"Year Award"" for 2000. ""Game Informer"" ranked it the 80th best game ever made in its 100th issue in 2001. In August 2016, ""The Sims"" placed 31st on ""Time""'s The 50 Best Video Games of All Time list. ""The Sims"" was released on February 4, 2000 and became a best-seller shortly after launch. In 2002, ""The Sims"" became the top-selling PC game in history, displacing the game ""Myst"" by selling more than 11.3 million copies worldwide. By March 2002, ""The Sims"" had sold more than 6.3 million copies worldwide; and by February 2005, the game has shipped 16 million copies"
"play. The biggest hit was ""The Sims"" by Maxis, which went on to become the best selling computer game of all time, surpassing ""Myst"". Other casual games include ""Happy Farm"" and Zynga games like ""Mafia Wars"", ""FarmVille"", and ""Café World"", among many others, which are tied into social networking sites such as Myspace, Facebook, and Mixi. These games are typically free to play, with the option to buy in game items and stats with money and/or reward offers. In 2008, social network games began gaining mainstream popularity following the release of ""Happy Farm"" in China. Influenced by the Japanese console"
"and the look and feel of the game will keep you playing and exploring for months. Truly a remarkable title."" That same year, ""PC Gamer UK"" named its Windows release the sixth best computer game of all time, calling it Sid Meier's ""crowning glory."" On March 12, 2007, ""The New York Times"" reported on a list of the ten most important video games of all time, the so-called game canon, which included ""Civilization"". By the release of ""Civilization II"" in 1996, ""Civilization"" had sold over 850,000 copies. By 2001, sales had reached 1 million copies. Shelley stated in a 2016"
"best-selling title is ""Final Fantasy VII"", which has sold over 10 million copies worldwide as of 2010. Among the best-selling PC RPGs overall is the massively multiplayer online game ""World of Warcraft"" with 11.5 million subscribers as of May 2010. Among single player PC RPGs, ""Diablo II"" has sold the largest amount, with the most recently cited number being over 4 million copies as of 2001. However, copies of the ""Diablo: Battle Chest"" continued to be sold in retail stores, with the compilation appearing on the NPD Group's top 10 PC games sales, list as recently as 2010. Further, ""Diablo:"
"""Populous"", others saw it as a city-building game, comparing it favourably to ""SimCity"". Others, however, felt it defined a new genre altogether by blending elements of god games and city-building games. It is often cited as one of the best Amiga games ever made. It was also a commercial success, selling over 400,000 units worldwide across both systems, considerably more than Blue Byte had anticipated. It went on to form the basis for ""The Settlers"" series, one of Blue Byte's most successful franchises. ""The Settlers"" is a city-building game with real-time strategy elements, controlled via a point and click interface,"
"that """"Homeworld"" is simply incredible and everyone should play it."" Homeworld Homeworld is a real-time strategy video game developed by Relic Entertainment and published by Sierra Studios on September 28, 1999, for Microsoft Windows. Set in space, the science fiction game follows the Kushan exiles of the planet Kharak after their home planet is destroyed by the Taiidan Empire in retaliation for developing hyperspace jump technology. The survivors journey with their spacecraft-constructing mothership to reclaim their ancient homeworld of Hiigara from the Taiidan, encountering a variety of pirates, mercenaries, traders, and rebels along the way. In each of the game's"
"on the sides of various buildings. While versions of ""Tetris"" were sold for a range of 1980s home computer platforms as well as arcades, it was the successful handheld version for the Game Boy launched in 1989 that established the game as one of the most popular. ""Electronic Gaming Monthly""s 100th issue had ""Tetris"" in first place as ""Greatest Game of All Time"". In 2007, ""Tetris"" came in second place in IGN's ""100 Greatest Video Games of All Time"". In April 2014, it was announced that the ""Tetris"" franchise had sold more than 495 million copies; approximately 70 million physical"
"The music of the game was written by composer Paul Ruskay as the first title from his Studio X Labs, with the exception of Samuel Barber's 1936 ""Adagio for Strings"", considered the defining theme of the game, and a licensed track from English rock band Yes, ""Homeworld (The Ladder)"". ""Homeworld"" is listed by review aggregator Metacritic as the highest rated computer game of 1999, and the fourth-highest on any platform for the year. Critics praised the game's graphics, unique gameplay elements, and multiplayer system, though opinions were divided on the game's plot and high difficulty. The game sold over 500,000"
"a 90% score from aggregators Metacritic and GameRankings. By March 2012, ""The Sims 2"" had sold over six million PC copies, and 13 million over all platforms, making it one of the best-selling PC games of all-time. From the neighborhood view, the player selects one lot to play, as in ""The Sims"". There are both residential and community lots, but Sims can only live in residential lots. Sims can travel to Community lots in order to purchase things like clothing and magazines, and to interact with NPCs and townies. The player can choose between playing a pre-made inhabited lot, moving"
