grim Fandango
2. Super Mario 64
3. Metal Gear Solid
4. Chrono Trigger
5. Portal
6. Half-Life
7. World of Warcraft
8. Super Mario Bros.
9. Super Metroid
10. Tetris
James's move:
1. Grim Fandango Castlevania: Symphony of the Night
2. Super Mario 64
3. Metal Gear Solid
4. Chrono Trigger
5. Portal
6. Half-Life
7. World of Warcraft
8. Super Mario Bros.
9. Super Metroid
10. Tetris
Jason's move:
1. Castlevania: Symphony of the Night Planescape: Torment
2. Super Mario 64
3. Metal Gear Solid
4. Chrono Trigger
5. Portal
6. Half-Life
7. World of Warcraft
8. Super Mario Bros.
9. Super Metroid
10. Tetris
Jason: Though I can't pass this along to the Bitmob community without pointing out how console-biased this list is and how it ignores 30 years of PC-game development.
Andrew: Quit swapping the top spot! Haha!
Andrew's move:
1. Planescape: Torment
2. Super Mario 64
3. Metal Gear Solid
4. Chrono Trigger
5. Portal
6. Half-Life
7. World of Warcraft
8. Super Mario Bros. Pilotwings 64
9. Super Metroid
10. Tetris
Jasmine's move:
1. Planescape: Torment
2. Super Mario 64
3. Metal Gear Solid
4. Chrono Trigger
5. Portal
6. Half-Life
7. World of Warcraft Castlevania: Symphony of the Night
8. Pilotwings 64
9. Super Metroid
10. Tetris
Shoe: Planescape: Torment as our #1 game of all time? Are you people serious? :P
Shoe's move:
1. Planescape: Torment Super Mario Bros. 3
2. Super Mario 64
3. Metal Gear Solid
4. Chrono Trigger
5. Portal
6. Half-Life
7. Castlevania: Symphony of the Night
8. Pilotwings 64
9. Super Metroid
10. Tetris
Omri's move:
1. Half-Life
2. Super Mario 64
3. Metal Gear Solid
4. Chrono Trigger
5. Portal
6. Super Mario Bros. 3
7. Castlevania: Symphony of the Night
8. Pilotwings 64
9. Super Metroid
10. Tetris
Shoe: You bastard!! I was thinking I wanted to get the inside scoop on when the literal deadline was, so I could have the last word. ;)
Demian: This list-making formula seems designed to infuriate everybody...
Demian's move:
1. Half-Life
2. Super Mario 64
3. Metal Gear Solid
4. Chrono Trigger
5. Portal
6. Super Mario Bros. 3
7. Castlevania: Symphony of the Night
8. Pilotwings 64 World of Warcraft
9. Super Metroid
10. Tetris
Demian: So...unsatisfying.
Andrew: Speaking of which, Demian is now going to get knifed. Pilotwings 64 is superior to World of Warcraft in every conceivable way.
Mike: I would hate you all much less if we could make our own lists.
Jay's move:
1. Half-Life
2. Super Mario 64
3. Metal Gear Solid
4. Chrono Trigger Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past
5. Portal
6. Super Mario Bros. 3
7. Castlevania: Symphony of the Night
8. World of Warcraft
9. Super Metroid
10. Tetris
Jason: You gutted out Planescape, the best story- and dialogue-driven RPG in gaming history? You guys stink.
James: You killed Castlevania on your warpath to glory, Jason. You'll get no sympathy from me!
I should have made Castlevania: Symphony of the Night second or third -- then it wouldn't have been erased. Damn you, weird selection process!
And finally, latecomer Omar weighs in with the final move:
Omar's move:
1. Half-Life
2. Super Mario 64
3. Metal Gear Solid
4. Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past
5. Portal
6. Super Mario Bros. 3
7. Castlevania: Symphony of the Night
8. World of Warcraft
9. Super Metroid
10. Tetris Baldur's Gate 2
There you have it, Bitmob community: the definitive list of the top 10 games of all time. End of story.
...Or is it?
Don't like our final list? Keep the game going in the comments!
