The Digital Press "Best Game Ever" Contest

[Arcade Antics]

No need for a contest, we already know what the Best Game Ever is.

It's a known scientific fact that the Best Game Ever is Robotron:2084.

[SegaTecToy]

I think that a "most original game ever" or something like that would be more interesting. There are a crapload of "best game ever" things already and only popular, not best, games win these.

We don't want to imitate others, right?

[Daria]

If we were to do it in a way that would correct GameFAQs' errors, it would have to be a debate. Combined it with Daria's idea, it might work out well.

It might also lead to flame wars, of course.

Yeah I was thinking more along the lines of a discussion thing then an outright [poll] topic. Like you play the games all month, discussion stays open during that period, then at the end of the month you open the poll.

And heh I'd like to think most members here are too mature to start a flame war over what game is better then another. But maybe I'm being a bit too optimistic.
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Mature Cams

[Milk]

Well, this place is fairly calm, but you do get the occassional snarky comment, just as any place else, really.

[Raccoon Lad]

Everyone knows Fantasy Zone is the best game EVER!

[tholly]

i voted yes.....

it would be worth at least trying once

[Professor Hector]

Assuming it hasn't been done already, why not just start a thread asking us to name our favorite game and share our personal experiences with it? I think this would be a lot more interesting to read then the mere results of a poll. If after that you still wanted to know which game DPers thought was the best overall you could simply read through those posts and see which game was brought up the most times.

[PapaStu]

I think that a "most original game ever" or something like that would be more interesting. There are a crapload of "best game ever" things already and only popular, not best, games win these.

We don't want to imitate others, right?

But thats nigh on impossible. So many games steal something else from other games. Be it an innovation like the HUD (heads up display in shooters) to a million other things. Game originality goes by the wayside real quick. The arguments over the most original game would lead to DP riots, and the tipping over of cars and fire and stuff.
Besides it would keep leading backwards in game evolution to the whole Pong thing was first, so its the most original game.

[anagrama]

pff, Rainbow Islands. And that's the last word from me on the subject.

[Balloon Fight]

No need for a contest, we already know what the Best Game Ever is.

It's a known scientific fact that the Best Game Ever is Robotron:2084.

Agreed. Well, Robotron and MvC2 are the 2 best games ever.

[Daniel Thomas]

I thought we already did this thing several times over.

However, this sort of thing is easy, so I say go ahead. But skip the genre thing. Best game ever means just that.

Besides, everybody knows the best game ever made is Tetris.

[Griking]

The only way that I think a "best game" poll would work would be with a rating system. What would be cool would be a rating system like the one at IMDB.com. Basically all registered users are allowed to rate a movie from 1-10 with the average of all of the ratings being the movie's over-all score.

this would actually be cool to tie in with the new DP game lists here.

Otherwise with "just pick the best game" polls recent games always get too much credit because they're too fresh in people's minds.

[Overbite]

i already know the best puzzle game ever is

PENGUIN LAND

[Ze_ro]

I never really saw much point in labelling any specific game as "Best Ever"... I mean, it's not like suddenly that single game is the end-all be-all video game experience, because that's pretty much impossible. Can't we just be happy knowing that there are a lot of games that just happen to be awesome, without having to try to rate them against each other? I mean, how can you even really compare Chrono Trigger to Super Mario Bros 3? That's almost like comparing the Dodge Viper to The Lord of the Rings... they're not at all the same, and the only thing they really have in common is that they're both video games.

However, I think a "Worst Game Ever" would be quite interesting!

--Zero

[Ed Oscuro]

I voted no...I would certainly participate but I feel that there is no such thing as a "best game;" depending on my mood various games may qualify. One moment it might be a manic twitch-action game, another moment might see wandering around aimlessly in top down RPG/action game or Metroid, and sometimes I'm having fun with my comrades playing Counter-Strike (I am a pretty decent player these days).

I've read that there are still Gain Ground machines in Japan. Would depth of play have an influence? What about Pac-Man or an obscure (yet contemporary), simplistic top-down shooter called Crimson Land? These games (to the best of my knowledge ) do not have as much depth as Gain Ground, but we still play them. Is what's "best" limited by our limited attention spans?

