E = Team Fortress 2  Botanicula

Before F2P, before the item store, before hats, before anyone gave a shit about any kind of background story, this was the most fun multiplayer game I had ever played. And still is, really. If I could be bothered to play on vanilla servers. It's hard to complain about the huge amounts of free content Valve have released for TF2, but deep down I see a friend who's suffocated under a mound of cheap tat.

A = Probably Rock Band Botanicula I can't think of any games from last gen that come close to the level of social interaction and fun in the household with any kind of mate the RB franchise put out. The Wii touted getting your gran into games but RB brought the people who gave a shit. That and crazy periphs.

Rep-re-sent = CoD as a whole Botanicula as a whole

Yo fuck that shit, man.

AJ wrote:

Kinda surprised there's been no votes for Saint's Row IV yet.

SRIV is a different kind of industrial summary.

Entertainment: Skyward Sword. Mainly because everything about it was so damn good. Combat, the atmosphere, the way the three areas all opened up bit by bit upon revisiting them throughout the game. The art style was unlike anything I've seen before (in gaming) and the way some areas changed throughout really showed this off nicely (Faron Woods late game for best case).

The gameplay mechanics for things like time stones and the flying beetle made for some great puzzles, and the meat and veg of sword/shield combat delivered the perfect crescendo to the game overall. Nothing like a FINAL BATTLE where the hero's shield breaks in two and still manages to hang on for grim death and prevail. Not even Highlander topped that.

Apex: Super Mario Galaxy - Mainly because of the physics and technical achievement it represents. 3D platforming with a perfect camera, unintelligible perspective changes and visuals that, whilst not the best, have no technical limitations and will age as well as, if not better than Wind Waker.

Representative: Wii Sports. Even CoD couldn't do this. Shaped the trend for accessibility in gaming, forced Kinect and Move into existence, and demonstrated the potential for motion control in general.

CoD was massive. Is massive, no question. But aside from Turtle Beach, it didn't create a space for a whole new set of add on devices like Kinect, which turned 360 into a bigger system than it was tracking, and Move. That said, CoD did break records, drive exclusive DLC partnerships, shift millions of consoles and subscriptions so I don't want to downplay it.

I just personally give more credence to something that introduces a viable new way to play games than something that is a laser-precise distillation of a genre.

E: Halo 3, ultimate online, for all it's frustrations over the course of it's life. And the most replayable campaign, even ahead of CE in terms of co-op.

A: I may have to say GTAV. Give me a few days. It's doing some things already that have blown my mind. Tips of the hat to H3, Dark Souls, and probably some others I'm missing. Hard to interpret Apex for me. 

R: CoD4, and not in a good way.

I think it's good, like CoD and angry birds etc if it makes gaming a more positive thing overall. I think there is at present an overtly insular and possessive attitude in a lot of gaming communities, and that is not healthy for future growth.

I think the backlash to Wii Sports exemplifies this, and the game is unfairly maligned.

E - Maybe Bayo - can't think of anything else that's as purely enjoyable.

A - I wouldn't know about that sort of thing.

R - What everyone else said.

Overall - Dark Souls of course. Mostly because it's the antithesis of all the crap stuff in modern gaming, as seen in most other blockbuster games.

If I gave all my answers as Botanicula some people would actually play it.

But i'm better than that.

Don't know if I'm doing this right, but for me it's going to be:

Entertainment: Mass Effect Series. While it ended badly, the peaks of ME2 after building on a decent start were amazing. The range of missions, characters and the overall story arc for me have yet to be bettered. I even enjoyed the planet scanning.

Apex: I wasn't sure if this was just a graphics thing, but I would have to say as a combination of graphical achievement, art and a solid game engine it has to go to Dark Souls.

Representative: I think like a few people have mentioned Call of Duty: Modern Warfare has to be the game of the past generation. For me I came to the party late with MW2 and pretty much played that and MW3 to death (MW3 I use as therapy - want to switch off while playing MP? Play MW3 TDM).

How long did that take for you to come up with? Cutting!

Kow wrote:

It's Game of the Generation if you like it, otherwise not really. Pants of the Generation.

Isn't this all 'if you like it'?

Was asked my opinion, gave it, job done.

Could do with a poll perhaps in the OP?

Bollockoff wrote:

If I gave all my answers as Botanicula some people would actually play it. But i'm better than that.

That's the only game I've played recently... Well.. when I find time to play anything that is...

I still kinda prefer Machinarium... that was arder'.

Entertainment: Skyward Sword: It was the only reason I bought a Wii, and it outshone everything when it came out. To be truly immersed in a game world and surrounded by wonder again was a feeling I'd not had since Ocarina of Time. Beautiful. Puzzles were spot on, music was brilliant, gadgets fantastic, story great, wavy wavy combat not so much but they got the best they ever could out of that remote. 

Apex: It's got to be Halo 3. It was a magical time. Friends online all the time, the first time the 360 had a reliable, solid matchmaking experience to delve into, forge, the online Bungie suppport, an in depth service record, great achievements, 4 player co op, great DLC and playlist updates. Man, that game had it all.   

Representative: Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare. It eluded me for a long time because of Halo 3, but when I finally got around to playing this, I was pretty stunned. Fantastic singleplayer campaign and an even better online component. That game sucked up the hours like no other. The perfect pick up and play game. You could be in a match within thirty seconds of boot up and that still just about holds true today, although the new games have lost the magic. A very accomplished upgrade system and some lovely balance in the weapons coupled with fantastic maps and pitch perfect controls, it's the template for so many FPS games now.

Rock Band's more a descendant of the Japanese rhythm action games.

RB's genius was putting it all together.