"its developer, sales of ""Enemy Nations"" surpassed 35,000 units by late 1998. Home of the Underdogs - 9/10. """"""Enemy Nations"" is one of the best and most sophisticated real-time strategy games ever made...It's neither a simple action strategy game, nor is it a straightforward god game with token battle elements. Rather, it's an isometric strategy game which takes influences from half a dozen existing games and tries to blend them into something new, and in most aspects, succeeds admirably."""" PC Games - A - """"I'm absolutely gaga over the detail: steel frames rising slowly from foundations to create gorgeous buildings,"
"quarters through to 1985. The most successful game of this era was Namco's ""Pac-Man"", released in 1980, which would go on to sell over 350,000 cabinets, and within a year, generate a revenue of more than $1 billion in quarters; in total, ""Pac-Man"" is estimated to have grossed over 10 billion quarters ($2.5 billion) during the 20th century, equivalent to over $3.4 billion in 2011. The early part of the decade saw the rise of 8-bit home computing, and home-made games, especially in Europe (with the ZX Spectrum and Commodore 64) and Asia (with the NEC PC-88 and MSX). This"
"project of the popular ""Sim City"" franchise, also became a popular game of the era. Combining all of its sequels and expansions, ""The Sims"" easily becomes one of the best-selling PC game in history. ""The Sims"" also had an important role in bringing female and casual gamers into the often male-dominated and hardcore gaming market. Rhythm-gaming was primarily centered in the arcade with popular games such as ""Dance Dance Revolution"" and ""Beatmania"". Many of these franchises have been popular since the late-nineties, but it wasn't until ""Guitar Hero""s release in 2005 that the genre really affected popular culture. Most games"
"the Zerg. Many of the industry's journalists have praised ""StarCraft"" as one of the best and most important video games of all time, and for having raised the bar for developing real-time strategy games. With more than 11 million copies sold worldwide as of February 2009, ""StarCraft"" is one of the best-selling games for the personal computer. The game has been praised for pioneering the use of unique factions in real-time strategy gameplay and for a compelling story. ""StarCraft""s multiplayer is particularly popular in South Korea, where players and teams participate in , earn sponsorships, and compete in televised tournaments."
"greatest video games of all time, with praise going towards its precise controls. It has sold over 40 million physical copies, also making it one of the bestselling games of all time. It is credited alongside the NES as one of the key factors in reviving the video game industry after the 1983 crash, and helped popularize side-scrolling platform games. It began an expansive franchise including a long-running game series, an animated television series, and a feature film. Ports and remakes of the game have been released for most of Nintendo's future systems. Alongside Mario himself, ""Super Mario Bros."" has"
"of ""Burnout"". The franchise has been critically well received and is one of the most successful video game franchises of all time, selling over 150 million copies of games. Due to its strong sales, the franchise has expanded into other forms of media including a film adaptation and licensed Hot Wheels toys. Almost all of the games in the ""NFS"" series employ the same fundamental rules and similar mechanics: the player controls a race car in a variety of races, the goal being to win the race. In the tournament/career mode, the player must win a series of races in"
"modes. Chris Kohler considers Namco's arcade game ""Pac-Man"" (1980), which debuted during the golden age of video arcade games, to be the first ""casual game"". It is estimated to have been played more than ten billion times during the 20th century, making it the highest-grossing video game of all time. In 1989, Nintendo's Game Boy was released with ""Tetris"" as a free pack-in game. It was immensely popular, and is credited with making Nintendo's fledgling portable gaming system a success. Microsoft's Solitaire (1990), which came free with Microsoft Windows, is widely considered the first successful ""casual game"" on a computer,"
"""best of"" lists. In 1996, ""Computer Gaming World"" ranked it as the 29th best PC game of all time, calling it ""a stunning mix of adventure, action, and humor."" IGN named ""Star Control II"" the 17th best game of all time in 2005. In 2013, Kotaku crowd sourced a list of ""Best PC Games of All Time"", with Star Control 2 emerging as the most popular choice among their audience. GameSpot also named it as one of the greatest games of all time. In addition, it was also given eighth place in GameSpot's list of the best gameworlds by reader's"
