This past decade we’ve seen many innovations in games. Some were amazing and some …flopped. Some innovations brought new people to gaming and one game alienated gamers. To celebrate the past decade in games, some of our writers thought we’d give our thoughts on what we consider the most inspiring games and publishers of the decades are. Let us know what you think in the comments below.

Trina – For me the decade contained many great moments in gaming. The rise and fall of EA and the rise of Independent gaming, and a console that made everyone gamers. Here are my top three games that I feel really made an impact on the game industry this past decade:

Portal Portal was an amazing title made by a group of students out of college. It was a game that everyone loved to play and fell in love with. Valve was smart to group it with other titles that they definitely could have sold individually. Not sure if we’ll see a sequel but the Companion Cube will always have a spot in Gamers’ hearts everywhere.

World of Warcraft World of Warcraft was released on the 10th Anniversary of the Warcraft franchise and the MMO world has never been the same. Two expansions later (with a third one coming), WoW is still one of the most popular MMOs out. Fans are extremely dedicated and know the lore of Warcraft very well. Raiding and guilds can take up some much dedication that it’s like a second job. Some gamers leave, but most always go back. (PS..look for a new feature on GamingAngels from StealthySlyth on World of Warcraft!)

Bejeweled This PopCap Games favorite match three puzzle game originally came out for the browser in 2001. Now gamers can play this on multiple platforms. Bejeweled is on my list not only for it’s addictive qualities, but because it also put PopCap Games on the map. Bejeweled also crossed the “casual/hardcore” barrier that many PopCap Games do. It’s also possible to attribute the new trend of mixing RPG story with match-3 puzzle to what Bejeweled accomplished. Making the mechanic easy enough for everyone to understand but hard to master.

My publisher of the decade has to be Bioware. As a fan of RPGs, I would tell anyone that Square Enix was king. But Bioware has shown that there is a new sheriff in town and that they could not only do RPG story on par with Square Enix, but bring new mechanics to RPGS that gamers would love. Bioware has continuously pushed themselves and gamers love them for it. After making their mark in the RPG world, Bioware is now going to take on the MMO world. We’ll see if in 10 years we’ll be talking about how they revolutionized that world too.

Elizabeth – I was late to console gaming this decade, and so many of my choices would be for PC games. I’d have to echo Trina’s thoughts about World of Warcraft also. I played pretty solidly for four years, and only recently laid down my account (for good). It’s amazing that one MMO could carve such a huge audience, and continue after five years to bring in newbies. Other than WoW, here’s two other PC games that I’d say had a pretty big impact on this past decade.

The Sims Will Wright and EA may not have known what a huge hit they hand on their hands with the first Sims game, but they capitalized on it with the second one and all it’s many, many expansions. Just about everyone and their mother (literally) has tried their hands on at least one of the three Sims series, or DS games, or console games. It’s a pretty gigantic force in the PC gaming world to be reckoned with, and definitely deserves some recognition for all the casual gamers that spent hardcore time on their Sims games.

Half Life 2 Really, if we’re talking about shooters that made an impact on the decade, Halo should also be on the list. But because I’ve never been a Halo fan (I know, I know) my vote is going towards Half Life 2. This is a shooter and much more, there’s puzzles and story and the game physics that don’t rely on your suspension of disbelief. Half Life 2 took a great genre, and made it better. Enough so that even years later people are loading up the game to get more of it.

Rachel -
Resident Evil 4 Probably one of the best games ever, Resident Evil 4 revitalized a dying series and reminded people why Resident Evil is number one in horror. Though zombie dogs jumping through glass windows and never being able to find enough health or bullets made for scary gaming, 5+ installments of the same formula was having trouble maintaining the interest in fans that it once generated. After seveal weird ideas (ghosts in paintings?), Resident Evil was redesigned from the ground up and featured all-new gameplay, environments, and enemies. Gone was Raccoon City, gone was STARS, and gone were the zombies, instead replaced with infected villagers in a small European town. While the overhaul was risky, the pay-off would prove to be one of the most fun and replayable games of all time. Resident Evil 4 is important because it showed that taking smart risks with a tired franchise can turn out to be an amazing product.

Psychonauts While creative ideas rarely make it from the genius to the audience, the stars aligned in 2005 and brought us Tim Schafer’s Psychonauts, the most amazing game ever. While that claim may seem a tad grandiose for something that Microsoft bailed on supporting, just read one of the hundreds of glowing reviews to learn otherwise. Psychonauts saw developer Tim Schafer, formally of Lucas Arts, branching off on his own to form Double Fine Productions, “the World’s most talented and bearded video game development team”. Players who gambled on Psychonauts were rewarded with gameplay beyond your average platformer; as an adolescent visitor at a psychic summer camp, protagonist Raz fights his way through people’s brains, and sometimes he cleans them up before he leaves. This game changed the industry because it showed that creativity should be lauded, not looked down upon. While it wasn’t a blockbuster seller, Psychonauts is still viewed by those who have played it as one of the most fun and fulfulling gaming experiences money can buy.