Top 100

I’m not exactly sure how many video games I’ve played in my life time. Trying to tally that number is not something that is on my to-do list, but it’s probably safe to say that the number has climbed well over a hundred. Considering how many games worth playing have been released over the past 40+ years, hitting 100 isn’t exactly an accomplishment. My backlog, games I never got around to, could probably top that too.

I only bring up this number to raise a question. What are the top 100 games of all time?

Ask 100 people, get 100 answers. Sure, some enterprising news sites have tried to concoct such lists, but I find the task to be meaningless. I seriously doubt you could ever find even two people that would completely agree.

Fortunately, the answer I need will be coming directly from GameRankings.com.

David Perry, who has been in the industry for over 30 years, has issued fledgling game designers a challenge. Look at a list of the top 100 video games of all time, ranked by score from highest to lowest. Play and study those games. Then, write a one page observation of the game making sure to include what you did or didn’t like, mechanics you noticed, and emotions you felt.

Turn this in and David Perry himself will add a personal recommendation to your resume. Now, I don’t know exactly where I plan to be in, say five years, but I suspect that this would be a really neat thing to be able to add to my resume. On top of all that, just the experience of having played 100 of the top rated games and actually studying them for what they’re worth would be invaluable.

I decided some time ago that I was going to do this. In fact, I’ve already compiled my list. Fortunately, the challenge lets you play with the list a little to account for games you might have no way of getting your hands on. I actually compiled two lists. For one, I required that the game have at least twenty reviews. For the other, the game needed only ten. The latter of the two lists opened me up to some older titles, ones that stretch back to Super Nintendo days.

I’ve already played some of these games but for the sake of the project I’ll be playing them again. Maybe not in full, but enough to remind myself of what they are all about. I suspect this project is going to take me a very long time. Just collecting the games is going to be a trial in time, money, and patience. Playing and analyzing them will take the longest. The one page ‘report’? That will be the easy part.

So consider this the first official post of the David Perry Challenge series of posts. I don’t know how often I’ll be updating this project, but I hope it doesn’t take the rest of my life. (Mainly because another challenge exists for those who complete this one.)

Now if you’ll excuse me, I’ve got some games to play.