Halo has topped the Guinness World Records’ list of the 50 greatest video game franchises of all time, followed closely by Activision's Call of Duty and Nintendo's The Legend of Zelda. The list was voted on by gamers, so if you have any problems with it (oh, and you will), take it up with yourselves.
"We decided to take a different approach with this list than we did in the previous edition," said in a statement. "Instead of asking developers, industry insiders and journalists to rank their favorite titles, we approached a different kind of expert: the players themselves! We are confident that this 'top 50' more accurately reflects the tastes of the average gamer and not just the critics."
Guinness polled gamers between January and August 2009, and the result can be seen right here:
- Halo
- Call of Duty
- The Legend of Zelda
- Guitar Hero
- Metal Gear
- Super Mario Bros.
- World of Warcraft
- Gears of War
- Super Smash Bros.
- Grand Theft Auto
- Pokémon
- Resident Evil
- Fallout
- Half-Life
- Sonic the Hedgehog
- Counter-Strike
- Runescape
- FIFA
- Kingdom Hearts
- Final Fantasy
- Pac-Man
- Madden NFL
- The Sims
- Tomb Raider
- WWE Smackdown Vs. RAW
- Rock Band
- LittleBigPlanet
- Saints Row
- The Elder Scrolls
- God of War
- GoldenEye 007
- Bioshock
- KillZone
- Skate
- Left 4 Dead
- Need for Speed
- Chrono Trigger
- Gran Turismo
- StarCraft
- Ratchet & Clank
- Pong
- Tom Clancy’s...
- Star Wars: Battlefront
- Battlefield
- Diablo
- Lego Batman
- Mario Kart
- Burnout
- Crash Bandicoot
- Pro Evolution Soccer
Let the calm and respectful discussion begin!
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Comments
Displaying 1–20 of 95
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SuperMonkeyDog
Runescape isn't a franchise. Neither is Chrono Trigger or Lego Batman. This list sucks. World of warcraft may have expansions but they should of said warcraft to include the RTS games that are part of the franchise. And Halo and CoD at the top?
terminalremorse
Behold the death of video games. Final Fantasy ranked...20? really? the money it grossed and the fanbase give it a 20? Oh and the kicker....runescape is on that list ABOVE FF series.. Is this a joke?
instill_ps
This list was made by 10 year old kids that never played a real game
DaBigFatCow
There are a few things that I believe to be out of order; StarCraft, Tomb Raider, Sonic and Need for Speed should be higher (Mainly just do to their popularity). For the most part I do agree with all the franchises listed in this list.
erosennin987
Runescape?!?!?!
Pac-man?!?!?!
Skate?!?!?!
Pong?!?!?!?!
Lego Batman?!?!?!?!
Crash Bandicoot??!?!?!
................. ALL THOSE GAMES SUCK!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Truzen
Is it just me or does it feel like Guinness is running out of things to make records of? I guess when you have records like "Longest finger nails" or "Long continual sneezing fit" you can only sell so many books. *sigh* And the fact that Halo ranked as the number 1 franchise of "all time" makes me think that Guinness only polled gamers in the age range of 12-20. GG Guinness, GG. Halo hasn't really been around long enough for us to remember it's glory days. I don't blame my fellow gamers, I blame Guiness.
mrpandaman27
Maybe they should've made two separate lists as the top 50 most selling game franchises of all time, and then made a top 50 most beloved game franchises of all time.
darthernie
List=FAIL
Veagor
I don't think this can be considered a 'definitive' list by an means. I'm not going to force my opinion and say that Zelda should be before Hal (It's already done, what's the point?) but the fact that Runescape, a massive online game that is free and ISN'T a franchise, is on the list proves that they're definition is seriously off. I'd like to know where they got the information. Was it a mix of casual gamers that like to think they're serious? Because I don't see how any non-gamer could think that Guitar Hero is more popular than Super Mario.
xN7 SNiiPer209x
Forza Motorsport, Mass Effect...After ME3, Assassins Creed...After AC3, Command and Conquer, Age of Empires...
Tonemanzero
What, no Mega Man?
alaskanhybrid
WTH Half Life deserves a much better slot man
umaque
No Doom,Quake, and most importantly Tetris..this list just FAIL..
muddy
Where the hell is Unreal?
daftpunx
They clearly polled the wrong players, this list is garbage. I'm not gonna get into all the nitpicky stuff, but how did WoW and Pro Evolution Soccer get on?
