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your GAME OF THE GEN thus far.

If we go by playtime then it's Street Fighter IV by a mile. Nostalgia + competitive online play = time sink. Runners up include Crackdown and Call of Duty 4.
 
See, this is a bit frustrating. I think it is important to read my words more closely. I haven't said that I "love NSMB a lot," although I very much do. What I have said is that it is a phenomenon, whether or not this board finds it worthy of such a distinction is irrelevant. The fact of the matter is, it will probably be the most popular game, ever, that was not packed in (although, from what I understand, it was a pack-in for a short period of time.) That is what I mean by phenomenon. Again, by saying that, I am not saying I love the game (I do) or if it's a better game than SMG (I don't care if it is or isn't).
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That's completely hyperbole, and you know it.
 
GrotesqueBeauty said:
I'm pretty sure when TheGrayGhost starts going on about his Mario Galaxy ending conspiracy theories and how great Phantom Hourglass is regular protocol is to cast your gaze downward in embarrassment for him and gently shake your head. There's no use trying to make any logical sense of it.
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Just why is it a "conspiracy theory?" Isn't it, as somewhat artful, up to interpretation? Definitely, its ending is very much laden with imagery and symbolism concerning death and rebirth. These are concepts which relate to the changes we are seeing industry-wide. Why, then, is it a "conspiracy theory" to refer to Super Mario Galaxy's ending as a figurative analogue?
 
Captain Pants said:
Here is my attempt:

Demon's Souls is a brutal third person action RPG on the PS3 with great level design and huge bosses.
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How have I not heard of this? Sound great!

<searches internet>

Japan only? :-(
 
TheGrayGhost said:
This was a popular sig before THE game released:

"Super Mario Galaxy will break the laws of AAA gaming. It will become the first S-class title, where it will sadly remain alone until the next Super Mario game descends from the heavens."

While it is an incredible game, no doubt about that, that it really isn't the phenomenon that SMB was, that SMB3 was, that SMW was, that NSMB currently is, means that Nintendo and the series still has a long ways to go to make Super Mario an untouchable, undisputed giant on consoles again. No doubt it will probably be one of the best selling games this generation, but that didn't used to be enough for this fuckin juggernaut of a series. The paradox that fascinates me is that in order to meet that legacy of greatness, it would seem to me that Nintendo would have to move away from Super Mario Galaxy and, by extension, what many of you seem to want out of the series and out of them as a game developer in general. That is why (Amir0x is rolling his eyes right about now :P) I think SMG is a commencement, the end of something old and the start of something new. If you take a look at the bizarre ending of Super Mario Galaxy, parse its imagery and its words, it would seem to me that Nintendo is aware of this: Rosalina outright says that the old is passing and being reformed into something new. Not to worry, as Super Mario welcomes the new with an embrace ("Weclome! Welcome new galaxy!")

This is why I didn't vote for SMG for my game of the gen and voted, instead, for PH. I think the latter is a game that is part of this "new galaxy," and it is something that I'm totally in sync with...
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I refuse to believe that you're a real person.
 
Mine would be Super Mario Galaxy.

The gameplay wasn't just solid, well polished and really fun, but it managed to stay faithful to the traditional Mario games while introducing new and refreshing gameplay mechanics and unique level design. I also liked the pick up and play style of the game because of the mission structure and bit-sized levels.


The music surpassed my expectations. Not only was it orchestrated but it was incredibly epic and catchy and fit the action and pacing of the gameplay.

The controls were very good. I was particularly surprised and impressed by the responsiveness of the motion control for the manta ray surfing and rolling boll missions.

The graphics look fantastic.

The game's difficulty was fairly well balanced thanks to only being able to take 3 hits from enemies and some of the levels were harder than others. I lost count of how many times I died either by falling off the edge of a stage or getting hit by an enemy when I had a low health count.

Bowser was back to his old mean self. I think many fans appreciated that.

The Costumes. Who didn't love Bee, Ice and Boo Mario ?It's just a shame that they weren't used more often.

The nostalgia factor.I was happy to see the return of old enemies and remixed classic music other references from the franchise.

The story and cut scenes. Normally, these are perhaps the least important parts in a Mario game. However, I actually liked Rosalina's side story which was not forced upon you. In addition, it was good to see that Nintendo went back to the traditional Mario story of having Bowser come up with a silly but effective scheme to capture Peach. The intro and ending cut scenes were cool.

- Playing as Luigi. First o,ff it was about time Nintendo make him playable in a traditional 3D Mario platformer. Secondly, he played a bit differently from Mario which helped add to the replay value.


- Bowser battle

Despite how ridiculously easy he is and having to beat him several times in the same way, these fights were among the most satisfying. Of course, the music also had a big role in that. Every time I play the game, I always look forward to these fights.


