The last few days I have been reading some posts where someone will say "I beat this game, I didn't like it." and people will either say "Yeah! it was boring" or they will say "What? That game was amazing." It had me thinking, what makes so many people have such different taste? I know we are all different but I have always said personally for games that don't suck entirely "Okay, I think this game sucks dick but I can see the appeal" when I get that thought I don't go to that forum page and tell people that it's dumb and I think they are dumb for liking it.

Everyone hates those game magazines that come out with their top 100 games of all time and put Tetris at the top or something else that makes you say really? Maybe it was number 1 10 years ago but so much has been done since then. So, I am not asking for the greatest game of all time from you the viewers. What I am asking for is there a game that we as a Giant Bomb community can all say "Yeah, that game is bad ass". I'm sure this is an impossible task because there is always someone who hates it for some reason. It's too popular, I don't like the way the character is or something else.

An example of this is Final Fantasy 7, people argue it's the best and other argue it's the shittiest. So let's start a little test, I will post the name of a game that I think is amazing. If you disagree with me reply to me specifically in this thread and say "No" and tell me why you think that, but you have to post the game you think should be that holy game.

So ladies and gents lets see if there is a game that nobody who reads this blog can say "It sucks". Lets being honest when striking out the persons game and if the game has been struck out then I'll mark it off the list.

I'll start with something completely random

I choose Skies of Arcadia because it's an RPG, that has a good story, amazing characters, great graphics and you are a mother fucking SKY pirate. Let the games begin.

The game so far, the ones who have lived and the ones who have been killed off.

Skies of Arcaida - Killed off by Enigma777

Aqauria - Killed off by Beachthunder

Valkyria Chronicles - Killed off by SirOptimus Prime

Portal - Killed off by Kingzetta

Doom - Killed off by gamefreak9

Castlevania SOTN - Killed off by Rolyatkcinmai

Baldurs Gate 2: Shadows of Amn

Wizball C64 -

Legend of Zelda Ocarina of Time -

Pong - Killed off by Bumpton

Tetris - Killed off by Synaptic

Picross 3D - Killed off by Brad Shoemaker

Half life (All) - Slaker killed them all with his pure hatred of anything with orange in it.

Infamous - Killed off by Example1013

Banjo-Kazooie: Nuts & Bolts -

Shadow of the Colossus - Killed by Skytylz

Vampire: The Masquerade - Killed by ????

Another World/Out of this World - Killed off by Video_Game_King

Deus Ex - Killed by Eight Bit Shik

Planescape -

Super Metroid - Killed by TotalEklypse

Dragon Quest V - Killed by Xpgamer7

Day of the Tentacle -

Age of Empires 2 -

System Shock 2 -

Black and White -

Legend of Zelda Link to the Past -

Fallout 1 - Killed by Xpgamer7

Fallout 2 - Killed by Xpgamer7

Resident Evil 2 -

Road Rash 2 -

Road Rash 64 - Killed by HotSauceMagik

Final Fantasy Tactics -

Michael Jackon: The experience -

Michael Jackson - Moonwalker

Knights of the old republic -

Reaping the Dungeon - Sigh

Chrono Trigger -

Castlevania IV -

Super Mario World -

No, the graphics suck (even on the updated GC version). Also it's slow as hell.

I haven't played Skies of Arcadia, but Symphony of the Night is fucking badass. Still, I can one-up that, even within its own genre:
 

Can I nominate BioShock for this competition? Maybe it's just my personal fandom, but I don't feel like I've ever seen any serious ill will towards that game.

no one I mean no one can hate fucking Mario!

@DAFTPUNK said:

no one I mean no one can hate fucking Mario!

I hate Mario. 2D, 3D, 4D, whatever size and shape he is, I hate him.

Okay, well it's not really going how I planned it in my head but so far we have five games that no one has spoke up and said shit about let's keep this going. My game is out :(

Castlevania: SOTN

Aquaria

Doom

Valkyria Chronicles

Bioshock

Skies of Arcadia

I'll update this tomorrow, going to bed ;)

Ocarina of Time was almost universally loved at it's time, and the fact that the OoT 3D reviews have mostly been saying that it holds up well, I think really helps solidify it as a timeless classic. 

Games are such a young, varied and unconventional medium, I don't think a canon really makes sense at this time.

Wizball. A game lost to the mists of time that Garry Whitta used to LOVE. Yes, that Gazza. OUR Gazza. When he was working with Julian Rignall. At a little magazine known for its C64 focus.

Okay, well it's not really going how I planned it in my head but so far we have five games that no one has spoke up and said shit about let's keep this going. My game is out :(

Castlevania: SOTN

Aquaria

Doom

Valkyria Chronicles

Bioshock

Skies of Arcadia

I'll update this tomorrow, going to bed ;)

Portal sadly will be out if my roommate posts on here. But I doubt he will he is already mad I started this blog because of the uncharted 2 hate

no one I mean no one can hate fucking Mario!

