Shadow of the Colossus – Team Ico, PlayStation 2, 2005

Shadow of the Colossus and its predecessor Ico are the two games people cite most frequently when arguing that video games can be considered art. That claim is absolutely warranted when backed by these masterpieces. While Ico was a fantastic, unforgettable game, Shadow of the Colossus is even more ambitious with its presentation. SotC starts you off with a sword, a horse, and a vague possibility. That’s all you need to carry you through its lonely, sad world, as you seek to topple the breathtaking colossi.

Final Fantasy X – Squaresoft, PlayStation 2, 2001

Final Fantasy VII brought RPGs to the American mainstream when it launched in 1997. At the time, no other RPG, or even other game for that matter, sought to blur the line between video game and interactive movie the way it did. Final Fantasy X wasn’t quite as revolutionary as VII, but it brought many things to the table that changed the way the RPG genre evolved. X was the first of the Final Fantasy series to feature full voice acting, and as a result the characters felt more real, far more human than any RPG before. I don’t care what anyone says about Tidus, he’s my favorite Final Fantasy hero and James Arnold Taylor was the perfect voice actor for him. The battle system is also probably my favorite in the series, featuring a turn-based menu that let you plan several turns ahead, as well as letting you swap any character in on the fly. If Final Fantasy VII is my wife, then Final Fantasy X is my mistress.

Rock Band – Harmonix, Xbox 360, 2007

Guitar Hero sucks. Let me just get that out of the way. Harmonix, who made the first two (good) Guitar Hero games, blazed a new path for the rhythm genre (again) that left its competitor scrambling to catch up by being the first to feature vocals, guitar, bass and drums in unison. There are few experiences like standing in your living room with three friends and four plastic instruments, living out your rock and roll fantasy. Everything about Rock Band shows how much Harmonix cares about what they do, from the always hilarious item descriptions in the in-game shop to the song list that celebrates every era of rock and roll’s history. Not only is the game itself fantastic, but new songs to download every week and the ability to export songs from Rock Band and Lego Rock Band into Rock Band 2 show how Harmonix really loves what they do. It pays off too, because I love to play it.

Katamari Damacy – Namco, PlayStation 2, 2004

Na naaaa, nanananananana na na na na na naaaaaaaaaaaa. Katamari Damacy is so freaking Japanese you can’t resist it. It came to America despite everyone’s expectations, at the perfect price point of $20, and became an instant megahit. There’s nothing else like it, and it is extremely satisfying to start out with a Katamari the size of a golf ball and wind up rolling up cars, buildings and people. Mere human words can’t describe the happy sunshine fun joy time that is Katamari Damacy. Go play it, or one of its sequels. They’re all fantastic.

New Super Mario Bros Wii – Nintendo, Wii, 2009

New Super Mario Bros Wii is the first console side scrolling Mario game in 19 years, and it lives up to the legacy of Super Mario Bros 3 and Super Mario World. Take the classic Mario run-and-jump gameplay, add three more players, and you have a recipe for a scrumptious fun brownie with a heaping scoop of hilarity ice cream on top. It’s so crazy trying to time your own jumps and stay out of another player’s way at the same time. It really proves that Nintendo hasn’t forgotten its roots, and it’s definitely a game you’ll be bringing out time and time again. When I’d turn it off I was almost expecting the Disney Afternoon to be on TV.

Mother 3 – Brownie Brown/HAL Labs, Game Boy Advance, 2006

Mother 3 has the honor of being the only game on this list NOT to be released in North America. Mother 3 is the sequel to EarthBound, which is so awesome that even people who haven’t played it know how awesome it is. Thanks to Clyde Mandolin and the other hardworking EarthBound fans, English speakers finally got a chance to play Shigesato Itoi’s latest masterpiece that Nintendo would never wind up giving us. Mother 3 is a heartfelt, yet melancholy tale of a family who loses it all, and the villain who never had it in the first place. The ending is one of the most moving moments in all of entertainment, and you absolutely will cry. I made a joke about how I couldn’t use words to describe Katamari Damacy, but in all seriousness I am at a complete loss when it comes to describing Mother 3. The game is just… magnificent. It’s everything wonderful about video games and storytelling all gently placed inside a tiny Game Boy Advance cartridge.

World of Warcraft – Blizzard Entertainment, PC, 2004

World of Warcraft gets a lot of flak, some if it deserved and some not. It’s definitely a very misunderstood game. There are people who take it too seriously, and it has in fact destroyed families. However, that speaks about the players more than the game itself. Christina and I play (in fact, that’s a picture of my character in the number there), but we’re not super hardcore into it and we still prefer to do other things. What World of Warcraft did that Everquest and other games failed to do was make MMOs accessible. You can play as casually or as hardcore as you want to, but you always feel like you’re a part of the world of Azeroth. Of course it’s a grindfest going from level 1 to level 80, but the world is as gorgeous as it is engaging. There’s so many varied landscapes and different storylines to follow that it seems impossible to see it all. It’s quite an achievement as far as video game development goes, and there’s 11 million people who agree with me.

Wii Sports – Nintendo, Wii, 2006

While we’re talking about achievements, can we talk about how Wii Sports has COMPLETELY opened up video games to people who would otherwise never give them a second glance? Not everyone can master a controller with 10 buttons, but anyone can swing a baseball bat or throw a bowling ball. It brilliantly showcases the Wii Remote’s capabilities by making the game something that anyone can play. This is the game that a lot of people who have forgotten how to have fun will say “ruined gaming” by making it “too casual.” These people are idiots, and forgot that video games are supposed to be about having fun. How can you not have fun playing Wii Sports with your mom, who would never wind up playing Street Fighter or Halo with you? Turn on Wii Sports at any family gathering and it’s an immediate good time. Wii Sports was definitely a turning point in the history of gaming, and definitely not for the worse.

Portal – Valve, Xbox 360/PC, 2007

Portal came out of nowhere and blew everyone away. One of the most unanimously revered games that the industry has ever seen, Portal shows you don’t need a deep story, a huge cast of characters and hundreds of hours of gamplay to be unforgettable. You have a portal gun, a cube, MAYBE some cake, an artificial intelligence that may or may not be trying to kill you, who knows, and the best ending credits song ever.

Braid – Number None, Xbox 360, 2008

Big budgets? Feh. Development teams of 100+ people? Yawn. One designer, one artist and $200,000 was all it took for Braid to be born and turn people’s perception of independent game design upside down. In my opinion, if would be difficult, if not impossible, for Braid to have ever been created by a big game design company. Too many corporate producers having their say, too much “market research,” too much thought, not enough soul. Jonathan Blow’s magnum opus could only be as special as it is because it was his vision, he selected the artist to help him bring that vision to life. The platforming gameplay seems easy enough, but once you start having to manipulate time in order to work your way through the dazzling hand-painted worlds, things get much more difficult, and a whole lot better. Braid’s insurmountably phenomenal success as a piece of art is hard to weigh against its impact on video gaming as a whole, but it was without a doubt the best game, in my opinion, to be released in the last decade.