1) Uncharted 2: Among Thieves (PS3) - Honour among thieves. Yea right. This game played its tricky bets and ended up on the top of my list by its sheer brilliance in mastery of every design element. It played so well and set the benchmark in cinematic fidelity in an industry where the catchphrase is thrown around every week a new game comes out. The characters are so likable for being people with questionable motives and the banter between them will sure keep you smiling as your eyes feast on artistically put together poligons. The train level is forever burned into my brain as the of the single most amazing thing i played/experienced in an interactive medium to this day. Lot could be said about games like these which don't do much new but refine their craft to such heights that everyone wants to replicate what they did. The 3rd one had more mature story (well as mature as they get to fit the gameplay) but this one beats it in sheer fun generated per second of gameplay. 

It was hard putting this list in order. For a while i was thinking too hard and fell behind in updating it and keeping up. When i finally end up doing it i took no more than 15 minutes. Thinking too much would have caused major problems. All the top 50 games and more that didn't make the list are gems that while keeping us entertained also create geniune deep emotions. As someone said that video games are the sum of every other medium (movies, music, books, art) put together and made interactive. How awesome is that!

Thanks everyone for joining and sharing your treasure of a games with rest of us. God Bless :)

Smeags said: Kantor said: I'd also like to say that it's been a lot of fun, thinking about which games would go into the list and in what order, writing why I love them, and seeing what other people have put down. I was a fool not to have done this in earlier years and I'll definitely do it again ten and a half months from now. And Smeags is awesome Our mod chats were definitely enhanced by the guessing games. Glad to have you aboard. ^_^

it's a shame it only lasts for a month and a half. Maybe you should make it a top 365 ^_^

Yes, Ocarina of Time. AKA 'perfection' and the only game I've rated 10/10 (here in my game collection). Highly unlikely to ever be beaten !

#1: Super Mario Galaxy 2 (2010)
Last Year: 1

Perfection in gaming is an interesting concept. There are many out there who think that there's no such thing as a perfect video game, that every game has its flaws and that we should judge a game on how close a game can come to perfection. After playing and beating Super Mario Galaxy 2, I've been wondering what faults the game has. Are the controls poor? Nope, controls are spot on and never get in the way (the motion controls really surprised me in how smooth and responsive they were). How about the automatic camera? Nope. Never once had a problem with the camera being somewhere it shouldn't. Graphics and sound? No way. They're among the best ever... even on the dated Wii hardware. The adventure itself? I laughed on this one, as Super Mario Galaxy 2 is one of the most inventive and involving games I've ever played. To shorten this story, the more I think about it, the more I'm starting to think that as far as video games go... Super Mario Galaxy is one of the few where I can say was executed perfectly. There may be a tiny flaw in there somewhere, but I haven't found it yet. A true masterpiece.

Well that does it! Another successful year with YoY growth (take that console sales!) and awesome discussion.

Another shout out to BasilZero with the awesome idea of turning this into a guessing game. Really fun idea! Also, don't forget to complete and finalize your lists in the Official Thread.

Once again, I appreciate you guys for taking your time to come up with that list. I know how tough it is, but I hope you guys learned something while taking a look on what games really made you the gamer you are today. I do enjoy this site and the community here, but I do think that sometimes we need to remind ourselves why we're here in the first place: the awesome video games that made us gamers. We may have different gaming preferences and not see eye to eye on many things here, but we're all gamers with a love of video games. I can't tell you folks how refreshing it was to see this awesome discussion about our favorite games. *sniffle*

So with that said, I hope you guys had a great 2012, and here's to another great year full of (hopefully!) more great video games.

