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Video games have made incredible strides over the past decade. Improvements were made in game play, controls, story telling, graphics, and of course multiplayer modes. While the Internet has changed video games, mostly for the better, the big three home consoles, Nintendo Wii, Playstation 3, and X Box 360 offer some horsepower for video gamers of all ages. The two biggest handhelds on the market namely the Sony PSP and Nintendo DS offer convenience and portability as well as power that easily equals last generations home consoles. But video games are not strictly a console-based commodity any more. The home computer has seen its share of video games as well, and just might be the gaming machine of the future. While looking ahead is fine and necessary, taking a step back to grade the top ten video games of the decade is difficult for many gamers. Of course, the decade was driven by many franchises; so many franchise games make appearances on the top ten video games of the decade.

With Science Fiction television and movies being so popular with the younger age bracket, it is of no surprise that such source material became popular fodder for video game productions. Even the first ever video arcade games such as Computer Space, Space War, and the world renowned classic Space Invaders were based on science fiction themes. Since the video game home console debuted in the mid 70s, there have been probably more science fiction video games made than movies and television series from the same genre. There are literally thousands of science fiction video games out there, spread throughout the various consoles. Here is a chronological guide to the top 5 scifi video games that have been published over the years.

The 2000s was a massive decade for the video game business. Over that span video games overtook movies as an entertainment medium, with some of the most powerful game franchises earning hundreds of millions of dollars in revenue. The past ten years has seen PC software giant Microsoft throw their hat in the video game ring with the successful launch of their Xbox and Xbox 360 consoles. Nintendo faded in the early part of the decade, but game back stronger than ever following the reason of their handheld touch-screen DS and DSi, and their massively popular, ground-breaking Wii console. The decade also saw the release of the best video games of all time, and many of those games will be long remembered in video game history for their innovative gameplay. Trying to pick the greatest of these games was a daunting challenge, and I'm sure the fanboys will be out in full force to defend their consoles of choice. Here are my picks for the best video games of the 2000s...

Video game fans love to tell each other about great video games they've played. Some times it's obvious which games are the most popular based on how much they are talked about but there are some exceptions. A lot of video game fans might be surprised by some video game sales facts. Some of the video games that are loved by your peers don't actually sell that well and some video games that are hardly ever talked about have sold great.

Like every other form of electronic media, most video games are popular for a time and then fade away into disuse. The exact reason this occurs is different for every video game, but is usually a combination of new competing video games, advances in graphics, and low replay value. While quality video games will often spur the creation of a sequel, many times with few differences from its predecessor, few games actually last the test of time. For a very small number of games, despite improvements in video game technology, the quality of the game and more importantly, the replay value of the game, is so great that the game continues to flourish years and even decades after it is first published. The following games are the best ten games ever with high replay value.

The 1980s were the glory days for arcade video games. Sure, we've got virtual reality and movie-level graphics on today's arcade consoles, but where's the love? You will have noticed, no doubt, that it has been a long, long time since an arcade video game became a pop culture icon. Donkey Kong inspired a dance, Pac-Man inspired a song, and even Lou Reed included lyric about putting money down on Robotron. The new video games may look better than the classics, but why is the most successful movie ever made about video games dedicated to two guys trying to set the world record for Donkey Kong? Here is an entirely arbitrary list of the five greatest classic arcade video games from the early 1980s based on the shocking amount of time I spent at the local Putt-Putt arcade during my misspent youth. You may be disagree, but keep in mind that you that are totally wrong if do.

It's great how video games have progressed over the past twenty years but every once in a while its nice to sit back and relax with an old school beat 'em up video game. Beat 'em up video games are games where the player controls a character that basically runs around beating up everybody on screen. The game is mostly made up of punches and kicks (and occasionally a weapon) but no complicated moves to execute like in fighting games. These are the ten best beat 'em video games of all-time.

Earlier this year MSNBC.com listed the five video games that they thought were the most addictive video games of all-time. There were a couple of video games on their list that I thought were good choices and a few that I didn't agree with. I thought I would make my own list of what I think are the ten (technically twelve) most addictive video games of all-time. These aren't necessarily just the games that I personally found most addictive because then the list would have to include games like Monster Rancher, Suikoden, Double Dragon, Pirates! and others. These are games that I think are generally addictive to everybody. I'm sure some of you will have different opinions though.

