Heh, not quite :p  I'm still Christian.

Amaterasu-omikami is the sun goddess of the Shinto religion. Bow before her and give her your doggy treat offering!

Does my sig count enough? :p

Somewhat. But Amaterasu-omikami still demands doggy treat offerings!!!

A couple games come to mind, for completely different reasons: Wii Sports and Oblivion

Wii Sports just felt so unique and fun, it just felt fresh. It was like picking up an NES controller for the first time all over again.

Oblivion wowed me more for its epic scope and visual aspects. Was the largest most epic game I had played at the time bar none, and I would say it still is.

Secret of Mana - I don't know why this game impressed me so much, I suppose it was the first true action RPG I played and since then I have always been starved for more of this scarce genre. The best Action RPG to date is probably Diablo II, though I do give a fair nod to star ocean 2 and x-men legends 2. (BTW, 2011 has a TON of Action RPGs coming out and may be the best year of gaming for me in a long long time.)

Total Annihilation - Not sure when I first played this game, I remember it being after I played starcraft which I thought was a space age knockoff of Warcraft 2 at the time (I suppose I like the story and setting of Warcraft 2 more than blizzard's other RTSs). This was the first RTS I played with 3D graphics and more importantly I really loved the improvement to the economy system this game implemented, no more tedious click each and every worker for construction points. And of course the EPICLY huge battles that take place in this game. The spiritual successor Supreme Commander I do consider the best RTS to date, but TA was the one that caught me off guard.

Final Fantasy Tactics – Plays like a very complex game of chess with a bit of chance mixed with some good old final fantasy flavor. I never expected much from this game, but the more and more you learn about the job systems, etc. the more I enjoyed the game. Often, I would get sucked in playing random battles for leveling, but as you level it gets tougher and keeps you thinking (especially when trying new jobs that are weak) and keeps it interesting.

Castlevania: Symphony of the Night – I first saw this game at my cousin's house, he was playing with all the cool weapons he had found and the combat was so fluid and fun to watch. I have beaten this game quite a few times to say the least...

Sonic Adventure – Didn't know what to expect from sonic trying 3D again (after playing the horrid sonic 3D blast), lets just say it was quite an amazing adventure. I think this sonic game was a lot of fun with exploring, running through levels faster than ever before, getting to play a few new characters, etc. Still the best sonic game IMO.

Everquest - As much as I hate to admit it, when this game first came out, it enthralled me and many others with the idea of a persistent 3D world connected to players around the entire planet. The game was frustrating, slow, often boring, glitchy, etc. But it was new in a lot of ways and had a huge world to explore.

Planetside – 450 players per continent sized map in a FPS with a variety of specialized guns for each faction, tanks, aircrafts, atvs, specialized infantry suits, support vehicles, tower/base captures, terminal/vehicle capturing, traps, etc. Best shooter ever made and will probably only be surpassed by its sequel which is supposedly coming out spring 2011.

Ratchet and Clank: Future Tools of Destruction – This was my first time to see any sort of media content in 1080p resolution and in 2006 this was certainly the cream of the crop graphically. I usually do not care much about graphics but I was surprised at how good games could really look. Going from 8-bit to 16-bit etc. was a very gradual change but going to both a new generation of game consoles and from 480p to 1080p combined to impress quite a bit. This was also my first ratchet and clank game to play and I love the gameplay and quirky characters, since then I have played all but the PSP ones and it has been a good time indeed.

Super Mario Galaxy 2 - I honestly thought this game was going to be a lame, quick cash-in by Nintendo. But once I started playing it, I was pleasantly surprised. The controls, music, world design/art, etc. were all beyond my expectations. Now that I have played through the game collecting 241 stars without ever feeling bored or frustrated, consider this game to be the best platformer game ever.

Minecraft – I didn't understand Minecraft (like most who haven't played it). People kept talking about it and when I watched the Welcome to Minecraft series on YouTube I got curious. So I finally tried survival mode and it was much more engaging than I had expected. Wandering through the very well randomly generated landscapes and caves, hiding in fear of the monsters that lurk in the dark (the sound effects play extremely well into this, I never knew a game could make me spaz in surprise from monsters sneaking up on me, the way this game did). The feeling of exploration is matched by no other game I have ever seen, and that is why I consider Minecraft the best adventure game.

(BTW I noticed a lot of people mentioning Oblivion. I had great hopes for it when I first bought it, but after about an hour the magic wore off with the horridly broken leveling system. It amazes me how something so simple could ruin the game for me. I actually like most about the stuff about the game and after 60 hours into it I had to restart my character because he was leveled "incorrectly" and the monsters were waaaay to tough for him (i suppose monsters level better?)... I guess I took the years of well established leveling systems for granted...not anymore though, I suppose that is a good thing)