Are These the 10 Best Games of the Last Decade?

The Legend of Zelda: Wind Waker

Half-Life 2

World of Warcraft

Shadow of the Colossus

Wii Sports

BioShock

Portal

Mass Effect 2

Red Dead Redemption

Batman: Arkham Asylum

Red Dead Portal of the Colossas... I would play the hell out of this game!

Are these the 10 best games of the last decade? Maybe. It's a very well-rounded list in my opinion, even if they are all triple-A titles, with the possible exception of Wii Sports. I'm not sure what you'd call that one... These are the 10 choices that make up the new poll up on Entertainment Weekly that simply asks, "What is the best video game of the last ten years?" It's immediately clear that The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim is missing from this list, and not a single Grand Theft Auto, but I suppose Red Dead Redemption fills that void nicely and then some. The Big 3 (Nintendo, Microsoft, Sony) and the PC are represented, though not a one is an Xbox exclusive. No Halo to be found. But what else is missing from this list? The unprecedented emergence of indie games this last decade has truly been a life-force for hardcore and casual demographics alike. Minecraft, Braid, Cave Story? Is there one worthy to represent all of them? And even then, why just one? And what about hand-held gaming including the iOS and Android explosion of downloadable titles? To be fair, Darren Franich mentioned most of these things in his accompanying article: "In the end, we picked 10 games that represent an industry simultaneously hitting its peak while staring down a brave, scary, fascinating new era." There's all very well, but Minecraft still needs to be on here. 

Which of these 10 would you vote for and which game can you not believe they left off?

Baby Hands Sammy Jackson: the host of this year's Spike Video Game Awards.

Franich announced that the results of this poll will be revealed at the 10th Annual Spike Video Game Awards next Friday (December 7th).  I think I'm one of the only people I know who has actually watched those. They're no Oscars, that's for sure (and that's doubly damning because of how many people hate on the Academy Awards), but they are the biggest ceremony of its kind that the medium currently has. I just wished the producers cared less about celebrities and more about the bloody games. Samuel L. Jackson will be hosting the Awards this year... Yep, it's going to continue to be about the celebrities and not about the games isn't it?

The nominees for Game of the Year...

At least this year's nominees for Game of the Year had some variety, including two downloadable titles: Assassin's Creed III, Dishonored, Journey, Mass Effect 3 and The Walking Dead: The Game.

I'll attempt to watch the "ceremony" again this year and will likely blog about the winners of the poll (decade) and the top prize (year).

Words by J.S. Lewis