If it weren’t for the mainstream press I don’t know what any of us would do. Today, Time magazine, long recognized as one of the leading publications for information on video games and gaming culture, released its 10 Best Games of 2008. The list is simply perfect in every way… If you’re setting up a joke.
1. Grand Theft Auto IV
2. Braid
3. LittleBigPlanet
4. Rock Band 2
5. Gears of War 2
6. Dead Space
7. Star Wars: The Force Unleashed
8. Hunted Forever
9. Fieldrunners
10. Spore
Hunted Forever? Really? The N+ rip-off game? How does THAT come CLOSE to ANYTHING that’s been released this year. You know who that’s a top game of the year to? Someone who doesn’t play games…. and probably shouldn’t get assigned big features like this…
FURTHERMORE….
Did the author of this STOP PLAYING games after August? Did he mistake Metal Gear for climbing equipment?
On what god-forsaken planet does Star Wars: The Force Unleashed best Far Cry 2, Fallout 3, Fable 2, Mirror’s Edge, Battlefield: Bad Company, or even GH: World Tour? I can imagine a case could be made for GTA being top, and yes Braid was AWESOME… But better than Gears 2, Dead Space and FRICKIN SPORE?!? Lev Grossman added Braid at number 2 for the same reason that I spent an entire Sea World paycheck on Cavaricci’s when I was 16.
“Look how cool I am for knowing the title of an independent niche’ game.”
Think I am overreacting? Maybe, it is in my nature, but consider this. Today, TIME also named their Top GADGETS of 2008. On the list? Playstation Home. Yeah. As in the same Playstation Home that isn’t even out yet. We’re talking about severe cart-before-horse-itis.
I want to post a big ‘ole comment on TIME and tell them to either care enough about what they are writing when it comes to games to publish something based on reality or at least hire a freelancer who knows what the hell they are talking about do the article. But I won’t. Because I’ve got class. Instead I will berate it quietly over here in our little corner of the Internet and then opine with the rest of you in our own comments.
Mainstream press is waking up, slower than anyone would have guessed, to the enormous appeal of video games in modern society. Sadly, with pieces like this, they come off more like wanna-be’s than professionals.
Maybe some forms of media should stick with photo-essays of war-torn lands and political cartoons.
“I laugh very much at this list”
You?
Popularity: 1% [?]
I would have to agree entirely I don’t know why people in magazines that have nothing to do with gaming have to delve into this subject. I know they are trying to be more wordly but seriously. you don’t see EGM or someone like that doing the top 10 most influencial politicians of 2008 and it is just insulting to have people like this convey games onto people who are not gamers.
Like really fieldrunners? it was a fun itouch game but really….speechless
Lol at the pic and the list. I can maybe see GTA4 at the top and some of the otehr games deserve to be in the top 10 but in a diffrent order, but I got to agree with you some of those I have never even heard of. I mean seriosly get a clue
I had to comment on that pic. Freaking great!!!
Dude, where did you get the poopy picture ? Did that girl really forget about the deuce she just dropped ?
At first I thought it was in reference to the chick’s face.
what can i say? she’s eating a fiber-rich diet
lol, yea we all know the importance of a fiber-rich diet, especially around christmas time …
what the heck is fieldrunners?
I don’t think I’ll be able to come to this site for another day. I gotta wait for this picture to make its way to the bottom of the page…
I think that if they are going to post a top ten list for the best video games, they should hire people that, get this, PLAY VIDEO GAMES!!! The only thing they got right was GTA 4, and even that is on thin ice. And what the heck is Fieldrunner?! It looks like a Starcraft knock-off. I spit on this list. Thank you Dave for bringing this to the community’s attention.
Time Fail
Braid? Fieldrunners?Hunted Forever?
seroiusly? even the wii games have better graphics… even my super nes could handle this games without hazle.
If we made a comparison between these games and the person of the year at the same level of comparison… then dave would appear in the damm list… who came up with such an horrible list!
GTA IV, Braid, and Dead Space are games that would be on my list. This list is a joke though, crappy games..
I can understand MGS4 not being number one maybe even not in the top 5 but really not on the list at all?!?
The least they could’ve done was copied bits and parts from other top 10 lists…
Isn’t Time magazine aimed at people who don’t normally play games though? Maybe that was supposed to be like that. Although, I see what you mean about the “stopped playing in August” there are certainly games missing, but Time probably doesn’t give a damn.
The picture is hilarious, and the list is awful.
THEY RIGHT BOUT GTA4
I personally disagree with “top 10 games” lists like this in general, simply because of the numerous options that are out there. At the very least, these need to be broken up into categories by system or genre. Also, what was their criteria for selecting these games? If you’re going to tell me that GTAIV is the best game of the year, you need to tell me why it’s better than every other game released during the year, or I’m going to tell you exactly where you can stick your top ten list.
I also agree with what Doc, Lono, and Dave said on the red show; you can decide what the best game of the year is on your own. Rock Band 2 is one of my favorite games of all time, but my best friend thinks I’m an idiot, because “you’re playing fake instruments, moron!” Also, I thoroughly enjoyed my time with GTAIV, but I’ve had more fun with Saints Row 2, because the feel of the game is more in line with the PS2/XBox GTA titles to me.
Finally, why the need to rank these games? I’m not a big fan of picking favorites, and I refuse to answer when someone asks what my favorite (blank) is. I love different things for different reasons. Why not make a list, no numbers, telling everyone “hey, these are some awesome games, here’s why I think so, you should give them a look!” We can decide on our own whether we think they’re good. And the many viewpoints provided by metacritic and the like can allow us to make educated decisions on our own, thankyouverymuch.
Well said! ^_^
And Fieldrunners is for the iPod and iPhone. :/