VGC | John – Page 32 – Video Game Canon

Listology 2.0: Exploring the Best Games From the 2000s

You could probably say this about any ten-year period, but the 2000s (AKA “The Aughts”) were a strange decade for video games. The era was bookended on one side by the angular blockiness of the waning days of the PlayStation and on the other by the return of pixel-perfect platforming with Jonathan Blow’s Braid. In between Sony launched the PS2, Sega exited the consolemaker’s club, PC gaming died (only to be reborn), and gaming entered a new era of online connectivity and high definition graphics.

Whew.

But the one constant throughout the entire decade was Valve. Half-Life was originally released in 1998, but Valve pushed the story further with multiple expansion packs in the early 2000s, as well as a PS2 version of the game in 2001. It’s most popular mod, Counter-Strike, also originally launched during the previous decade, but Valve brought the multiplayer shooter in-house in 2000 and released the game’s definitive version (Counter-Strike 1.6) in 2003. From there, Valve stepped up their game considerably with the launch of Steam, and then a murderer’s row of unique offerings: 2004’s Half-Life 2 (#1), 2007’s Portal (#8), 2007’s Team Fortress 2 (#31), 2008’s Left 4 Dead (#42), and 2009’s Left 4 Dead 2 (#53).

But Valve wasn’t the only company to make their mark on the decade. Capcom brought back the Resident Evil franchise in a big way with Resident Evil 4 (#2), Irrational changed the way we look at a game’s story with BioShock (#3), Blizzard birthed the most popular MMORPG ever with World of Warcraft (#4), and Infinity Ward took the Call of Duty franchise to the next level with Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare (#5).

Going further down the list, you’ll find two from Team Ico (Shadow of the Colossus at #6 and Ico at #14), Bungie’s Halo: Combat Evolved (#7), Harmonix’s Rock Band (#10), and the mighty Minecraft (#13). And outside the Top 15, you’ll find Rockstar’s revolutionary Grand Theft Auto III (#16).

“The Aughts” were a great decade for games, and you can see where the rest of the decade’s best games landed on Version 2.0 of the Video Game Canon after the break.

[Continue Reading…]

Listology 2.0: Exploring the Best Games From the 1990s

Video gaming went through some massive changes throughout the 1990s, greater than any ten-year period before or since.

The decade began with the familiar beeps and bloops of the NES, as Nintendo launched Super Mario Bros. 3 shortly after the New Year in 1990. The first shots of the “Console War” between the Genesis and the Super NES were be fired soon after, but the late night release of id Software’s Doom (and the rise of the PC as a gaming platform) in 1993 would change everything.

Doom didn’t just cement the First Person Shooter as gaming’s dominant genre, it blew open the door to more “mature” themes that Mortal Kombat hinted at a year earlier. Different philosophies on the public’s hunger for this type of content would lead Sega and Nintendo in opposing directions, and the market would be further splintered by the arrival of the Sony PlayStation. Emerging from the ashes of the planned “Nintendo PlayStation” add-on for the Super NES, Sony’s console introduced cinematic games like Resident Evil, Final Fantasy VII, Metal Gear Solid, and Tomb Raider.

Nintendo would strike back with the Nintendo 64, and a decade that began with pixelated plumbers flinging fire at a giant turtle would end with GoldenEye 007, Perfect Dark, Conker’s Bad Fur Day, and a vastly changed landscape for games.

That said, it was still Super Mario 64 on top. Find out where all 337 games released between January 1, 1990 and December 31, 1999 placed in Version 2.0 of the Video Game Canon after the break.

[Continue Reading…]

What Remains of Edith Finch Wins “Best Game” at 2017-2018 BAFTA Games Awards

Giant Sparrow’s mystery adventure, What Remains of Edith Finch, won “Best Game” at the 2017-2018 BAFTA Games Awards… but Hellblade: Senua’s Sacrifice stole the show.

Ninja Theory’s action-adventure took home top honors in five categories during tonight’s ceremony, and their haul included awards for “Artistic Achievement,” “Audio Achievement,” “Best British Game,” “Game Beyond Entertainment,” and “Performer” (which was given to Melina Juergens for her vocal work as Senua).

The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild, which swept its way to multiple victories at The Game Awards, the GDC Awards, the DICE Awards, and the SXSW Gaming Awards, was limited to a single victory at the BAFTAs for “Game Innovation.” However, Nintendo’s Super Mario Odyssey had a good night, winning for “Game Design” and “Family.”

