This should be fun. Imagine you were teaching an Intro to Videogames course. It is a survey course where you assign 10 titles as "Required Gaming".

The only rules are that you must include at least 1 PC title, 1 Handheld title, and 1 Arcade game. Also you cannot have more than 2 games in the same genre (platformer, shooter, etc.) Your list should be a mix of differnt titles and span several decades of gaming history. Explain why you picked the games on your list. Go!

My list would be:

1) Pong - A great place to start and a very fun and simple game.

2) Tetris (Gameboy- Handheld Requirement)- Most addicting game ever. Perfectly portable.

3) Street Fighter II (Arcade Requirement)- Its the grandaddy of all fighting games and still great to fun to play.

4) The Legend of Zelda Ocarina of Time-  should be on every list anyway.

5) Jade Cocoon- I wanted something more obscure and its a decent JRPG.

6) The Sims (PC Requirement)- A unique style of gaming. Shows customization and puts player in control.

7) Halo 2- the best way to introduce modern FPS's I was thinking about Goldeneye or Halo CE but Halo 2 wins because it has online.

8) Grand Theft Auto San Andreas- Best exemplifies open world gaming IMO. Social satire. Not crap like GTA IV

9) Wii Sports- Shows off simplicity and creative ways games can interpret real life.

10) Rayman Origins- Ridiculously good level design. Great Art direction.

All games that break 10M should be given a try. Regardless of if it's not your taste.
Just to check out why it's popular.

My list as i can remember right now:

Pong
Space invaders
Tetris
Doom
Tomb Raider
Pac man
GTA San Andreas
Call of duty modern warfare
PES 4
Gran Turismo ( any )

Pong
Space Invaders
Super Mario Bros
Tetris
Chrono Trigger
Pokemon (any mainline RPG)
Zelda: Ocarina of Time
Soul Calibur
Super Smash Bros Melee
Wii Sports (either original or resort)
Super Mario Galaxy

1) Pong: Great place to start

2) Super Mario Bros: Simply a MUST!

3) Tetris: Perfectly portable

4) Pokemon: Everyone should catch em all at least once

5) Pac man: You haven't played it before? What's wrong with you?

6) Wii Sports: Get to know what motion gaming is all about

7) Kinect Sports: Gotta try this one out

8) Super Mario Galaxy: Perfection personified!!

9) Mario Kart Wii: Mario Kart Wiiiiiii

10) Zelda: Just play it

PS: I decided to keep KS in the list as the PC game I was gonna put instead was Solitaire DERP

1) Pokemon Red/Blue (Handheld requirement)

2) The Sims (PC requirement)

3) Fallout 3 (RPG)

4) CoD4 (FPS)

5) SOCOM 2 (Tactical 3rd Person shooter)

6) NHL 2004 (Sports)

7) Crazy Taxi (Driving - arcade style/arcade requirement?)

8) Gran Turismo 3 (Driving simulator)

9) Crash Bandicoot 2 (Platformer)

10) Grand Theft Auto San Andreas (Sandbox/Shooter)


Sorry all my stuff is PS1 era or later, but come on I've only been gaming since 1998 so go easy on me, I didn't play all the old classics.

1 super mario bros a must

2 zelda yet another must! 

3goldeneye 007 multiplayer and single player perfectionist

4 mariokart  the first good fun go kart game

5  tetris as some one else said simply portable

6 timesplitters 2 a much better goldeneye w map editor

7 driver 2 the starting game of the sandbox genre- 3d

8 saints row 2 a better take on the sandbox genre

9 -final fantasy 7 a good rpg

10 top gear!- early racing game with more then 8 racers on field