PS3 Megathread 2019: The Last of Us
Multiplat 2018: Horizon Zero Dawn
Nintendo 2017: Super Mario Bros 3
Playstation 2016: Uncharted 2
Multiplat 2015: Final Fantasy 7
Huge thanks to @Th3solution and @themcnoisy for sharing detailed research findings, and to @Frigate for having played so many of the current list. You guys have been really helpful as I've draw together my own votes this morning, allowing me to shorten my own research time without feeling like I've drawn unfair or uninformed conclusions.
Also, special guest thanks to @mookysam for such a passionate defence of Castlevania. I'll always give stronger consideration to the opinion of true fans / players over critics (plus c'mon, it had Patrick Stewart in? How could it be bad?!).
Having played none of this list, however, here are my votes.
***
Cartoon Network: Punch Time Explosion XL - Not Important
Castlevania: Lords of Shadow - Existing
Castlevania: Lords of Shadow 2 - Important
Catherine - Existing
Chaotic: Shadow Warriors - Pointless
Champion Jockey: G1 Jockey & Gallop Racer - Not Important
Child of Eden - Important
Civilization Revolution - Important
Clash of the Titans - Pointless (yes, I know I defend licenced games, but there's a limit)
Clive Barker's Jericho - Existing
Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs - Existing / Not Important (can't decide, sorry)
Colin McRae: Dirt - Important
Colin McRae: Dirt 2 - Existing
College Hoops 2K7 - Existing
College Hoops 2K8 - Existing
Command & Conquer: Red Alert 3 - Important
Conan - Existing
Condemned 2: Bloodshot - Important
Conflict: Denied Ops - Existing
Crash Time 4: The Syndicate - Not Important
Crash Time 5 - Pointless
Create - Important
Cross Edge: Compile Heart - Not Important
Crysis 2 - Important
Crysis 3 - Important
CSI: Fatal Conspiracy - Not Important (sorry Morpheus)
Cyberbike 2 - Pointless
Damage Inc. Pacific Squadron WWII - Not Important
Damnation - Pointless
Dance Dance Revolution - Very Important (even if I hate dancing games)
Dance Dance Revolution New Moves - Er...? See question below!
Dance! It's Your Stage - Not Important
Dance Magic - Existing (the description posted above has me totally sold)
Dance on Broadway - Pointless (despite loving a good show tune)
***
Conan apparently sold poorly and almost every aspect (including Ron Pearlman's voice work) was both praised and criticised in reviews and user feedback. Most say that the gameplay is basically God of War lite, with things like enemy AI and the camera being a poor immitation. I've ranked it slap in the middle, however, because it makes a conscious effort to base itself on the literary version of the character, and replicate Frank Frazetta's famous fantasy artwork, so it's not quite in "shameless cash grab" territory. It's also important to note, however you regard the ongoing debate, that the game was used as evidence during a 2007-2009 effort to regulate the sale of violent videogames in California (an effort which was ultimately deemed an infringement of the First Amendment despite the cinematic Conan himself, Arnold Schwarzenegger, being a supporter of the proposed regulation).
My research on Conflict: Denied Ops reveals a very mid-tier shooter, emblematic of the genre's stagnation during the PS3 era. I'm not surprised to see @Frigate give it an "Existing" rating; I think I'd agree with that, from what I've seen.
I'll stick with my ranking of Create for now, unless somebody can help me see otherwise, because I've just read the PushSquare review (a six, for what it's worth) alongside some gameplay footage and general information and whilst I can see the appeal, I can't see any impact or lasting recognition (at least, not to the scale of similar games, like LittleBigPlanet). Feels a bit like EA going "we need one of these new sandbox creative games" and filling a gap in its schedule. Change my mind (EDIT: Thanks to @Frigate for actually doing just that; I've now ranked it as "Important").
