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The Video Game Canon: 2018’s “Version 2.0” Update
The Video Game Canon is a statistical meta-ranking of dozens of “Best Video Games of All Time” lists that began in 2017 with Version 1.0, and the ranking has been updated several times since then. Which game is #1? There’s only one way to find out…
The Video Game Canon has been upgraded to “Version 2.0” thanks to the addition of four new lists that were published throughout the last year. Edge Magazine’s “100 Greatest Videogames” issue, Jeux Video’s “Top 100 Best Games of All Time,” Polygon’s massive “500 Best Games of All Time,” and Stuff UK’s “50 Greatest Games of All Time” have reshuffled the ranking in a big way.
Let’s take a look…
Visit VideoGameCanon.com for all future updates to this project and to explore the complete Top 1000.
Staff of Polygon name their “500 Best Games of All Time”
Polygon recently celebrated its fifth birthday with a weeklong countdown of their choices for the “500 Best Games of All Time.”
Along with a high-profile roster of special guests (including Jeremy Parish, Susan Arendt, Jon-Paul Dyson, and Benj Edwards), the site’s staff put together this massive ranking of games that includes titles from nearly every platform and stretching back to the very beginning of the medium. They even set some ground rules:
We asked everyone to vote based on innovation, polish and durability, rather than simply personal taste. We cut games released in 2017 to eliminate recency bias. And we left out sequels that we deemed too similar to the games that came before them.
Collecting all those votes together, we then combed through the data for anomalies and came up with the final order you see here.
Polygon’s final tally looks very similar to our own “Scientifically Proven Best Video Games of All Time,” and this includes their selection of Tetris as the #1 game of all time.
Griffin, Durant, Rose score a spot on the NBA 2K13 cover
With the lockout a thing of the past, 2K Sports has decided to not go with a retired legend for the cover of NBA 2K13.
Instead, the publisher has tapped three of the best players currently playing the game: Blake Griffin of the Los Angeles Clippers, Kevin Durant of the Oklahoma City Thunder, and Derrick Rose of the Chicago Bulls. All three were suitably humbled to be selected for the cover. And why not, they were preteens when NBA 2K was released!
“Being crowned as one of the NBA 2K13 cover athletes is a huge honor and something I always dreamt about,” said Durant. “It’s definitely humbling to grace the cover after the likes of Michael Jordan, Magic Johnson and Larry Bird.”
“There’s so much young talent around the NBA, so it’s very exciting to be chosen for NBA 2K’s ‘New Dynasty’ alongside Kevin and Derrick,” added Griffin. “The NBA 2K series has always been my first choice when I want to get a game in.”
“It’s a dream come true to be one of the cover athletes for NBA 2K13,” commented Rose. “I’ve worked closely with 2K Sports since NBA 2K10, and I’m honored to follow in the footsteps of Michael Jordan as the latest Chicago Bull to be featured on the cover.”
NBA 2K13 will be released for the PC, PS3, PSP, Wii, and Xbox 360 on October 2. A Wii U version will also be available before the end of the year.
NBA 2K13 slams it home on October 2; tips off at Wii U launch too
It’s bad luck to change anything in the middle of a hot streak. Your favorite headband, your driving route to the court, even your underwear. It all has to stay the same. Every athlete knows this.
It looks like the people at 2K Sports are a superstitious bunch as well. Just as they’ve done every year since 2007, the publisher plans to release NBA 2K13 for the PC, PS3, PSP, Wii, and Xbox 360 during the first week of October (October 2 to be exact). A Wii U version is also in development and will ship during the “holiday season.”
NBA 2K13 is, as always, in development at Visual Concepts. This year, the developer plans to include a new downloadable NBA All-Star content package with every pre-order of the game. Buying early on the PS3 and Xbox 360 will net fans a trio of star-studded bonuses:
[The NBA All-Star] add-on content will be set in Houston, the site of the 2013 NBA All-Star Game and will allow fans to stage their own NBA All-Star Game, including three NBA All-Star events – the Foot Locker Three Point Shootout, BBVA Rising Stars Challenge, and the Sprite Slam Dunk Contest featuring all-new intuitive, pick-up-and-play controls.
Gamers can pit the NBA’s current superstars against classic players in both the Foot Locker Three Point Shootout and Sprite Slam Dunk Contest. Rosters for both the BBVA Rising Stars Challenge and 2013 NBA All-Star Game will feature the 2012 All-Stars, with dynamic updates to the 2013 rosters once the participants are announced.
“The NBA All-Star package is our way saying ‘thank you’ to fans for their ongoing love of the NBA 2K series,” said Jason Argent, Vice President of Marketing for 2K Sports. “This content provides a ton of depth and value to our fans, and it’s just the beginning of a lot of big news about NBA 2K13.”
Wii U might support multiple tablet controllers
With the rise of online multiplayer gaming, sometimes I wonder about the loss of the days where four people could sit in a room and get some game on together. When Nintendo’s E3 Press Conference revealed that the Wii U would support only one controller per console, I thought this was the beginning of the end of single console multiplayer, and it made me sad.
But Nintendo says that they are working on it. A source that chose to remain anonymous told Develop that Nintendo is working to bypass the coding restrictions the system had in order to allow two controllers to work on the same system. But the source also said that we aren’t going to be having four controllers on the system like the old days any time soon. Apparently, it’s just outside of the systems capabilities to have more than two tablet controllers. The Wii U will suport four Wii Remotes in addition to the tablet controller for multiplayer.
Either way, Nintendo said last month that the Wii U would be shown in it’s final form at E3 2012, so our speculations will become reality by next year.
Wii U to be fully unveiled at E3 2012
It should come as much of a surprise, but Nintendo doesn’t plan to launch the Wii U next Spring. Instead, the company has announced they’ll officially unveil the Wii U’s “final format” at E3 2012.
Nintendo is also taking the “yawn heard ’round the world” that was the 3DS launch to heart. Company President Satoru Iwata told investors at a recent financial briefing: “As we learned a bitter lesson with the launch of the Nintendo 3DS, we are trying to take every possible measure so that the Wii U will have a successful launch.”
The Wii U’s launch is still scheduled to place during Nintendo’s next fiscal year, which runs from April 1, 2013 through March 31, 2013.
Bit.Trip Presents: Runner 2, Future Legend of Rhythm Alien announced
Gaijin Games has announced a sequel to Bit.Trip Runner, which they’re calling Bit.Trip Presents: Runner 2, Future Legend of Rhythm Alien. Wow, that’s quite a mouthful! The video above shows some of their brainstorming about the sequel, and includes some colorful language, as well as a turkey suit. And, of course, Commander Video is back.
According to the press release, the sequel will bring “at least 10 new abilities, HD visuals, support for Achievements/Trophies/leaderboards, unlockable costumes and ‘LOTS more to be revealed later.'” This sounds pretty exciting, especially because this sequel is coming to the PlayStation Network and the Xbox Live Arcade sometime in 2012. No news yet on whether or not it will be coming to the Wii U.
For more information, concept art, and other details, check out the Runner 2 official website.
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Tagged Bit.Trip Presents: Runner 2 Future Legend of Rhythm Alien, PS3, Wii U, Xbox 360