"went on to be the best selling computer game of all time. The ideas pioneered in ""SimCity"" have been incorporated into real-world applications as well. For example, [[VisitorVille]] simulates a city based on website statistics. The series also spawned a ""[[Sim City: The Card Game|SimCity]]"" [[collectible card game]], produced by [[Mayfair Games]]. Dr. Wright from the Super NES version has made appearances in several video games. He is a [[non-player character]] in ""[[The Legend of Zelda: Link's Awakening]]"", and an assist trophy in ""[[Super Smash Bros. Brawl]]"" and [[Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS and Wii U|""Super Smash Bros. for"
"best-selling video games of all time, ""Super Mario Bros. 3"". Despite receiving consistently negative reviews, the film has garnered a cult following. Jimmy Woods is a young boy suffering from PTSD after his twin sister Jennifer drowned two years earlier. He is focused on traveling to California for unknown reasons, exasperating his mother Christine and stepfather Bateman (an unfeeling man who wants little to do with the boy and is looking for an excuse to be rid of him). Jimmy’s father Sam lives with his elder sons Nick and Corey but does little to help his youngest deal with his"
"complete transformation of the genre during the sixth generation in the late 1990s. The advent of 16-bit home consoles in the early 1990s marked an evolutionary step for the genre. By the time the Mega Drive and Super Nintendo Entertainment System launched, platform games were the most popular genre in home console gaming and were seen as vital for winning the console war. There was a particular emphasis on having a flagship platform title exclusive to a format, featuring a ""mascot"" character. Sega's ""Alex Kidd in the Enchanted Castle"" (1989) was only modestly successful, and Sega realized would need a"
"criticism. The game would go onto have great commercial success, and became one of the best-selling video games in 2K history, with 4.5 million copies shipped in its first week of sales. It was later confirmed to have sold 5 million copies worldwide. ""Mafia III"" is an action-adventure game set in an open world environment and played from a third-person perspective, in which the player assume control of Lincoln Clay, a Vietnam War veteran on a quest to seek revenge for his adopted family, who are murdered by local mobs. The game is set in 1968 New Bordeaux, a re-imagined"
"reviewed PC strategy games. It has been well received by gamers, going on to generate a persistent and loyal modding fanbase. The player takes a role as the head of one of the three great Roman houses of the time; the Julii, Brutii, or Scipii. Over the course of the game new factions are unlocked, either one at a time as they are defeated, or all at once on completion of the campaign. Each faction has a different set of attributes, objectives, and initial provinces under its control. Control of a province is given to the faction whose army occupies"
"The ""Brothers in Arms"" series would lead to three successful AAA titles for video game consoles and PC, Brothers in Arms: Road to Hill 30, Brothers in Arms: Earned in Blood and Brothers in Arms Hell's Highway. Next, Pitchford led the creation of the ""Borderlands"" series. The Borderlands games have achieved critical acclaim, record-breaking sales and the recipient of multiple video game industry awards including the Video Game Awards ""Best Shooter"" and ""Best Multi-Player Game"" and several nominations from the Academy of Interactive Arts including the award for ""Action Game of the Year"". Borderlands 2 became the best selling game"
"was unsuccessfulparticularly in the United States where it was meagerly publicizedbut thanks to praise by critics, it gained sales through word-of-mouth and became a hit. It has been re-released on several consoles and is considered a sleeper hit, a cult classic, and one of the best video games ever made. ""Symphony of the Night"" uses 2-dimensional side-scrolling gameplay. The objective is exploring Dracula's castle to defeat Richter Belmont, who claims to be lord of Castle Dracula. Canonically, Richter was the hero of the events that took place in Castlevania: Rondo of Blood. The game is non-linear, but most of the"
"one of the best-selling PC games of all time. In 1990 ""Computer Gaming World"" named ""Populous"" as Strategy Game of the Year. In 1996, the magazine named it the 30th best game ever, with the editors calling it ""the father of real-time strategy games"". In 1991 it won the Origins Award for ""Best Military or Strategy Computer Game of 1990"" ""1990 Computer Game of the Year"" in American video game magazine ""Video Games & Computer Entertainment"", and voted the sixth best game of all time in ""Amiga Power"". In 1992 ""Mega"" placed the game at #25 in their Top Mega"
"success, selling over 200,000 units in Germany within the first two months of its release. By 2006, worldwide sales had reached 500,000 units, of which 350,000 were sold in the German market. ""The Settlers: Heritage of Kings"" is a real-time strategy game, controlled via a point and click interface, in which the primary goal on most maps is to build a settlement with a functioning economy, producing sufficient military units so as to defeat the opponent. To achieve this end, the player must engage in economic micromanagement, construct buildings, research new technologies, manage taxation and workers' motivation, and gather resources."
