I’m 42 today, which makes me 54% dead according to my statistical life expectancy. With so, so much left to do, I better get started!
At the very least I should write that book…
A Life In Lists #3: Games
And so we get to the last list, the one you were probably expecting and the one you were waiting for!
My favourite video games of the last 42 years
1972 – n/a
1973 – n/a
1974 – n/a
1975 – n/a
1976 – n/a
1977 – n/a)
1978 – Space Invaders (arcade)
1979 – Galaxian (arcade)
1980 – Rogue (unix)
1981 – Wizardry: Proving Grounds of the Mad Overlord (Apple II)
1982 – Robotron: 2084 (arcade)
1983 – Moria (unix)
1984 – Elite (BBC)
1985 – Super Mario Bros. (NES)
1986 – The Legend Of Zelda (NES)
1987 – Final Fantasy (NES)
1988 – Final Fantasy II (NES)
1989 – Cadash (arcade)
1990 – Super Mario World (SNES)
1991 – Street Fighter 2 (arcade)
1992 – Shining Force (Genesis)
1993 – Ogre Battle: March Of The Black Queen (SNES)
1994 – Final Fantasy VI (SNES)
1995 – Tactics Ogre: Let Us Cling Together (SNES)
1996 – Super Mario 64 (N64)
1997 – DoDonPachi (arcade)
1998 – Final Fantasy Tactics (PSX)
1999 – Valkyrie Profile (PSX)
2000 – Diablo 2 (PC)
2001 – Final Fantasy X (PS2)
2002 – Metroid Prime (Gamecube)
2003 – P.N. 03 (Gamecube)
2004 – World of Warcraft (PC)
2005 – Animal Crossing: Wild World (DS)
2006 – Elite Beat Agents (DS)
2007 – Etrian Odyssey (DS)
2008 – The World Ends With You (DS)
2009 – Monster Hunter Freedom Unite (PSP)
2010 – Monster Hunter Tri (Wii)
2011 – Minotron: 2012 (iOS)
2012 – Diablo 3 (PC)
2013 – Puzzle & Dragons (iOS)
2014 – ?
Games are listed by the year of first release (not necessarily when I first played them) with the platform they were first released on. If this says Apple or BBC, then I would have played them first on the Commodore 64, probably a year later.
As I formed this list I asked myself: Would I still play this game today? For everything listed, the answer is yes. This doesn’t mean I overlooked games I loved in my youth for games I prefer as an adult, because you can rest assured I played the hell out of all of this stuff way back when it was released as well 🙂
This was another near-impossible list to assemble. In my youth I must have played virtually every single arcade game I ever saw, and over the years have played thousands (no exaggeration!) of console games. How to distill such an experience down to 42? In 1985 alone the release of the timeless Super Mario Bros. meant that other classics such as Paradroid, Ultima IV, Star Quake and a wealth of arcade shooters (Gradius, Exed Exes, Slap Fight, Tiger Heli) missed the list. 1990 was another impossible choice, with Super Mario World facing off against Ultima VI and Wizardry VI! In recent years I have spent more time on fewer games. It’s very hard to single out just one 🙁
The choice of Diablo 3 for 2012 may require some explanation, since I once described it as the largest disappointment and did not give it my ‘game of the year’ award. Since then, I have played the PS3 version inside out and enjoyed every moment of it. Furthermore, just last week Blizzard (finally!) massively overhauled the PC version and ‘fixed it’. The wrongs have therefore been righted, it seems, and I believe that Diablo 3 will be giving me enjoyment for a long time to come.
So, fellow gamers, what do you think? I’m sure I have a few controversial choices on here. What did I miss?
A Life In Lists #2: Songs
It’s time for list two!
As with the previous, this is of course subjective. And as with the previous, I’m sure you’ll all agree because it’s not as if we’ve got strong opinions about our music! 😉
Now there are a few more rules this time around, but the foremost one – before you start reading – is that this is a list of favourite singles. The criteria are described afterward…
My favourite singles of the last 42 years
1972 – Rocket Man (Elton John) {Possibly the best single of all time.}
1973 – Life On Mars (David Bowie)
1974 – Waterloo (Abba)
1975 – Autobahn (Kraftwerk)
1976 – Dancing Queen (Abba)
1977 – Sound and Vision (David Bowie)
1978 – YMCA (The Village People)
1979 – Cars (Gary Numan)
1980 – Keep On Loving You (REO Speedwagon)
1981 – Vienna (Ultravox)
1982 – Don’t Change (INXS)
1983 – Total Eclipse Of The Heart (Bonnie Tyler)
1984 – Forever Young (Alphaville) {My favourite song of all time}
1985 – Take On Me (A-ha)
1986 – Love Missile F1-11 (Sigue Sigue Sputnik)
1987 – Never Let Me Down Again (Depeche Mode)
1988 – A Little Respect (Erasure)
1989 – Free Fallin’ (Tom Petty)
1990 – Enjoy The Silence (Depeche Mode)
1991 – You Could Be Mine (Guns N’ Roses)
1992 – November Rain (Guns N’ Roses)
1993 – Everybody Hurts (REM)
1994 – Circle Of Life (Elton John)
1995 – Missing (Everything But The Girl)
1996 – It’s All Coming Back To Me Now (Celine Dion)
1997 – Candle In The Wind (1997) (Elton John) {Powerful}
1998 – My Heart Will Go On (Celine Dion)
1999 – Praise You (Fatboy Slim)
2000 – Oop’s I Did It Again (Britney Spears)
2001 – I Feel Loved (Depeche Mode)
2002 – n/a
2003 – Solsbury Hill (Erasure)
2004 – Amerika (Rammstein)
2005 – Don’t Let The Man Get You Down (Fatboy Slim) {The video}
2006 – In The Future When All’s Well (Morrissey)
2007 – n/a
2008 – All You Need Is Me (Morrissey)
2009 – Wrong (Depeche Mode)
2010 – Firework (Katy Perry)
2011 – When I Start To Break It All Down (Erasure)
2012 – She Wolf (Falling To Pieces) (David Guetta featuring Sia)
2013 – n/a
2014 – ?
Songs were eligible if they charted (top 100) in either Australia, England or the USA during the year listed.
Compared to the list of movies, this was really, really difficult!
If 1973 was incredibly hard (due to Drive-In Saturday, 20th Century Boy, You’re So Vain and Ballroom Blitz) then the late 70s and early 80s were all but impossible! Given that a choice like Keep On Loving You vs Xanadu vs Enola Gay (all in 1980) gave me a cold sweat, the unfairness of 50 amazing songs in 1984 (from which I had to choose one) caused me to weep openly.
By contrast the 2000’s were a wasteland for someone like myself that isn’t a fan of rap or hip-hop. Happily both Erasure and Morrissey rose to new heights that decade, releasing great album after great album, and having many successful singles. That said, and as you can see, there were entire years where I couldn’t even pick one charting song I considered outstanding (or in some cases even good).
The list is quite a genre timeline isn’t it? Glam became disco became new wave became the anthems of the 90s became… well the flotsam of the 2000’s! It’s easy to imagine that ‘good’ music ended 15 years ago but I think this is more a symptom of me growing old and the unusual effect digital music has had on the release of ‘singles’. I believe it is certainly true that compared to the 1980s and 1990s, ‘singles’ no longer have the widespread appeal they once did.
So what do you think? Any pieces of trash on this list? What perfect songs did I miss?