The most popular game of all time?

[Emperor Megas]

If you could poll gamers the world over and ask them to list their favorite games of all time, of all of the thousands of games mentioned, what do you think would be THE most popular one(s)?

I'm not asking what your favorite games are, I trying to get a feel what you think the world consensus would be. Keep in mind that this is the entire gaming public I'm talking about here. All games, all regions, all generations of players. I realize that this is a matter of pure conjecture, but I'm curious what you guys think would place on the list.

I'd probably guess the original Pac-Man. It's an icon even beyond the realm of the gaming public, and the mystique of the title continues to draw in gamers of all generations. Also, Pac-Man, unlike other popular character based games which have made their mark, like Mario, Sonic, and Street Fighter titles, the origin version of Pac-Man has remained the most common incarnation of the series through out the years.

What do you guys think?

[Gameguy]

I'll go with Tetris. It's pretty much everywhere if you count all the clones too, even in discount stores there's usually Tetris clones available for sale for just a few dollars. There's even a Tetris game built into some DVD authoring software I have to keep you busy while it's converting video.

[sfchakan]

I am an n64 revisionist!!!

Ocarina of time was the best and most popular game of all time!!!

I think i remember watching the teletubbies right before my parents brought oot home. What a great day!



Seriously though, Pac-Man.

[Robocop2]

Pac-man

[Aussie2B]

I'm surprised that so many of you would pick Pac-Man. I really don't think so. Pac-Man has lost basically all relevancy in today's gaming. I would venture to guess that a large percentage of gamers under 20 have never played Pac-Man, and even including those that have for a couple minutes, a large percentage of those probably got bored with it and thus wouldn't list it as a favorite. The aforementioned Tetris would be a more logical choice if you want to go with a simple, classic pick-up-and-play game that everyone has played and is still loved by many.

But you'd really have to define "gamer" for a question like this. Is that anyone who has ever played a video game or people who are serious about the hobby? If the latter, it seems to me that Ocarina of Time is the most highly-regarded game.

[sfchakan]

I'm surprised that so many of you would pick Pac-Man. I really don't think so. Pac-Man has lost basically all relevancy in today's gaming. I would venture to guess that a large percentage of gamers under 20 have never played Pac-Man, and even including those that have for a couple minutes, a large percentage of those probably got bored with it and thus wouldn't list it as a favorite. The aforementioned Tetris would be a more logical choice if you want to go with a simple, classic pick-up-and-play game that everyone has played and is still loved by many.

But you'd really have to define "gamer" for a question like this. Is that anyone who has ever played a video game or people who are serious about the hobby? If the latter, it seems to me that Ocarina of Time is the most highly-regarded game.

You see, I called it. OoT my ass.

Pac-Man's huge impact cannot be denied. It moved a ton of money, merchandise, etc.

I would say that the only other games to even be in the same league of Pac-Man are Super Mario Bros and Tetris.

Also, while you feel that kids under 20 are soooo relevant, I would like to introduce you to all of the 20-70+ year olds who have played Pac-Man.

[Kitsune Sniper]

Arguably, Pac-Man and Super Mario Bros.

But to the foul mouthed kids these days, Halo 3.

[wingzrow]

Angry birds or mine sweeper. Maybe solitaire.

[G-Boobie]

The good ones are already taken, but I'll throw my voice behind them: Pac-Man, Tetris, or Super Mario Bros.

A close fourth would of course be that 360 game that came bundled with a set of wrist supporting stench breasts and anime girl troubles. You know the one.

[Ro-J]

The first game my 5 year old plays when we get to the arcade is Pac-Man, then pinball....lots of pinball. So I'd say Pac-Man still has an appeal to the under 20...plus I can't think of a single console or handheld Pac-Man hasn't appeared on.

[Emperor Megas]

But you'd really have to define "gamer" for a question like this. Is that anyone who has ever played a video game or people who are serious about the hobby?

Everyone from the most seasoned pro FPS players, to SUV driving, soccer equipment toting, solitaire fiends, to cell phone only gaming, 9-to-5 desk jockeys. I'm talking about any and every person who's familiar with, and (whether active or not) has participated in and enjoyed 'video gaming' to the point of familiarity.

If the latter, it seems to me that Ocarina of Time is the most highly-regarded game.

I don't know many gamers under 20 who've ever even played Ocarina of Time...or a Nintendo64 for that matter. I'm not saying that this is the norm (I honestly don't know), but most of the young gamers I know grew up with PlayStation2s and PSOnes. Even many of my contemporaries who are gamers only had one consoles per generation, and for most of them that generation, it was a PlayStation. Even if it was a Nintendo64 game that made the top slot, I'd image it'd be Mario64 before Zelda: Ocarina of Time.

