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This is one for all the Video game sub forum regulars, yes i know most of use do not have one of 'the New Batch' and maybe even a few of us are now just thoroughly disillusioned with Consoles (and Oh Boy i bet i'll hear about it ) but i think it's time.

The release of Gran Turismo 6 this week saw pretty much the last first party release for either of the 2 main machines, imo that constitutes the 'end' of the Generation. So with that being said lets put down our top ten games of the 360/Ps3 era (Including any PC games/wii/Ds/Psp; in the case of PC all but the big RTS' and MMO's were on consoles ('In vastly inferior form' blahblah ) as well so i think they're fine to shove in there. As for the handhelds i guess it wouldn't be fair to dismiss them.

I'll go First (in no order):

-Exposure/Bias: Ps3 and 360, though i have not owned a PS3 since '10 (only because i couldn't justify the expense of owning both).

Crackdown:
The first game i ever played that felt 'Next-Gen', i remember playing it for hours at a friends, well after he went to bed . Only the Islands were unlocked in a specific order, the rest was up to you, it just felt so refreshing. Another major strength of this game was the character progression, although i had encountered the 'Use it; Improve it' style of Skill leveling in Morrowind it had been nowhere near as elegant. You want to improve Agility, Collect Orbs that require Agility to get, you want to Improve shooting, blow a gangster's head into blue chunks of shooting Experience orbs.

Half Life 2: (Version Played: Some PC but Mostly 360)
What Hasn't been said about Half Life 2?

GTA 4: (Version Played: PS3)
Something of an Unloved entry in the series, ask many of the millions of people who bought it and they'll say they hated it, hated the driving, thought it wasn't as 'Fun' as SA. I for one loved the weighty driving, the way it modeled over and Under steer was pretty darn realistic, you had to do shrewd Gran Turismo style braking and really plan ahead. Many people expected to do hand brake turns round every corner and were disappointed. I suppose it is symptomatic of the same people's rejection of the more 'realistic' feel of the game. I for one loved the move away from the pointless chaos.

Played with an eye for preventing Collateral damage you could Play GTA 4 killing very few innocents and hapless muscle or Constabulary for that matter. I have a save game over half way through where i have killed only the hundred or so required for certain missions leaving the rest incapacitated or simply bypassed altogether. You could wound or frighten instead of kill, if an angry pedestrian realises you've beaten him in a fist fight or you escalate with a firearm; he'll retreat. Even if he pulls his own Piece he'll give up if you plug him in the shoulder or otherwise wound him. Such sophistication in the AI and granularity of the play Space really just had this supreme sense of place and despite a lack of True interaction, you really could just 'Poke the nest and see what happens'.

The story and actual mission design wasn't really that strong and certain decisions were strange to say the least. Why they thought 'Hanging out' with AI friends would be rewarding is beyond me. A couple lines of Dialogue is not worth it. A few characters stood out and were often funny in more subtle ways than their stablemates in GTA 5.

Skyrim: (Version Played: 360)
I have often spoken at length about why i love Skyrim, there is simply little else i can say. Probably my Pick of the bunch if you twisted my Arm.

Batman Arkham Asylum (PS3)
Although this game did not 'Wow' me it is still deserving of a place on this list. One of the few games i Have 100% completed (My defintion btw is 'Experiencing all content' not 1000 gamerscore but in Batman's case that meant i had to collect everything). I haven't felt that compulsion in Ages and it was refreshing to say the least. I am not even a comic Batman fan to be honest, so i can hardly say i had the fanboy blinkers on. Just a supremely solidly designed game with a great balance of reward and challenge, and to be a bit wanky, 'admantine' mechanics.

EDIT:
Mass Effect 2 (360):
My disappointment was palpable when i witnessed the pile of dog poo that was Mass Effect. I, like many, was really looking forward to Kotor without the Jedi but the boring sterile mess we got was a poor substitute. Being one of the 4 or so people who actually liked Jade Empire i was doubly shocked by the game we got in 2007.

