It’s time for endless top 10 lists. So what makes my list special? The answer is that while other top 10 lists are merely the opinions of people, this list has been put together by teams of scientists working in laboratories for months on a new super computer to determine the definitive list of the 10 best games released in the decade based on their quality, design, and impact.
Here they are:
This game has sold over 47 trillion copies in over 5 million countries on 3 million devices. It has single handedly helped replace Solitaire as the game people spend crazy amounts of time on without admitting it.
Call of Duty 4 was the very first game that featured the player holding a weapon of some sort from the “first person” perspective and then shooting other people.
Or not. What made Call of Duty 4 special is that it helped mainstream these types of games in a way nothing before it had. Sure, you reading this have played Counterstrike endlessly. Heck, I probably shot you through a wall (damn punk buster). But normal people play Call of Duty. Even people who watch the footed ball sport game on TV.
Half-Life, Counterstrike, Portal. These are the games you must play to be a man – even if you’re a woman. Without their success, the 3D engine that powers them, Source, wouldn’t have been able to be used on other titles that we enjoy today. Titles that involve killing zombies. Moreover, the success of the Orange Box helped launch the increasingly ubiquitous Steam digital distribution platform.
Can you imagine life without Team Fortress? Do you want to live that life? I didn’t think so.
Without the Wii thousands of children whose parents happily let them watch hours of Sponge Bob would be deprived of playing video games on the basis of it not being “active”. Wii Sports helped get millions of Wii’s into people’s houses where children could quickly migrate to games that were more fun.
Okay: Watch this: JAR JAR. Note the involuntary tremor you just experienced. Knights of the Old Republic was so good that helped save the Star Wars universe. Moreover, apparently there was a way to win the game as a good guy…
JAR JAR!
Halo demonstrated that yes, a first person shooter on the console can be fun. Not for me. But for other people anyway and that opened the consoles to a whole new world of awesome games.
Allegedly not everyone plays The Sims to lock up their Sims in a room and watch them starve to death. At least, that’s what my team of therapists claim.
A court order prevents me from playing this game again but it and its similar “Rock Band” have become a genre of their own that has really helped expand the realm of gaming to another level.
This urban training tool took on a life of its own. Social services continues to complain that I allow my children to play the games but as my driveway full of stolen sports cars indicates, it can pay dividends.
Pretty much everyone has played this game at one time or other. Sure, games like Ultima Online and Everquest were first but nothing in that genre has had the impact of World of Warcraft.
Consider this, World of Warcraft allegedly grossed approximately $1 billion in 2008. If World of Warcraft was a country, it would be richer than Liberia.
Now, I’m sure this list doesn’t have every favorite game of all time. No Super Mario Galaxy? No Metroid Prime? What about Soul Calibur? Resident Evil 4? Don’t blame me, blame the scientists and their sentient machines!
See you next decade!
Lies...all lies
Being a pure strategy gamer, Sins of a Solar Empire gets tops for me. And I'd say that anywhere, not just here.
BTW, I've never played any of those, with the exception of Portal.
hmm.. not a single game on this list that would be on my list...
Hmmm......this seems to be more of a most successful games of the decade thing, but that doesn't mean I disagree with the list. However, mine is wildly different;
1. Half Life 2. 2. God of War 2. 3. Shadow of the Colossus. 4. Grand Theft Auto 3. 5. Knights of the Old Republic. 6. Halo. 7. Bioshock. 8. Call of Duty: Modern Warfare. 9. Rome: Total War. 10. Mass Effect.
Bias aside, I agree wholly with several of those games, even if they weren't my favourite games. HL2 was the modern FPS revolution, God of War 2 was frickin brilliant in every way, Shadow of the Colossus was the most artistic and amazing game I have ever played, GTA3 was the one that started the whole open-world craze with Grand Theft Auto, Knights of the Old Republic had to be the most loved RPG I've seen, Halo was simply an astoundingly good game that didn't do anything new, Bioshock has the best story out of any game I've ever known and is masterful in every way, Modern Warfare was always going to surge to greatness even though it didn't do anything new, Rome: TW was the best strategy game of the decade for me and Mass Effect has got to be my most favourite game ever. My list will probably change after this year though, when the decade is truly over. I'm thinking The Last Guardian and God of War 3 are going to infiltrate that list, and there are several games I think should be on my list but are beaten slightly (Gran Turismo 3 for example). This is just my opinion.
You think us FF fans only play it because its graphics gets better? No we play it because FF has some of the best stories of the gaming industry.
Micheal jackson!
