I hope this doesn't start an all out war, but I wanted to offer some opinions. I think the list is pretty good. I would debate the inclusion of Max Payne and Sam Fisher. Now, before I elaborate, I will make the caveat that I have played none of the games that feature these two characters. Therefore, those that have may fully understand the reasons that they make their appearances.
After reading the comments about Max Payne and Sam Fisher, I realized one thing that made them memorable was their personalities. Jason talked about demeanors and wits, and I believe that is what may have distinguished them enough to make the list. Almost all modern video game characters have a voice now. Everyone on the 10 Best has had a voice whether in the game or in another medium like Sonic, Link, Mario, and Mega Man. (Didn't Gordon Freeman have a voice? I played Half-Life my freshman year of college, but that was 5 years ago).
With this distinction, I can understand why my favorite video game character, Samus Aran from the Metroid series, did not make the list. Except for the grunts of the Prime games, we have yet to hear Samus speak. I think it is interesting, however, that the Metroid games still have IMDB pages and a voice actress is credited for those grunts. I think Samus has a better resume than all of the characters 6 and above except for maybe Laura Croft. No one can deny the impact Halo or Half-Life had on the gaming world, so I will not debate their inclusion. Thus, it brings me back to the two I mentioned earlier. Perhaps Samus does not have the depth of character the others have because she lacks a voice. If John Woo ever makes the Metroid movie, and I hope he doesn't until I am famous enough to get him to read my script, then the Chozo saviour may finally have a voice.
So my critique of the list is to knock off either Max Payne or Sam Fisher and add Samus.
After reading the comments about Max Payne and Sam Fisher, I realized one thing that made them memorable was their personalities. Jason talked about demeanors and wits, and I believe that is what may have distinguished them enough to make the list. Almost all modern video game characters have a voice now. Everyone on the 10 Best has had a voice whether in the game or in another medium like Sonic, Link, Mario, and Mega Man. (Didn't Gordon Freeman have a voice? I played Half-Life my freshman year of college, but that was 5 years ago).
With this distinction, I can understand why my favorite video game character, Samus Aran from the Metroid series, did not make the list. Except for the grunts of the Prime games, we have yet to hear Samus speak. I think it is interesting, however, that the Metroid games still have IMDB pages and a voice actress is credited for those grunts. I think Samus has a better resume than all of the characters 6 and above except for maybe Laura Croft. No one can deny the impact Halo or Half-Life had on the gaming world, so I will not debate their inclusion. Thus, it brings me back to the two I mentioned earlier. Perhaps Samus does not have the depth of character the others have because she lacks a voice. If John Woo ever makes the Metroid movie, and I hope he doesn't until I am famous enough to get him to read my script, then the Chozo saviour may finally have a voice.
So my critique of the list is to knock off either Max Payne or Sam Fisher and add Samus.