Mass Effect 2 however, was just superb; once bioware got the mucky business of establishing their boring Babylon 5 fan fic universe out of the way they could focus on their strength: Characters. They also, wisely, got rid of the Rpg leftovers present in the core ME gameplay, leaving only a surprisingly tight, squad shooter.

(Demoted to honourable mention) MotorStorm:
An odd choice but this was another game that just told you that 'Next gen has Arrived' it was simply not a game you could play on the previous machines. The advanced physics, the sharp textures, the beautiful lighting, the sheer chaos of the debris, realtime deformed, mud, the huge headcounts and the incredibly aggressive, and convincing, AI drivers. The main flaw of the game was that you couldn't really experience it on you own terms, there were no timetrails or splitscreen modes.

GTA 5 (360):
Although it is lacking the fleeting nod to Pacifism present in GTA 4 it is still a fantastic game improving on most other aspects that made 4 great. Rockstar North's attention to detail is just astounding: Shoot a car's gastank it will leak gas until it runs out, try and drive the car you will only get a couple hundred feet, set the car on fire and it will burn but not explode because of the empty gas tank. The addition of 'Random' events and the wonderous switching mechanic (something that would raise yawns from cynics until they actually saw where Rockstar North went with it), the wonderful Non-Diegetic soundtrack and a generously featured online mode are all fantastic. I am also of the belief that it is, artistically, the most stunningly gorgeous piece of interactive entertainment so far produced, something it gets ZERO praise for.

Red Dead Redemption: (360)
I have often been negative about this game, i do not feel the mission design and mechanics are quite up there with the two GTA installments of the era. All the other aspects of it are great though, it most certainly beats Rockstar North's output in the story and Compelling Character's stakes, RDR is probably the most engaging tale told this generation at least in my opinion. It also experimented with smaller random events and activities to keep things interesting. If it weren't for the resplendent return of Los Santos the Not-Rio Grande of RDR would take the biscuit of most beautifully realised world so too would it take the crown of Most all-round Beautiful game.

Modern Warfare 2: (Ps3)
Probably going to get flak for this but i loved this game. Almost everything about it, maybe not a truly great piece of interactive fiction or simply as a 'Ludo' but really fun. I once said that this game was good in the same way that Michael Bay Transformers was good, thing is nobody seems to Agree that those movies are good either .

Bad Company 2: (Ps3)
Multiplayer Gaming at it's finest, i think if i had played more of BF3 it probably would have been here instead but the pressure of being 'Fair to Good' at BF3 kinda soured it for me.

Honourable Mentions:
MGS4:
What little there was to play was some sweet, sweet Tactical Espionage Action but alot of it was either cutscene or boring boss battles.
Farcry 3 (360):
I am VERY much looking Forward to what they come up with next.
Deus Ex: Human Revolution (360)
Was just a little too Constricting and felt like a slightly inferior MGS game punctuated with Hubs. It also felt unfinished, defo missing an act 3 hub.
Dishonoured (360)
The second Best looking game this gen.

I only own a PS3 and PC so my list is a quite a bit limited/biased given my time restraints.

1. The Last of Us. Without a doubt the best game I have ever played on the PS3 for both single player AND multiplayer. Had me on the edge of my seat for both and I can safely say that Naughty Dog is one of my favourite developers and sets a gold standard for what you should do when making an exclusive IP for a console.

2. Fallout New Vegas: Despite the bugs and shameful amount of crashing as time went on I still had an absolute blast with the great changes they made to Fallout 3 particularly companions and being able to choose different factions. The DLC's just made it even better with Old World Blues and The Lonesome Road taking the cake for sheer hilarity for the former and closure for the latter.

3. GTA 5: Self explanatory, gotta love Trevor and his antics. Love how they finally expanded the weaponry choices in the game and the addition to allowing ragdoll movement with characters.

4. Playstation All-Stars: This one gets a lot of flak for the lack of more iconic Sony characters like Spyro or Crash Bandicoot but to be fair they were owned by another company at that time. Besides that it was great to have a 4 player brawler at last on the PS3 and an alternative to the plethora of shooters. Despite it's unique mechanics it's fun and addictive in its own right that's both great for those into combos and those who want to pick up and play.

