For the past few years, Guinness World Records: Gamer's Edition has been an annual staple of the geek coffee table. Its shiny, glossy pages almost scream "READ ME!" to the casual gamer's eye, and there's some cool stuff in the for the hardcore, too.
This year, they decided to rank the top fifty gaming franchises of all time, based on votes by the readers. This resulted in a true American Idol-ification of our favorite pastime, and led to a few interesting entrants. Here's the list:
#1 -- Halo
#2 -- Call of Duty
#3 -- The Legend of Zelda
#4 -- Guitar Hero
#5 -- Metal Gear
#6 -- Super Mario Bros.
#7 -- World of Warcraft
#8 -- Gears of War
#9 -- Super Smash Bros.
#10 -- Grand Theft Auto
#11 -- Pokémon
#12 -- Resident Evil
#13 -- Fallout
#14 -- Half-Life
#15 -- Sonic the Hedgehog
#16 -- Counter-Strike
#17 -- Runescape
#18 -- FIFA
#19 -- Kingdom Hearts
#20 -- Final Fantasy
#21 -- Pac-Man
#22 -- Madden NFL
#23 -- The Sims
#24 -- Tomb Raider
#25 -- WWE Smackdown Vs. RAW
#26 -- Rock Band
#27 -- LittleBigPlanet
#28 -- Saints Row
#29 -- The Elder Scrolls
#30 -- God of War
#31 -- GoldenEye 007
#32 -- BioShock
#33 -- KillZone
#34 -- Skate
#35 -- Left 4 Dead
#36 -- Need for Speed
#37 -- Chrono Trigger
#38 -- Gran Turismo
#39 -- StarCraft
#40 -- Ratchet & Clank
#41 -- Pong
#42 -- Tom Clancy-branded games (Splinter Cell, H.A.W.X., etc.)
#43 -- Star Wars: Battlefront
#44 -- Battlefield
#45 -- Diablo
#46 -- Lego Batman
#47 -- Mario Kart
#48 -- Burnout
#49 -- Crash Bandicoot
#50 -- Pro Evolution Soccer
Personally, I'm surprised to see Gears of War ranked so highly. True, they've been quality games, but it always felt like just "that other 360-exclusive shooter" to me. And this far above Final Fantasy, which couldn't even edge out Runescape or Kingdom Hearts? Hmmm...
It also seems weird that they won't lump all the "same game, different skin" LEGO games together (Batman, Star Wars, Indiana Jones, Harry Potter eventually), but they have no problem combining all the Tom Clancy games, despite the glaring differences between Splinter Cell and H.A.W.X.
Interesting sidenote if you happen to pick any of the Gamer's Editions: where'd all those sales numbers come from? Oh yeah, VGChartz. Shameless self-plug, FTW.
http://news.vgchartz.com/news.php?id=79954&mp=1
Yep you heard it right Halo is the most popular franchise in the United States! And I have to say it deserves it!
