Over the winter holiday, a Japanese talk show polled some 50,000 game fans to find out their all-time favorites. They compiled a top 100 list and counted down the results over a 3-hour show with a panel featuring celebrities, critics, and producers. The result was a fascinating insight into the differences between Western and Japanese thoughts on the industry.
Click here for the list in English.
As with any list, half the fun is arguing what was left out. As expected, the list skewed heavily in favor of Japanese-produced games, meaning no Halo, Goldeneye, Call of Duty, Tony Hawk's Pro Skater, or Madden. But no Super Mario Bros.? How could that be? And did the Dragon Quest series really warrant 10% of the picks? I've never played one.
And therein lies the problem. Well, maybe not a problem, but perhaps more of an interesting opportunity. While watching the show, I was jealous of the Japanese experience with video games instead of my own. In Japan, you didn't necessarily 'grow out' of video games, the way you don't have to 'grow out' of comics. This concept seems to be a relatively recent development in the West. The talent featured on the show ranged from young adult to senior citizen, male and female. Those polled ran the gambit from small children to damn-near elderly. But they were all able to talk about video games on the same level because they all shared similar touch-stones. Final Fantasy, Pokémon, Zelda, these games have crossed several generations, and I don't mean the consoles they appeared on.
And I feel left out. I'm somewhat in-tuned with the Western philosophy on video games, what makes them fun, and what gives them value. But I want the Japanese perspective. I want to have the same shared experience. Thus, this project. My goal is to play, in some capacity, all 100 games on the selected list.
How am I going to do this? Well, I'll figure it out as I go along. And I'll have an awfully lot of time to do so. One thing I have decided on is that I'll play the games in chronological order of release. I want to grow with the technology and concepts in a natural progression. Meaning, I won't be playing from 100 to 1. I'm starting in 1982 with Xevious for the Famicon (NES). I don't have to beat the game; I won't hold myself to such a strict (impossible?) goal. I just have to experience enough of it to get a general sense of what it's about. For some games, that may mean an hour. For others, that may mean a month or two. No times limits.
I'll play on the hardware that makes the most sense. For the earlier 8 and 16-bit games, that means emulation. For 3D systems, I'll worry about that when I get there (which may be years away). But I plan to purchase the original games in their original packaging. Again, I want to have as much of the Japanese video game history experience as possible. Having the manual, any included maps, even sticker prices on the boxes, goes a long way to reaching that effect. While I will be purchasing Japanese copies of the games, I will most often play their English counterparts. Why? Because I want this to be fun and not a study session. Plus, a few of these games will be well beyond my Japanese level. However, at least one of these games is not available in English. I'll worry about that when I get there.
I'll document every game as I play it. For some, this may mean a live Twitch stream or perhaps a video clip. For others, maybe a written post is more fitting. I still haven't decided, but I don't want this to become a stumbling block in getting started. I'll also assess the game, generating my own ordered list from these 100.
This is going to be fun.
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