that's all well and good. but my point is that this thread didn't take it from that angle. it tried purely to guage the excellence of the game in the eyes of the player on far too many categories for it to work. although i feel that the method you suggested allows for a few too many biases in determining if a game is great or not, it's not a bad idea. it could work given the right parameters.
did the company achieve the goals they set forth? did they exceed them? did they meet the expectations of the player? was it purposeful that they exceeded their expectations or pure chance? were these goals lofty or minimalistic? was the game well made despite everything? could it be improved upon?
these are in essence the most important questions to ask, and although most of it will be opinion, thats the whole point and its a decent way to guage success. and you're the one who hit on these questions. so kudos to you.
since the question has somewhat changed, here's my stance on the issue:
2kgames hit on a very novel idea with bioshock. it combined a lot of very interesting elements and moral dilemmas, and it set it in a time frame that made it a thrill. and the dystopia created was vastly superior to many i've seen outside of silent hill. and
that was some creepy ****. graphically, plot wise, and in terms of gameplay, i think 2kgames set some very lofty goals and managed to exceed them.
to me, Halo 3 seems too....generic now. the overall plotline doesn't really change. you get new enemies and new guns and that's pretty much it. they did maintain their style and all that very very well sure. but outside of that, it seemed...uninspired. it was simply one of those series that got worse as it progressed. they certainly achieved their goals and pulled it off well, but if all people looked forward to was the multiplayer, then it was hardly worth making the campaign for it. all the hype about halo 3 wasn't really worth listening to because outside of a few small changes, it was practically the same as the last 2 games. in that sense, they achieved the company goals, but they didn't exceed my expectations. i expected better of the game than what it offered. it needed a bigger plot twist, better weapons etc.