""""", which has spawned many sequels. ""Civilization IV"" was released at the end of 2005 and was considered the PC game of the year according to several reviewers, including GameSpot and GameSpy. It is now considered one of the greatest computer games in history, having been ranked the second-best PC game of all time by IGN. By 2008, the ""Civilization"" series had sold over eight million copies, followed the release of ""Civilization Revolution"" for game consoles soon after, ""Civilization V"" in 2010 and ""Civilization VI"" in 2016. Meanwhile, Stardock released """", which was considered the sixth-best PC game of 2006"
"over 2 million copies as of May 2008. As well as receiving favorable reviews, it has garnered awards, including GameSpy's ""Best RTS game of 2005"", and was one of the best-selling games of 2005. In 2007, ""Age of Empires III"" was the seventh best-selling computer game, with over 313,000 copies sold that year. Players begin with a constructed town center or a wagon that will build into such, an armed explorer, and a modest number of villagers. Players explore the map and begin gathering resources used to build additional units and buildings and to research upgrades or technologies. Actions such"
"different direction, bringing population caps into the tens of thousands. ""Dungeon Keeper"" (1997), """" (1998), ""Jeff Wayne's The War of the Worlds"" (1998), ""Warzone 2100"" (1999), ""Machines"" (1999), ""Homeworld"" (1999), ""Honour & Freedom"" (1999), and ""Dark Reign 2"" (2000) were among the first completely 3D real-time strategy titles. ""Homeworld"" was notable in that it featured a 3D environment in space, therefore allowing movement in every direction, a feature which its semi-sequel, ""Homeworld Cataclysm"" (2000) continued to build upon adding features such as waypoints. ""Homeworld 2"", released in 2003, streamlined movement in the 360° 3D environment. Furthermore, ""Machines"", which was also"
"and the philosophical nature and execution of the game's storyline, which explores themes such as memetics, social engineering, political conspiracies, censorship, artificial intelligence, existentialism, postmodernism and post-truth politics. ""Metal Gear Solid 2"" has since been considered to be one of the greatest video games of all time, as well as a leading example of artistic expression in video games. By 2003, the game had sold over seven million copies worldwide. ""Metal Gear Solid 2"" carries the subtitle of ""Tactical Espionage Action"", and most of the game involves the protagonist sneaking around avoiding being seen by the enemies. Most fundamental is"
"and as such, they needed it to be financially successful, especially as it was their first original PC game. The game did prove a commercial success, selling over 350,000 units worldwide at roughly $40 per unit, earning the company $14million, and becoming Bungie's most successful game thus far. In the United States, the game sold 40,617 copies during 1997. By 2000, the game had over 100,000 people registered with online accounts at Bungie.net. The success of the game also helped Bungie rank #101 in ""Inc.""s 1998 list of the 500 fastest growing private corporations in North America. Primarily due to"
"sold more than 9 million copies. It is considered to be one of the best games ever made, and it popularized the ""Assassin's Creed"" franchise. The PC version was met with some criticism in relation to the digital rights management system and, thus had the always-online DRM permanently removed. The game spawned a follow-up, """" and its direct sequel, """". Remastered versions of all three games were released for the PlayStation 4 and Xbox One on November 15, 2016 as part of ""The Ezio Collection"". Players directly control the on-screen character through a third-person perspective and can control the camera,"
"Ocelot under the guise of Liquid Ocelot, before he takes control of the Sons of the Patriots, an A.I. system that controls the activities of PMCs worldwide. ""Guns of the Patriots"" received universal acclaim, garnering perfect reviews and Game of the Year awards from several major gaming publications, including GameSpot, which claimed that the game was ""technically flawless"". The game has been considered one of the best games of the seventh generation of console gaming and among the greatest of all time. Its release caused a boost in sales of the PlayStation 3, where it sold over six million copies"