I have never played Valkyria Chronicles so I can't pass judgement on that
I have no problems with Doom, Symphony of the Night, or Baldurs Gate. 
I haven't played Aquaria enough to pass judgement on that. 
I am not a big fan of Portal though. There is nothing bad about it , but I didn't find much to like either.

Can anyone come up with a reason to not like Pong? Pong is fun. People still play pong. I'd still play Pong, if I didn't have a bajillion other games to play. I might play Pong now. Pong perfectly describes absolutely everything about video games, in their most distilled form: Taking something from real life (or imagination), creating a virtual version of it, and making it interactive so that someone can actually play, instead of just watching. There are some things in Pong that, it could be argued, a couple of games don't have, but by and large everything in Pong is seen in every game made since. You have proprietary controls, player versus AI, player versus player, a goal to beat (and thus a way to win), and a score to track. Name one game that doesn't have at least 3 of those elements in it.

@Bumpton said:

Tetris, yo! That game is timeless in my opinion. Not all iterations are great obviously, but the core concept is amazing. No offence to example1013, but I think Pong is boring as hell. You make a compelling argument, but the game just can't hold my attention at ALL.

Lol, even though I agree with you about Pong I'd also say Tetris is boring enough to induced sleep.

Symphony of the Night always seemed painfully boring and ugly to me. That said, I played it a few years after its release.

@Bumpton said:

Tetris, yo! That game is timeless in my opinion. Not all iterations are great obviously, but the core concept is amazing. No offence to example1013, but I think Pong is boring as hell. You make a compelling argument, but the game just can't hold my attention at ALL.

Well, see, I'm not just talking about exclusively original Pong, though. I think with some updated graphics, maybe a little better pace, a little pizzazz and spice added in a couple of places, and you can take the core game of Pong and make it both modern and fun without losing what made it good in the first place. The absolute first Pong is kinda slow and boring now, but the mechanics could easily be a very fun, simple game.

Imagine playing Pong using your phone as the paddle that you move, with a graphical display on your TV showing what's happening.

Can anyone come up with a reason to not like Pong?

@example1013: There is your future pong. Bow, before it.

This thread will go nowhere, not one single game is not liked by everybody...But the clear answer here is Wii Sports.

Guys, even Yahtzee couldn't come up with anything bad to say about Symphony of the Night. That dude hates everything.

This thread will go nowhere, not one single game is not liked by everybody...But the clear answer here is Wii Sports.

@Gamer_152: See, I feel like that's being slightly petty, saying "it doesn't describe absolutely everything". I tried to point out that nothing can describe absolutely everything, but there are certain mechanics common to all games that are contained within Pong. I also didn't call it the father, I called it the embodiment. Pong may not have invented any of those things, but it certainly embodied them. And as I said, pick a game, and then look at it. I guarantee you pretty much every game will contain at least 3 of those things I listed. CoD is a competition. Mass Effect is a quest to beat the game and learn the story. Even Minecraft has some elements of goals and competition (although those may not be hard-coded, but then one can sort of argue that Minecraft isn't necessarily even a game as much as just a virtual sandblox).

Also, if you can't do 3, try 2. I thought I had 6 things listed, but I only had 5.

@Hizang: It's true that is the point of this thread, it's to show how even if you think the game is amazing some prick will argue against it.

@Bumpton: Exactly! The point

@example1013: This is what I wanted to see an actual non hating debate about why people dislike games and maybe to defend them without saying anything is better.

My original goal here was to take one game, have a person say why they hate it and keep it rolling. To everyone who thinks this is impossible as I stated before that is the point. It's a venue to figure out why someone hates the greatest games of all time. Plus, this has brought a few unexpected benefits for me. I have 4 new Giantbomb friends, I have learned of two games I have never heard of and it's the first time I have ever read someone talk shit about a game in a nice way.

As you can I have updated the main blog with the games that people have mentioned and who killed it off so you can decided whether or not you want to be their friends or not lol. But to keep the Ball rolling Bumpton posted

I personally have never played the game so no hate from me.

Ocarina of time - Repetitive gameplay, at times cumbersome inventory and a terrible camera. I still enjoy the game but these minor problems can quite easily stack up and ruin a play session.
 
Halo - The library, hell any section with the flood. Those parts degraded the overall quality of the game. Halo 2 was better just because of the more fleshed out multiplayer, even though the campaign was quite lackluster.   
 
The only game that I could think of for this would be the original Half Life, but that will probably be shot down quite quickly.

I thought all the Half-Life games were boring as shit.

Again, trying to create a video game canon is a fool's task.

Again, trying to create a video game cannon is an awesome task.

@Gamer_152: Well, as I think I mentioned, The fundamental mechanics of Pong could easily work today, and be made to look a lot better. The original Pong may not be graphically stunning, but the mechanics are there, and certainly I think mechanics are, in general, more important to the foundation of a good game. Visuals can always be changed and improved. Hell, you could probably take the exact gameplay of Pong and make it interesting by just giving it an aesthetic that's not "we did it guys. The blocks move". I don't feel that ruling out a game based on graphics should be considered appropriate, given that some games are stuck in 8-bit because they were limited by the technology, some games today are visually stunning, and some games are made on purpose with a specific art style because the developers had a specific vision for what everything should look like.

