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Concept of the list was simple. It's not like organizing Metacritic or Open Critic for all-time with the highest rated games at the top because rather than just compare the aggregate scores for games reviewed as they are released, it explicitly polls its experts with the question, "What are the greatest games of all time?" Unlike the Wiki page for the greatest games it isn't merely compiling titles indefinitely from a general consensus. Unlike lists like IGN's Top 100 there isn't a small editorial board collaborating to decide the final list. Rather, it's a massive poll of people of note in the industry similar to Sight & Sound's poll for cinema seeking a definite Top 100. Nicely, it includes the list of every respondent who had a vote at the end of the list. I won't spoil.
Not counting 2023, the year the list was released, roughly halfway through that year, a year which saw no games named, the list spans 38 years: 1985-2022. There were zero games named from the year 1984 or earlier. The oldest game with an official release date on the list is Super Mario Bros. (Nov-1985). The year with the most titles named was 2016 though I doubt the titles named will dizzy the gaming community with their greatness. It's a more unorthodox assortment of titles you might not expect to have made the list: The Last Guardian, Firewatch, Persona 5, INSIDE, Hollow Knight, Dishonored 2, and Stardew Valley.
Totals by Year
*I counted Hitman: World of Assassination (2016-2021) as a 2021 title since that was when the compendium of the trilogy was packaged & released.
Personally, I've completed over a third of the games on the list on the hardest setting, when there was a setting, or when there was a traditional campaign to "beat", or otherwise invested major hours into them when there wasn't. If you extend this to games I've played for at least several hours, even if I didn't complete the game, it's well over half of the games. I've dabbled in nearly every game named.
***EDIT***
Perhaps the most significant alternative to this list is the "Acclaimed Games" list. A Redditor compiled over 700 "best of" lists. Currently the earliest list incuded was from 1994. The games with the most appearances weighted for the highest berths were ultimately ranked the highest in his compilation (methodology). Here is the compiled Top 1000 Games of All Time. Spoiler alert: the #1 is the same as the #1 from the Meta-survey above.
The 100 greatest video games of all time, ranked by experts (May-2023)
Not counting 2023, the year the list was released, roughly halfway through that year, a year which saw no games named, the list spans 38 years: 1985-2022. There were zero games named from the year 1984 or earlier. The oldest game with an official release date on the list is Super Mario Bros. (Nov-1985). The year with the most titles named was 2016 though I doubt the titles named will dizzy the gaming community with their greatness. It's a more unorthodox assortment of titles you might not expect to have made the list: The Last Guardian, Firewatch, Persona 5, INSIDE, Hollow Knight, Dishonored 2, and Stardew Valley.
Totals by Year
2023: 0- 2022: 1
- 2021: 1*
- 2020: 2
- 2019: 2
- 2018: 4
- 2017: 5
- 2016: 7
- 2015: 4
- 2014: 1
- 2013: 4
- 2012: 1
- 2011: 4
- 2010: 3
- 2009: 3
- 2008: 4
- 2007: 6
- 2006: 2
- 2005: 2
- 2004: 5
- 2003: 1
- 2002: 2
- 2001: 6
- 2000: 5
- 1999: 3
- 1998: 4
- 1997: 3
- 1996: 2
- 1995: 1
- 1994: 2
- 1993: 1
- 1992: 2
- 1991: 3
- 1990: 2
- 1989: 0
- 1988: 0
- 1987: 0
- 1986: 0
- 1985: 2
*I counted Hitman: World of Assassination (2016-2021) as a 2021 title since that was when the compendium of the trilogy was packaged & released.
Personally, I've completed over a third of the games on the list on the hardest setting, when there was a setting, or when there was a traditional campaign to "beat", or otherwise invested major hours into them when there wasn't. If you extend this to games I've played for at least several hours, even if I didn't complete the game, it's well over half of the games. I've dabbled in nearly every game named.
***EDIT***
Perhaps the most significant alternative to this list is the "Acclaimed Games" list. A Redditor compiled over 700 "best of" lists. Currently the earliest list incuded was from 1994. The games with the most appearances weighted for the highest berths were ultimately ranked the highest in his compilation (methodology). Here is the compiled Top 1000 Games of All Time. Spoiler alert: the #1 is the same as the #1 from the Meta-survey above.
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