| astrosmash said: While I think determining the greatest game on any criteria other than sales, as many in this thread want to do, is somewhat pointless; if you do want to dermine a subjective answer for the general population consider this.
If even 5% of the people who have played Wii Sports think its the greatest game ever, then in all likely a survey of the general public asking "What is the greatest video game ever?" would most likely put it first. The only game I could see having a chance against it would be Super Mario Bros (but it being a quarter century ago, and as such no longer on the brain of most casual gamers, would likely kill its chances too) Just to beat home a point. If in 1998 you had done a survey of the general public asking what is the greatest movie of all time, I would guarentee that Titanic would have come out in first. No movie critic or hardcore movie buff would have put it there, but the same chicks who made it the highest grossing film would have voted for it in big numbers. And it wouldn't matter for a second that some hard core geeks (myself included) hated it for overtaking Star Wars as the highest grossing film of all time. One of the truely odd things about all forms of art is that what satisfies the masses is rarely what satisfies the fanatic. But which is more important? While it is easy when one is the fanatic to discount the opinions of all others who are "beneath you", how can something that brings joy to millions be discounted? Why should their opinions not count? |
Actually, I think they would respond on the lines of "I don't know greatest, I never played videogames. I only played the Wii one".
Seriously, the audience of Wii Sports can be divided in gamers, of which I doubt you'll find many that will say it's the greatest game ever, and non-gamers which will never formulate a thought in the terms of "the greatest video game ever". They will just say that they had fun.
As for the opinions of the masses, they are important of course. But when you analyze the qualities of a game - or any other work - why should its accessibility be the most important one? Because that's the soul of Wii Sports.
Accessibility is a quality that grants popularity. It doesn't make the opinion of the greater number of persons more right, only easier to achieve. Other games hide other qualities behind an entrance barrier, and probably those same qualities would be recognized by many people if they went through that initial barrier.
If that does not happen, those opinion are not informed, and as such intrinsically of less value than more informed one. Not because of the people expressing them, but because of the way that opinion was formed.
I don't know much of classical music, I can express my preference for a symphony or another and enjoy what I listen to, but I would feel silly saying "this is the best fuga in existence".