The complete list of winners and nominees from the 2017-2018 BAFTA Games Awards can be found after the break.

[Continue Reading…]

Listology 2.0: Exploring the Best Games From the 1980s and Earlier

Tetris currently sits at the top of the Video Game Canon’s most recent update (Version 2.0), so you shouldn’t be surprised to also see it atop a list of the best games released before 1990.

The addictive puzzle game first made its mark on the world stage in 1984 thanks to the inspired design work of Alexey Pajitnov (and a subsequent IBM-compatible version coded by Vadim Gerasimov and Dmitry Pavlovsky), but it was Nintendo’s beloved revision from 1989 (for the NES and Game Boy) that propelled it to unexpected heights. The consolemaker’s output in the 1980s was practically unmatched at the time, and it must have required some kind of magic to add Pajitnov’s inspired puzzler to the middle of their hot streak.

Besides Tetris, four other titles in the top seven were produced by Nintendo (Super Mario Bros., Donkey Kong, The Legend of Zelda, and Mike Tyson’s Punch-Out!!). Only Ms. Pac-Man (at #3) and SimCity (at #5) managed to break the consolemaker’s stranglehold on the decade.

1978’s Space Invaders, from Taito, was the top performer among the games released during the “Me Decade” (at #10). Though 1972’s Pong (at #13) and 1977’s Zork (at #14) weren’t far behind.

Even a pair of pre-commercial gaming pioneers managed to find a place on the Video Game Canon. 1962’s Spacewar!, which was designed by MIT’s Tech Model Railroad Club for the school’s then-new PDP-1 mainframe, came in at #57. Meanwhile, a similar academic curiosity led William Higinbotham to take time off from researching advanced scientific concepts during the Cold War to create Tennis For Two (which ranked #113) at the Brookhaven National Laboratory in 1958.

Find out how your favorites games from when video games were expressed in eight bits or less ranked after the break.

[Continue Reading…]

12 Finalists Announced for the World Video Game Hall of Fame’s Class of 2018

Curators at the International Center for the History of Electronic Games and the Strong Museum have announced the finalists for the World Video Game Hall of Fame’s Class of 2018.

Curators at the International Center for the History of Electronic Games and the Strong Museum have announced the finalists for the World Video Game Hall of Fame’s Class of 2018. Eight games will get their first chance to be inducted into gaming’s inner circle this year, including Asteroids, Call of Duty, Dance Dance Revolution, Half-Life, King’s Quest, Metroid, Ms. Pac-Man, and Spacewar!

Two other games, Final Fantasy VII and Tomb Raider, were previously in the finalist pool for the Class of 2017. They’ll get another chance this year alongside John Madden Football and Minecraft, which were previously on the ballot in 2016.

The World Video Game Hall of Fame will announce the inductees for the Class of 2018 on Thursday, May 3, at 10:30 AM. But this year, fans will get a vote in the first-ever Player’s Choice ballot. According to the rules, “the three games that receive the most public votes will form one “Player’s Choice” ballot, which will join the 27 other ballots submitted by members of the International Selection Advisory Committee, a supporting group composed of journalists, scholars, and other individuals familiar with the history of video games and their role in society.” Fans can make their voice heard through the Player’s Choice ballot once a day until April 4th. So vote early and vote often!

If for some reason you’re unfamiliar with this year’s finalists, the World Video Game Hall of Fame put together a helpful cheat sheet…

[Continue Reading…]

Lara Croft’s Evolution: From Tomb Raider (1996) to Tomb Raider (2013) to Tomb Raider (2018)

No video game character has ever been introduced to the public as fully-formed as Lara Croft was back in November 1996. Their Tomb Raider was an instant icon and an overnight sensation, and to hear the developers tell it, they did it almost by accident.

No video game character has ever been introduced to the public as fully-formed as Lara Croft was back in November 1996. Building on the then-unique gameplay hook of a fully-explorable 3D world, publisher Eidos Interactive and developer Core Design fleshed out Lara’s personality with expensive cutscenes and stoked the gaming public with a relentless advertising blitz. Their Tomb Raider was an instant icon and an overnight sensation, and to hear them tell it, they did it almost by accident.

