1. The death of Nanami, your sister, in Suikoden II, was a real shock.
2. The death of Aeris.
3. The death of the sister of Delita in Final Fantasty Tactics was unexpected and very dramatic too.
4. The sacrifice of Viktor and Flik at the end of Suikoden.
5. The comeback of Dekar in Lufia II! He is stilll alive and comes and save's the day!

@ Ajax,,,,

your number 1 & 3 brough back sad memories :( , the death of nanami was a real shock, and happened suddenly, i think that there is a way to avoid its death though

3 bits from CoD 4 have to be there, the start, the middle and the end.... that last bit still makes me sad

I'm with marciosmg on the FFVI scene after Cid dies (if you feed him bad fishes). It's incredible sad and to watch Celes jump off the cliff in desperation is truly moving.

Also in FFVI, but not in the sad category I loved Kefka's big moments :

With the statues, killing the Emperor and then moving the statues thus creating the world of ruin and before the final fight with the random lasering of the earth beneath and the "moment to non-existance" quote.

The top of my list would be the FF IV scene where Dark Knight Cecil overcomes his past self and become a Paladin which is the only way he will ever find redemption.

man, it's difficult to make lists like that, good job d21.

totally agree on ff7 and 8 scenes, though it is hard not to include the intro ff8 scene.....
the ffx scene with tidus, wow.

of any game franchise, the best ones are from ff, and mgs, though there are lots of runner ups.

Robot Find a Kitten is much more powerful than any of those scenes

There's some good stuff here folks, definitely worthy of the title.

Here's another powerful scene that I think shouldn't go overlooked:

"Would you kindly..." Bioshock The game Bioshock was touted to be a game of decision making, where you as the player chose your own destiny. However, when Andrew Ryan reveals that you are just a puppet, everything changes. The biggest choice you made, whether to save the Little Sisters or not, was actually the only real choice you ever made in Rapture. What makes it even more powerful is that for the first time, you as the player can't do anything as Andrew Ryan commands you to kill him. It's a powerful and sobering scene to watch Jack kill Andrew on a whim with just a few words.

A man chooses! A slave... obeys.

Good list. I think another pretty good scene would have to be in KOTOR when you finally find out you are Darth Revan. Kind of a wtf moment.

Not sure if I can list 10 but here are some which I loved (no particular order):

1) Zelda - When Link pulls out the master sword
2) Shenmue 1 - When Ryo leaves everything and everyone he knows to pursue his fathers killer.
3) Shenmue 2 - when you reach the end in the cave and find out who Shenmue is.
4) SotC - When you defeat the Colossi and the end unfolds the way it does!
5) Yakuza - The ending was awesome to a brilliantly told story.
6) Fatal Frame 1 + 2 + 3 - The story and endings are always awesome.
7) Sonic Adventure - When Sonic become Super Sonic to fight the Super thingy monster (was he called Chao or summat?!)
8) Star Wars Rogue Squadron (I think this is the right one on the Gamecube) - The satisfaction and brilliance of shooting that last missile into the Death Star!
9) Snatcher - Finding out the truth at the end of all the conspiracies.
10) Street Fighter - To watch Ryu continue his mission on becoming the best fighter there has ever been... all alone.. no friends.. just him and his brown bag of clothes .... which he doesn't change...ever :s