I've been doing a series of articles counting down the top 10 selling video games on each video game console. I've only been taking into account video games that sold over 1 million copies because it's easiest to find information on those video games. Unfortunately the Sega Genesis only had nine games sell over 1 million copies so this list will have to be a Top 9 highest selling Sega Genesis games.

The seventh-generation video game consoles have standardized a number of new video game features, including downloadable content, online play, wireless controllers and motion control. In addition, all three of the seventh-generation consoles have introduced ways to download retro video games from previous systems. Of the three current systems, the Nintendo Wii has the widest variety and library of downloadable retro games. These games, downloadable from the Wii Virtual Console, range from as old as Commodore 64 games to as modern as N64 games and include some of the best video games ever published. The following are some of the best available on the Virtual Console that are nearly as good today as when they were first released.

Up until 1978 video games were still in their salad days. Since the first coin-op video games launched in 1971 popularity was continually growing as mechanical games were slowly being phased out and replaced with the likes of Pong. By the end of '78 video games exploded into pop culture madness, mainly thanks to the number one pick on our list, Space Invaders. This was also the year that introduced the world to the first trac-ball game, the first continuously scrolling game and the first POV driving game. These are the most popular, innovative and groundbreaking titles from one of the grooviest year at the arcade.

We've all been video-game junkies at some point in our lives and some of us may still be addicted. Since about 7 years old, I've been playing almost every video game imaginable, some great and some that were just horrible. I decided to compile a list of my top ten greatest video games of all-time. Whether, the console was Atari, Nintendo, Genesis, Xbox, or Playstation, I'm sure there are a lot of you that will agree on some of these classic games.

Atari began in 1972 as a pioneer in arcade games, video game consoles, and computers. Pong and the Atari 2600 helped define the entertainment industry for video games during the 1970s to the mid 1980s time frame. The Atari 2600 was the most successful game console designed and sold by Atari; unfortunately, Atari encountered financial problems during the infamous video game crash of 1983.

For video game purists, more advanced technology does not necessarily mean a better game or a better gaming experience. Sometimes, the older games are still the best. The reason so many new games fail is because they lose sight of what a video game should be. Realistic 3D graphics are great, but if there is no decent story to back them up, if game play is too convoluted, or if failing one task sets you back 3 screens and 30 minutes, we won't want to play and we won't recommend the game to our friends. When we are looking for a video game, for the most part, what we want more than graphics is fun. It is, at heart, a game, right? With that in mind, here is a list of games that got it right.

Magnavox started the video game revolution in 1972 with the release of the Odyssey, the world's first home video game system. For the next five years, the company released a number of standalone consoles in the Odyssey line, giving them numerical suffixes like Odyssey 100, Odyssey 400, and so on. Finally, in 1977, Magnavox signaled a new generation of Odyssey by announcing the Odyssey², a dedicated unit that was to contain 24 games and accommodate four simultaneous players. However, the bottom was quickly dropping out of the over-saturated dedicated console market, and Magnavox scrapped the 24-game Odyssey² in favor of an expandable cartridge-based model. The company released it in 1978, touting it as "The Ultimate Computer Video Game System."

The Nintendo Entertainment System (NES) was the dominant video game console of the early and mid 1980s. Released in 1985, the NES single handedly rejuvenated the console video game industry after the video game crash of 1983. The games released on the NES have becomes classics and many defined the genres they represented and continue to influence design philosophy in modern games. There are so many excellent games from the NES that any list will inevitably leave off games deserving of honor. The list below comprises games that were both classics and have a lasting legacy.

Like all video games the sports games continue to improve. Real players, better graphics, longer and more in depth franchise modes, etc. Even though sports video games get better and better there will always be something special about the NES sports games. The sports video games on the NES were classic and are still fun to play today. These were the 10 best sports games on the NES.

In the world of video games, very few companies have been as successful as the video game juggernaut we call Nintendo. They've produced brilliant consoles, and brilliant video games in the 2 decades they've been releasing them. They have a lot of them, but which Nintendo games were the very best?

One of the greatest old school video game consoles to ever be created was the famous Nintendo 64 console. This console was created as a "one step above" console to topple its Sony Playstation rival. It didn't necessarily topple it, but it did make some amazing games that really pioneered its respective genre to a whole new level. Here are some of the games that really made the Nintendo 64 truly what it is, an awesome video game console that really turned video games to a better direction in development.