Yes.

Sometimes I even find myself admiring an old or obscure game and the sense of serendipity could lead me to declare said game "one of the best I've ever played." I think that innovation must be a common denominator for all entries in the "best game ever" gategory, but even so that relatively factual statistic has too much room for opinion: what is innovative and breathtaking might handle poorly or set the CPU on fire and the framerate crashing, and might not end up seeming that impressive in the long run.

I do trust the Digital Press crew to come up with some outstanding picks, but I also expect to see a lot of terribly overhyped games.

Pretty much every single game often cited as being "the best" or "one of the best" is one whose gameplay mechanic has died for me. I do not feel like betraying my true feelings and using the so-called "historical" viewpoint. If a game has gotten old on me, it's very likely not my true choice for a "best game ever." I can tell you that this is a severe problem for all the old 2D platformers that had you going along a strict route with little latitude in choice of weapons. While I am a diehard Castlevania fan, I find myself enjoying games that are forgiving and flexible enough to allow you many different choices and methods of attack and a chance to make up your plan of attack on the spot - which is why I enjoy the (oft-panned) SNES title Dracula X more than most other titles in the series or most other sidescrollers I've come across.

[§ Gideon §]

I voted no...I would certainly participate but I feel that there is no such thing as a "best game;" depending on my mood various games may qualify.

Ah, I think you may have misread the question. As a matter of fact, I am in agreement with you: There is no such thing as a hands-down "best game ever." The original question was posed in order to see who would participate in such a contest. You affirmed this, but responded otherwise to the poll.

As a related note, I think a good many people may be considering this in too serious a light--likely due in part to GameFAQs. I envision something done just for kicks, nothing worth starting a flame war over. If at the end of the day, your favorite game doesn't make the cut, you can proudly say, "Oh, well. You guys just have sucky taste." For, as with any election, it can be nothing more than a popularity contest. Those of us who are taking things too seriously seem to believe that an election can somehow, miraculously, transcend a popularity contest. That's impossible. They are one in the same.

Back to the popularity contest at hand, the votes show that most people are interested in this sort of event. Before the ball gets rolling, though, we've got to decide on the rules. Let's all do this together. So far, I see a few notable suggestions:

1. Divide the brackets by genre.
2. Kindly request that board members play each nominated game for a period of time sufficient enough to judge the game's true merit.
3. Just go with Robotron: 2084

As for the first proposition... It's workable. But, it doesn't seem intuitive to me--not entirely. Not all genres are equal (which is obvious but needs to be noted). If the brackets were divided by genre, and each genre were given a clear winner, certain games would be left out of the finals that should otherwise be in the running for "best game ever." Any ideas?

As for the second proposition, I liked it initially: It's a wonderful solution, and everyone goes home happy. Then, I thought about the ramifications. Most people won't own every nominated game. If we resort to emulation to solve this problem, more complications arise. Each voter would require a capable computer. The games themselves would be misrepresented, also; emulators never live up to the real thing (especially with controllers). Furthermore, depending on the scope of our contest, the amount of time required to accomplish this may grow to ridiculous proportions. Imagine if, halfway through the contest, new games are released that people want added to the list! In the end, this responsibility should be left to the voter's discretion. Just as educational voting requirements have been declared unconstitutional in America, so will educational requirements in our election.

To the person who gave the third suggestion: Save it for the contest!

So think about it a while, and then post your thoughts. But, please remember, this will be a popularity contest, and there's nothing wrong with that!

[drwily008]

I'm just putting in MY vote....Dragon Warrior 4 I just love that game.

[Daria]

*shrugs *

Well I thought I had a good idea so I'm just running a "Best Old School RPG" contest on my forum. Someone pointed out that it's more of a book club then anything else. XD

But everyone's excited. I'm having them write up nominations, we'll vote on those, play the games via emulation, one game per month have discussions and then the end of the contest have a poll and vote for which we thought was best.

Accurate? Not really.
Fun? I hope so.

Just another excuse to play some new old games. (:
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Bmw M

[Kroogah]

However, I think a "Worst Game Ever" would be quite interesting!

--Zero

http://www.digitpress.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=11335

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