It’s makes perfect sense that the London-based record publisher would delve into the world of interactive entertainment, honing in on gamers’ competitive desires for records and leaderboards. Civilization has finally received answers to its burning questions such as who can hold the longest Dance Dance Revolution marathon (or, similarly, LittleBigPlanet 2).

Recently, however, Guinness has decided to eschew personal achievement for personal opinion - and the results promise to be nothing short of controversial. Similar to their fan polling of the best video game series of all time, Guinness World Records surveyed 13,519 gamers as to which video games featured the greatest ending. To no one’s surprise, almost every single game was a product of the 21st Century, and #1 on the list was Activision and Treyarch’s Call of Duty: Black Ops with its star-spangled ending and unique twist on the Kennedy assassination.

Here are the top 50 winners in full:

Now, interestingly enough, Guinness did fully acknowledge that the list would “cause heated debate among passionate gamers,” and we can’t help but think of that as the sole reason for this blatant popularity contest even existing.

Games, as an art form - you heard us right Roger Ebert - allow for the player to interpret them as they see fit, so we won’t lash out at anyone for saying that their favorite ending was that of Call of Duty: Black Ops or even Duke Nukem: Forever. But much the same way chart-topping music or blockbuster movies aren’t always the best indicator of quality, a fan vote will always cloud the issue more than it will clarify it. To try to create a “definitive” list placing Black Ops above stellar narratives like Red Dead Redemption, Halo, or Resident Evil 4… well, that’s just vain.

Just in case you wanted to relieve it in all it’s splendor, though, or don’t care to be spoiled, here it is - the greatest video game ending in the history of the homo-sapiens species [SPOILERS]:

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CsWjsHgY0Tc

Ranters, what is your favorite video game ending of all time? Did Guinness make a pretty accurate list with Call of Duty: Black Ops as its #1, or would you toss that list into the shredder as soon as you got your hands on it?

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Source: Guinness World Records [via Destructoid]