5. Infamous 2: Loved the free roam and variety in powers/abilities. Story wasn't half bad either and the ability to choose good/evil was something that sold it for me over other superhero games like the Batman Arkham series.

6. Warhawk: A solid multiplayer game that has served me well for 6+ years! It really is underrated and to me is one of the best staple games for me whenever company comes over or whenever I'm in the mood to stomp some soldiers online in a total war kind of way.

7. Resistance 3: Made up for the derp that was Resistance 2 and brought it back to a better story as well the weapon wheel. Loved the change to co-op and upgrading weapons. I had tons of fun teabagging in co-op with my friends whilst spamming the "OVER HERE" button over NPC's.

8. Killzone 3: A lot of people think Killzone 2 was better (which I agree when it comes to story) but I liked how it shed some more light on the internal politics of the Helghast and its co-op was what sealed the deal for me.

9. Fallout 3: A little behind everything mainly because of how I was unable to get download any of the DLC's properly and therefore was locked into the final ending without being able to move on. Still an overall fun game and great intro for me into the Fallout franchise.

10. GTA 4: Always loved pulling off last-man standing competitions between me and my friends by holing up in the hospital that would humorously respawn all the victims we had slaughtered back in the waiting room whenever we fell back to the hallway and returned. Also great times were had from how Roman would always call in inopportune moments. That plus using Dwayne's thugs as body bags when fighting the popo and smacking them off roofs.

1. Journey

2. Mass Effect 2

3. Fallout: New Vegas

4. Fallout 3

5. Skyrim

6. Dark Souls

7. Deus Ex: Human Revolution

8. Red Dead Redemption

9. FarCry 3

10. X-com: Enemy Unknown

1: Oblivion - opened my eyes to RPG games. All the ones after that didnt capture me as much. I went backwards to older RPGs from there

2: Motor Storm - I hate racing games but me and my friends where blown away by that game playing it in the video store.

3: Mass effect 1 - Boy i was immersed big time by this one.

4: Rome total war (if it counts) - Spent many hours on this and played many of the series for a long time

5: Red Orchestra - Im a sucker for hardcore more realistic games. And story isnt my thing

6: Mount and Blade Warband: Still play it today. So much fun

7: Empire earth was a game i spent many hours messing around with

8: is CIV 3 too old? - Either way that game was amazing ----- if its too old then Saints row 3. One of the only sand box games i really enjoyed.

9: L.A Niore - one of my favourites and one of the few games i enjoy for the story side of things

10: Battlefeild 3 - the first COD style game i spent a lot of time playing.

Most of my fav games are fairly old so making this list was very hard.

In no order;

Elder Scrolls Skyrim
Mass Effect
Halo Reach
Call of Duty Modern Warfare
Rainbow Six Vegas 2
Left 4 Dead
Ghost Recon Advanced Warfighter
Legend of Zelda Twilight Princess
Battlefield Bad Company 2
Dragon Age: Origins

No particular order.

Skyrim
Battlefield 3
Modern Warfare 2
Red Dead Redemption
Fable 3
Borderlands 2
Halo 2
Oblivion
Left 4 Dead
GTA 5

In no particular order and with my own reasoning provided.

Fallout New Vegas - I hated this game at first, due to its tendency to crash a fething lot, but after a fuckload of fixes and patches it has certainly grown onto me, ranking right up there with Fallout and Fallout 2 for me. Unlike Fallout 3, which felt like it merely took bits and bobs from the Fallout universe and had a go with it, FNV made extensive use of the canon from the previous two games along with a massive helping of project Van Buren, the previously proposed Fallout 3.

Rainbow Six Vegas 2 - I liked the first one, but the second one, with a few minor tweaks and additions really knocked it out of the park for me. I am in particular fond of the hated solo segment, where I still die a lot, but it does make me feel like a proper badass for doing the refinery on my own. Also, being able to mod your own Bishop / Knight was silly fun for no reason at all. That and the story was good, it had some great moments (*pop* Sharon!) and the only thing that I really hated was the final boss fight, what the flying feth?