The only things I didn't like about the game are the following:


Given the game's unique level design, I was hoping there would be more creative and challenging boss battles. Did we really need to fight that mole in the machine blaster, King Kalimari and Dino Petey twice ? Was it really necessary to fight Bowser over and over again in the same way ?


I hate the garbage tossing missions. They were frustrating and felt like a chore. Since it's timed, it gives you little room to make mistakes.

I got a bit tired of roaming around the Hub world all the time going back and forth, up and down and around the areas to get to the observatories.

Fairly annoying techno music for the power-up items

The camera. My only complaint is a minor one. It would have been nice to have slightly more manual control so you could have more freedom to scan the environments. while standing still.
 
This gen? Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots. Easily.

Bioshock gets a VERY honorable mention :) Little Big Planet is real groundbreaking too.
 
I'd like to change my vote from Super Mario Galaxy to Red Faction Guerrilla, based on the demo. Even if the rest of the game is just poop-flinging sim, the demo is enough to put it well over the rest.
 
Updated list, also includes position changes since the last list. Enjoy.

1. Super Mario Galaxy - 202
2. Metal Gear Solid 4 - 134
3. Uncharted - 61
4. Bioshock - 33
5. Mass Effect - 32
6. Street Fighter 4 - 23
6. Little Big Planet - 23 (+1)
8. Call of Duty 4 - 18
9. Crackdown - 17
9. Oblivion - 17 (+5)
11. Valkyria Chronicles - 14 (-1)
11. Fallout 3 - 14 (+3)
13. Halo 3 - 13 (+3)
14. Team Fortress 2 - 12 (-3)
14. Rock Band 1/2 - 12 (-3)
16. Left 4 Dead - 11 (-5)
17. Dead Rising - 10 (+3)
17. Orange Box/Portal - 10 (merged)
19. Dead Space - 9 (-3)
19. Demon’s Souls - 9 (+1)
20. Resident Evil 5 - 8 (-4)
20. Killzone 2 - 8 (+5)
22. Mirror’s Edge - 6 (-3)
22. Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney Trials and Tribulations - 6 (+6)
22. Gears of War - 6 (-2)
25. Warhawk - 5 (-5)
25. Wii Sports - 5 (-5)
25. Grand Theft Auto 4 - 5
25. Super Smash Bros Brawl - 5 (+3)
25. Megaman 9 - 5 (+3)
30. Elite Beat Agents - 4 (+15)
31. The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess - 3 (-3)
31. No More Heroes - 3 (+1)
31. Ninja Gaiden 2 - 3 (+1)
31. Metroid Prime 3 - 3 (+1)
31. Fable 2 - 3 (+1)
31. Lost Odyssey - 3 (+1)
31. Crysis - 3 (+1)
31. Viva Pinata - 3 (+14)
31. The World Ends with You - 3 (+14)
40. FIFA 09 - 2 (-8)
40. Flower - 2 (-8)
40. Devil May Cry 4 - 2 (-8)
40. World of Goo - 2 (-8)
40. Monster Hunter Freedom 2 - 2 (-8)
40. Heavenly Sword - 2 (+5)
40. Tales of Vesperia - 2 (+5)
40. Saints Row 2 - 2 (+5)
40. Virtua Fighter 5 - 2 (NEW)
40. Assassin's Creed - 2 (NEW)
40. Braid - 2 (NEW)
51. Men of War - 1 (-6)
51. Chromehounds - 1 (-6)
51. Hot Shots Golf - 1 (-6)
51. Wii Music - 1 (-6)
51. Far Cry 2 - 1 (-6)
51. Rainbow 6: Vegas - 1 (-6)
51. Space Giraffe - 1 (-6)
51. Europa Universalis III: Complete - 1 (-6)
51. Banjo Nuts and Bolts - 1 (-6)
51. World of Warcraft - 1 (-6)
51. Etrian Odyssey 2 - 1 (-6)
51. Disgaea PSP - 1 (-6)
51. Fire Emblem Radiant Dawn - 1 (-6)
51. Bangai-O - 1 (-6)
51. Professor Layton 1 - 1 (-6)
51. Motorstorm Pacific Rift - 1 (-6)
51. Timeshift - 1 (-6)
51. Mario Kart Wii - 1 (-6)
51. Civilization 4 - 1 (-6)
51. Test Drive Unlimited - 1 (-6)
51. Secret PS3 game - 1 (-6)
51. MLB 08: The Show - 1 (-6)
51. Skate 2 - 1 (-6)
51. Imagine Party Babiez Wii - 1 (-6)
51. GRID - 1 (-6)
51. Bionic Commando ReArmed - 1 (-6)
51. Siren Blood Curse - 1 (-6)
51. Battlefield: Bad Company - 1 (-6)
51. Prince of Persia - 1 (-6)
51. Geometry Wars Retro Evolved - 1 (-6)
51. Audiosurf - 1 (-6)
51. Ryu Ga Gotoku 3 - 1 (NEW)
51. Afrika - 1 (NEW)
51. Wipeout HD - 1 (NEW)
51. Henry Hatsworth: In the Puzzling Adventure - 1 (NEW)
51. Samurai Warriors Katana - 1 (NEW)
51. Excite Truck - 1 (NEW)
51. Madden 06 - 1 (NEW)
51. The Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass - 1 (NEW)
51. NWN2: Mask of the Betrayer - 1 (NEW)
51. Red Faction Guerrilla - 1 (NEW)
 
