Grand Theft Auto IV tops Time’s best-game-of-year list, Wii barely represented

December 8th, 2008

Nintendo may be winning the console war, but if Time’s best-of-2008 list is any indication, they’re falling behind in the games war. Only one title released for the Wii made Time’s list, while Rockstar’s mature opus Grand Theft Auto IV took top honors.

GTA is sure to top many lists this year, as it holds the Metacritic all-time top score for both Xbox 360 and Playstation 3. Lev Grossman of Time writes that the debate over GTA IV shouldn’t be about whether it’s too violent, but whether “video games count as art.”

Star Wars: The Force Unleashed was the only game released on Wii to make the list, but it’s nothing for Nintendo to boast about, as it also was released on pretty much every console and handheld ever made.

Meanwhile, the iPhone title Fieldrunners cracked the list at the nine spot, a sign that mobile gaming has officially arrived. Similarly, the inclusion of the free Flash game Hunted Forever (play here) illustrates the ever-increasing availability of quality games published through non-traditional standards.

Time.com, Top Everything of 2008:10. Spore (PC)
9. Fieldrunners (iPhone)
8. Hunted Forever (free Flash)
7. Star Wars: The Force Unleashed (Wii, 360, PS3, DS, PSP)
6. Dead Space (360, PS3, PC)
5. Gears of War 2 (360)
4. Rock Band 2 (360, PS3)
3. LittleBigPlanet (PS3)
2. Braid (360)
1. Grand Theft Auto IV (360, PS3, PC): It’s a grade-A shoot-’em-up that doubles as an interactive novel and triples as a sly critique of American consumer culture.

 

Source: MLive Blog

Entry Filed under: Nintendo Wii