Call of Duty 4 - Modern Warfare - Bog standard shooter really, but I love this one, unlike its many sequels. It's a nice split between the US invasion of a country in the middle east and a shadow war taking place in Russia. The big shocker of the game was well done indeed and despite the somewhat downer ending, really love this one.

Saints Row 2 - One of the few games I really enjoy for encouraging you to be a deranged sociopath and rewarding you for it. Drive around with a septic truck spraying gak on houses and businessmen, dress up as a cop and beat up perps for a TV show, have all out war with rival gangs including one of the more brutal displays of one-up man ship I've seen in quite a while.

Red Dead Redemption - I'm a big fan of westerns and RDR is for me one of the best genre games out there, right up there with Outlaws. It's a great story that's really ugly and has an ending that can leave you with a gut shot feeling.

Payday 2 - I am by no means a fan of multiplayer games, nope, but Payday 2 is an exception to this! A pure coop experience that's all about pulling off heists with a fair share of weapon customisation and skill building thrown in there so you can tailor yourself the best towards the job at hand. That bank over there? Do we want to rush it or sneak in? Should I bring my rifle for long ranged support or pull on my heaviest armour paired with an assault rifle and just get stuck in? I fething love this game!

Mass Effect - Love the setting, which is quite a deal for me, as I always have a hard time getting into something new, but Mass Effect, which at first glance looks like a shiny bright future for mankind was instead a brutal, grim dark sci-fi game with great moments in there. I miss you Mako!

Borderlands 2 - Louder, cruder, bigger, better than the first one. I was a bit reluctant at first due to a completely new cast, but the game didn't really shine for me until I got the Mechnromancer class, the lonely sod that I am! Also, Handsome Jack is an amazing badguy, just saying.

Bioshock - Whining from fans of the books aside, I really loved this game for a few reasons: A neat setting, a great design and a simple story with a few great twists that the first time round will take you by surprise but on future playthroughs shine through as clever little moments.

In no particular order.

Mass Effect series : When i first started the first game I had very low expectations, seeing how it looked justa bit too brugth and shiny for my liking. But it only took the gam about twenty minuts to make me forget those feelings I had before hand.
Rainbow Six Las Vegas games : Noting is as satisfacory as hunting terrorists in Las Vegas
Ghosth Rekon Advanced War figther 1 & 2 : This was in my own eyes the pinecal of squad based shooters, it actualy demanded that you plan your advance, and working with your team to achive mission sucsess.
Farcry 3 : Because damn those pirates where crazy, also bonus for Citra
X-com Enemy unknown & Within : Get of my world damn aliens

Ok doke, I'll have a shot.

1: Dishonored

2: Fallout New Vegas

3: Alan Wake

4: X-COM Enemy Unknown

5: Serious Sam 3 BFE

6: Deus Ex Human Revolution

7: The Darkness 2

8: Brutal Legend

9: Saints Row the Third

10: Metro 2033

No particular order, all played on PC.

for me, in no order, and on a mixture of PC and xbox.

1. Skyrim

2. Halo 3

4. Halo ODST

5. Oblivion

6. Space marine

7. Crysis 2

cant think of anything else that got me hooked. should that be a good thing. and although its in no order, skyrim is the only game of clocked over 300 hours on and even still id play it again!

For me, on the 360, and in no real order:

Halo 3: Loved the gameplay, graphically stunning, can't really say anything bad about this.

Halo Reach: See above. Probably my pick of the Halo franchise if push comes to shove.

Battlefield Bad Co 2: Awesome gameplay, and fully destructible environments. Also, the inter-character dialogue was hilarious at times

Battlefield 3: As above. More realistic but a little less fun. Took itself more seriously than BC2.

Assassin's Creed 3: Great gameplay, good plot, good graphics.

Skyrim: for obvious reasons.

Now for a few less obvious choices:

Fracture: very unique gameplay, advanced graphics for the time.

Il-2 Sturmovik, Birds of Prey: A very good WW2 flight sim. Great graphics and gameplay.

Star Wars The Force Unleashed: first game that really captured the feel of a Jedi. Yes, you're a bit OP but that's kind of the point.

