My how the videogame industry has changed. Ten years ago, Japanese developers were untouchable. Rock stars. Now they have become a mockery of themselves. A mess of poor decisions, stubbornness, ego, and creative sludge; exemplified to the Western world through the Internet’s omniscient existence.

Take for example the recent trend of naming their games the most ridiculous title ever conceived by upright humans. Okay, Kingdom Hearts Re:Chain of Memories isn’t too bad, as long as no one realizes Re: is pretty standard nowadays for reply or regarding, not remake. But not to be outdone, two new chapters in the series – 358/2 Days and Birth by Sleep - are inconceivably bad.

This isn’t some Lost In Translation situation, this is all about Japanese developers thinking they are clever and creative to use the English language in a way it was never meant to be. How about the untouchable Hideo Kojima – you know, the guy who probably cost Konami millions of dollars by refusing to port Metal Gear Solid 4 to the Xbox 360? Smart man. That brain came up with Metal Gear Solid 2: Substance, which was titled because he likes Joy Division. It might not even sound that out of place, if it weren’t for Metal Gear Solid 3: Subsistence. So what do we get with Metal Gear Solid 4 - Substandard?

What about that tired trend of making every DS entry from a storied franchise have a subtitle that starts with the letters “D” and “S”? Dual of Sandwiches, anyone? And who could ever forget classics like Irritating Stick or Infinite Undiscovery? Japan is the land where shit is polished into Shinola, no doubt.

With some practice, I think I could make a pretty rich living in Japan coming up with names for games to reach Japanese audiences. Instead of Call of Duty, let’s call it WW3 .reload. Or instead of Halo, call it Ring of Space: Unavoidable Flood. Or Mass Effect could be called Space Jockey: Death by Talk. When anyone in Japan asks what’s for desert, are they told 4/1 Eat Prepare:  @Epilogue?

So let’s play a game, I’ll call it .Histerical Game. Take a normal game, say Gears of War 2, and give it a Japanese title, say Bandana of War re:Under/Ground. Post in the comments section or send me a Twitter with your creations. I’m looking forward to a good laugh!

You know the section in Gamer Informer where they have a developer and reader list their top five games of all time? I’m always interested in reading not the games they select, but rather the range (or lack thereof) of eras in their selections. The January selection from reader Joshua Lopez was especial heavy on recent titles from the PS2 and Xbox 360 era. Here’s his top five:

1. Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty - PS2
2. Max Payne - PS2
3. Grand Theft Auto IV - Xbox 360
4. God of War - PS2
5. Kane & Lynch: Dead Men - Xbox 360

Now, this is one person’s opinion, and everyone’s entitled to one so I won’t argue its validity, but rather I’ll merely acknowledge its existence. There are several personal factors which might have influenced his selection, such as age, financial status, or other means which would prevent or hinder him from access to any given game. I’ll also say the games on his list are no slouch, either. But I ask the question, do they have what it takes to stand the test of time and be heralded among the best the industry has to offer – past, present and future?

I look to my own experiment of listing my favorite games, which I wrote about a couple of weeks ago. What I found was a list which largely consisted of games in the 10 to 15 year age range. In my analysis, I asked the question, “will there ever be a modern classic?” And what I’ve found is by looking at the GI list above, the answer is, “maybe”.

It seems I informally enforced my own criteria in selecting my all time favs. On top of the said personal influences, I looked to see which games have indeed stood the test of time for ten years or greater. In addition this time period covers videogame past generations of two or more, the most recent game being from the Dreamcast gen.

So then as I dive deeper into what makes a game “the greatest of all time”, why don’t we all implement such selection criteria? Let me give some examples:

• The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame says an artist is eligible 25 years after the release of their first album.
• The Pro Football and Major League Baseball Hall of Fames requires a candidate to be retired at least five years before eligibility

The Computer Gaming World folks maintained their own Hall of Fame for years. Although the exact selection criteria used is unknown, the most recent game on their list was Baldur’s Gate II: Shadows of Amn from 2001, which more or less also gave it a five year waiting period before eligibility. Gamespot ceased their selection of The Greatest Games of All Time back in 2007, when the last inductee was Grand Theft Auto III, released in 2001. So it appears as if the gaming press implemented their own criteria individually, but never has there been a universal, official standard process.

That’s where I invite everyone reading my blog and Twitter posts to help define this. Let’s come together and standardize the selection process for the greatest games ever made. We might all have different games on our individual lists, but at least we’ll all be picking from the same pool.

Comment with your ideas for selection critieria to this post, or send me a Twitter, and I’ll compile the results and ideas into a later post on the blog.

First it was Friendster. Then it was MySpace. Now it’s Facebook, Digg, LinkedIn, Twitter, and the list goes on and on. The backbone of the Web 2.0 movement has been all about social networking, and it’s pretty much professional suicide to exist on the Internet in this day and age without getting involved in it.

Videogames are no exception. Microsoft has been on the gaming forefront with its implementation of the Xbox Live Gamer Card, which has been aped unabashedly by Playstation – and largely ignored altogether by Nintendo. Ironically Microsoft succeeded on the console front but failed miserably with the implementation of Games for Windows Live on the PC; whereas Valve Software’s Steam service is considered the de facto standard for the PC gaming community. The problem here is these are three separate, closed communities.

Looks like J Allard was on to something, though. In a 2.0 world where individuals are aggregated and propagated through the tubes like yesterday’s dinner (yes, I did go there), social networking in videogames can only succeed if users are able to live well beyond the limitations of their consoles. That is where sites like gamerDNA and Rupture come in. Unlike Steam Community, which is exclusive to PC gaming, gamerDNA and Rupture pull together these separate gaming networks, such as XBL, Playstation Network and Steam, to create an overall gaming profile for a user; but more importantly provide additional social features to connect gamers across the Web.

Having used both services for a few weeks, the nod for the better service right now goes to gamerDNA for how it allows users to find others based on the games they enjoy, not just their current gaming activity. For example, I can browse all users who have Wipeout XL on their games list, and determine from their overall profile if I’m interested in adding them as a friend. I can take “quizzes”, which, like some crazy concoction of pipes, beakers and bunson burners one would find in a Mad Scientists laboratory, compiles the results to determine my player personality, as well as connect me with gamers who share similar personality traits. There’s the Twitter-like Shout Box, I can comment on any experiences aggregated from my external gaming networks, and all this can be broadcast back out through the web via Twitter, tumblr or RSS. Most important, gamerDNA has the biggest and most accessible community between the two services, which is imperative if you’re looking to connect with other gamers.

I’ve compiled a list of features between the two sites in the table below. If you’re at all interested, feel free to add me as a friend here and here.

[UPDATE] gamerDNA’s own Sam Houston dropped by with a couple of corrections regarding World of Warcraft and Warhammer Online integration in the form of dynamic signatures. I’ve added this information to the table below. Thanks Sam!