OT - most memorable games to me are: uncharted 2, demon souls, flower, bloom blox.

LOL, good point! :P

man i dunno why but the entire resistance series has really made me value life and humanity :)

There are few games that "re-ignited" my love for gaming. That is the bast way I can put it, and I think it is my way of getting at what you're talking about.

*Super Mario galaxy exeeded my expectations in level design, art style (musically and visually) and conceptually by giving birth to modern form of simplicity with it's balance between old and new mario genres. The sequel let me down by toning down the original's defining features.

*Metroid Prime (first one, no doubt the second one was epic though) felt like traveling down the rabbit hole in that it had no end. There was no pattern to this game because of it's fresh 3d take on non-linearity. It truly felt like a journey and when I revisited a place it felt like I had grown so much, unlike Skyward Sword's backtracking.

*Wind Waker honestly is the worst Zelda game I've played in terms of gameplay, and for that reason I find it hard to believe that I would ever pick it up again and put myself through it. However, in terms of stylistic presentation it blew me away. The simple art style allowed for breathtaking cutscenes, and absolutely loved the plot of Hyrule being absolutely buried beneath a flood. I love that game even from the perspective of a short film.

*Wii Sports also reignited a passion for multiplayer gaming. It really was a ball to play that all night with my college buddies and it reminded me of the power of the gaming medium for bringing people together. As opposed to the stereotypical multiplayer games where people communicate via headphones and internet from each other's lonely basements and apartments (no offense, that's not my intent).

Looking at this list, I too am surprised by how short it is. I hope more come my way. I could have put the original two smash bros games up there as they defined my gaming childhood, but I gradually came to love them, and there were expectations of greatness, and they delivered. The others were surprises and brought something new to the table.