LOTR Battle For Middle Earth 2: I'm not sure why I love this game, I just do.

Honourable mentions:

Space Marine: obvious reasons

WHFB Battle March: obvious reasons and cool gameplay.

Spiderman, Web of Shadows: surprisingly good gameplay and graphics, good for a bit of fun.

There is no way I can come up with 10. That being said, in no particular order:

Skyrim: Large open world, lots to do, and interesting dungeons.

Xcom: Enemy Unknown: Sort of a "losing is fun!" game for me. I am very bad at it but it still manages to be quite a bit of fun with a good amount of multitasking required.

Mass Effect (all of 'em): Probably has the best story I've ever seen in a game, DLC are usually worth it, and the action was fun as well. Probably my favorites.

Great lists guys, loving some of the more leftfield picks. Kinda surprised about the love for Mass Effect 1, really did not care for that game.

I was glad to see Crysis 2 in your List, Dark Apostle. I really enjoyed the story mode in that game and think it's deserving of a little more praise.

Although i did put alot of time into Halo Reach and it was a great game it didn't feel like the big shakedown it promised. The story was also remarkably uninteresting without any real standout levels as far as i'm concerned.

Best DLC's were probably the two expansion packs for GTA 4, Lost and the Damned was a genuinely good story (With much less mean spirited humour) with a great lead character and Gay Tony introduced some of the systems that made GTA 5 even better.

Vanquish
Armored Core 4/For Anwser
Chrome Hounds
Gears of War trilogy
Space Marine
Dark Souls
DeathSpank
Bastion
Brothers: A tale of two sons
Universe at war: Earth Assault

My top ten games in no particular order.

1. Dishonoured-Great game with really fun gameplay and the story really was awesome. Loved the art style too.

2 Brother in arms hell highway-A really underrated game with a fantastic campaign and probably one of the best WW2 shooters of all time for me.

3 Red faction guerrilla- Really enjoyed the gameplay and the destructible environments made the guerrilla style fighting even better, nothing like louring an enemy convoy onto a bridged and sending them to the depths of a canyon.

4 Splinter cell blacklist-Brought the splinter cell series back on par with chaos theory and great multiplayer.

5 Killzone 2- Had a cool story and I'm just a killzone fanboy.

6 Resistance fall of man- Easily the best of the 3 great story fun gameplay and a all round well thought out game.

7 X-com enemy unknown- I'm sure everyone knows enough about this already.

8 Battlefield bad company 2- personally my favourite battlefield game and easily the best multiplayer of the series.

9 Hitman blood money- I like all the hitman series but this one was just more fun. Honourable mention for hitman absolution just didn't quite do it for me as much as blood money.

10Red dead redemption - Probably one of the best story in a game and made you fell you had a real connection with the character also insanely good gameplay and really like the wild west theme.

Knew I forgot one: Farcry 3!

In no particular order:

1. Fallout: New Vegas+DLC's
2. Grand Theft Auto V
3. Grand Theft Auto IV+DLC's
4. Battlefield 3
5. Fallout 3+DLC's
6. Red Faction: Guerilla
7. Far Cry 3
8. Dark Souls
9. Skyrim
10. Call of Duty: World at War

In no particular order:

Bioshock 1, 2 and Infinite
Mass Effect Trilogy
Dragon Age 1 & 2
Dishonored
Fallout 3 and New Vegas
Elder Scrolls IV and V
X-Com: Enemy Unknown
Deus Ex: Human Revolution
Red Dead Redemption
Max Payne 3

Honourable Mentions for PC in the last few years

Total War franchise: Empire, Napoleon, Shogun 2 (Sadly, not a fan of Rome 2)
DOTA 2
Dawn of War series

1.) Red Dead Redemption

2.) Space Marine

3.) Transformers: Fall of Cybertron

4.) Battlefield: Bad Company 2

5.) Elder Scrolls: Skyrim

6.) Killzone 2

7.) Half Life 2

8.) Assassin's Creed II

9.) Tomb Raider (2012 Reboot)

