I loved both SOCOM 1 and SOCOM 2 and yes they introduced online gaming to consoles and were amazing tactical shooters, but I don't think they deserve a spot in a top 10.

Completely blanked on Mario doh!??! Of course that's on the list super Nintendo style

Your probably right I kind of misunderstood title of thread. Reading comp ftw. Scratch my whole post.

1. Super Mario 64
2. Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past
3. Mega Man X (1-3 are really interchangeable here)
4. Pokemon red/blue
5. Fallout 3
6. Super Mario RPG
7. Starcraft
8. Street Fighter Third Strike
9. Metal Gear Solid
10. The Elder Scrolls: Oblivion

Some slight order to it, but things could always be swapped around.

Taking "best" to mean some combination of impact, innovation, legacy and lasting appeal I submit.

Space Invaders: 1978
Massive commercial success gains mainstream recognition even has a dance derived from it.
Pac Man: 1980
Another huge commercial success and this time it leaves behind an iconic hero who is still instantly recognizable to millions today
Tetris: 1984
Sell millions and sells millions of Game boys as well.
Super Mario Brothers: 1985
Sells the NES. kick starts the second console age and makes the side scrolling platformer the dominant genre for nearly a decade.
Legend of Zelda: 1986
Introduces a new level of complexity into console video games.
Street Fighter 2: 1991
Massive arcade sensation that makes the one on one beatum up the hot genre.
Doom: 1993
Moves the FPS from another genre to the dominant genre in the west.
Starcraft: 1997
Becomes the first game to be competitively played like a sport and watched like one.
Grand theft Auto 3: 2001
Popularizes sand box game world design and causes a media debate over adult content in games.
World of Warcraft: 2004
Becomes the biggest persistent game ever seen. Possibly the most profitable game ever as well.

yeah that's basically the only list where you could attempt to justify not having SM64 but Space invaders and GTA 3 deserve the boot to make room

Zelda's by far the weakest entry on that list if your going to boot anything for SMB64 it should be Zelda.

lol

In no particular order:

Legend of Zelda OOT
Resident Evil 4
Halo
Mega Man 2
Red Dead Redemption
Bejewelled Blitz
Minecraft
Super Mario Bros. 3, SMW
Mortal Kombat 2
Bassin's Black Bass with Hank Parker

I like your list but I don't think both Space Invaders and Pac-Man need to be there since they both represent the same idea.

I'd remove one of them and make room for an important 3D game that was released between Doom and Grand Theft Auto 3. Not sure which fits the bill though.

MGS? FFVII? OoT? B&K? Half-Life?

I was browsing old games to get some inspiration for games that fit the bill and came across the first Spiderman game for PSX. That game was so awesome too . Obv not good enough for what we're looking for though.

I'm not sure you realise what kind of impact GTA 3 had. The sandbox concept is probably the most important thing that has been introduced to gaming in this millenium. I can't think of anything more important anyway.

Super mario 64 is one of those split games. Meaning half the gaming population loves it and half hate it so yeah being #1 is pretty far off, same case for elder scrolls.

probably one of the more absurd comments around here

One of the best games Ive ever played. I disagree with your last two choices

Mario 64 was innovative, quirky, fun and really likable. Always somehow felt like a special treat to play it, and that's a hard feeling to create in a game.

As for Skyrim. It has been critically acclaimed by just about every site/blog/newspaper going. The main gripes are that it can eventually get a little repetitive, and that the combat system is a somewhat flawed, but the sheer scale, visuals, concept, stories, etc.. is, to me, just mind blowing.

Probably the most sensible list I've seen yet. Could quibble a bit over minutia, but this an excellent starting point.

The best thing about Skyrim was the exploration and the consistently good visuals. You could spend hours transversing the map and discover awesome vistas at every turn, with varied climates and themes, with mysterious monuments and landmarks plotted all over the place. It was one hell of a trek. I felt like Marco Polo playing that game. Everything else about the game was very vanilla, such as the copy and paste dungeons, the copy and paste enemies, and the extremely repetitive and unimaginative combat.

Immersing yourself in an almost realistic world you would never experience in real life. It felt like an alternative life. Skyrim felt like an exploration simulator.