Game Informer Top 300

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VideoGameCritic
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Game Informer Top 300

Postby VideoGameCritic » March 20th, 2018, 6:07 pm

I was just reading the last Game Informer which contains their Top 300 games of all time. Here is the top 10:

10. The Witcher 3
9. Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim
8. Red Dead Redemption
7. Call of Duty 7: Modern Warfare
6. Final Fantasy VI
5. World of Warcraft
4. Grand Theft Auto V
3. Tetris
2. Super Mario Bros 3.
1. Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past

Looking at the top 2, I can't help but think my top 50 list may have inspired this (Zelda was my #1 for years). Thoughts?

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pacman000
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Re: Game Informer Top 300

Postby pacman000 » March 20th, 2018, 6:44 pm

Those are fairly well regarded games; the fact that your opinion & Game Informer's opinions coincided on two well regarded games isn't enough to say they copied; it's like two film critics listing Citizen Kane & Vertigo at the top of their best films list.

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Retro STrife
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Re: Game Informer Top 300

Postby Retro STrife » March 21st, 2018, 10:14 am

I got my copy of the mag a few days ago. These lists are never perfect, but overall I thought they did a good job with it. You can always find gripes about the order, but I don't remember any major ones off-hand, and I'm ok with the first two choices. (Although I've always felt that Super Mario World is better than SMB3, but maybe I'm in the minority there. I'm also not a huge fan of Link to the Past, but I know its earned its place at the top of many lists, so I wouldn't complain about it.) It's a little "top-heavy" too, with too many current-gen games and not enough '70s / '80s games, but that's par for the course with these types of lists.

My favorite part of the list -- Super Mario Odyssey at #224 and Breath of the Wild at #100. This made the list legitimate to me. I appreciated that they didn't get overly caught up in last year's hype of these two games, and instead ranked them at reasonable spots. I'm not saying that they don't belong higher eventually, but it's best to let the dust settle first, rather than having brand new games at the top of a "best of all-time" list. I feel it's best if they earn that spot after seeing how we feel about them at least a few years after playing them. For similar reasons, I didn't like that they have Overwatch at #23, with it being under 2 years old. But GI has always been obsessed with that game for some reason.

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Retro STrife
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Re: Game Informer Top 300

Postby Retro STrife » March 21st, 2018, 10:20 am

For anyone wanting to see the full list:

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/ ... view#gid=0

Also, I think the GI Reader's Choice list might be a little better. Maybe I need to play Witcher 3, which got the top spot on that list. Mass Effect 2, as well. Check out that list here:

http://www.gameinformer.com/b/features/ ... -time.aspx

Btw, just to avoid confusion, #7 on GI's list is "Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare" (from 2007). VGC's post above currently has a typo at that spot.

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ptdebate
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Re: Game Informer Top 300

Postby ptdebate » March 21st, 2018, 11:37 am

I agree that this was a good list. My only gripe is I would have preferred Dark Souls to be a little higher. I also don't see how Dark Souls 2 has a place on this list.

Like RetroStrife, I applaud GI for avoiding recency bias and giving Mario Odyssey and BOTW modest rankings. Time will tell how impactful BOTW is on the future of gaming. As it stands, LttP holds up as pretty much the perfect video game.

I don't really see how Final Fantasy VI is the best Final Fantasy. But that's a debate for another thread :).

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Re: Game Informer Top 300

Postby newmodelarmy » March 21st, 2018, 6:42 pm

Cool list. I just got my copy. Very subjective but cool nonetheless. I never really liked "A link to the past"...it is just too confusing on how to figure out where to go next. I would have voted Super Mario 3 ahead of it myself. Of course, my GREATEST game of all time is an RPG from the C-64 days....Questron! It is the game that got me hooked on RPG's and I have never looked back. I would have also voted Mass Effect 2 in the top ten, perhaps the greatest game (IMHO) of the last 10 years or so.

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Re: Game Informer Top 300

Postby ptdebate » March 21st, 2018, 7:32 pm

newmodelarmy wrote:Cool list. I just got my copy. Very subjective but cool nonetheless. I never really liked "A link to the past"...it is just too confusing on how to figure out where to go next. I would have voted Super Mario 3 ahead of it myself. Of course, my GREATEST game of all time is an RPG from the C-64 days....Questron! It is the game that got me hooked on RPG's and I have never looked back. I would have also voted Mass Effect 2 in the top ten, perhaps the greatest game (IMHO) of the last 10 years or so.


There's certainly an argument to be made for SMB3, although it's more of a refinement than an evolution. Mind-blowing what that game accomplished on the NES, and the fervor for it prior to release was out of control.

Commodore 64 seemed very underrepresented now that I think about it. Were there any C64 games on the list?

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Stalvern
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Re: Game Informer Top 300

Postby Stalvern » March 21st, 2018, 11:25 pm

ptdebate wrote:Commodore 64 seemed very underrepresented now that I think about it. Were there any C64 games on the list?

The C64 was largely overlooked in the States as a game system by the time most of the best games came out, and even with emulation somewhat popularizing the C64 here in retrospect, it's the NES that made an impact and is remembered today. Don't count on recognition for the C64 (or Amiga) on a list that isn't British/European - it's like looking for all the classic MSX2 games on a list that isn't Japanese.


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