Next Generation lists its top 100 games of the 21st century. While we think of game preference as a purely subjective topic, the market would usually dictate what’s hot and what’s not. And Next-Gen.Biz came up with its ranking of games of PlayStation 2, X box, GameCube vintage based on unit sales. According to the site, the analysis includes revenues made from game sales, review scores, review commentaries (again, subjective), and the number of spin-offs from the title series, among others.
So what’s the number one game? Action-, violence- (and sex?) packed Grand Theft Auto Vice City!
GTA has spent this whole generation as a juggernaut, but Vice City did everything right at exactly the right time. It polished the superlative gameplay of its smash-hit predecessor. It perfected controversy marketing without being pulled from shelves like its successor. It even managed to ride a wave of 80’s nostalgia right as the decade was having a minor renaissance courtesy of VH1 – no wonder its sales reigns supreme.
Sorry parents and prudes in Congress. It seems that violence still rules when it comes to video games. Perhaps people do need some way to unwind from the stresses of real life, and perhaps stealing cars and killing cops along the way is part of this de-stressing. Let’s just hope this doesn’t extend into real life. We’ve had enough of real life violence in the news, especially with the wars in the Middle East.