Cyberbike 2 might have the most complex peripheral of all gaming; it comes with a freakin' exercise bike, which you stick in front of your PS3 and use to make your cartoon avatar cycle through various levels. Released at the height of the "games can make you fit" craze, most of the Amazon user reviews I'm currently looking at (as they're the best source of feedback I can find) call it a lovely idea ruined by shoddy implementation. The bike itself regularly broke, buttons would stop working and bits would fall off, and apparently the game's levels were limited and became boring after a while. An online multiplayer mode was apparently "dead" even right after launch, too. I'm tempted to chalk this one up to "Pointless" because, like the Kinect and that weird skateboard thing that never worked, this is a peripheral best forgotten.
We don't have enough dogfighting games, but Damage Inc. Pacific Squadron WWII looks like a squarely average experience all over, so I can't promote it too high for being a rare example of an underserved genre. I'm calling it "Existing" but it's borderline "Not Important" (EDIT: After discovering that it forces you to buy and play with a stupid proprietary joystick, I'm grounding this flight at the "Not Important" terminal; thanks to @Th3solution for the heads-up).
@themcnoisyDance Dance Revolution: New Moves comes up as a port of the original with some extra songs and PS Move implementation, so are we really counting this as a separate game?
The music in Dance! It's Your Stage is unlicenced, meaning somebody had to create a completely original soundtrack to cash in on the dancing game craze, so a point for effort, I guess. Beyond that, it appears to be an unremarkable PS Move dancing game clone, with freaky-looking realistic dancers and big, flashy stages entirely set in an airport terminal (because reasons). I'm going for "Not Important" on this one.
I had another couple minutes this morning and did a small amount of research on a few unknowns so I’ll share:
Cyberbike 2 - a completely forgettable appearing game that apparently requires an exercise bike (assuming its a proprietary one) to engage in this game that attempts to make excercising on a stationary bike fun. Not much out there as far as reviews and I’m assuming barely a soul actually played this. (Pointless) Damage Inc. Pacific Squadron WWII - despite the mildly interesting foray into the Pacific theater of WWII, this flight combat simulator was apparently a bomb (pun intended). It appears that it came with [yet another] gimmicky proprietary peripheral, a flight stick manufactured by the game’s publisher Mad Catz. (Man, PS3 / XB360 was certainly the heyday for all these worthless accessories) Apparently the game functioned poorly even with the flight stick. Gameplay , design, graphics, pretty much all of it was described mostly as “bad” (Pointless) Damnation - a “steampunk shooter” which integrated verticality and acrobatics to the moveset. With a 36 Metacritic, notable personality Greg Miller on IGN at the time tellingly gave it a 2.5/10 saying “avoid this game at all costs” due to terrible graphics, gunplay, AI, and voice acting.
Also called “one of the worst shooters of this generation” by one reviewer. (Pointless)
——
Edit: @RogerRoger You seem to have been on the same wavelength as me and beat me to the punch by a couple minutes while I typed. I was more harsh on Cyberbike and Damage, Inc than you, but I’ll leave my impressions for people to peruse. 😃
@Th3solution As I typed, I did wonder "What if somebody's continuing the research whilst I'm doing all this, and we both post at the same time?" But hey, the more we all research everything, the better informed our rankings will be... for example, I had no idea Damage Inc. Pacific Squadron WWII came with a proprietary flight stick! All I'd done was watch raw gameplay on YouTube (which now makes more sense, as the handling seemed real loosey-goosey) but Mad Catz used to pull that kinda bunk all the time, so I shouldn't be surprised. I'll lower my ranking to "Not Important" based on that finding, thank you!
@Frigate You've changed my mind on Create, cheers! I'm a huge supporter of judging games in the context of their release window, whereas I was just looking back at the genre in general. Since you said "at the time" twice, you've won me over. I'm bumping it up to "Important" now.
"We want different things, Crosshair. That doesn't mean that we have to be enemies."
Hey team sorry for being absent this week. It’s been an interesting week for me. I’ll make sure to be back in today. And @themcnoisy, votes are due Sunday still right?
