The British magazine Sight & Sound publishes a list every decade with the top ten movies of all time, as voted by critics (another top 10 list began in 1992, as voted on by directors.)

Whatever you think of the Sight & Sound list -- I happen to believe it's the very best -- there is no doubt that Citizen Kane has been the most acclaimed movie. It was the #1 movie in 1962, 1972, 1982, 1992, and 2002. In 2012, Vertigo leaped above Citizen Kane to claim the #1 spot. Vertigo was #2 in the 2002 list.

So, if we accept that Ocarina of Time is the video game equivalent of Citizen Kane -- generally regarded as the best of its medium -- what game is Vertigo? In other words, what video game will surpass Ocarina as the game that is generally considered the best?

I think it will be Half-Life 2.

Evidence that Ocarina is the critical and popular consensus pick for #1:
*It holds the top spot on always-updating sites like GameRankings, Metacritic, and Unikgamer.
*Number 1 on the 2008 IGN Readers' Poll
*Number 1 on our own VGChartz 2009 list
*Plus mentions on dozens of other lists: Nintendo Power, Yahoo, GameTrailers, Edge Magazine, Entertainment Weekly, etc.

[Edit] Your suggestions so far:

Half-Life 2
Tetris
Pac-Man
Metal Gear Solid 3
Shadow of the Colossus
Super Mario Bros.
Uncharted 2

in this case it's not an american media

i would go with Tetris or Pac-Man - the two first games to have really expanded the vg audience past the young male segment

For me it's Metal Gear Solid 3. For some reason it doesn't get the general praise it seems to deserve even though everyone who plays it says how amazing it is. I have to say though that Ocarina of Time has the distinct advantage of showing an incredible leap in a series. Going from 2d to 3d is a tough spectacle to replicate. It's the same reason it's tough for any Mario game to wow you like 64 did. That transition is just an incredible leap in the industry that I'm not sure will ever be seen again. Personally Ratchet and Clank 3 is my favorite game of all time so it's already my Citizen Kane (actually that's a bad thing to say cause I hated Citizen Kane even though I recognize the advancements it made). HL2 is probably in my top 10 games of all time, but it's nowhere near my Citizen Kane.

I still to this day feel Ocarina of Time is overrated. I don't even feel it's one of the best in the Zelda series, let alone of all time. Different strokes for different folks though. As for the best game ever. Not sure because games I like may be disappointing to someone else.

Shadow of the colossus is the greatest game ever made.

I don't think Ocarina of Time is the undisputed best game of all time. It is one of the best games of all time, but I don't think there is a game that the vast majority all agree is the best.

It's an interesting topic, but everyone has their favorites. Film as a medium was nearly perfected during the era of Citizen Kain. Video Games as a medium are still very much imperfect. Some games want to be movies, others don't have any story at all. What makes a video game good, is it gameplay or a great story with great actors? I personally believe gameplay trumps any attempt at narrative. When narrative is done well it does enhance the game, like Portal 1 and 2, but it's the gameplay that really makes the experience.

If I had to pick a game It would probably be one of the Super Mario Bros. games. They are fun, challenging and have good sound and music. They have just enough story to lay a foundation for the setting and the controls are just about the gold standard.

I would be the opposite of this man. I place narrative at the top of the list, with gameplay shortly behind. If I don't feel like I have a purpose within the game then I don't feel like playing it. There are certain exceptions, like Dark Soul's where the storytelling is very low but the gameplay is just so damn good.

Which Mario game do you think it might be, kain?

Ocarina of Time is purely the best game because of nostalgia. If you didn't play it when it was originally released, then you're not going to understand. Playing it for the first time on 3DS, there is no way it would live up to the hype.