We sort of thought the Guinness Book of World Records was a collection of definite, measurable achievements. Like, that's pretty much everything it represents... or not - the latest edition of theGuinness Gamers' Edition contains a list of the top 50 game series, not by total sales or anything factual like that, but as determined by a public poll. It's horrific.
We get it. The list brings controversy to a collection of otherwise strictly factual achievements, and with controversy comes publicity (this). There's nothing that puts gamers more on edge than a bunch of other peoples' dumb opinions about games... that's why we make lists, and read them, and rage about them. And you will rage about this one, so down a bottle of Hatorade and don't say we didn't warn you. Here's the list:
50. Pro Evolution Soccer
49. Crash Bandicoot
48. Burnout
47. Mario Kart
46. LEGO Batman
45. Diablo
44. Battlefield
43. Star Wars: Battlefront
42. Tom Clancy's
41. Pong
40. Ratchet & Clank
39. StarCraft
38. Gran Turismo
37. Chrono Trigger
36. Need for Speed
35. Left 4 Dead
34. Skate
33. KillZone
32. Bioshock
31. GoldenEye 007
30. God of War
29. The Elder Scrolls
28. Saints Row
27. LittleBigPlanet
26. Rock Band
25. WWE Smackdown Vs. RAW
24. Tomb Raider
23. The Sims
22. Madden NFL
21. Pac-Man
20. Final Fantasy
19. Kingdom Hearts
18. FIFA
17. Runescape
16. Counter-Strike
15. Sonic the Hedgehog
14. Half-Life
13. Fallout
12. Resident Evil
11. Pokémon
10. Grand Theft Auto
9. Super Smash Bros.
8. Gears of War
7. World of Warcraft
6. Super Mario Bros.
5. Metal Gear
4. Guitar Hero
3. Zelda
2. Call of Duty
1. Halo
It's a list of games that are popular with the youth right now (Halo rulez!), with some classics thrown in for good measure. Guitar Hero is better than Mario? And Pokémon? And Fallout, and Half-Life, and Final Fantasy, and... wait... is that Runescape on the list? RUNESCAPE is above Final Fantasy?! OMGRAGE!
And that's the desired reaction of this dumb list (and the previous ones they've published, which were based on polls of industry insiders, and are no better), but so what? There's nothing like a good bout of useless overreaction to ease some of that tension building in your shoulders, so go forth and comment rage - what offends you most about this list? Is it that "Tom Clancy's" is listed as a series? Is it that Skate is even on the list, never mind above StarCraft? Oh, there's so much to hate about, as Guinness put it, "the tastes of the average gamer."
May 6, 2010