WoW isn't a franchise, it's one game.
and Soccer? Really.
heroes_will_fall_26
ultimate list fail, guinness has lost all my respect as halo sucks, 5 games, all crap. 1 on the way, most likely gonna also be crap, though it looks good. and metal gear over mario? whoever picked these must be kicked into a volcano. SPARTA STYLE!!
dx2021
Oh and where the hell is Mega Man?!?!?!!?
dx2021
This list sucks! They put Lego Batman, but not Street Fighter? And how is Guitar Hero higher on the list than Mario? The people at Guinness are flipping morons! And where's Uncharted? The word "Franchise" means more than one title. At least it does where Im from, which is Georgia. I say good day to this list!
sbianco87
this list is stupid, they should have done it based on sales, it probably would have been more accurate that way
bigterrapin
Top 50 Game Franchise of all time.
1.Halo-I like it, they where fun games and the muti-player was fun, but #1 of all time? top 15 maybe.
2.CoD- this right here show the age on which the Guinness people polled. CoD top 35
3. The Legend of Zelda- no issue here, it should be in the top 5, and 3 is a good spot.
4. Guitar Hero- again shows the age of which people where polled. this should in the 30s.
5. Metal Gear- good games. but not top 5 good, should be somewhere in the 20's
6. Super Mario Bros- should be ranked 1 or 2
7. World of Warcraft-I play this and love it but should be in the 10-15 rank but the entire Warcraft series should be in the top 10.
8. Gears of War- Really 8? don't really think it should be in the top 50 of all time
9. Super Smash Bros- Fun and fast game, but maybe in the 15-20 rank.
10. Grand Theft Auto- who hasn't had fun with GTA. 10-15 is where is should be am okay with this.
11.Pok�mon- not to far off maybe in the 15-25 ranks, more like the lower 20s
12. Resident Evil- good game, but ranked to high, 25-30 is where i would put it.
13.Fallout- Good look and story, but rank to high, not sure where to rank it but not top 15.
14. Half-Life- i am okay with this spot
15. Sonic the Hedgehog- should be in the top 10, not as high as mario but top 10
16. Counter-Strike -I wouldn't put it this high, but not to much lower, 20-25
17. Runescape-shouldn't be on this list
18. FIFA- we dont like soccer in the states, but as a world game. sure but not 18, 25-30
19. Kingdom Hearts-should not be ahead of FF, down to the 35-40s with you.
20. Final Fantasy- should be ahead of Kingdom hearts and should be in the top 10.
21. Pac-Man- should be in the top five.
22. Madden NFL- I am okay with it here, i would take it higher but not much higher rank
23. The Sims- no issue with this game or its rank
24. Tomb Raider- HMM, am okay with this, I would take lower but this is a good spot for it.
25. WWE Smackdown Vs. RAW- should not be on this list.
26. Rock Band- same a guitar hero somewhere in the 30-40s
27. LittleBigPlanet- Great game fun love, but should not be on this list.
28. Saints Row- nice game, but should not be on this list
29. The Elder Scrolls- okay with it here, I say a tad be higher but not bad place for it.
30. God of War-okay with this be at 30
31. GoldenEye 007- should be top 20 maybe top 15, who didn't have fun on the N64 with this game?
32. Bioshock- i am okay with it being here, I would put in the 35-40 myself but i can leave it.
33. KillZone- should not be on this list
34. Skate-should not be on this list, the Tony Hawk brand of games yes, but not Skate
35. Left 4 Dead- Fun game to play but should not be on a list of 50 of all time, to new yet to be seen.
36. Need for Speed- i am okay with this, i would put Gran Turismo ahead of it though.
37. Chrono Trigger- I might rank it higher but I can leave it here.
38. Gran Turismo- Great Driving sim, should be ranked higher.
39. StarCraft- A whole nation worships this game, its a corner stone of competitive gaming, Needs to be ranked higher.
40. Ratchet & Clank- I can keep it at 40, fun game work well even today.
41. Pong- a forefather of all games, but really is it a franchise?
42. Tom Clancy s- all Good games, as a franchise should be rank higher.
43. Star Wars: Battlefront- shouldn't on this list fun to play I enjoyed it alot, but top 50
44. Battlefield- should be ranked high but not to much.
45. Diablo- I would rank it higher but i can leave it at 45 but should be higher considering some of the games on this list.
46. Lego Batman- Maybe the Lego series but not just one Lego game!
47. Mario Kart- should be rank higher, then again i would make are Mario games into a Mario Franchises and they together should be number 1.
48. Burnout- should not be on this list.
49. Crash Bandicoot- The Game that help make Playstation. but its good at 49.
50. Pro Evolution Soccer- again we american are not soccer fans so it hard for me to say but i think one soccer game in the top 50 is good enough.
GAMES that should be on here. "in no order"
Street Fighter
Mortal Kombat
Castlevania
Donkey Kong
Megaman
Metroid
Tetris
Ninja Guidan
Metroid
Techmo bowl
Command and Conquer all of them
Teenage muntant ninja turtle games.
StarFox
bomberman
Contra
Civilization
Everquest
DAoC
Age of Empires
Tekken
SoCOM
Displaying 1–20 of 95
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