More insight from a "relative" newcomer to the site...
Umihara Kawase I'd never watch... well maybe one day I'm *really* bored, but it just seems so off the wall. I've seen the pages with the maps for the game and done my research, but overall it's just... meh to me. Bionic Commando was one of my favorite games back in the 8-bit day, beating it tons of times. Being jewish as well, I don't fault the Jap version, after all I'm here to watch TAS'es, not be offended by the graphics programmers put in the game so long ago. The TAS player isin't the artistic inspiration of the game, so why hold them accountable? I'd still rather see a more well known game starred over a very unknown one.
I *bought* Dragon Warrior when it came out, got another copy from Nintendo Power which I loaned to friends to compete with, and finished the game over 6 times throught the years on many platforms (NES/Emu/GBC basically). I've watched the TAS about 8 times as well - in terms of luck manipulation, it's absolutely fantastic. It remains one of the most watched videos at my house, along with the Zelda 2 by Gigafrost. I haven't checked, but just from how well known the game is, IMHO it should have had a star a long time ago.
On to the star debate, let me throw this at you... If stars are "awards" for being something new people should watch, how is that different from Video Game Awards? You've got Spike awards, magazine awards (many of them), G4 awards (I think)... and in all those, how many just have 1 catagory, "Game of the Year"? I'm wondering why there aren't more catagories for the stars on this site... many videos have many different qualities that can make them suitable for newcombers, maybe it's time to expand a little bit? Imagine this... you have a top-20 list. 20 Games total, ranked on "overall impressiveness", taking into consideration every single facet that makes the video great. You never have more then 20, and as new movies are made, the list can change. Have a page that lists them off the main page. Now, add another sub-catagory off that... Instead of "Must See", have "Exceptionally Played", and give them... I don't know a blue or red star. Here, you can have as many as you want, but they *must* be a contender in some way for a star, and they at least have 1 redeeming quality that really makes it stand out on it's own. Add the reason to the description, and bam, everyone is happy.
I did like the idea to have a section where "If you liked this movie, also see..." is added to games with more then one contender. Make another sub-catagory of stars with a different color, or just add it to the descriptions.
For my own experience, I lurked for about a week before I even pulled up the star page, then watched probably 75% of the ones listed. It did feel like it was a bit long and packed with movies, to agree with Bisquit on that. I don't think it's a reason not to give "awards" to other videos as well played though. If the site did have these "sections" of stars, I'm sure I would work my way through all of the lists in time, just out of interest. Start with the top 20 (or even 10?), then go through the "Honorable Mentions", then check the "Also see..." lists.
But thats two cents from a noob. =P On to more typical behavior for one with the status I carry... OMG there is a less then 5 minute Zelda:ALttP video? How did I manage to miss THAT all this time?? Time to go kill a couple more hours watching videos, starting with that. =)