199: The Top Ten Reasons Top Ten Lists Reign

[Sam Machkovech]

The Top Ten Reasons Top Ten Lists Reign

The web may have reinvented the way we write about games, but one format continues to dominate the conversation: the top ten list. Sam Machkovech catalogues ten reasons of his own why lists are so popular - and why that may not be such a bad thing after all.

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[Labyrinth]

I imagine some psychologist somewhere has also drawn the line between numbered lists and a mathematical mindset as opposed to full-length review essays which cater to a more linguistic tilt. Satire, of course, belongs in both as demonstrated.

There will always be a place for lists because they are quick and easy. They're an overview which helps information gathering in a world where one may not have time to read something more detailed. So long as enough information is held within they're very adequate to that end. A review is something more involved (at least to my eyes) because it requires integration and flow.

 

[Lvl 64 Klutz]

Top Ten Lists are one of the reasons why I stopped caring so much about becoming a video game journalist back in high school. It's also why I not-so-secretly envy anyone working for the Escapist. Call it brown-nosing if you want, but the Escapist has evolved video game journalism by leaps and bounds, while other sites are left in this myriad of "exclusive" interviews and... as the article suggests... top ten lists.

 

[PedroSteckecilo]

Ah yes, let us give props to the glorious Escapist for actually giving us journalism worth READING in addition to Mike Grace and now Ernest Cavelli's crazy ass news posts about non videogame related topics.

Still, I am a hesitant fan of the "Top Ten List" mostly due to the formatting of my second favorite site on the internet, Cracked.com. However the lists presented by them feel less like large opinion pieces and more like an arbitrary rating system for whatever insane (and remarkably well researched for a comedy website) information they want to convey at the time of reading.

I dearly wish videogame websites would work on this sort of thing... why not give us "The Top Ten Girliest JRPG Leads" or "The Top Five Reasons Why Bowser and Peach are totally banging." It would be an interesting diversion from the over praising "Previews" and the under critical "Reviews" and gluts of screenshots and pointless gameplay video's that every site and their mom has up. I suppose it would also be too much to ask for the average gaming website to give us, you know, something worth reading... like The Escapist...

Now if you'll excuse me I need to go wipe this brown off my nose.

 

[Anton P. Nym]

As a guess, I'm going to say the entire thing started with Cracked.com. I'm probably wrong, but I hardly remember seeing them before Cracked showed up, and now here we are.

David Letterman has been doing Top Ten lists on his show for over twenty years now and MAD magazine was doing them in print fifty years ago (*gesticulates wildly with cane, upsetting glass of prune juice*) so it predates cracked.com by a long shot. They've been online since Usenet went online, too.

I'll vote for "easy to do while drawing in lots of eyeballs" as the primary reason for ubiquitous Top Ten lists, myself.

-- Steve

 

[Aardvark Soup]

I sometimes submit articles to a Dutch gaming website and it's notable that my three top 10 lists get higher scores and more comments than my reviews of freeware and Virtual Console games. The main reason for this is probably that people who don't want to read a whole article can now simply look at which games are listed and in what order. Because my lists are often combinations of universally popular titles and cult games there are a lot of people of thinking "Hey, that guy mentioned my my favourite game! I'm gonna rate that five stars!".

 

[UltraBlumpkin]

David Letterman has a Top 10 list every show, but his are short and sweet. That's really the reason why people make these lists, it attracts a users attention long enough to where the site will receive a "hit" from the reader, and the reader can browse the article in 1-2 minutes. I think it works well for for people with ADD.

 

[stankerbell]

but the article does hit on one of the reason why i love lists, which is an easy way to look for new things.... amazon has perfected it with listmania! and that other thing that they have. Yes, there's mucho repetition in many, many lists (gaming or non) but I'll almost always find something new to add to my neverending queue of things to read, watch, listen to and play.

 

[jackanderson]

I liked this article a lot.

On actual top ten lists wise, I actually enjoy reading them. If they're well written and the topic is at least half interesting then it'll be worth reading. I have thisa weird problem where once I've read a single list I can't stop reading lists. I blame Gamesradar.com for their ace Top 7 lists. They are, annoyingly, quite often the back bone of my games reading.

I need to write my own one day.

 

[Ironmaus]

I dearly wish videogame websites would work on this sort of thing... why not give us "The Top Ten Girliest JRPG Leads" or "The Top Five Reasons Why Bowser and Peach are totally banging." It would be an interesting diversion from the over praising "Previews" and the under critical "Reviews" and gluts of screenshots and pointless gameplay video's that every site and their mom has up.

My friend, GamesRadar [http://www.gamesradar.com/] has you covered. They do practically nothing but lists and the goofier ones are right in line with your topical desires. Besides the lists of "Gaming's most fabulous footwear," "10 reasons to respect Mafia II," and "12 games you might never play," here are some recent, notable top seven lists...

- Games where you play as food
- Lazy character cliches
- Outrageously camp bad guys
- Games so bad they had to add breasts
- Cringeworthy kisses

GamesRadar never fails me when I need to access the lowest common denominator of the gaming press. I would expect nothing less from a website with a side-banner reading "Straight to the sexy."

 

[Clashero]

Top 10 reasons I loved this article
10) It featured top ten lists, which is a very original topic for an article.
9) More than once, I had to say "That is SO true!"
8) It's very well-written, with a very fresh style.
7) It's on The Escapist. I'd be damn happy to have my work published on The Escapist.
6) It's going to lead to some very interesting discussion, hopefully.
5) It is well-informed, with references to quotes, sites and whatnot.
4) Made me laugh with anti GBA argument.
3) It's about a topic that needs no expertise to understand, which makes it nice, light reading.
2) It takes shots at fanboys. Bonus points for that.
1) This spot is just carrot on a stick. Suckers.

 

[Sam Machkovech]

And, of course, this article wouldn't be complete without its entries on Reddit.

 

[Sam Machkovech]

@Tenmar: Thanks! My profile has links to other Escapist things I've written, among other links.

 

[Vortigar]

Great article Sam, loved the #1 on the list.

Still, making a top ten list is a bit of a cheap shot, isn't it? ^_^

Ironmaus:
Yep, I read the escapist and gamesradar as well, one for articles like the one on advertizing this week and the other for glorious nonsense.

 

[jebussaves88]

The reason they're probably quite popular right now is because it's that time of year when news is slow. Besides, it's not like everything else isn't being covered; the sites guilty of Top 10 lists are most likely just putting up stuff they thought might make an interesting aside. A reminder maybe (and usually) of gaming past. Therefore I don't mind them, though I hardly go out of my way to read them.

 

[Vert]

Great article. I think you've managed to get many of the reasons spot on. I mean, I visit Gamefaqs with regularity (i.e., even when I'm not consulting a FAQ), despite not being a member of the site or visiting the forums, and one of the things I like doing is seeing the top 10 lists that appear on the front page.

Many times, I've felt despair at a list that included things I felt plain wrong or ridiculous, such as lamenting when a 'top 10 alternative use of weapons' included grenade jumping in Halo, but not the original (and far more important!) rocket jump of quake. Sometimes, on the other hand, I'll agree with a list entirely, confirming my prejudices, and sometimes I'll stop to analyze why the author picked one thing or another.

However, even when the list doesn't interest me, I'll usually take a look at the number 1 in any case, a clear sign to me that that is the big draw to these lists.