http://palgn.com.au/article.php?id=8657 This is one of Australia's more reputable gaming sites, they are normally fairly evenhanded.

pretty good score, i just hate that its going to lower the average

Well it never had a chance of being able to take down Zelda: OOT as most critically acclaimed game ever. I think in this day age that is almost physically impossible. Plus I just don't think there will ever be another title like Zelda: OOT that is just that new and groundbreaking in so many different ways.

But I've been surprised to go on sites and see people thinking Bioshock had a chance at doing that. And now after 30 some odd reviews it's in 4th place overall at gamerankings yet still more than a 1% point behind Zelda.

Lol, Kain, believe me its a GOOD thing that a score of 9 actually lowers the average, shows how impressive the game is.

http://gamerankings.com/htmlpages2/931329.asp

Down to 96%. Started at 99% with 8 reviews. I'd say it will settle at around 95.5.

Curretnly: #4 in the Top 10 right now.

http://gamerankings.com/itemrankings/simpleratings.asp?rankings=y

If it manages to settle @95.6, it will remain in the Top 10, due to alphabetical order.

Pretty impressive. I haven't played it yet-plan on getting PC version- but, from what I have seen/heard, I think it deserves to be up there. ESPECIALLY, since it is a New IP this gen.

The only games I believe will have a chance, this gen-so far, of entering the Top 10 are:

The Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass(OoT @97.7 #1)-Better? Some reviews say so.
Metroid Prime 3:Corruption (MP @96.3 #3)-Better? Possibly
Super Mario Galaxy(Mario 64 @95.7 #8)- Better? Likely
Halo 3(Halo @95.6 #9)-Better? Possibly

Resident Evil 5- Haven't seen much yet, but I doubt it.

I don't really see how Zelda: OOT was so amazingly new and groundbreaking.  Could you tell me what it introduced that games before it never had?  Because I owned it, made it about 2/3 of the way through before getting bored and there was nothing in it that I would call groundbreaking.  I found nothing new with the story or even the gameplay mechanics of the game, it had good atmosphere but so have many games that have come before it.  I would give the nod though to Super Mario 64 since it did indeed help to push forward 3d platformers but I honestly don't see even one thing revolutionary in Zelda: OOT.  And I suspect that nostalgia played a role in it being the most critically acclaimed game ever, if it had been named Bell: OOT with a different main bad guy, etc, does anyone honestly think it would be the most critically acclaimed game ever?  I really doubt it.

You're just about alone there Legend11. It was given many perfect and near perfect scores in 1998 so I don't know how nolstalgia affected the scoring.

Nostalgia from the previous Zelda games.

Let me save you some time Legend, questioning OOT's score is like questioning the foundation of reality. I actually agree that it probably doesn't deserve the #1 spot, but arguing about it is first and foremost not going to change its scores. And secondly is not going to change anyone's opinion.

As some might of said (or maybe not?) the problem with a game ever beating OOT is that it's impossible. There ARE better games out there than OOT, but the advantage is that OOT had 23-ish reviews that were glaringly positive. Bioshock already has double that, and climbing. The more reviews are out, the lower the mean score will be. Look at Gears of War: At one time, it was well above Oblivion in average scoring (around 94.5%), but is far lower.

IMO, I don't think, even if they are great, most any other game this year, save possibly SMG, will remotely get into the top-10. Look at Zelda:TP. If it can't do it, I don't hold out alot of hope for others.

Why? Your always going to get your stupid scores to ruin the averages. Twilight Princess got an insane 8.8 - that totally ruined the score. All it takes is a bad impression from 2-3 reviewers to ruin an uber-score. Which is what's happening to Bioshock. The fact that Bioshock is near 50 reviews, and STILL on the top 10 is a marvel.