# Time Magazine's Top 100 games...what are your glaring omissions? **URL:** \ **Category:** The Game Room\ **Created:** [November 16, 2012, 3:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/time-magazines-top-100-games-what-are-your-glaring-omissions/641193 "2012-11-16T15:11:18Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![sohvan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/96bed5/32.png) [@sohvan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sohvan)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2012, 10:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/time-magazines-top-100-games-what-are-your-glaring-omissions/641193/21 "2012-11-16T22:57:53Z")
I can understand them choosing the first Civ to represent the series. Civ II and IV would be my picks though. I’d add: System Shock 2 Tie Fighter Planescape Torment Fallout 2 Baldur’s Gate 2 Secret of Monkey Island UFO enemy unknown (the 1994 one) Master of Magic Master of Orion 2 Freespace 2 I’d also replace Legend of Zelda with a Link to the Past. ---
**Author:** ![Shooby](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f475e1/32.png) [@Shooby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shooby)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2012, 11:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/time-magazines-top-100-games-what-are-your-glaring-omissions/641193/22 "2012-11-16T23:27:40Z")
The main problem with lists like these, especially for video games, is that there’s a huge dilemma between putting the first instance of something, the first significant/popular instance of something, or the best instance of something. Super Mario Bros. 3 is so much better than Super Mario Bros. 1 that it’d be a farce to compare the two, yet the SMB 1 is definitely the most significant historically. If you’re going to make a list like this, you should just stick to either the best, or the most historically significant, and not do an awkward combination of the two, which is what Time (and most creators of these lists) did. ---
**Author:** ![Palooka](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/palooka/32/2902_2.png) [@Palooka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Palooka)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2012, 5:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/time-magazines-top-100-games-what-are-your-glaring-omissions/641193/23 "2012-11-18T05:48:14Z")
The most glaring omission to me is the most played game ever. ---
**Author:** ![Dave\_Hartwick](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/7feea3/32.png) [@Dave\_Hartwick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dave_Hartwick)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2012, 9:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/time-magazines-top-100-games-what-are-your-glaring-omissions/641193/24 "2012-11-18T21:23:11Z")
Angry Birds? ---
**Author:** ![cmkeller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cmkeller/32/118_2.png) [@cmkeller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cmkeller)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2012, 3:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/time-magazines-top-100-games-what-are-your-glaring-omissions/641193/25 "2012-11-19T03:56:29Z")
Angry Birds is on the list. Another one that just came to mind as a glaring omission: Where in the World is Carmen Sandiego. ---
**Author:** ![Palooka](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/palooka/32/2902_2.png) [@Palooka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Palooka)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2012, 4:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/time-magazines-top-100-games-what-are-your-glaring-omissions/641193/26 "2012-11-19T04:36:24Z")
I don’t actually know the answer at the time, which is why I didn’t include it. It’s between two games: Defense of the Ancients or League of Legends. Both have massive player bases that dwarf other games. I’m pretty sure Defense of the Ancients is bigger, but the Chinese and SEA numbers are so fragmented it’s hard to get a good estimate. I was at a LAN a year ago and like every person there was pounding out LoL matches. It was crazy. ---
**Author:** ![Mosier](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/7ea924/32.png) [@Mosier](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mosier)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2012, 4:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/time-magazines-top-100-games-what-are-your-glaring-omissions/641193/27 "2012-11-19T04:38:58Z")
> [@Palooka](#): > > The most glaring omission to me is the most played game ever. World of Warcraft is on the list. ---
**Author:** ![Max\_Torque](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e9bcb4/32.png) [@Max\_Torque](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Max_Torque)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2012, 4:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/time-magazines-top-100-games-what-are-your-glaring-omissions/641193/28 "2012-11-19T16:27:16Z")
I suppose they couldn’t justify filling the list with too many Tim Schafer games, so they kept **Grim Fandango** and didn’t put **Psychonauts** , **The Secret of Monkey Island** , or **Day of the Tentacle**. Still, they oughtta be recognized. I would omit **Flower** and put on the same company’s more recent **Journey**. **Journey** is just more fulfilling to me. ---
