10 Best PC Games Ever @ MSN

To me, this isn't a list of "best games" but rather a list of "classic games".

There are some true classics in it, but in my opinion not always the "best" ones.

I guess they just gave it the title "best games" just to have something to distinguish it from other "classic games" lists.

I'm surprised by the vintage of the games. Lists like this are typically composed of releases from the past 18 months, with one or two games circa 2004 thrown in for variety. This one only had two games post-2000, though I doubt they could get away without mentioning money trains like Sims or WoW.

That's why I wrote "Classic Games".

No list like that would be complete without X-Com or System Shock.

The Sims? Really?

Originally Posted by Alrik Fassbauer
To me, this isn't a list of "best games" but rather a list of "classic games".

That probably sums it up best, and if that's the case, then you can make good arguments for most of those games being on it.

I can't remember a more highly-regarded game than Myst. Everyone spoke well of it, not just gamers. Many first-time computer buyers at the time made Myst their first software purchase, because it was regarded as intelligent software that took excellent advantage of state-of-the-art graphics capabilities.

Civilization is the Monopoly of computer games. It's the single best idea anyone's thought up so far. CRPG is certainly a greater concept, but no one's ever made a computer role-playing game that comes close to reaching its amazing potential.

Doom deserves to go down in history as the most addictive computer game ever. It's amazing popularity was literally shocking at the time and is still hard for most folks to accept today. Describe it, and they just don't believe it.

The only computer game that can make a case for being more popular is WoW. Its success doesn't defy belief like Doom, but the numbers speak for themselves. Like it or not, WoW is the all-time king up to this point.

Games that were just as significant but went relatively under-appreciated include Daggerfall, Gothic and Tie Fighter, IMO. But the single most-glaring omission is Ultima Underworld.

One thing about Doom -> I always liked Wolfenstein 3D more and this is the first one of the FPS games, not Doom. When one talks about evolutionary and revolutionary, this is certainly the case here.

What I miss in this list is a beat'em up game like Double Dragon, Streets of Rage, Street Fighter, Mortal Kombat or Tekken.

Well, Doom, instead of Wolfenstein was the game that received mass recognition, no matter hoe much evolutionary it was or not.

In this list, you'll find only very wellknown games, not revolutionary ones, because these sometimes didn't sell too good.

For some reason, Wolfenstein 3-D never caught my attention. Doom, on the other hand, though probably accounted for me failing no less than three classes in college. It was total crack.

I nearly got kicked out of school because me an three buddies went into the big computer lab on campus and hacked our way past the protocols designed to keep you from playing games and were running doom tournaments at like 3 in the morning.

To title a list "Best… Ever" is obnoxious, but then everything is these days. I do think this is a good list. There isn't a single game on there the inclusion of which I begrudge. Sure The Sims doesn't do anything for me, but as a ballsy experiment in genre-defying that caught on like gangbusters, its place in gaming history can't be denied. Obviously by limiting the number to ten, MSN forced themselves into excluding a bunch of classics, but at least that kept it short.

And about WoW. If you like that sort of game, WoW might just be the best game ever. If you don't, well duh. But I wish folks would keep in mind that people do not pay for subscription games they don't groove on, and golly a lot of people pay the subscription for WoW. Contrast that to single player games, where a single sale constitutes each buyer's seal of approval, whether they play the game for 15 minutes or 100 days. With WoW, you've got all those millions of people still actively playing. Is it so hard to accept that the game might just be awesome?

Originally Posted by Bartacus
One thing about Doom -> I always liked Wolfenstein 3D more and this is the first one of the FPS games, not Doom. When one talks about evolutionary and revolutionary, this is certainly the case here.

What I miss in this list is a beat'em up game like Double Dragon, Streets of Rage, Street Fighter, Mortal Kombat or Tekken.

Were or are those fighting games you mention actually available for the PC? The list is restricted to PC games. I'm not a fan of fighting games, so it could be that these can be considered PC games and I'm just not aware of that.

Originally Posted by Bartacus
One thing about Doom -> I always liked Wolfenstein 3D more and this is the first one of the FPS games, not Doom. When one talks about evolutionary and revolutionary, this is certainly the case here.

The folks who made Wolfenstein 3D credit Ultima Underworld for inspiration, which is why I think UU should have made the list. Not only did it inspire the TES and Gothic series' of games, it also inspired the entire FPS genre.

Originally Posted by DArtagnan
No list like that would be complete without X-Com or System Shock.

I never got into X-Com, but I couldn't agree more about System Shock.

Originally Posted by JDR13
I never got into X-Com, but I couldn't agree more about System Shock.

That's too bad. The tactical combat could be slow sometimes but the rush when you capture alien parts and aliens to develop technology was a rush (ala Civilization). Then slowly, ever so slowly a story unfolded.

That's the secret IMO to good video game stories, is to focus on the game and let the story unfold instead of the other way around and have it crammed down your throat.

Lol at WoW. There are other, better MMOs out, such as Vanguard in its current state. WoW is way too simple and dumb with loads of recycled content. MMO on training wheels.

Originally Posted by Necrosis
Were or are those fighting games you mention actually available for the PC? The list is restricted to PC games. I'm not a fan of fighting games, so it could be that these can be considered PC games and I'm just not aware of that.

About Mortal Combat I'm sure, because I have a really ancient specimen of that.

Originally Posted by Alrik Fassbauer
About Mortal Combat I'm sure, because I have a really ancient specimen of that.

Was it influential enough on the PC to merit inclusion in a list such as this?

Mortal Kombat began as a hit arcade game, and kids went nuts for it after it made its way over to consoles. But its graphic depictions of killings shocked a lot of parents. IIRC it was the game that started the whole "video game violence is bad for kids" controversy.

Right Squeek, there had been scores of Japanes fighting clones since Kung Fu Fighter in the mid 80's but Pit Fighter and Mortal Kombat brought a new level of real looking violence.

Ironic that the movie really downplayed its violence in its PR and on the screen.

LMAO!! I could've sworn in advance that #1 would be WoW.
Pathetic.