But once more, I'm not really asking what the top rated game is among hardcore (i.e. "serious") gamers, but rather what's the most common title that would appear across the board if everyone made a list of their all time favorites. Everyone from my mother (who's played Frogger, Solitaire, Combat, Pac-Man, and Mrs. Pac-Man, and that's about it) to James Rolfe.

EDIT: I didn't realize that I made this thread in the Modern Gaming forum. I meant to post it in Classic Gaming.

[kupomogli]

*edit*

Nevermind. Not Halo. Call of Duty.

[Nirvana]

Since it's all time, I'll have to say Pac-Man. I feel like everyone's heard of Pac-Man.

[j_factor]

But wasn't Ms. Pac-Man more popular than the original? Pac-Man definitely had the bigger impact, but it seems like Ms. Pac-Man topped it in popularity.

[Aussie2B]

You see, I called it. OoT my ass.

Pac-Man's huge impact cannot be denied. It moved a ton of money, merchandise, etc.

I would say that the only other games to even be in the same league of Pac-Man are Super Mario Bros and Tetris.

Also, while you feel that kids under 20 are soooo relevant, I would like to introduce you to all of the 20-70+ year olds who have played Pac-Man.

But the question is for what people would answer NOW, not if we magically time-traveled back to the early 80s and asked people back then. How much money and merchandise it moved decades ago is irrelevant to this because it sure as heck isn't moving all that much now. I would guess that most gamers who would list Pac-Man as a top favorite these days would either be a hardcore retro gamer or some old person that hasn't touched a video game since Pac-Man was new in arcades.

Tetris is kind of, sort of relevant these days, although stuff like Bejeweled and Angry Birds is probably taking its place among the casual crowd. The Mario series as a whole is definitely still relevant. Pac-Man just doesn't compare.

I suggested Ocarina of Time because, among those who consider gaming one of their main interests, it's still immensely popular. If you go to any of those score averaging sites, it's usually got one of the top averages, and it's constantly named as a favorite among gamers. It's also always winning polls like on GameFAQs. It's stayed fairly relevant since more recent Zelda games are still being compared to it (and they're usually seen as falling short of OoT), and it's been a part of every generation since its release (N64, GameCube compilation, Virtual Console, 3DS).

Of course, if you count anyone that's touched a video game, I'm sure Ocarina of Time wouldn't come out on top, since a great number of those people don't even play home console video games.

[kupomogli]

I think those Gamefaqs polls are rigged. People don't do the contest to place what they think is the best game, but what they think everyone else will choose. So it's skewed by a couple thousand people choosing the game of choice in hopes to win money on the contest. Not only that, but how many people vote on those Gamefaqs contests? 10,000? For 1/5 of it to be skewed in favor of winning something, then I hardly call that legitimate.

[Flashback2012]

Final Fantasy VII. I'm surprised it hasn't been said already. I mean srsly...what's Pac-Man and Tetris got on Sephirothzomgwtfbbq?



Serious answer...I don't think there is one single game, I think the answer is plural.

[Emperor Megas]

Serious answer...I don't think there is one single game, I think the answer is plural.

Hence the one(s).

With that said, what are your guesses?

[The 1 2 P]

I would also go with Tetris. Pac-Man and Super Mario Bros would be close runner-ups as I feel that the general public has atleast heard of all three. Oot? As someone else already mentioned that would probably get a nod if the discussion only included core gamers. But I suppose we really wouldn't know unless we did a random sample of atleast 1000 gamers(3000 total) from all three major regions(US, UK/Europe, Japan).

[Gameguy]

I think those Gamefaqs polls are rigged. People don't do the contest to place what they think is the best game, but what they think everyone else will choose. So it's skewed by a couple thousand people choosing the game of choice in hopes to win money on the contest. Not only that, but how many people vote on those Gamefaqs contests? 10,000? For 1/5 of it to be skewed in favor of winning something, then I hardly call that legitimate.

But in the 2007 character battle the winner was the L-Block from Tetris(seriously).

Just looking up more stuff on wikipedia;

Guinness World Records has awarded the franchise nine world records in the Gamer's Edition. These records include "Most Ported Video Game", and "Game With the Most Official and Unofficial Variants".

It's still available on various platforms today, it never went away.




If we're talking purely about mascots or characters I'd have to go with Pac-Man, as for the games themselves Tetris just beats out Pac-Man though it is close. With Mario, I'm pretty sure most people consider Super Mario 3 to be the best game in the series more than the original. I didn't think this thread was about franchises so much as specific individual games, for a specific individual game the original Tetris is pretty much perfect. It's the perfect game for casual players and serious players.