Topic: CNN knows gaming! (Top 10 games of the decade... really?)

http://www.cnn.com/2010/TECH/gaming.gadgets/06/15/best.video....

An opinion piece couched as fact, coming from the mind of one core-focused gamer who doesn't care to look beyond the Playstation brand for his choices? Yeah, this article was too good not to comment on.

CNN actually does a decent job picking out some influential and enjoyable games from 2000-2010... but no representation from Nintendo other than Resident Evil 4 seems odd to me. Do Bioshock and/or God of War really deserve to be on the list? And what is the real purpose of his list: picking the best games, the most influential games, or just well known "core" favorites that will drive page hits?

Not including any nod to motion controls is a poor choice, given the fact that all three consoles have now shown a major focus on motion-controlled gaming. Wii Sports or Tiger Woods represent the best choices to go on the list in my opinion, although games like Boom Blox or Mario Kart Wii could also belond. It's also disappointing to not see anything from PopCap games, or free casual games like Farmville... but I guess adding The Sims was supposed to be his "casual catch-all".

So what are your picks for 10 Best Games of the Decade?

Does Bioshock deserve to be on the list? Hell yes.

Lists like this are always highly subjective and honestly it's a pretty decent one.

God of War definitely does deserve to be on that list, GoW 2 was so awesomely epic and fun to play and would definitely be on my top 10 list. Plus this was a list of the most influential games of the past decade and most of them are proper picks IMO.

So Bioshock doesn't deserve a spot on a top 10 list...but Farmville does?

You've just illustrated the reason that no list of this kind will please anyone but the author.

That is part of my problem with the article. The author had no real focus and couldn't decide what his article was supposed to be. Even though the author claims that his list "highlights 10 of the last decade's best and most influential games", this selection falls short from either perspective.

Is the list supposed to illustrate the most important or influential games of the past decade? More people have spent many more hours with Farmville and PopCap games than Bioshock - which is a good but derivative and often repetitive game. And not including any motion-controlled game is either ignorance or stupidity when you consider that both Sony and MS dedicated significant time from the E3 presentations this year to address motion controls.

Is the list supposed to be the best games overall? In that case there are several games on the list that don't think belong there. Despite being good games, they've been improved upon by successors and imitators. Metacritic isn't nearly the authority it would like to be, but does provide some backing for this assessment.

If this was a blog highlighting his personal favorites, I would have no complaint. But when this is presented as actual Tech news on CNN and given the authoritative title it has, I can't help but scoff.

Hmm, I actually don't think that Bioshock deserves to be on that list. It is a great game, yes, but a little light on the influential part. Also, God of War falls short in that department as well, in fact, this game is quite the opposite. Resident Evil 4, I am unsure. Now, I have not played Oblivion, but is Morrowind not very similar? Shouldn't it be Morrowind on that list, not Oblivion? I can't comment on Shadow of Colossus.

It was actually a pretty good list. I would have had Mario Galaxy on it somewhere and get rid of the sims, but otherwise it's pretty good.
Oh, and Bioshock is definitely good enough to be on this list.

LOL check out the comments on the CNN page
jsizzle - What about Madden???
Oh man, I can see that many Nintendo fans will get irked by this list considering there are exclusives for MS and Sony but not for Nintendo... Oh well, not a problem for me. The list isn't what I would pick as most influential, but it's a pretty good list. And yes, I would keep Bioshock on that list as well, it's an amazing story driven FPS that helped keep a genre fresh.

Awful list. I can agree with Sims, WoW, Halo (although 2 is more important to the XBox), and Guitar Hero. All are Genre or company making beasts. I can see the arguement behind Fable, and if it was top 20 I could see Elder Scrolls. I agree with the TC that Farmville should be on here, just think about the player base it has. Wii Sports is a glaring omission, that was a 2 year phenom that revived Nintendo as a home console. I hate to say it but a CoD4:MW needs to be on there. An argument can be made for Brain Age, it was a killer app that helped expand the DS demographic and created a base of players larger than all three home consoles. Although if GTA was birthed in this decade i would have agreed, but just adding GTA3 in when GTA2 made the series... but I can see his point, the sandbox genre is important. Just bad timing.

The list obviously had some major thought as all the games are mainly starter games that have big elements in them that have inspired most all the games we play today.

_The Sims and Wow- Both of these games literally saved PC Gaming and are two of the biggest commercial sucesses there are.

_Bioshock- is one of the most outstanding FPS achievments ever created. It blends FPS gaming in a way no other has ever done and its BIGGEST development achievement its its setting. Rapture is a world unlike no other, and game today are trying to include the settings/feel of a world in there games like 2K did with Rapture.

_GTA 3- does it need anymore said. Every sandbox game you play, heck dang near every game you play today own homage to GTA 3 in some way.

_Halo- its what grabbed everyone to the Microsoft franchise and how they afforded to develop the sequels, Gears and Fable. If it wasnt for Halo the 360 wouldnt be what it is today and its also the Highlight of American Gaming! Online console FPS really got started here in mainstream followed by Call of Duty 4 as well.

_Resident Evil 4- how can you reinvigorate a genre? Maybe looking at this game can help!

_God of War- Dantes Inferno, Darksiders, Heavenly Sword, and on and on and on the games go that have taken inspiration for God of War. Its has taken a linear/combat style strategy type gameplay to the roof. Also it created a new gimmick in gameing that is being found in all games nearly now and that is Quick Time Events.

_Guitar Hero- if you dont know why this is on the list, do dig a 6 ft hole and jump in

_Elder Scrolls- Massive open world gameplay with RPG real time gamplay as well. Morrowind tried but the hardware couldnt really do it and was way too flawed to really show what the genre could be. Morowind nailed it, and now is paving the way for Fallout 3, Vegas, Borderlands, etc. Elder Scrolls started something I dont think we will ever see stop in our gaming.

_Shadow of Colossus- ever hear all these "are games art" debates. They started with this game. Ico (its prequel) would have if the graphics were better I think but SoC really nailed it. Its drew you in, and emotional captivated the gamers drastically. Made you feel bad for your actions but made you desire to push on. Emotional attachment in action gameplay is one of this games biggest highlights and we will never see it stop.

All these games started something that we will never see stop. That is why this list is perfect. Mario Galaxy didnt, it actually took an idea of circle world gameplay from a PS2 franchise and expanded on it extremely well, but really did nothing drastic that we will see live on in our game from now on like all these games did. I have to think the author is a gamer and Im really impressed with this article. All these game brought something into the mainstream to commercial success, even when they had predecessors that didnt do so well.

It seems more like a list of extremely popular/influential games, NOT specifically great games (since many, including myself, can debate about the quality of some of the games).

Bioshock is good enough to be on this list only if Deus Ex already occupies a spot. I don't see Deus Ex on this list, so Bioshock needs to get kicked off and replaced with Deus Ex.

Deus Ex is a series that started over 10 yrs ago. Doesnt fit the format of the article.

I agree that others could be added but its limited to 10.

Poor list. No Zelda. No Mario. Everything on that list is overrated.

He must've ran late on his deadline and wrote this on the way to the office. Just seems like an "off the top of my head" type thing. And I would bet that he doesn't play Nintendo

@SuperJim - you're so dead on with Wii Sports. It altered gaming reality so much he didn't even remember it existed.

Deus Ex came out in 2000. It fits in with the parameters of the last decade. They had "The Sims" on the list and that came out months before Deus Ex did.