I cannot let this pass...

[DrEmo]

Well, let's compare the two, shall we?

THPS2 was a groundbreaking game in a new genre that many of us have fond memories of. The game won many awards and helped Tony Hawk become a household name with gamers and gave him a big fat cheque for just slapping his name and face on it. It was new and exciting and most of us remember playing with our friends in split-screen to rack up the most points. It also had some of the most unnecessary blood effects in a game, but that made it all the more special.

WoW is an MMO RPG that's another entry in a genre. The game boasts the undying love of 100000's of neck-bearded geeks who take it too seriously. It features oh so exciting point and click gaming that is sure to make your eyes pop in excitement. The fond memories we have of this game is how we failed that test because we were playing WoW that night or the staged "Leroy Jenkins" raid that a lot of unfunny hacks quote to this day. We remember playing with our friends... wait, no. I remember grinding for hours to get a number to go up in hopes of killing monsters to get more EXP to get more weapons to kill more monsters to get more EXP and hitting on girls who were really guys. Come to think of it, this game gave me my first existential crisis; THAT's an accomplishment.

In conclusion, I prefer THPS2 because it's a bit more memorable, IMO.

 

[DrEmo]

I never understood the massive critical acclaim of the tony hawk games. Best I could understand is the games were reviewed by their own merits(on a scale of one to ten, does this look like a real skateboard?), as the overlap between people who play video games and skateboarders is almost nil.

Not to mention, who gives a shit about "best of the decade" anyway? '00-'09 fucking sucked in almost every aspect. It was a decade so desperate for any sort of memorable trait that it just splished around in mediocrity. Then as far as gaming goes, it was the decade in which the mainstream began dictating what could be in a game.

Living up to your name well there my man.
The fun in the games wasnt the fact you thought you could do the things you were playing, but that you knew you never could, fantasy = fun

I guess.

I just always found playing video games of real things (where failure didn't result in instant death) to be a waste. You could go out and start practicing on a skateboard. Nothing stopping you. The idea of selling a water down version of success to those too lazy to actually attempt/risk anything just rubs me the wrong way.

Err... I don't think you can do a 900 at will in real life. It's supposed to be fun.
Besides, this game had the Guitar Hero effect on people way before Guitar Hero: It made kids go out, get a skateboard and ride it for awhile. I was one of those. Too bad I have the coordination of an octopus and just kept eating pavement every time I got on it.

 

[StriderShinryu]

Was it essentially the first game in a genre that gaming could now arguably not do without?

Where THPS1 was stagnant and faulty, number two came out of nowhere and blew many peoples minds, fluid, creative, fun and easy to use,it made a generation of gamers pick up a board. Yes it had a small target market, but that doesn't illegible for a nomination

Valid points, but given there being only 3 nominees I don't see THPS2 as having enough of a lasting impact on gaming as a whole to bump out any of those already named.

 

[DrEmo]

Is Halo on that list? It should be. It did for this generation what Goldeneye on the N64 did for us.

 

[kduff51]

THPS2 was a groundbreaking game in a new genre that many of us have fond memories of.

How is THPS2 a groundbreaking game? It is a sequel to a groundbreaking game but it didn't do do things too different. It is a good game but not ground breaking at all.

 

[Flying-Emu]

hmm interesting. Makes sense. Too bad it's a popularity contest.

It's like the GameFAQs character battle.

Where COMMANDER SHEPARD is losing to fucking PIKACHU right now.

http://www.gamefaqs.com/poll/index.html?poll=3819

Pikachu is more iconic, therefore, will win.

It's GAMEFAQS. They don't give a rat's ass about character development.

(I still think that Shepherd was a bit flat.)

 

[Onyx Oblivion]

hmm interesting. Makes sense. Too bad it's a popularity contest.

It's like the GameFAQs character battle.

Where COMMANDER SHEPARD is losing to fucking PIKACHU right now.

http://www.gamefaqs.com/poll/index.html?poll=3819

Pikachu is more iconic, therefore, will win.

It's GAMEFAQS. They don't give a rat's ass about character development.

(I still think that Shepherd was a bit flat.)

Pikachu is very well developed. PIKA! PIKACHU! PIKA! CHU!

 

[Daniel Cygnus]

the best game in history is "don't shit your pants"

http://www.kongregate.com/games/Rete/dont-shit-your-pants

This made my day. The music absolutely made it.

THPS2 was my life in 5th grade. THPS3 was my life in 6th grade. THPS4 was my life in 7th grade. It continued like that ever year until THUG2 and American Wasteland broke my heart. Project 8 was awesome, but nothing ever since has felt essential like the old ones did.

Also, no matter the quality of the game, that series has always had an awesome soundtrack. I'd even go so far as to say that it was the reason I began listening to music in the first place.

 

[Anticitizen_Two]

In a decade that saw the release of Super Mario Galaxy, Shadow of the Colossus, Half-Life 2, Bioshock, and Portal, I am quite disappointed to see that WoW, Halo 2, and GTA3 were nominated instead.

 

[Daveman]

WoW vs Tony Hawks, either way you're grinding. (pun ftw?)

Seriously, if you like WoW, you keep playing it. That's the only thing that separates it from any other game and would make it better. Personally I got to level 11 on the free trial and gave up because I got bored, I still had like five days left.

Personally, I'd rather Halo won than WoW, and I hate Halo more...