Here's my take on the top 10 list:10. Bejeweled - casual game, not notworthy09. Call of Duty 4 - one of my PS3 favorites and a high ranker for me too!08. The Orange Box - this whole package is a definitely a high ranker, the Half-Life 2 games are one of my personal top favorites in PC gaming07. Wii Sports - a casual game and NOT one of my favorites but noteworthy for bringing casual gaming to the masses since this seems to be what most older Wii owners play06. Knights of the Old Republic - One of the best Western RPGs and Bioware is an excellent developer. This is one of my all-time favorites.05. Halo - A big favorite of mine. I like this game more than Halo 2, and Halo 3 is of no interest to me. The Halo storyline and gameplay got old with Halo 2. The PC version is the best version to play after all the patches and with today's PCs.04. The Sims - a casual game that made PC gaming more interesting to non-gamers and a game that holds no interest to me. Very noteworthy for it's sales and popularity, and is the best game of it's type.03. Guitar Hero - Brought good old rock and roll and metal to the younger generation!02. Grand Theft Auto III - Not one of my favorites and has no appeal to me. An excellent game for those that like this type of game. This game set the standard for open sandbox type games. A very noteworthy title and definitely deserving being one of the top games even if it's not a game I am fond of.01. World of Warcraft - A game I find myself dwindling a way lot of my free time on when I do have an active subscription. It brought MMORPG gaming to the masses but still a very deep and hardcore game.
Brad, were you even 30 in 2000?
C'mon these might be the BEST MARKETED games. How could you leave out MechWarrior 3. 1-the first Direct3D game (that I'm aware of), 2-pushed the envelope with multi-axis joysticks. 3-realtime multiplayer.
Gazes at list, blink something in my eye..Gazes back ugh! Somebody take him to the doctor please!! He has a case of incuriable post traumatic gaming disorder.
Intersting factoid:
Computer games (like most in the Orange Box, CoD4 & the GTA series) get constant misguided scorn heaped on them about leading the yooff of today towards violence.
And then along comes a nice game like The Sims. Good, clean, harmless family entertainment.
Which is why, on being introduced to The Sims, my pre-teen nieces who hadn't really played any computer games before figured out within minutes how much fun it is to give you sims a nice swimming pool with a lovely diving board, watch them jump into the pool and splash around having fun - just before they realise that you have just taken away the ladder and they start drowning.
Probably because there were "casual" games that transformed the industry this decade, which Random Shooter #85482717212 didn't do. Is the "best" game one that does the same thing for the same small hardcore crowd, or one that draws in millions of new gamers?
Brad, your list is far better than most of the legit magazine lists I've seen. They tend to leave out games that changed things like Bejewelled and Guitar Hero. And simply put games they liked in there, like Deus Ex...
Casual games don't do anything but pollute the industry. Making crappy games that appeal to a large audience doesn't do anything but expose more stupid people to videogames. If you wish to contend that Miley Cyrus did more for the genre of rock music than Thin Lizzy because Miley Cyrus brought rock music to more people, brace for laughter beyond the comfortable decibel range of your ears.
[mod edit: don't quote spam]
Goddamn spambot. Bad enough you invaded the Matrix forums yesterday, now you have to come here too?
Bah. Begone!
This list was obviously dreamed up by Dr. Lee.
That means they're a good thing. The more people "exposed" to videogames, and the larger the audience, the more money there is in videogames, which means companies can make more money producing videogames, in turn leading more companies to produce games/existing companies to produce more, and be able to spend more on producing them, meaning we get a wider selection of games to choose from, as well as more games which have had more money spent on them, meaning better quality ones as well.
In the end, all you end up with is an endless sea of bland.
The games that aren't bland aren't as profitable, since they are aimed at a specific market, thus the same amount of money will never be put into them. The bulk of money produced by bland games, will be put into the development of even more bland games.
OK. I'll bite here's my list:
I had a better list for the previous couple of decades (geez getting old) but these are the ones that stand out for me. While Brad's top 10 have mass appeal I could never get into them.
What a stupid list, Brad. Where's Galciv?
The issue with most of the lists we have been tossing up to counter the OP list is that, while we may love some of those games, they just don't have any impact. GalCiv was an amazing game, but it wasn't widley played in the mainstream and didn't really effect anyone beyond its niche. Same with many other great games. Sad to say but Madden NFL probably had more impact than master of magic. It hurts, but we just have to accept that the best games around get passed over because they don't have a bunch of football players in them.
I'm going to add a vote for Neverwinter Nights (I, not II). This game was pretty darn revolutionary, IMHO, and still has a HUGE following and a heavily active community.
NWN1 made me sleep for 18 hours.
You mean as opposed to the lists that are full of random shooter #9284904393, right? Nothing bland about that at all.
WHY THE HELL IS WOW FIRST!!!
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