**Author:** ![Dave\_Hartwick](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/7feea3/32.png) [@Dave\_Hartwick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dave_Hartwick)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2012, 7:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/time-magazines-top-100-games-what-are-your-glaring-omissions/641193/29 "2012-11-19T19:34:32Z")
> [@cmkeller](#): > > Angry Birds is on the list. Yeah, sorry, I was responding to Palooka but didn’t quote. AB is the best-selling game, which to me suggests it’s the most played. DotA and LoL seem unlikely candidates, incidentally. ---
**Author:** ![cmkeller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cmkeller/32/118_2.png) [@cmkeller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cmkeller)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2012, 9:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/time-magazines-top-100-games-what-are-your-glaring-omissions/641193/30 "2012-11-19T21:20:49Z")
Dave Hartwick: > [@](#): > > AB is the best-selling game, which to me suggests it’s the most played. I doubt that sales is a good way to gauge most played. Windows Solitaire (which is on the list) has come free with every Windows-compatible PC sold in the last twenty years (and so has Minesweeper, and to a lesser extent, FreeCell). And wasn’t Tetris (also on the list) freely included with every Gameboy? ---
**Author:** ![Wakinyan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wakinyan/32/352_2.png) [@Wakinyan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wakinyan)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2012, 9:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/time-magazines-top-100-games-what-are-your-glaring-omissions/641193/31 "2012-11-19T21:39:22Z")
> [@Oakminster](#): > > … the Microsoft “Close Combat” series. That’s the one I was primarily thinking of. ---
**Author:** ![Death\_of\_Rats](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a6a055/32.png) [@Death\_of\_Rats](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Death_of_Rats)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2012, 9:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/time-magazines-top-100-games-what-are-your-glaring-omissions/641193/32 "2012-11-19T21:49:34Z")
I would put Mass Effect 2 over Mass Effect 3. I would also add Wing Commander III, since it was a very different animal from 1 and 2 and pioneered the live action cutscenes. ---
**Author:** ![Palooka](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/palooka/32/2902_2.png) [@Palooka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Palooka)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2012, 10:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/time-magazines-top-100-games-what-are-your-glaring-omissions/641193/33 "2012-11-19T22:15:09Z")
> [@Dave\_Hartwick](#): > > Yeah, sorry, I was responding to Palooka but didn’t quote. AB is the best-selling game, which to me suggests it’s the most played. DotA and LoL seem unlikely candidates, incidentally. I guess I was thinking more along the lines of traditional video games only with my comment. No doubt countless Facebook games surpass either of the Dota-genre titles. ---
**Author:** ![mlees](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ba8739/32.png) [@mlees](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mlees)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2012, 10:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/time-magazines-top-100-games-what-are-your-glaring-omissions/641193/34 "2012-11-19T22:49:12Z")
In the 80’s, I played the heck out of _F-16 Fighting Falcon_ and _Gunship_. In the 90’s, I played a lot of _Steel Panthers_ and _Daggerfall_. I didn’t play any of the _X-Wing_ series, and I don’t see them on the list, but I believe they were pretty popular. They left _Warcraft_ (the RTS game) and _Age of Empires_ off, too. ---
**Author:** ![DSYoungEsq](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/c6cbf5/32.png) [@DSYoungEsq](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DSYoungEsq)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2012, 1:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/time-magazines-top-100-games-what-are-your-glaring-omissions/641193/35 "2012-11-20T01:15:30Z")
I think the list is way too heavily populated with FPSs and quirky older titles. I find it inconceivable that there is no _MoO_, or _MoM_. The lack of a flight simulator title is quite shocking, too. I didn’t see any real-time 4E games, other than _Starcraft_; I am surprised that _Age of Empires_ and it’s ilk were not represented. And goodness me, no _Rollercoaster Tycoon_? That pretty much spawned a whole genre of similar games. And where in the world is _Minecraft_ (to say nothing of good old _Carmen Sandiego_, which actually spawned a TELEVISION SHOW, and how many video games can say THAT??). I would certainly put _Civ II_ over _Civ_, and would put _Ocarina of Time_ over any other Link game. Some other games might be better represented by later entries. _Missile Command_ ate WAY too many of my quarters not to be on the list. I was pleasantly surprised to see _Battlezone_ on the list. ---