My average game came out in 2003.24 (so WindWaker's US release date is almost at the dead chronological median for me)

The 50 clues:

50. Came out this year, the first entry in its franchise in 21 years (Kid Icarus: Uprising)
49. The only game in this franchise where the flagpole yields coins and not points (Not guessed!)
48. These games are deceptively titled, as they have monochromatic titles but are in color, compared to earlier colorful titles of monochromatic games (Pokemon Black and White)
47. This game is a ripoff of Final Fantasy in name but not in gameplay (The Last Story)
46. A gang of four animals on a quest to take out a monkey (not guessed!)
45. The protagonist of this game could be called "Star Wolf." (Okami)
44. 6th gen launch game. It's franchise's first foray into 3D. Controversial cat stages (Sonic Adventure)
43. This game existed alongside the PlayStation2, and shared it's acronym. (Pokemon Stadium 2)
42. This is the second time this game, direct sequel to one of the most recognized games of all time, made its way overseas (Super Mario Bros DX)
41. Double the fun (Mario Kart: Double Dash!)
40. The second time this publisher made a "Dark" version of one of it's characters (Metroid Prime 2: Echoes)
39. The name was changed midway through development to reflect its developer's legacy (Xenoblade Chronicles)
38. This being the second made by F5, this game covered entries 4, 5, and 6 and the events in between (not guessed!)
37. This game's "Story Mode" deserves to be called such. Features stages such as Frustration, Shy Guy Limbo, and Jelly Pipe (not guessed!)
36. A direct sequel in a franchise that rarely gets them, based on deleted content from the previous game (Super Mario Galaxy 2)
35. Ritzy-titled games that brought online features to their franchise (not guessed!)
34. This game featured swordfights, a dog, cycling, and a hidden watermelon (Wii Sports Resort)
33. The boxart of this game featured the title character holding up three fingers, both for the entry in the franchise and the character's name. (Wario Land 3)
32. Herpes (No More Heroes)
31. Boom 2^6 (Bomberman 64)
30. This game, one of the best-sellers of the last generation, helped sell a piece of functionless plastic (not guessed!)
29. The protagonist of my number one game makes her only 5th-generation appearance here (Super Smash Bros).
28. The first time this franchise went simultaneous multiplat, one if its publisher's first works as a 3rd party (Sonic Heroes)
27. The protagonist is infected, but that only makes her stronger (Metroid Prime 3: Corruption)
26. A little water solves all your problems (not guessed!)
25. A lot of water makes for an apocalyptic backstory (Legend of Zelda: Wind Waker)
24. Monochromatic games with a colorful title (Pokemon Red/Blue)
23. It was too easy, Alec (not guessed!)
22. Protagonist pony + Female royal heir (Zelda: Twilight Princess)
21. You can be anything! Darth Maul, a refrigerator, a dynamite miner, or fireworks! (not guessed!)
20. Early FUD about this game spread the idea that it was just a DS port (New Super Mario Bros Wii)
19. This game fulfilled the promise of its console and served as a prequel for the entire franchise (Zelda: Skyward Sword)
18. Hype was built for this game by a blog (Super Smash Bros Brawl)
17. The first area of this game served as the subtitle for the game's sequel (Super Mario World)
16. 10 years before the specific game that spawned "Red vs Blue" was another game that could also have this description, with the bonus of fusion power (Sonic and Knuckles)
15. Sales of this game were so disappointing that the franchise went dormant for 8 years (Super Metroid)
14. The franchise started on consoles, got famous on handhelds, then with this game, jumped ship to a new manufacturer who promoted it in the West (Monster Hunter Tri)
13. Damn this rainbow is long (Mario Kart 64)
12. 9th in its franchise, but the first to appear on a console worldwide (not guessed!)
11. Subtract 10, and you get where this game usually is (Zelda: Ocarina of Time)
10. This game had enough cut from it to build a sequel around, but it was still great despite the cut content (Super Mario Galaxy)
9. You'll get no medals for guessing these games, who introduced a lot of big features to their franchise (not guessed!)
8. Introduced a purple-clad character who is hated for reasons i never quite understood (Mario Tennis)
7. You couldn't get hurt by enemies, and one ending of the game could only be gotten by doing absolutely nothing at the very beginning of the first stage (Wario Land 2)
6. Three epic sub-stories. Didn't use its console's main feature at all. Showdown with a Goddess. (not guessed!)
5. Dinosaur on the roof (Super Mario 64)
4. Basically the only online game on one of its platforms, direct sequel to the first major console online game (Phantasy Star Online Episode I & II)
3. This game was infamous for a certain type of player who liked to play on only on a stage named after a fate-based horror movie series (Super Smash Bros Melee)
2. Introduced a character who was beloved at the time, but hated just four years later when he got his own game (Sonic Adventure 2)
1. It's a 1, 3, 5, 7, 11, 13 kind of parasite (Metroid Prime)