PS3 Megathread 2019: The Last of Us
Multiplat 2018: Horizon Zero Dawn
Nintendo 2017: Super Mario Bros 3
Playstation 2016: Uncharted 2
Multiplat 2015: Final Fantasy 7
@RogerRoger Yes it's still classed as a game as it came out. However we will merge them in the spreadsheet if you like so;
Dance Dance: Revolution / Revolution New Moves
Will be classed as one game. As its practically the same.
Forum Best Game of All Time Awards
PS3 Megathread 2019: The Last of Us
Multiplat 2018: Horizon Zero Dawn
Nintendo 2017: Super Mario Bros 3
Playstation 2016: Uncharted 2
Multiplat 2015: Final Fantasy 7
PS3 Megathread 2019: The Last of Us
Multiplat 2018: Horizon Zero Dawn
Nintendo 2017: Super Mario Bros 3
Playstation 2016: Uncharted 2
Multiplat 2015: Final Fantasy 7
So I looked up Champion Jockey: G1 Jockey & Gallop Racer and it surprised me. I found a review my this very site and it wasn't bad. It wasn't a cash grab and had some meat to it. Very niche and not setting the world alight, but decent for what it was. It also made good use of the Move it looked like. It'd say it was existing for being unique, not a cash grab, and making decent use of the move. I think it barely keeps out of not important with the move implementation.
@themcnoisy I'm happy with either approach for Dance Dance Revolution, really. I was just curious as to why you'd classed it as a separate game, but if it had a separate release then that's fine... because if it was just a lazy re-release to sell more Move controllers, I'd rate it "Not Important". Merging them together as you've subsequently done, however, makes sense as well.
@Jaz007 You've changed my mind on Champion Jockey, especially since there are relatively few horse racing games out there anyway, and if the Move implementation wasn't cheap and hurried then that's worthy of recognition, for sure. I'll help you out and give it an "Existing" vote.
Okay, so my final votes for this week, locked in now, are as follows.
***
Cartoon Network: Punch Time Explosion XL - Not Important
Castlevania: Lords of Shadow - Existing
Castlevania: Lords of Shadow 2 - Important
Catherine - Existing
Chaotic: Shadow Warriors - Pointless
Champion Jockey: G1 Jockey & Gallop Racer - Existing
Child of Eden - Important
Civilization Revolution - Important
Clash of the Titans - Pointless
Clive Barker's Jericho - Existing
Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs - Not Important
Colin McRae: Dirt - Important
Colin McRae: Dirt 2 - Existing
College Hoops 2K7 - Existing
College Hoops 2K8 - Existing
Command & Conquer: Red Alert 3 - Important
Conan - Existing
Condemned 2: Bloodshot - Important
Conflict: Denied Ops - Existing
Crash Time 4: The Syndicate - Not Important
Crash Time 5 - Pointless
Create - Important
Cross Edge: Compile Heart - Not Important
Crysis 2 - Important
Crysis 3 - Important
CSI: Fatal Conspiracy - Not Important
Cyberbike 2 - Pointless
Damage Inc. Pacific Squadron WWII - Not Important
Damnation - Pointless
Dance Dance Revolution / New Moves - Very Important
Dance! It's Your Stage - Not Important
Dance Magic - Existing
Dance on Broadway - Pointless
"We want different things, Crosshair. That doesn't mean that we have to be enemies."
I’m a little tied up today, so I’m going to submit these now so @Jaz007 has time to crunch the numbers before the deadline.
There are a few more games I’m going in a little blind, and wish I had a little more time for research, but it has been a horrible week for me.