**Author:** ![amanset](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/8dc957/32.png) [@amanset](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/amanset)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2012, 8:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/time-magazines-top-100-games-what-are-your-glaring-omissions/641193/36 "2012-11-20T08:54:57Z")
Elite. Missing that is just unforgivable. One of the most important games of the eighties, genre-defining and utterly, utterly absorbing. ---
**Author:** ![Kamino\_Neko](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kamino_neko/32/34_2.png) [@Kamino\_Neko](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kamino_Neko)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2012, 10:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/time-magazines-top-100-games-what-are-your-glaring-omissions/641193/37 "2012-11-20T10:38:41Z")
> [@mlees](#): > > They left _Warcraft_ (the RTS game) […] off, too. This is the omission I was going to complain about, too. Starcraft and WoW are there, but not Warcraft (or, rather, Warcraft II, which still stands up, whereas Warcraft I was entirely unimpressive from the moment WCII came out)? Sheesh. > [@DSYoungEsq](#): > > (to say nothing of good old _Carmen Sandiego_, which actually spawned a TELEVISION SHOW, and how many video games can say THAT??). Quite a few actually…ones I’ve actually watched, off the top of my head, in no particular order… Pac Man, Frogger, Q-Bert, Dragon’s Lair (I think the space one in the same style also had a series), Donkey Kong (original flavour and Donkey Kong Country), Super Mario Brothers, Sonic the Hedgehog (there were 2 on, at the same time, even!), the Legend of Zelda (packaged with Super Mario Brothers), Street Fighter, Kirby, Mega Man (several of the games), Pokemon, Digimon, Monster Rancher - quite a few Mon series are based on games - Double Dragon, Mortal Kombat… And that’s just the ones based on single games…you could argue that Metroid, Castlevania, Kid Icarus, and Punch-Out fit the list, too, as they contributed major characters to Captain N the Game Master… (Mother Brain, Simon Belmont, Pit, and King Hippo, respectively.) ---
**Author:** ![Max\_Torque](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e9bcb4/32.png) [@Max\_Torque](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Max_Torque)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2012, 2:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/time-magazines-top-100-games-what-are-your-glaring-omissions/641193/38 "2012-11-20T14:47:08Z")
> [@Kamino\_Neko](#): > > This is the omission I was going to complain about, too. Starcraft and WoW are there, but not Warcraft (or, rather, Warcraft II, which still stands up, whereas Warcraft I was entirely unimpressive from the moment WCII came out)? Sheesh. > > Quite a few actually…ones I’ve actually watched, off the top of my head, in no particular order… > > Pac Man, Frogger, Q-Bert, Dragon’s Lair (I think the space one in the same style also had a series), Donkey Kong (original flavour and Donkey Kong Country), Super Mario Brothers, Sonic the Hedgehog (there were 2 on, at the same time, even!), the Legend of Zelda (packaged with Super Mario Brothers), Street Fighter, Kirby, Mega Man (several of the games), Pokemon, Digimon, Monster Rancher - quite a few Mon series are based on games - Double Dragon, Mortal Kombat… > > And that’s just the ones based on single games…you could argue that Metroid, Castlevania, Kid Icarus, and Punch-Out fit the list, too, as they contributed major characters to Captain N the Game Master… (Mother Brain, Simon Belmont, Pit, and King Hippo, respectively.) You forgot [Kangaroo](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GPL6NgZ8TwI)! hehe ---
**Author:** ![Quimby](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/22d042/32.png) [@Quimby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quimby)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2012, 7:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/time-magazines-top-100-games-what-are-your-glaring-omissions/641193/39 "2012-11-20T19:47:09Z")
I will second Blades of Steel. Hated hockey in real life but played the hell out of that game as a kid. Also Baldur’s Gate Panzer General Skyrim Fallout ---
**Author:** ![Jophiel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jophiel/32/66_2.png) [@Jophiel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jophiel)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2012, 8:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/time-magazines-top-100-games-what-are-your-glaring-omissions/641193/40 "2012-11-20T20:10:52Z")
People already beat me to noticing the omission of Elite and Sid Meier’s Pirates! I would have tried to find a place for [Utopia](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Utopia_%28video_game%29). [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/time-magazines-top-100-games-what-are-your-glaring-omissions/641193.md?page=1)