1. Metroid Prime, GC (2002) Nintendo/Retro Studios

What can be said? Although it took me a while to adjust to navigating in first-person, the excellence of this game really stuck with me in time, with breathtakingly beautiful worlds complemented by perfect music, a solid weapons selection, compelling lore, and vicious enemies. This game followed the "Super Metroid" style of progression, where if you didn't work hard to do some sequence breaking, you had to go in a straight line, but the game did not make it easy to tell where exactly you had to go next, often giving you a blip on an otherwise blank map as your target and forcing you to figure the rest out as you went along, an ideal balance of telling me what i need and yet giving me independence. The excellence of this game (and Super Metroid) is what keeps me eagerly awaiting the next Metroid game, knowing that the franchise has this potential to excellence.

Thanks to smeags for making all this crazy shit possible.

1. The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past (1991)

It's another couple years spent at the top.  The addition of parallel worlds added depth to the zelda universe's gameplay.  This game wrote the formula for those later to come with all of its additions.  Spin attacks, heart containers, many items, and multiple floor dungeons with more than just staircases to travel between floors all were wonderful features of the huge zelda world.  There were so many hidden wonders to discover in this world that exploring was often as fun as the massive dungeons.  What really made this game is the unbelievable number of items and upgrades to those items you get throughout the game, including some very useful ones which aren't even required to complete the game. Many of these items such as ice and fire rods are sorely missed in other games, which usually have a small subset of the arsenal.  There was also a fairly significant amount of story for this game to keep you involved if somehow the gameplay was wearing thin. 

1. Shining Force 2 

Shining Force 2 is the game that turned video games into a hobby (addiction) where before they were just a toy. Playing games on NES and even early genesis games amounted to "go as far as possible until you die and then restart from level 1". Fun, but not life consuming number 1 attraction for the nextt 20 years of your life fun. But shining force 2 was different- it had saves, it had a plot, it had a deep strategy system that was beyond jumping on palette swapped enemies as you run through the level. It had comedy, it had secrets to find including Claude the Golem and the secret of turning your paladin Chester into a winged knight. It had Slade the rat thief, who if you worked with would become Slade the Ninja- one of the best characters in the game. For its depth, its gameplay that holds up with the best tactics games of today, and for making me a true video game fan Shining Force 2 is my number 1 game of all time.

When your comparison is NES arcade ports, mario and sonic this is some pretty mind blowing stuff right here. 

The number 1 badass slade getting an instant kill with his secret mithril weapon

The map of the secret post credits battle- look familiar? 

#1 - The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time. This game comes as close to perfection as a game can get. What is there to say? It's amazing in every way, it sparks the imagination, it makes you feel you are living this adventure yourself and the attention to detail in story, characters and locations are awesome. The game is perfectly paced, in-between the tense adventure through the game's nine dungeons and three side-dungeons the player can choose to take it slow for awhile, and indulge in a plethora of in-world mini-games and side-quests. What is more relaxing after fighting a giant fire-breathing dragon in searing heat than fishing? After a long journey and hours upon hours of adventure, the end of the game must come.
It contains a lot of beautiful scenes throughout, but the ending is when the emotion kicks in. After the great evil King Ganon has been defeated, the credits sequence takes the player back to all the locations visited and all the characters interacted with get a final goodbye. It feels like it takes hours, as if the game cannot say farewell. When it's all said and done, the game ends with a familiar scene from the start of the game; igniting one of the biggest mysteries in gaming history in the process. And that's when it hit's you. "The End". Small tears start to roll down your cheeks. Yes, this game wins the title "Best Game of All Time", because it has been the only game to give me tears...