Nielsen Was Wrong: The Real Gamers' Holiday 2011 Most-Wanted

After reading this article on GameRevolution's news feed and seeing all the negative feedback Nielsen's poll was getting, I decided to do a little poll of my own to determine what the GR readers would vote as their Most Wanted Games of Holiday 2011.

20 of you voted. Here are the results (finally). All point totals were determined using science.

#26 (7-Way Tie)

Madden NFL 12 (1 Point): MattAY votes for this because he's predictably Brit… uhh… hmm.

Halo: Combat Evolved Anniversary (1 Point): Put your 3D glasses on and play a game from 2001.

Spider-Man: Edge of Time (1 Point): It must be good. Beause it's licensed property.

Rocksmith (1 Point)

Mario Kart 7 (1 Point)

Ultimate Marvel Vs. Capcom (1 Point)

Just Dance 3 (1 Point)

#21 (5-Way Tie)

Ratchet & Clank: All 4 One (2 Points)

FIFA Soccer 12 (2 Points): MattAY votes for this because he's predictably British.

Minecraft (2 Points): Resident PC fan Cyberjim2000 gives his blocky heart to Minecraft, which he's probably playing all the time. But it's not officially released. Computers are weird.

I Am Alive (2 Points):I am like, oh yeah, this game. I guess it might coming out someday. Maybe.

Ace Combat Assault Horizon: High Altitude. Even Higher Altitude (2 Points): This isn't the actual title of the game, but it's the tagline that Namco Bandai has chosen to emblazon the website with. So amazing.

#19 (2-Way Tie)

Torchlight II (3 Points): De-Ting needs more Diablo clones in his life. That and tentacles. Never enough tentacles.

Gears of War 3 (3 Points): This game would probably have gotten more points in this poll if UghRochester were here. He would have pulled a Longo and voted for it 5 times. And then I would have been too afraid of him and his replica Lancer to say no.

#18 WWE '12 (4 Points)

Kingg5 is sorta into the wrasslin'.

#13 (5-Way Tie)

Star Wars: The Old Republic (5 Points) (1 first-place vote): Rinnon voted for SWTOR

ICO and Shadow of the Colossus HD Collection (5 Points) (1 first-place vote): Lokness voted for SOTC/ICO HD

Pro Evolution Soccer 2012 (5 Points) (1 first-place vote): Bras voted for PES 2012. MENUS!

Sonic Generations (5 Points) (1 first-place vote): TheDiesel voted for Sonic (and was maybe a little embarrassed about it (as he should be)(?))

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 (5 Points): The top game on Nielsen's list only gets two votes from my polled GR readers.

#12 RAGE (6 Points)

Coming in near the bottom of several gamers' lists, RAGE scrapes together enough points for a #12 finish. GR's timely review is here.

#11 Silent Hill: Downpour (8 Points) (1 first-place vote)

Receiving a first-place vote from SH-obsessed WickedLiquid helped the latest Silent-Hill-game-that-won't-be-as-good-as-Silent-Hill-2 get a respectable 8 points.

#8 (3-Way Tie)

Deus Ex: Human Revolution (9 Points): A lot of voters were unsure if they should count already-released games as part of the "Holiday Releases" but my first rule is they ain't no rules, man so whatever. Nielsen did it, too!

Metal Gear Solid: HD Collection (9 Points): Snake is back and looking as high-definition as ever. I mean, not as high-def as MGS 4 but still – pretty high-def.

Saints Row: The Third (9 Points): Slap grannie with a dildo… THIS CHRISTMAS.

#7 Assassin's Creed: Revelations (18 Points)

Zero first-place votes for the latest yearly release of the AC series, but still enough to get into the Top 10.

#6 Dark Souls (19 Points) (2 first-place votes)

Longo_2_guns and Green_Lantern are masochistic weirdos who already have a whole forum topic to themselves where they talk about "mystery keys" and Estus Flasks. Then they vote Dark Souls for #1 and it's like, yeah, I know. Got it.

Check out the Top 5 on the next page!

#5 Battlefield 3 (21 Points) (1 first-place vote)

danielrbischoff loves him some goddamned Squad Rush, providing the lone first-place vote for Battlefield 3, which goes prone and sneaks into the Top 5.

#4 The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword (22 Points) (2 first-place votes)

Who said the Wii was dead… or like… unplugged… and maybe just used for Netflix in the bedroom? NOT ME! Totally did not say those things. The Hero of Hyrule is back this winter on Wii and GR has spoken. #4 for you, my little elf buddy guy.

#3 Batman: Arkham City (36 Points) (2 first-place votes)

Nana nana nana nana, nana nana nana nana BAH MAN! Fans of the Dark Knight have spoken; zopping and fooping the hero into the #3 spot. Touting a miles-wide open-world city, a cast of villains just as large, and the chance to play as the sexy thief Catwoman, Arkham City looks to steal gamers' hearts… and our precious rare plants!

#2 Uncharted 3: Drake's Deception (37 Points) (3 first-place votes)

Anthony Severino says that the final game in the Uncharted trilogy will be even better than the last two GOTY-contenders, and GR's readers are keeping their hopes high, voting this PS3-exclusive into the #2 spot.

#1 The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim (45 Points) (5 first-place votes)

Receiving the most points total, as well as the most first-place votes, Bethesda's upcoming, dragon-slaying, first-person hacker/slasher/caster is the title that generated the most shock toward the Nielsen poll. Skyrim showed up at an alarming 15th place among Nielsen's polled consumers – and compelling me to do this little pet project. The GR forums have had an Official Topic on Skyrim since July, so, yeahhhhh….