Best Video Games of the Decade

So for the past month I have added my favorite movies, albums and such of the outgoing decade, but when it came for me to pick a favorite game I was stumped.  This decade has been so important to gaming with all the developments in technology that just picking one is near blasphemous in my opinion, instead I will give a Top 10 in some semblance of order; but not completely.

10. Tony Hawk Series- Say what you will, but I love this series…

9. Ghost Recon- Before they went onto the more single character storyline of the sequels, the original and the Island Thunder/Jungle Storm/Desert Siege add-on were awesome.  being able to control 3 characters and balance out an attack without the AI screwing it up was awesome.  Why they switched to the GH@ and GRAW format I will never know.

8. Bioshock- I hate FPS, they are boring, monotonous and repetitive.  This game took all that was good with RPG’s and stuffed it all into the shell of a FPS and made a masterpiece.

7. Fallout 3- Oh so much fun.

6. Star Wars: The Force Unleashed- Every kids dream.  Sadly the game is too short.

5. Dead Space- This game scared the piss out of me.  I would play for hours on the edge of my seat only to go to bed and have nightmares.  Pure genius.

4. Rainbow Six Vegas- Everything that Ghost Recon could have been, but set in Vegas.

3. Star Wars Knights of the Old Republic series- Not as open and action oriented as the Force Unleashed game but 100s of hours of deep storylines make this game even better than the prequels.

2. Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess- The only reason I own a Wii, and the only reason I continue to own a Wii.  Hopefully the series continues to produce as it always has in the past.  IMO the best yet, I know others will say Ocarnia in Time or Link to the Past, but the Wii really works well for this title and made gameplay fun.

1. Mass Effect- I am a major sci-fi geek, this new frontier of a story was everything that I watched as a kid.  I see lots of Star Wars, some Buck Rogers, a handful of BSG and even a touch of Saturn 3 (The Geth).  The designers are obvious enthusiasts and it shows… in a good way.  With Bioware having a clean slate to create what they want there is no limit to what can be done in the Mass Effect Universe having no cannon or “history” to commit to as in other franchises taken form movie lore.  The RPG is as deep as a novel and the graphics are that of a grainy budget scifi matinée on cable, though the elevator rides are a killer.  With Part 2 just over the horizon of the new decade I am sure it will have a spot in my future “Decade in Review” for the forthcoming 10 spot.

TV Show of the Decade

Without a doubt it has to be Law & Order.  Funny though, for the early part of the decade I was whole-heartedly leaning towards Law & Order: Criminal Intent, and then the producers ruined the show by first never knowing when it would be on and secondly by jumbling the cast every other week.

Ever since Vincent D’onofrio took his lighter load they have added a second team to the list of which has included Chris Noth and more recently Jeff Goldblum, who I do like as a cinematic actor, but his part on CI is horrible; he plays a terrible cop this show has never been the same.  D’onofrio is still as great as ever, but the shows unpredictablity make trying to find an episode much to difficult, is it on USA or NBC?  When is the season?  You never seem to know, sometimes it’s just there.  Shame on the producers I say.

SVU has been a solid show, but I have to tell you I am not a fan of Chris Meloni’s character, the arrogant, self-centered and usually hypocritical detective really makes me want to shut the show off, or just cheer that one of his oft wounded segments becomes a fatality, as for the rest of the cast I love ’em.

But on to my pick, the Original.  Law & Order had a bit of soul-searching after Jerry Orbach left the show trying to find the right replacement for his character.  The first duo of Jessie Martin and Dennis Farina was not bad and kept me tuned in, but Martin’s pairs following were not quite meshing with his style.  After Martin’s departure I thought the show was done with but then they brought in comedian Anthony Anderson who plays anything but humorous and the show was kicked back into high gear.  Anderson was perfect because his comedy skill carry over well to give him a convincing cynical side that was lost with the departure and passing of Orbach.   The potential loss of S. Epatha Merkerson’s character to cancer who be a terrible hit, but like always this show seems to roll on.

Honorable Mentions:

First of, Big Bang Theory just came too late for me to pick it in good faith as the Best of the Decade.  But only 3 seasons in this is the one show I can not miss and reruns are nearly as enjoyable.

4 geeks + 1 Hot Chick = Funny

Sounds like a familiar formula to a boatload of 80’s movies, yes it does.  But done in a much different style.  The humor is not a crude and the geeks really have back up, their lines are written with assistance from a real physicist who gives their statements depth and reality.  Not that this give the show any scientific merit, but when the lines sound convincing it make it much more believable than gauging their “intelligence” based on glasses and a pocket protector.

The other shinning light is each characters’ nuance.  Sheldon is OCD to the point of ridiculous and his social skill leave nothing but milk squirting from my nose.  Howard is the womanizer who has no business anywhere near the opposite sex.  While Raj just can’t plain speak when women are present.  The only seemingly normal one of the bunch is Leonard who by comparison is 007 of the nerd world.

If this show popped up 2 or 3 seasons earlier into the decade I can bet it would have won out my pick

Other Honorable Mentions: House, Rescue Me, Mythbusters, NYPD Blue

Movie of the Decade: Hero

Long before Quentin Tarantino whored his name onto a film he had no creative connection to Feng Li created a masterpiece of a martial arts film.

Staring some of the top talent in Hong Kong and the legendary Jet Li they are worked together to produce not only the decade’s best film but possibly the greatest epic to date.

Jet Li play a protagonist who conspires with assassins from the Kingdoms of China in hopes to unite them as one nation.

Hero is more than just a kung fu flick.  It is a story of hope and national pride that anyone can learn from, and the martial arts is not so in your face that a casual movie fan will be turned off.

Picking Hero was easy, but a few other movies were good enough that they gave me second thought, namely Batman Begins.  Being a huge comic fan seeing someone finally get Batman right was a dream come true.  If you ask 100 people they may tell you they prefer The Dark Knight, and I can see their argument.  For me watching Bruce Wayne experience and grow into The Batman allows no rivalry.

Honorable mentions: Star Wars Revenge of the Sith, Batman Begins, Grand Torino, Elephant, The Departed, Dodgeball

Album of the Decade ~ Johnny Cash – A Hundred Highways

If you ask 100 people this question you would probably get 75 differing opinions on the greatest album of the 2000’s.  My choice was all about feeling and emotion.  After June Carter Cash died, Johnny’s health took a turn south and he knew his days were numbered and he sang his heart out with in my opinion not only the Album of the Decade, but also his greatest work in a 50 year career in music.

While 50 years of music has produced far more classics for Johnny no album has ever had the emotions in his heart so clearly defined in his voice.  With every song you can feel the emotion of pain and sorrow in his weary old body, but also the tone of wisdom from a lifetime of experiences that had brought him from one side of the globe to the other, and a life of more ups and downs then a roller coaster on a beachside boardwalk.

When I married my wife in 2008 we shared our first dance to “Rose of My Heart.”

Honorable mentions: Eric Clapton “One More Car, One More Rider“, As I lay Dying “Frail Words Collapse“, Slayer “Christ Illusion“, Killswitch Engage “As Daylight Dies“, Jay-Z “The Black Album“