It shouldn’t be surprising, but you’ll see a lot of the same titles if you peruse the Best Games lists that make up the Video Game Canon. Obviously great games like Tetris and Half-Life 2 and Resident Evil 4 and many others have served the listmakers well across the decades.
With more than 1,400 games included in the aggregate list, there’s also a massive buffet of good games to play, along with plenty of forgotten corners to explore. And though it might be hard to believe, some of the titles you’ll found on the Video Game Canon (like Atari’s E.T.: The Extra-Terrestrial at #539) are thought of as bad games by a not-insignificant number of people.
But does it have to be that way?
Stuart Gipp, a writer who makes his home at Retronauts and Merry Hell, has written an entire book to let the world know that All Games Are Good. And as a fan of more than a few of those bad games, I have to admit, he’s probably right…
What makes a game good? A compelling storyline, perhaps. Intuitive, responsive controls are a stand-out quality. But now (at last!) one man dares to stand up and speak truth to power – all he wants is to jump on frogs and collect colourful fruit.
This edifying, entertaining and occasionally emotional rummage through a lifetime spent playing all the wrong games should last the test of time as a under-appreciated and over-criticised chronicle of the games that nobody else writes about.
Open your heart, eyes, mind and wallet, and you too will understand that All Games Are Good.
All Games Are Good features Gipp’s completely honest thoughts about more than 200 games that were “woefully under-appreciated, over-criticized, or simply forgotten” in their time. He’s got a lot to say, and this weighty tome is now available from Press Run, the book publishing arm of Limited Run Games.