earlier today, The times published what he hoped would be a respected list, an evergreen piece setting in stone what the newspaper considered the “20 Greatest Video Games of All Time.”
Compiling the list was a “jury of experts,” and I only use quotation marks there because they are their exact words, not because I patronize them. It’s a good cross section of voices! There’s Charlie Brooker, better known these days as the creator of black mirror, who also worked as a games critic for a very long time. There’s Lucy Prebble, a writer at successor and co-creator of i hate suzie. Rounding out the team are YouTuber DanTDM and journalist Helen Lewis (who we, uh, already written about it).
Their collective output isn’t what you’d expect from these types of lists, so it’s torn apart online. There is so much vitriol that I won’t even bother to include a few highlights. Just imagine some nerds who get very angry at someone else’s subjective opinion, many call it “the worst” example of this work they’ve ever seen, and you’ll be 99% of the way there. Much of the criticism revolves around the fact that the list doesn’t contain a single one zelda game while others poke fun at the fact that games like Far Cry 4 And Sonic adventure 2 made the cut.
How did Far Cry 4 Revise the list, say connection to the past? As the list says “Any game where you can glide the kite over a waterfall is fine with me.” And you know what? They are To the right! That decided! And if that makes it one of theirs Favorite games of all time, it deserves a spot on your list.
I can’t believe I have to say this in 2023, I thought we got through this together, but since we’re clearly not letting me spell it clearly: This is her list. You can bet whatever you want! I’m a longtime, professional games critic, and my list would do include shit like Fifa 98 And if I felt particularly perky that day Gregory horror show.
And I would be right because it was my list! I think the more personal the ranking the better, it shows you put real heart and thought into things rather than just noting down the same tired old classics either because you’re too scared of negative feedback or have never played have more interesting video game than Metroid Prime.
You can read the full (paywalled) ranking Hereif you want to see why Skyrim is 17th, like civil v hit gloriole and why Super Mario Odyssey made it over Mario Kart. And if you disagree, feel free to post your own ranking.
