game-of-the-decade
Latest
Anti-Aliased: How the game of the decade haunts us
Yesterday I posted the interesting find that Gamasutra readers had voted in World of Warcraft as the game of the decade, which inevitably caused a huge spark of rage in the comments. Some readers lashed out against WoW while other readers defended the game's award. Needless to say, this is a very opinionated topic on our site. On Twitter, the choice was more clear cut. I asked my Twitter followers in a non-scientific Sera Survey (TM) if they believed that World of Warcraft deserved the game of the decade award. Of the 32 people who responded, all 32 said that they believed Warcraft deserved the honor. Some even went the extra step and said that while they personally didn't play anymore, they felt that the honor was well-deserved. When it comes to this subject, I'm completely torn in half. As a former raid leader and player of World of Warcraft during much of its five year existence, I too agree that the game is worthy of this very weighty title for a number of reasons. However, once I begin to pan backwards and look at the rest of the market, all I can see is how we as an industry may be haunted by the ghost of success. World of Warcraft changed this industry in many ways, and not all of them are worthy of laurels.
World of Warcraft: Game of the Decade
Well, the fans and readers of industry site Gamasutra have voted for their game of the decade, and their choice is simultaneously surprising and yet unsurprising. In a list that's full of single player games, the MMO that redefined MMOs has hit the top of the list: World of Warcraft. Why was it chosen for the very, very hefty spot of game of the decade? Well, the readers have spoken on the final article, and it seems the list is almost as massive as the game. Everything from massive game design, to how it single-handedly changed how MMOs were played in the last 5 years, to how the game itself impacts a player's life. For those reasons and more, it's been voted in as the game of the decade. For the full list of quotes from Gamasutra readers, and for the list of the top 12 games of the decade, check out Gamasutra.
WoW in the running for Game of the Decade
2009 is coming to a close, and with it, "the aughts," which means we're about to get flooded with list after list of the best of the decade. It's been a raucous ten years for gaming (some, including me, might call it the best ten years in gaming so far), and Crispy Gamer is the first to step up and try to pick the best games we've seen so far. In their Game of the Decade showdown, World of Warcraft is still in the running, up against Bioware's legendary Knights of the Old Republic RPG, as the latest post has readers trying to pick the final four choices. If you think our game is more deserving than KotOR (note that this isn't the MMO, it's the old RPG with your friendly meatbag hater droid, HK-47), you can vote for WoW over on this page until Tuesday at 6pm. KotOR is a great game, but as a decade-defining game, I'd have to think WoW will pull that one off. After that, though, there's some tough competition: BioShock and Half-Life 2 are up against each other, Halo and Left 4 Dead are facing off in another bracket, and Super Smash Brothers Melee and Shadow of the Colossus (which I guess I need to go play now) are the challengers in the third. I have to say -- as a "Game of the Decade," BioShock and Half-Life 2 are definitely in competition, but if you want to pick a game which has really defined both the online and casual gaming movements of the last ten years? We'll have to see what the readers choose, but I'd have to think World of Warcraft is your game. [ via BlizzPlanet and kyleorl ]
