The latest issue of Edge - usually the best (and best informed) industry publication out there - features ten "top ten" lists, one for each genre. It's an intriguing concept; it's tough to rank, say, Tetris against Doom - not only are they incomparable, but they appeal to wildly divergent audiences. By grouping, and ranking, games by genre, you're theoretically judging equals.

That is, as long as the genre definitions are sound. You see, Edge's top ten adventure games list features only one "proper" adventure, Shenmue, and one borderline adventure-action title, Ico.

The rest? Well, would you categorise Metroid Prime, Grand Theft Auto: Vice City, or Castlevania: Symphony of the Night as adventures?

Granted, most of these games contain adventure elements - exploration, object-oriented puzzles (although, to be honest, I can't actually remember any proper puzzles in the GTA games) - and I myself have argued that the adventure genre must learn to embrace a greater range of games, not just traditional point-and-clickers.

But all of the games in Edge's list - excluding the aforementioned Shenmue - lean more towards the action/platform/shooter genres than the adventure genre (heck, even Shenmue was big on the fighting). And when the list lacks even a single traditional adventure, you have to wonder what they were thinking. Where are the widely recognised - and critically lauded - classic adventure games like Monkey Island, Day of the Tentacle, and Grim Fandango? Too 2D? Too old? Too traditional? Not sexy enough? No Miyamoto-san?

In fact, there's not a single PC game in the adventure category (and none in shooters; there are a few in the strategy list, but that's pretty much it), which is, quite frankly, amazing. Edge has always had a console-bias, and that's fine, but when you profess to list the top hundred games of all time, you really ought to give the PC some credit.

What the list really tells me is that Edge should have considered adding a top ten action-adventures list (not to mention a first-person shooter list, but that's another discussion).

But then they would have had eleven top ten lists, and that wouldn't have looked anywhere as good.

Someone ought to send off an irate letter. That always seems to work. Yes.  ¶ 22:32