Toby Gard was the Lead Artist at Core Design, and his early sketches of Lara Croft actually depicted a male treasure hunter that shared more than a few similarities with Indiana Jones. Fearing the litigious wrath of George Lucas, Gard flipped the gender of Tomb Raider‘s hero-in-progress. And at some point in the pre-production process, Gard’s finger slipped when adjusting a “Breast Size” slider, and the slim Laura Cruz turned into the busty Lara Croft.

I’ve long suspected that this part of the legend is fiction, but the rest is history…

[Continue Reading…]

No Surprise… The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild Won “Game of the Year” at 2017-2018 GDC Awards

The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild continued its sweep of this year’s “Game of the Year” awards, as it won the top honor at last night’s Game Developers Choice Awards. Developers for the adventure game also strode on stage to collect awards for “Best Audio” and “Best Design” during the ceremony.

The unique visual styling of Jason Roberts’s Gorogoa was honored with the “Innovation Award,” as well as with the “Best Mobile/Handheld Game” prize for the puzzle game’s portability. Studio MDHR also carried home multiple trophies during last night’s GDC Awards ceremony for Cuphead, including “Best Debut” and “Best Visual Art.”

“Every year sees countless amazing games worthy of recognition, but this year in particular has seen some of the strongest titles to arrive this generation. The GDCAs give us an opportunity to reflect on and honor the games that provided us with endless joy,” said Katie Stern, the General Manager of the Game Developers Conference. “The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild helped us rediscover a childlike sense of adventure and discovery. Titles like Gorogoa and What Remains of Edith Finch offered us distinct creative visions that can only be experienced in games, and games like Cuphead and Horizon: Zero Dawn crafted worlds we could lose ourselves in. Congratulations to all of tonight’s nominees and winners and thank you for your creativity and dedication.”

A replay of the 2017-2018 GDC Awards ceremony can be viewed at the Twitch channel for the Game Developers Conference. And a complete list of all the winners (and nominees) can be found after the break.

[Continue Reading…]

The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild is “Video Game of the Year” at 2017-2018 SXSW Gaming Awards

The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild took home another trophy last night when the “open-air” adventure was named “Video Game of the Year” at the 2017-2018 SXSW Gaming Awards. The Nintendo Switch launch title also scooped up awards for “Excellence in Design” and “Excellence in Gameplay”

PUBG Corporation’s PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds also picked up three awards last night (“Esports Game of the Year,” “Trending Game of the Year,” and “Excellence in Multiplayer”), and a handful of other games (Cuphead, Horizon: Zero Dawn, and Nier: Automata) were two-time winners.

You can find the complete list of winners and nominees from the 2017-2018 SXSW Gaming Awards after the break.

[Continue Reading…]

World Video Game Hall of Fame Will Publish “A History of Video Games In 64 Objects” in May 2018

The curators at the World Video Game Hall of Fame will offer a peak behind-the-scenes at some of the historical artifacts found in their collection with A History of Video Games In 64 Objects, an upcoming book from Dey Street Books:

Inspired by the groundbreaking A History of the World in 100 Objects, this book draws on the unique collections of The Strong museum in Rochester, New York, to chronicle the evolution of video games, from Pong to first-person shooters, told through the stories of dozens of objects essential to the field’s creation and development.

Drawing on the World Video Game Hall of Fame’s unmatched collection of video game artifacts, this fascinating history offers an expansive look at the development of one of the most popular and influential activities of the modern world: video gaming.

The hefty 352-page hardcover will include essays and photographs written by the curators that provide insight into how each object contributed to gaming’s history, as well as its impact on “the greater culture.”

A History of Video Games In 64 Objects will be available on May 29, and you can get a sneak peek at some of earliest selections (including Tennis For Two, the Nintendo Love Tester, and Ralph Baer’s Brown Box) at Dey Street‘s official website.

And don’t forget, the inductees from the World Video Game Hall of Fame’s Class of 2018 will be announced on May 3.

From the Trenches: Developers Look Back at NBA Jam, Smash Bros. Brawl, and Age of Empires

NBA Jam, Age of Empires, and Super Smash Bros. Brawl had a massive impact on the video game industry, and the men and women who made them surely have some interesting stories to tell.

25 years ago… NBA Jam made its rim-rattling console debut.
21 years ago… Age of Empires conquered the PC world.
10 years ago… Super Smash Bros. Brawl fought its way into our hearts.

All three of these games had a massive impact on the video game industry, and the men and women who made them surely have some interesting stories to tell.

[Continue Reading…]