Thanks for compiling the list, vicissitudes...it's great to see a summary of where the poll stands.

I'm glad to see SMG and Oblivion each receiving a lot of recognition from GAF. As down as people are on vanilla Oblivion, I didn't expect it to receive as much love as it has, but I'm pleasantly surprised to see people tossing it some much-deserved praise.
 
BrandNew said:
Wha...what?

NSMB does absolutely NOTHING new; it brings no reinvention or new concepts to the table. It is, very simply, aping the same formula as the original SMB, only prettied up.
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The integration of Mario 64 moves into a 2D game was pretty cool. They just never really let you use wall-jumping in particularly interesting ways.

It's kind of sad like that...
There was a lot of wasted potential.

vicissitudes said:
Updated list, also includes position changes since the last list. Enjoy.
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If you're merging Portal and the Orange Box, shouldn't Team Fortress 2 be merged too?
 
Ballistictiger said:
Uncharted.

Only game this generation that I beat over 9 times.

Edit: Kind of sad that people are getting angry at others for saying Uncharted.
We all got different tastes ok.
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What's wrong with Uncharted? Is it the cool thing to hate now?
 
RadioHeadAche said:
What's wrong with Uncharted? Is it the cool thing to hate now?
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It's not a hate of the game, it's a hate of the community around the game. At least, that's how I see it.

In any case, it's a shame. The game is amazing. It's like hating a band because they have some annoying fans, it doesn't lessen the quality of the content.
 
Rez said:
It's not a hate of the game, it's a hate of the community around the game. At least, that's how I see it.

In any case, it's a shame. The game is amazing. It's like hating a band because they have some annoying fans, it doesn't lessen the quality of the content.
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I don't hate the game, but its definitely not the epic title people keep pissing on about. It's a decent adventure title that borrows some elements from other games but doesn't necessarily do any of them as well as the originals.
 
Mohonky said:
I don't hate the game, but its definitely not the epic title people keep pissing on about. It's a decent adventure title that borrows some elements from other games but doesn't necessarily do any of them as well as the originals.
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Uncharted!!!11 Rawr!!!111
 
Mohonky said:
I don't hate the game, but its definitely not the epic title people keep pissing on about. It's a decent adventure title that borrows some elements from other games but doesn't necessarily do any of them as well as the originals.
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I can't speak for everyone, but the reason I like it so much is because it is just that. A decent adventure game in a time where there aren't that many adventure games in the same vein being released.

I'd also imagine that the reason a lot of people latch on to it is the fact that it was the first game that really justified a PS3 in a lot of people's eyes, as well as being a game that looked noticeably better than anything else at the time. It was my first PS3 game, and I'd imagine quite a few others as well, so my opinions on it are probably coloured by the whole new car smell thing.

Those things, mixed with some decent gameplay and some good characters, can go a long way in making people remember a game fondly.

We can only speculate as to whether or not people would like it anywhere near as much if it was released tomorrow as a multiplatform release, but my guess would be that no where near as many people would like it as much. Not that that's necessarily a bad thing. Reality is what we make of it, I guess.
 
Super Mario Galaxy.

Worst thing, we didnt see the koopalings, the rest is a piece of art. If the koopalings did had show we would be talking of the best game that man could conceived.
 
Oblivion for me. I'm surprised it isn't higher on the list. For me it was the first game I played that made this feel like a new generation instead of Xbox/PS2 graphics in HD. And its a great game. Better than Fallout 3 IMHO, which I've often seen it compared to.

Runners up would be Super Mario Galaxy and Killzone 2.
 
2utolna.jpg


well, he has a point
 
ok ok, i can admit when i'm wrong. after reading this thread last week, i dove back into Mario Galaxy this week-end. long story really short, i love it now. my wife and two kids are completely captivated by it, with my wife even playing with me. wow, what a GREAT game!

told you i'm slow to come around sometimes! :lol thank you gaf, for turning me onto this great game. this is one of the few games my family will get into with me, and those are awesome for me (RE5 was too).

P.S. this doesn't change my pick from RE5. it's still my choice. but i do understand the love for Mario Galaxy now.
 
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