slice of koh

It’s hard to believe that a decade has passed, and video games have evolved so much in the past 10 years.  There have been many blockbuster games in the past years, but there are few games that heavily influenced not only the video game industry but on people’s lifestyles and entertainment.  Read on for the top ten most influential games in the past decade.

10. Silent Hill 2

The survival horror genre became rather mundane and repetitive with lots of blood and gore.  Silent Hill 2 put the suspense back into survival horror giving the genre the much needed “intelligence” boost.  This game didn’t need blood and gore to freak you out.  I was afraid to turn the lights off when I played this game.

9. Brain Age

Brain teasers were never “cool” until this game came to the Nintendo handheld.  Now everyone is hooked on doing mini games designed to exercise your brain.

8. Half-Life 2

This was the premier thinking man first person shooter.  I still remember that anti-gravity gun.  This series had an interesting storyline and awesome gameplay.

7. Bejeweled

The king of casual games and rightful successor to Tetris.  It is the best 5 minute time-waster if I have some time to spare in the office or commuting to work.

6. Guitar Hero

I have never seen young people excited about shredding to their parents’ classic rock. It quite possibly gave musicians another way to make money off their work to the ire of mega labels everywhere.

5. Wii Sports

Wii Sports made motion controllers relevant.  It enabled a new way for people to interact with video games versus the traditional game controller.

4. The Sims

The concept of creating and simulating your own personal avatars originated in this game.  It’s now one of EA’s hugest franchises with several sequels and editions over many platforms.

3. Halo

First person shooters became acceptable on the consoles (and more accessible to the masses) when the Halo series debuted.

2. World of Warcraft

I believe the virtual economy on World of Warcraft is equal to the GDP of smaller developing nations (and cause of decreasing marginal productivity around the world).

1. GTA III

Open world and moral choices.  How many games since GTA III employ the use of open worlds and moral choices?  Infamous, Assassin’s Creed, Saints Row, Prototype, Saboteur to name a few.