I think I read something somewhere that the "floatiness" is due to the fact that Mario slides around a little more if you hold down the 1 button (i.e., the B button equivalent on the Wiimote). Supposedly, if you release the B button when you land a jump, you won't skid around as much, but this feels like anathema to…

This is indeed the only games list for the Best of the Decade feature. So let's keep the comments going!

I think in the case of The Sims, you can consider that pick representative of the series. But the first Sims game was so stunningly original that yes, the fact that it came first did indeed make it more noteworthy.

Yes, we should all brace ourselves for Metacritic impact. The game just doesn't hold together very well, for reasons explored in the review. It is indeed a bit depressing. I was looking forward to playing this. I can't remember the last time the Mario series let me down, probably because it never has. (OK, SMB 2, but…

By the way, when I say I've "played" the FFs, I mean that I "played through" them. Not that I fiddled with them for ten minutes before going back to Mario Kart.

The Final Fantasy arguments will never be settled, which I think is a point in favor of the series — it manages to appeal to players in so many different ways. I've played all of the Final Fantasies, most of them more than once. FFX, I've played three times. I believe FFXII is the more successful game. The battle…

Agreed, Woop. Whittling it down to just 15 items was very difficult. There are a lot of all-time greats left off this list. Luckily, the commenters are not bashful about filling in those blanks.

We all love PSYCHONAUTS, but no, Scott, I can't say it was in serious contention. That's not for any fault of its own, just a byproduct of the fact that we had to choose 15 games out of the very many excellent games that we've seen this decade.

Oh, and to answer your specific question, yes, I think Giant Bomb was playing from an import copy.

Buzz! has to be one of the most localized games of all time; they do indeed tailor the questions to the region where it's being released. Earlier this year, they released a Buzz! game whose question stack had been adapted to 20 or so different countries, and Australia for good measure. I think it was called "Brain of…

Sawbuck isn't going anywhere, as far as I know. Your kind comments are very much appreciated, though. I'm sure the conversation will build over time.

I fixed the link; the change should show up soon. Sorry about that.

Nobody claimed it, so I'm sorry to say it's not on the docket. Apologies.

Barf Fight: Well put, I agree that the RTS parts might turn people off. I didn't get into it because I wanted to focus more on how the game handled the music, and I found the RTS elements light enough that they didn't strike me as especially new or novel.

Broader AVC Reactions
A bunch of different perspectives on this one among the AVC games staff. I came at this review as someone who has never cared about heavy metal in the least, and I was very skeptical of this game. By the end of it, I was buying albums off iTunes that were confusing the hell out of my iTunes'…

It's always refreshing to spend a couple days pounding through a game only to be accused by some smartass commenter of barely even playing it — simply because my take differs from some dubious consensus. I finished the game, and I'm compulsive about side quests. In other words, you can take your 3-hour estimate and…

Auditorium is a very good game. I was going to review it for AVC when it was released earlier this year, but the release date was pushed back, and I couldn't work it back into the schedule after that. Your mentioning it in this comment thread now provides a happy ending to that sad tale.

Yeah, the exchange rate was rough. The show was pretty boring, too. But it has been a fun trip. Tomorrow (Wednesday) is my last day here. I swung by Nagoya to see some old friends. Jones and I were sorry you couldn't swing by for a meetup.

It's a great game, and I didn't mind the boxes, but I'm inclined to agree with this, too. Time Fcuk ought to be the glorious coda to box-pushing games.

Crap!