OK so from the outset i would like to say: i hope we can view this project and its results as something to do on a lark rather than as producing any sort of legally binding statements about Our Tastes As A Community! i understand that by its nature this sort of thing is liable to be more of a popularity contest than anything else, and i hope people see it as the frivolity that it is rather than as something which provokes alienation or resentment.
why a double elimination tournament format? because i think it would be fun and because street fighter. why 64 competitors? because nintendo 64 (aka the console on which the videogame that i think we will all come to agree is truly the greatest of all time, “zelda no densetsu: toki no ocarina” was released) and theoretically you wouldn’t have any byes (although if multiple games tie for 64th most nominated they will all be entered into the bracket)
so with all that said, this is the ~nomination~ thread for the 64 game bracket. the 64 most nominated games in this thread are going to be entered into the bracket, and they are going to be seeded by number of nominations (i.e. yes, popularity). list as many or as few games as you would like to!
i’m ending the nomination phase at midnight (cst), september 1st, 2020, at which time i will be tallying nominations (all by hand) and creating the bracket! feel free to edit or add to your lists until then!
new edit ~10:30 PM ET 8/31 slicing in right before the deadline to add stuff like simcity
donkey kong (arcade) - the OG and still best mario game. why pick an imitator? i posit that donkey kong 1981 was and is the definitive platformer in its honest eccentricity and single-screen swagger
out run (arcade) - many things orbit, even trail this milestone. infinitely more than sum of parts. seemingly renders many earlier videogames obsolete in terms of Total Feeling. out run 2 is good, maybe even more “fun”, but not better than this
race drivin’ (arcade) - please everyone pick race drivin’. it is the first semi-realistic driving simulator (no actually that was hard drivin’, if not something else. I DON’T KNOW EVERYTHING PLEASE FORGIVE ME)! this is a game that was capable of transporting you to a fully virtual world while also teaching you a little about how to drive. also this:
simcity (super famicom) - ignore any idea of this game as a simulation and embrace the astounding, incredible, addictive qualities as a game alone - elevated into transcendence by soyo oka’s soundtrack
warlords (1990, dos) - asynchronous tactical roleplaying multiplayer perfected completely by chance. 2 and darklords rising are also great but 1 is just perfect
mother 2 (super famicom) - begrudgingly included because i am compelled by force to do so. the game made me do it (also known as earthbound)
ufo: enemy unknown (dos) - its greatness becomes more obvious the more others try and fail to accomplish what it did (also known as x-com: ufo defense)
sega rally championship (arcade/saturn) - blue skies forever
king’s field ii (japan, playstation) - arcanely great (also known as king’s field (us))
wave race 64 (nintendo 64) - 20 frames of perfection per second
f-zero x (nintendo 64) - far more pure than gx, similarly deep
shadow tower (playstation) - the actual best from software game - terrifying and whole
silent hill (playstation) - complete
starcraft (windows/mac) - do i even need to justify this
the elder scrolls iii: morrowind (windows/xbox) - liminal interpeak of imagination-harnessing in large 3D worlds
katamari damacy (playstation 2) - the best of the halcyon ps2 era’s “prestige” games - one of the most enjoyable to play and also the most meaning-rich. effortlessly evocative.
wii sports (wii) - bless us and keep us. very, very wide, very very correct.
kirby’s epic yarn (wii) - VOTE FOR ME
minecraft (java) - in my mind it is unequivocally the greatest video game ever made, impossible to leave off my list
zero-k (windows/linux) - the best RTS by far, paging @FrequentPilgrim. i am yet tempted to put starcraft here (edit: did it) because it’s the best RTS anyone knows about or has ever played, but zero-K is the actual best one
Here’s my list, which I’m adding onto as I remember stuff (until the deadline)
Earthbound
NiGHTS Into Dreams
ZZT
Yoshi’s Island
Silent Hill 2
SOMA
Chrono Cross
Anodyne 2
Sanitarium
Bubble Bobble
Katamari Damacy
Slay the Spire
Mario Paint
Kirby Super Star
Sudoku
Picross 3D
Hypnospace Outlaw
Warcraft 3 Custom Map “My Life as a Peasant”
Windows Solitaire
WarioWare
Yume Nikki
Mischief Makers
Pikmin
Disco Elysium
Zero Ranger
Dark Souls
Ridiculous Fishing
Desert Golf
Shadow of the Colossus
Bloodborne
Star Control II
Spelunky
Sonic Adventure
Kirby Air Ride
Resident Evil Remake
Resident Evil 4
For the Frog the Bell Tolls
Warning Forever
Imbroglio
LSD Dream Emulator
Motoko-chan no Wonder Kitchen
Hover!
Mother
Mother 3
Devotion
Sonic R
DOTA 2
Everybody Votes
The reason everyone should put this on their list is that it is the best example of gameplay having a thesis statement. The fact that it never openly states the thing that the gameplay is pointing at, YET the point remains extremely explicit, is perfect. Also, the fact that it’s a little brain teaser that also ends up justifying fascism is also perfect. Also it takes like an hour to complete.