Let's face it. There are bad games that we're willing to play because we like their story, their art, or some certain mechanic or another. But we don't deny that they're bad games, because they are. The fact that it's a game means that its function as a game is required for judgment on it. Visuals are certainly a part of a particular game's experience, but not even necessarily part of the video game experience as a whole. Look at mobile games. You've got an entire platform with poor visuals, but the games are fun, and make...well, I'd say they make multiple metric fucktons of money for developers.

Graphics are a part of the medium, but can't be used to judge the overall quality of a game (unless they're poorly done even for the style).

@Slaker117: Sir, you and I are friends so there for you should know that I am a fool and this thread is by default Great. :)

@Gamer_152: Alright, I feel you on that. I guess it's a truism that modern games still contain elements from older games.

I think portal is stupid and painfully unfunny.

I think portal is stupid and painfully unfunny.

I'm also going to kill Portal and Picross 3D right now. They're puzzle games, and not everyone likes doing puzzles. Some people hate doing puzzles. It's not even necessarily that they can't do them, it's that they get no enjoyment out of it, or it takes too long for it to be worth it to them.

Personally I like Picross 3D, but I can only consume it in small bites. A puzzle here, a puzzle there, put it down, come back in a few weeks.

A video game canon has to be a game that people can't write off because they don't enjoy the difficulty or the gameplay. The most popular games always have either a light learning curve and simple, fun gameplay, or a difficulty scale to allow for a range of player skill levels. The original Mario Bros. is really simple with a light learning curve, and it can be some good fun. Being an older score attack game, there's no way to "beat" it, meaning you just keep playing until you run out of lives. A bad player will run out quicker than a good player, but both will get some enjoyment out of it.

Crash Bandicoot had dynamic scaling difficulties that actually made the game easier if a player was dying too often. So a good player and a bad player would both be able to play the game and enjoy it, because the game adjusted its difficulty to the player.

I'm also going to kill inFAMOUS. That game has a sort-of broken difficulty, because too often even just a random encounter (maybe even one sought out by the player) will kill a bad player. I mean, I play the game on Hard, but even normal got really dicey, especially when heading into the blacked-out sections for new powers.

I'm also going to kill Portal and Picross 3D right now. They're puzzle games, and not everyone likes doing puzzles.

• The difficulty level felt quite erratic at times, especially some of those multi-stage puzzles, where you would have a level with a huge grid followed by a level with a 4x4x4 grid.
  
• The time limit & lives made some puzzles really unforgiving; especially when you accidentally tapped on an incorrect cube - which, for me, was often, especially given that there was no orthographic view.
• The mascot was incredibly distracting; it's pretty annoying having some deformed anthropomorphic voxel-creature jumping up and down and dancing on one screen whilst you're trying to solve a puzzle on the other.
  
• The background images were garbage - they seemed to be either mediocre stock photos or cheesy clip-art.

@gamefreak9: I wouldn't say that all people are dumb who dislike portal, I myself might be considered dumb and I don't enjoy it but my roommate is stupid smart and he just does not enjoy playing that type of game at all. It reminds him too much of a platformer and he hates all platform games. The only exception to that would be Uncharacter and Assassins Creed, he says "Yeah, there are some platform elements but to be honest its nice that you really can't miss the jump since they pretty much allow you to just push the button and you are there". I can see his point, but I personally loved to play platform games back in the day. I'm too scared to make the leap and play any of the Banjo Kazooie games.... I hear they are great but I don't know if it's true.

As a gift I was given $75.00 worth of MS points recenetly, It was a birthday present I guess but since I had my second back surgery I think she wanted to cheer me up. I really found out she wanted me to spend some of it on the remaining Left 4 Dead 2 DLC, the sneaky bitch. Anyway, I'm sitting on about 4100 left and it's either wait and hold it for something that is coming soon that I want Bastion, Insanely weird name game and that game hand drawn by that dude, god I suck at remembering future game names. ANYWAY, my point is I keep hovering over the NFS DLC but I am so angry that it would be about 2200 for all of it so I kind of want to wait for another sale or if I should get one of the Banjo games and say fuck it. I know i got off topic here but that is me.

@example1013: I'm sorry you can't kill those games because you feel that the rest of the world hates puzzle games. It's why I couldn't take out portal because of my roommate. It has to be you who hates the game or else it stays. We don't give a shit what people on other sites or in the world think. This is a duder thing.

As a reminder incase people have noticed the first post, we have yet to hear anyone talk bad about plenty of games. So, we might just find ourselves a few winners because I don't plan to keep this thread going on forever.

@EightBitShik: As I said, Picross 3D isn't engaging enough to play for more than a couple of puzzles. Also, someone else ended it.