To be honest, pokemon has probably been more successful, just not one of its individual games... that also sets WoW apart, unfairly I feel.

 

[Vanguard_Ex]

Either way, it's going to be based on opinion. Just deal with it man.

 

[DrEmo]

WoW vs Tony Hawks, either way you're grinding. (pun ftw?)

Seriously, if you like WoW, you keep playing it. That's the only thing that separates it from any other game and would make it better. Personally I got to level 11 on the free trial and gave up because I got bored, I still had like five days left.

Personally, I'd rather Halo won than WoW, and I hate Halo more...

To be honest, pokemon has probably been more successful, just not one of its individual games... that also sets WoW apart, unfairly I feel.

That pun was awesome, man.

WoW has influenced our pop culture. It's the DnD of our times, but without the human interaction and pizza.

 

[Daveman]

WoW vs Tony Hawks, either way you're grinding. (pun ftw?)

That pun was awesome, man.

WoW has influenced our pop culture. It's the DnD of our times, but without the human interaction and pizza.

Thanks, I do try. I'm selectively showing it in the quote to boast and receive more praise.

Anything with LESS pizza is therefore worse.

Oh, also, my game of the decade... erm... probably Half-Life 2... or Oblivion... or, oh fuck this, it's too hard. *leaves*

 

[Lazarus Long]

I suspect that the problem lies in the category name. "Game of the Decade" is a bit vague. Are we talking about most popular, most groundbreaking, out-and-out best? I gather they're going for groundbreaking, since it's GTA3 on the list, rather than one of its superior sequels.
I played the original Halo once, and ignored the franchise after that, so I can't say why 2 is the representative for the Chief. And WoW is just WoW. Does anyone even remember Everquest?

With that in mind, my bruised little ego is assuaged a bit (2 out of the 3 being games you'd have to pay me to play), but I can only imagine how hard it would be to narrow it down to 3 games that would draw the least amount of rage from the populace.

 

[Burck]

I don't like Skating games. Battle that logic.

Skating doesn't appeal to a wide community.

Skating doesn't appeal to many people, but skating games easily do. Push buttons, see 'yourself' pull off some cool trick, bail, laugh at avatar, rinse, repeat, build stats, buy tricks, get hit by angry taxi driver, jam to soundtrack, pull awesome trick, grind teeth as you go for the insane high score, roar in agony as you lose an epic combo because you tried to add-on a kickflip, try again, get it right, nod head in accomplishment. Take break, repeat with another character.

That game blended so much so nicely.

 

[DrEmo]

I think Super Smash Bros. Melee should be in that list of best games. When was the last time you played SSBM? A few months ago? Remember playing it since 2001? Fond memories, hardcore rivalries, awesome graphics for the time. It was awesome.
But I think Halo was the game of the decade, since it revived the FPS genre, brought it back to the consoles, gave console gamers multiplayer shooting which then inspired the slew of space-marine/marine/multi-player heavy shooters we have today. It's a very influential game.

 

[Flying-Emu]

hmm interesting. Makes sense. Too bad it's a popularity contest.

It's like the GameFAQs character battle.

Where COMMANDER SHEPARD is losing to fucking PIKACHU right now.

http://www.gamefaqs.com/poll/index.html?poll=3819

Pikachu is more iconic, therefore, will win.

It's GAMEFAQS. They don't give a rat's ass about character development.

(I still think that Shepherd was a bit flat.)

Shepherd's not iconic at all, and almost as poorly developed.

"I'm a space marine. I'm nice/an ass."

Woo.

 

[SextusMaximus]

I don't like Skating games. Battle that logic.

Skating doesn't appeal to a wide community.

Skating doesn't appeal to many people, but skating games easily do. Push buttons, see 'yourself' pull off some cool trick, bail, laugh at avatar, rinse, repeat, build stats, buy tricks, get hit by angry taxi driver, jam to soundtrack, pull awesome trick, grind teeth as you go for the insane high score, roar in agony as you lose an epic combo because you tried to add-on a kickflip, try again, get it right, nod head in accomplishment. Take break, repeat with another character.

That game blended so much so nicely.

Which is why I'm constantly playing the Skate 2 demo. DEMO. hehe. Anyway, you don't need the full game to have fun with it, I've had 4 player co-op with mates loads of times on the limited version.

 

[SL33TBL1ND]

hmm interesting. Makes sense. Too bad it's a popularity contest.

It's like the GameFAQs character battle.

Where COMMANDER SHEPARD is losing to fucking PIKACHU right now.

http://www.gamefaqs.com/poll/index.html?poll=3819

Ho-ly Shit.

I think Super Smash Bros. Melee should be in that list of best games. When was the last time you played SSBM? A few months ago? Remember playing it since 2001? Fond memories, hardcore rivalries, awesome graphics for the time. It was awesome.
But I think Halo was the game of the decade, since it revived the FPS genre, brought it back to the consoles, gave console gamers multiplayer shooting which then inspired the slew of space-marine/marine/multi-player heavy shooters we have today. It's a very influential game.

As much as it pains me to admit it, Halo 1 was epic, sadly it started the PC neglect we've had for the past few years, but Halo 1 will always be a LAN party favourite, goog ol' insta-gib magnums.

 

[S.R.S.]

Ummm thanks for opening my eyes... I guess.

Sands of time was my game of the decade anyways.