If you haven’t played it: The goal of the game is to provide post-hoc justification for genocide. You start from a thesis about how a population of people died, then you work backwards to justify that thesis by moving the population around, splitting it, and basically manipulating data. Your thesis is always “they just naturally died out” but it becomes clear that they were actually murdered by your people, and you’re doing the academic work that obscures that fact. The key is that you do all of this in a backwards timeline, and in that way it makes sense, but at the end of every level it plays the timeline forwards and it becomes clear that it’s nonsense.
Put this on your list! It is the perfect, razor’s edge balance of luck and skill. Skill will get you very far in this game, and then luck will make you feel like a genius. Nobody, even Popcap games, has not been able to strike this balance ever again. The fact that it hasn’t been released on Switch with the two-player duel mode from the other console versions is a travesty.
It’s fucking undertale. I know it’s not beloved around here necessarily, but it’s got heart motherfuckers. Plus it engages the same part of my brain as Homestuck without taking 982 hours to experience.
Super Mario Bros.
Super Mario Bros. 3
Persona 3
Shin Megami Tensei 3: Nocturne
Spelunky HD
Downwell
Final Fantasy VI
The Legend of Zelda
Zelda II: The Adventure of Link
The Legend of Zelda: Link’s Awakening
Shadow of the Colossus
Fantasy Zone
Zero Ranger
Queers in Love at the End of the World
Lemmings
Earthbound
Dragon Quest Builders II
Katamari Damacy
We Love KAtamari
Mega Man
Mega Man X
Animal Crossing: New Horizons
A Short Hike
Bayonetta
Viewtful Joe
Wario Ware: Mega Microgame$
Commander Keen IV: Secret of the Oracle
Dragon Spirit
Donkey Kong 94
Tales of the Abyss
The World Ends With You
Nier
Nier: Automata
Nanairo Ringo
Super Hexagon
God Hand
PN03
Fortune Street
Hollow Knight
Pac-Man
Virtual Stepfather
Cat Sokoban
Super Mario Maker 2
Additions volume 1
Dark Souls
Demon’s Souls
Bloodborne
Tetris [Gameboy version] (has the spikiest and off-kilter piece probability, my preference)
Super Smash Bros. Melee (Best fighting game, Best Crossover Game, Best Gamecube game, works as a casual game and as a ridiculously deep competitive game. Its legacy is directly tied to the controller of the console which almost no other console game can claim.)
Demon’s Souls (the Souls train begins and this is the only one worth nominating).
Drakengard (Aesthetically sublime)
F-Zero GX (Doesn’t give a fuck about the player and getting good at the game is painful/rewarding. For people who hate their hands but love speed)
Ring Fit Adventure (Best in genre. Gateway to literal fitness. Works very well as both a game and a fitness app and the design of the narrative, sound, aesthetic, UI are suprisingly meaty)
Wipeout Omega Collection (includes HD and 2048 so technically two games but this is peak Wipeout to me)
Wipeout HD (just in case others nominate this specific game)
Killer7 (Sound design is too good. Does it have any right to be as coherent as it is as a mechanics-based meditation on the global political process? Also full of crazy ideas that generally work to support everything else. Only downside is actually playing it is not super compelling)
Might add some thoughts later:
Nier
God Hand
No More Heroes: Travis Strikes Again
The Witness
Timesplitters 2
Riven
Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater [European version]
Kirby’s Dream Land
Wario Land 3
Final Fantasy 12: Zodiac Age (Switch version)
Street Fighter 3: Third Strike
Tekken Tag Tournament
Tekken 3
Undertale
Rhythm heaven (Wii)
Elite Beat Agents
Mirror’s Edge
The Legend of Zelda
Legend of Zelda: Wind Waker
Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild
Legend of Zelda: Majora’s Mask
Sayonara Wild Hearts
Yakuza Kiwami 2
Yakuza 3
Kane and Lynch 2: Dog Days
Ratchet and Clank 2
Cursed Mountain (Wii)
Deadly Premonition
Killzone 2
Flower, Sun, and Rain
A Hat in Time
The Outer Wilds
Chrono Trigger
Metroid Prime 2: Echoes
King of Fighters 13
Punch-Out (Wii)
Team Fortress 2 (pre-hats, pre-alternate weapons)
Portal
Half-Life 2
Splatoon
Asteroids (original arcade version)
Dark Castle (Apple 2)
Vanquish
Bayonetta
Bayonetta 2
Valkyria Chronicles
Tetris 99
The Last Story
No More Heroes
Grand Theft Auto 3
The Outer Wilds
Half-Life
Quake 3 Arena
Unreal Tournament
Frog Fractions
Game Boy Camera
Rez
Valkyria Chronicles