10.) Halo: ODST

Edit - Honorable mentions - MGS4, Portal/Portal 2, Halo 4, Deus Ex: HR, Call of Duty: MW2

1) Borderlands 2
2)Bastion
3)Dishonoured
3)X-COM: Enemy Unknown
4)Sins of a Solar Empire
5)Mass Effect
6)Rayman Origins
7)Portal/Portal2
8)Call of Duty 4
9)Amnesia: The Dark Descent
10)Drunk Souls (Not a typo, consider it a player made player based mod)

Oblivion = for a long time, the only game I played on PS3; I had already played it plenty on PC by the time it came out on PS3 but I played it for longer overall on PS3

BioShock = not my favorite game in terms of gameplay but it's one of those you just have to play

Borderlands = more fun than I ever had with Diablo and lots of laughs along the way

Batman Arkham ___ = AA was the first game that actually made me feel immersed in the comic book genre; AC just cranked it up to 11

Transformers Cybertron Games = finally, a product that brings back a franchise from my childhood and delivers it with all of the awesomeness of my pre-treen imagination

Fallout New Vegas = a nice romp with a lot of character including some characters and plots that I still think back on fondly

Red Dead Redemption = I didn't even know I liked Westerns!

Aliens vs Preadtor = not everyone's cup of tea but I played the crap out of this game and still enjoy going back to it

Skyrim = a much better game in so many ways than Oblivion; it was great to get back into the Elder Scrolls and just sink into for hundreds of hours -- well spent IMO, well spent indeed!

Fallout 3 = my favorite game of all time thus far, nuff said

Oblivion was a weird experience for me...

Are you going to elaborate there?

I played it intensely for several weeks. Like, nothing but that game.
Barely slept, no studying for any of my exams (I think they were mock exams of some description), just about ate enough.
I ended up thinking in real life as though I was in the game.
I was about to walk into an exam when I attempted to save the game... in real life.
Needless to say I've not played a game tot hat extent but If I listen to the album 'Sam's Town' by 'The Killers' I get some flashbacks going on since that was all I listened to for the duration of that period. Good album though.

I know that all too well, after playing assassins creed 1 for the first time in one sitting I spent far too long considering jumping off of tall buildings.

This weekends 27 hour Borderlands 2 binge also kinda qualifies.

In fairness, we all get that little voice in our head when we're at the top of something tall that just says 'Jump, go on. It'll be cool'

I feel the same way after playing GTA and then going for a drive in my car - I feel an uncontrollable urge to overtake insanely and handbrake turn everywhere.

Halo: ODST - some may not have liked it, but I enjoyed playing an ODST and a somewhat different story set in the Halo universe. Really annoyed there was poor online support but still really liked the game.

Halo: Reach - Again, a slightly different take on the typical Halo story which I enjoyed.

Mass Effect 2 - Continuation of a great story with plenty of new features and interactivity.

Dead Space - Enjoyed it as a somewhat different game. Really enjoyed the zero-G elements and the horror.

Enslaved - A colourful puzzle game which I enjoyed quite a lot.

Fallout 3 - Great atmosphere and storylines.

Portal - Great game with great sense of humour.

Halflife 2 - Loved HL1, and it continued to give in 2.

 purplefood wrote:
I played it intensely for several weeks. Like, nothing but that game.
Barely slept, no studying for any of my exams (I think they were mock exams of some description), just about ate enough.
I ended up thinking in real life as though I was in the game.
I was about to walk into an exam when I attempted to save the game... in real life.
Needless to say I've not played a game tot hat extent but If I listen to the album 'Sam's Town' by 'The Killers' I get some flashbacks going on since that was all I listened to for the duration of that period. Good album though.

Wow, the exact same thing happened to me. I was playing it all the time one summer when I was a teenager. I had a job during the day degreasing trucks (it was as bad as it sounds) and I would work a lot in the sun. A couple weeks in, I was unaware that I developed a severe heat stroke during the day and that night while playing I dozed off and woke up in a fever dream. The next two days I couldn't separate reality from Oblivion. It was pretty messed up.

Does this include PC games released during the time of the consoles?