FAKE RONJAN!!Off Topic Tuesday: Game of the Generation
A few weeks ago, IGN named their top games of the past video game console generation. They ranked the best 100 games that were released on the Nintendo Wii, Sony PlayStation 3, or Microsoft Xbox 360.
IGN has been around for nearly twenty years, and they have quite a prolific output when it comes to video games. In fact, they review nearly every major release that there is. As such -- I thought it might be interesting to take the top 100 that IGN just named as the best games of the generation and compare the rankings to the review scores that were awarded when each game was released.
Just to be clear, this is more of a thought experiment than an aggressive critique of either IGN or review scores in general. Reviews are typically written by one person on staff, while IGN's games of the generation list was a group exercise. And IGN's criteria for the list included games that demonstrated "innovation, influence, longevity, excellence or uniqueness" -- many of which are factors that cannot be properly evaluated in a quick-turnaround review score environment.
Let's start with a basic graph that plots out IGN's review score for each game against the rank in the top 100:
As you can see, there is a clear trend -- in the direction we'd expect -- but there are definitely some clear disparities. In fact, the #19 game on the list, Wii Sports, received a mere 7.5 while the #86 game on the list, The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword, received a perfect 10.0.
I think this speaks more to the differences in snap judgments and long-term resonance than anything else, but it's interesting to see which games ended up higher in the final ranking than we'd expect based on their review scores and vice versa.
As such, I've added a sortable table below that has each game's rank and review score. I've added a "Projected Rating" column which is simply the "best fit" score we'd expect based on the ranking in the final list. And I've added a "Retrospect Bump" column which is the difference between the two. (A positive score means the game did better today than it did at the time of review, while a negative score means the opposite.)
Let's take a look:
Two key observations:
- The top 3 games with the biggest negative retrospect bumps are all sequels to beloved and well-received franchises: The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword; Uncharted 3: Drake's Deception; and Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots.
- Meanwhile, the top 3 games with the biggest positive retrospect bumps were generally original in concept or implementation: Mirror's Edge, Wii Sports, and Geometry Wars: Retro Evolved.
This is probably no surprise -- sequels to well-received games are likely to be highly anticipated, and that can understandably impact the tone of a review.
Looking back, the past generation of consoles was my favorite since the 16-bit era. Whether it was new ways to play games like Wii Sports, a new take on platforming like Super Mario Galaxy, amazing reboots like Punch-Out!! and New Super Mario Bros. Wii, action blockbusters like the Uncharted series, choice-based RPGs like the Mass Effect series, or impactful storytelling like The Last of Us, The Walking Dead, & Heavy Rain, the past 8 years have been full of worthwhile experiences.
PS4: bring it on.
-rj