Top Ten Games of the “First Decade” (That I’ve Played)

First off, I’d like to settle this whole, “What do we call the last ten years?” debate by claiming that we should call it…wait for it…The First Decade.

Why?

Pretty easy. It’s the first decade of the second millennium (or Willennium if you’re still ‘Jiggy’ wit it.) C. E. , or Common Era. That’s the secular term increasingly used by historians.

In the more intangible sense, it’s the first decade in what I would like to call The Future. If the collapse of Communism in the 1990’s was the end of history (yeah, right), then the First Decade is the beginning of the future.

So enough of this musing. I’ve haphazardly put together a list of the ten best games I’ve played this decade. The only criteria is that the games were produced between 2000 and 2009.  Oh yeah, this list is in no particular order….

Top Ten Games of the First Decade (That I’ve Played)

1. Final Fantasy 9 (2000, Square/Enix)

2. Resident Evil 4: PS2 Version (2005, Capcom)

3. Cannon Spike (2000, Psikyo/Capcom)

4. Half-Life 2 (2004, Valve)

5. Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic (2003, BioWare/LucasArts)

6. Soul Caliber II (2002, Namco)

7. Super Smash Bros. Brawl (2008, Nintendo)

8. Rock Band 2 (2008, Harmonix/MTV Games)

9. TIE: Baldur’s Gate: Dark Alliance (2001, SnowBlind/Vivendi Games)

–. Champions of Norrath (2004, SnowBlind/Sony Online Entertainment)

10. Quake Live (2007-2009, id Software)

Number ten was a little tough. I would have went with Combat Arms Online (as I play it more), but it still has too many technical issues and the gameplay still favors hackers and those who shill out money for exclusive equipment. Quake Live may be based on 1999’s Quake 3; but it is superior to Combat Arms in its elegant simplicity, accessibility and the way it matches players of the same skill level.

This list is not set in stone, ask me the same question tomorrow and you’ll get a different answer. It was fun remembering all the games I’ve played.

What are your top games of the First Decade? It doesn’t have to be ten, but a few will do. Let me know.

-R.

A Dork in Progress

If you are used to reading the MySpace Blog (the link probably brought you here), this is just a continuation of my gaming/life blog.

I’ve been doing a bit of writing of late and will post them. I will also be posting a few “Top 10 lists” for the first decade of this century. Will they make any sense? Probably not. No. Not really.

For those who read, I hope this this works out.

-R.