Famitsu Poll - Best Game Ever -

[Morridor]

There are some really really great games on there, but seriously, A LOT of the results are really skewed!  

Final Fantasy X should die!
Final Fantasy VIII beat out FFIX AND FFVI???  Last time I checked, A LOT of people hated FFVIII (I don't, but I know a majority of the people liked VI and IX more).
Resident Evil 4 is #74!
Grand Theft Auto is on the list. . . blegh. . .

Danny

[Ryos]

My understanding is that FFVIII was received better in Japan than in the U.S.  Although I'm sure there are Japanese who disliked the game much like there's the two camps of love it or hate it over here, there was a much higher acceptance rate there than here.  Actually, I was almost surprised that it didn't beat out FFVII (maybe the recent Advent Children helped in that regard?) because it's so popular over there.  Look for example at the platinum list at the Magic Box:

PS     Square     Final Fantasy VIII     3.62
PS    Square    Final Fantasy VII    3.28

Whereas ours you see (and I'm not as sure about the validity of our numbers due to tracking differences, but they're probably not far off)

PSX     Sony**     Final Fantasy VII     2.45
PSX    Squaresoft    Final Fantasy VIII    1.91

Selling rate sure didn't seem to bear on the FFX ranking though.  Again, the Japanese are odd. :P

[Professor Gast]

Interesting to see that Final Fantasy X managed to claim the top spot, thereby beating the ones like Final Fantasy VII and all the Dragon Quest games. Then again, I'm not surprised that almost 40% of all the games on the list are Square Enix games.

To find Grand Theft Auto: Vice City on the list, while the only Namco games included being Tales installments kinda surprised me, though. One would expect to find Soul Calibur or one of the PlayStation Tekkens on that list. Same counts for Sony Computer Entertainment's Mina no Golf.

It's nice to see the first four Sakura Taisen games and Tokimemo making the list, though.

Edit: Ryos, Final Fantasy VII was more popular in Japan than Final Fantasy VIII. The sales figures you listed for Final Fantasy VII do not include the International version. If you add them up, Final Fantasy VII sold more copies than Final Fantasy VIII in Japan, despite being originally released in early 1997 when the installed hardware base of the PlayStation was rather low. So sales show quite clearly that the game was more popular than Final Fantasy VIII.

[Cauton]

I can only echo what most of you have already said: That's a pretty damn weird list. Final Fantasy X and VII are way too high up, and Final Fantasy IX shouldn't be on there at all.

On the other hand, Final Fantasy VIII, Chrono Trigger, Final Fantasy Tactics and Xenogears - games that should be in the top ten - are much too far down. I guess this only proves that people are morons, no matter their nationality. :P

[Dyne]

...I hope this doesn't turn into one of those annoying anti-fanboy threads.  No matter what you believe to be the best game ever is, it does not mean that Final Fantasy VII and Final Fantasy X do not deserve a high posistion on the list.  Of course, the top 2 posistion is a little far fetched, but they are both great games in their own right.

[Morridor]

I can only echo what most of you have already said: That's a pretty damn weird list. Final Fantasy X and VII are way too high up, and Final Fantasy IX shouldn't be on there at all.

I liked Final Fantasy IX a lot!  I heard an interesting theory about FFIX the other day actually.  Someone said that the reason people didn't like Final Fantasy IX all that much compared to other games is because in FFVII and VIII, Square was adding in technology and futuristic themes and IX brought it back to the Renaissance.  That and people really could not handle the Chibi graphics.  I just thought this was interesting.  Is this why you don't like it Cauton?

Danny

[Cauton]

Dyne:
Maybe you didn't notice, but my last statement was tongue in cheek. I don't really think they're morons, I just find their taste in games a bit odd.

That being said, I personally don't feel that Final Fantasy VII and Final Fantasy X belong in the Top Ten of the Greatest Games Ever. They're not bad games, but neither are they as good as they're sometimes made out to be. I could name a dozen games that I think are superior.

On a side note, I kind of wonder how this list would've looked if it had been published by an American magazine, and how a japanese reader would've reacted to it. Probably pretty much in the same way we are.

Morridor:
Chibi graphics and "back to Renaissance" ain't got nothing to do with it. I guess, I was a being bit harsh - Final Fantasy XI might very well deserve a spot on the list, but not in the Top 25. My main reason for not liking it is the characters and story, really. I never found them very likeable or interesting, and I hated Steiner's guts. Also, I was never charmed by the constant references and humour, as some were (Riverdancing ratpeople? Oh please).

[Dizzy]

I'm actually a bit surprised RE4 on GC (74th) got so much higher than the PS2 version (100th). I mean, I preferred the GC version myself, but look at that gap. XD

Also...
42. Metal Gear Solid 2 (2001)
50. Metal Gear Solid (1998)

MGS2 higher than MGS1? They really are crazy in the head. :P

[Merkava]

Also, MGS3 was higher on the list than both. Some of the choices are pretty wacko. :P

Caution: The thing is; even if you think FFVIII is more superior, there's still the impact that FFVII had. It's...I dunno, a landmark. FFVIII may have been good, but it wasn't as "important" as FFVII was. I personally feel that FFVII is the best and most successful FF. I think FFX shouldn't even be near the top of the list.

[Cauton]

Well, the list was the Greatest games of all time, not the most influential. Otherwise we'd have Legend of Zelda, Mario 64 and Pong at the top of the list.

And damnit, there's no i in my name. One of these days people will get it right...

[Dade]

Chibi graphics and "back to Renaissance" ain't got nothing to do with it. I guess, I was a being bit harsh - Final Fantasy XI might very well deserve a spot on the list, but not in the Top 25. My main reason for not liking it is the characters and story, really. I never found them very likeable or interesting, and I hated Steiner's guts.

Wait wait wait...you hated FFIX cause you didnt like the characters, yet you think FFVIII needs to be in the top 10? The fuck are you smokin?

[Cauton]

Wait wait wait...you hated FFIX cause you didnt like the characters, yet you think FFVIII needs to be in the top 10? The fuck are you smokin?

It's not my only reason for disliking FF IX, but it's one of the main ones, yes. It's one of the things I'm pretty sensitive to in RPGs - if the characters are dull and uninteresting, I can rarely find the motivation to continue playing. Hence why I quit Grandia 3 mid-game.

But yeah, I like Final Fantasy VIII's characters, and I thought the story was a lot more interesting than FF IX'. I also loved the Junction system. Call me masochistic, but I actually enjoyed running around and drawing 300 Ultima spells from those invisible draw spots.

[Professor Gast]

if the characters are dull and uninteresting, I can rarely find the motivation to continue playing.

Funny, that description exactly fits the impression I got from Final Fantasy VIII's characters. I will leave it to others to come up with one of those good old Ugly Cow Rinoa rants, but the major plot twist

Code:

of all those jerks with the exception of Rinoa growing up in the same orphanage and only forgetting about it, because of the Guardian Forces having a negative effect on their memory

was exactly that, dull :P.

[Dade]

THANK YOU, Professor Gast.

[Vagrant]

A 'best videogames ever'-list without Super Metroid and Castlevania:SotN?

Pathetic...