But I think this is pretty solid with what my opinions are:
not important - Cartoon Network: Punch Time Explosion XL Papaya Studio
🎮existing - Castlevania: Lords of Shadow MercurySteam / Kojima Productions important - Castlevania: Lords of Shadow 2 MercurySteam / Kojima Productions
🎮important - Catherine Atlus Persona Team pointless - Chaotic: Shadow Warriors FUN Labs not important - Champion Jockey: G1 Jockey & Gallop Racer Koei important - Child of Eden Q Entertainment important - Civilization Revolution Firaxis Games pointless - Clash of the Titans Bandai Namco
Clive Barker's Jericho MercurySteam existing - Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs Ubisoft Shanghai existing - Colin McRae: Dirt Codemasters important - Colin McRae: Dirt 2 Codemasters existing - College Hoops 2K7 Visual Concepts existing - College Hoops 2K8 Visual Concepts important - Command & Conquer: Red Alert 3 EA Los Angeles existing - Conan Nihilistic Software important - Condemned 2: Bloodshot Monolith Productions not important - Conflict: Denied Ops Pivotal Games not important - Crash Time 4: The Syndicate Synetic not important - Crash Time 5 Synetic important - Create EA Bright Light not important - Cross Edge Compile Heart existing - Crysis 2 Crytek important - Crysis 3 Crytek not important - CSI: Fatal Conspiracy Ubisoft Montreal pointless - Cyberbike 2 EKO Software pointless - Damage Inc. Pacific Squadron WWII Trickstar Games pointless - Damnation Blue Omega Entertainment very important - Dance Dance Revolution Konami/DanceDance Revolution New Moves Konami not important - Dance! It's Your Stage Neopica existing - Dance Magic Targem Games pointless - Dance on Broadway Ubisoft
“We cannot solve our problems with the same thinking we used when we created them.”
PS3 Megathread 2019: The Last of Us
Multiplat 2018: Horizon Zero Dawn
Nintendo 2017: Super Mario Bros 3
Playstation 2016: Uncharted 2
Multiplat 2015: Final Fantasy 7
@themcnoisy I was planning on doing the number crunching tomorrow early afternoon. I thought the deadline for votes being in was tonight but I could give the collective results to you tomorrow.
@Jaz007 it was 12 midnight. But if you can't make it I understand and we will await the final results tomorrow.
Forum Best Game of All Time Awards
PS3 Megathread 2019: The Last of Us
Multiplat 2018: Horizon Zero Dawn
Nintendo 2017: Super Mario Bros 3
Playstation 2016: Uncharted 2
Multiplat 2015: Final Fantasy 7
@Jaz007 Let me know if you need some help. I think I understand your tabulation system, but the tie-breakers might go a little different from your own if I am compiling it.
As for our team veto of the other 2 teams’ games, I think I am actually in agreement with what they have posted. I can’t see one that I really feel strongly needs to be changed. Maybe @themcnoisy@TowaHerschel7@RogerRoger@Frigate have some issues with them though.
“We cannot solve our problems with the same thinking we used when we created them.”
@Th3solution Actually, that's a good way of doing this each weekend, thanks; if anybody wants to veto / debate using a veto on the rankings of the other teams, tag me and just start the ball rolling with your reasons. I'll then moderate the resulting discussion and make the final call.
In instances where I'm suggesting a veto (which I'm not this week, don't worry) it'll be my job to convince you; I won't just say "this week we're gonna veto this" or anything. If over 50% of the team agrees with any given argument, the motion will carry and I'll post it in the main topic. If nobody secures over 50% of the team by the deadline, then it'll be 50% of the debate participants.
I'll tag everybody when a debate kicks off, so we've all got a chance to weigh in; with five comrades beyond yourselves, you're therefore looking to win the support of three others, but if only one person replies with "yeah, go on then" that'd be 100% support, so keep an eye on your tags!
Does that make sense? If you've got suggestions or questions, please share them.
"We want different things, Crosshair. That doesn't mean that we have to be enemies."
@RogerRoger at a push I would like Modern Warfare 3 moved into Not Important. But honestly existing I can live with.
Forum Best Game of All Time Awards
PS3 Megathread 2019: The Last of Us
Multiplat 2018: Horizon Zero Dawn
Nintendo 2017: Super Mario Bros 3
Playstation 2016: Uncharted 2
Multiplat 2015: Final Fantasy 7
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