It’s hard to have a top ten favorite video games of all-time list and not feel like you left some out. So here are our Honorable Mentions.

Welcome back to the Top 10 Favorite Video Games of All-Tim Countdown.

With this countdown, Jon Johnston and I will count down our top 10 favorite video games of all time. The background of the countdown can be found in the 10th place link, but as you can probably tell, Jon and I grew up playing different video games as I grew up in the greatest era of all time and Jon grew up in a different one.

If you want to catch up on the countdown, then here you go:
10th place.
9th place.
8th place.
7th place.
6th place.
5th place.
4th place.
3rd place.
2nd place.

Now for our honorable mentions.

Nate’s 2nd Place Game - Honorable Mentions

God of War

This references the most recent 2018 release of the game. The others were okay, but they really took a major step up in 2018. I guess the next one to come out, God of War: Ragnarok, is going to be epic.

Journey

Admittedly, this game was kind of esoteric. I don’t remember how I stumbled upon it. It wasn’t really action packed, but there was something beautiful about the visuals of the game that can’t get simpler.

The Sims

Maybe it wasn’t the first of it’s kind, but it was the first for me that was kind of a world builder but with people and a neighborhood.

Rollercoaster Tycoon

This was my favorite world builder. I loved the idea of building an amusement park. Unfortunately, I always ended up with an amusement park that was too crowded.

Goldeneye

My first experience with a shooter. The music was great and we all knew where to get Golden Gun which would kill a character with one shot.

Grand Theft Auto

This was a really fun game and it kind of jumped the shark in many ways but it was ridiculous. I haven’t played in a long time and I’m not looking to introduce this game to my kids anytime soon either. Maybe they’ll stumble upon it when they turn 30 and I won’t have to worry about it.

Star Wars: Battlefront I

This is the game I’m currently playing. I’m really enjoying it because this is the first game that my son and I play that we can co-op together and really have fun with it. It’s my understanding that Battlefront 1 isn’t that great and that Battlefront II is a lot better. This is probably true but I’m having fun with Battlefront I right now.

Uncharted 2: Among Thieves

Pure action and fun. It always comes back to Indiana Jones for me. I haven’t seen the movie but I’m sure it’s terrible.

Guitar Hero

Loved playing this with my college roommates. Weekend nights were spent playing Guitar Hero before we would go out. It was fun.

Mortal Combat

FINISH HIM! My favorite character was Scorpion.

Twisted Metal

Looking back at this game, it truly is a ridiculous premise but that’s what video games are all about. Stacking guns and missile launchers on cars and driving around and shooting other cars like an ice cream truck with an evil clown on the top was a ton of fun.

Gran Turismo

The first and maybe only game of it’s kind. It’s a racing game but it seemed somewhat...realistic? This was not the kind of racing where you jump over your competitors or had turbo boosters which helped you fly or whatever. It’s not action backed but it felt serious about what it wanted to be.

Prince of Persia

The 1989 version. That game was amazing. I never beat it and I’m not sure I ever got close.

NFL Blitz

I know I’m breaking the no sports rule for this one but there was something so cathartic about this game. Oh, you scored a touchdown on me? I’m going to destroy you after the play.

Why I Game

I think I took a break from gaming over the past decade as you can tell by a lot of my choices. It’s hard for me to find time and I have a feeling my wife thinks it is a waste of time. Like I said above, I’ve started to play with my son but that usually happens after his younger siblings are in bed.

Also, after my wife goes to sleep. So we get about 30 minutes to an hour a night. It’s a good opportunity to bond with him as we try to get through 15 waves of storm troopers on Battlefront. He really enjoys it.

I believe there is value in video games. We have to be careful that it doesn’t take over our lives. We need to make sure it doesn’t turn into a crutch or an excuse from getting outside and talking to people.

The difficulty and strategy of video games is what makes it superior to staring at your phone and scrolling Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, TikTok or staring at the television and watching Love Island or whatever is trending at the moment.

When it comes to the VR games, I have had limited to no experience. I am somewhat of the mind that they will get to the point that it will turn into a detriment for our species.

Maybe I’ll be dead when that time comes.

Jon’s 2nd Place Game - Honorable Mentions

God of War

The reason this didn’t make a place is because it’s just too short. The gameplay is awesome, but I admit it was too fast for me, and I had to lower the difficulty to get through the game.

Mass Effect

Great cast of characters, great variety, great story, and fun interactions between all the characters.

Borderlands

Best and weirdest shootiest game I can remember. Many hours spent on this enjoying Claptrap, Handsome Jack, and Moxxi’s tattoo.

Bioshock

I am not normally creeped out by things on a screen, but holy shit, this game makes it here based on creepiness alone. Gameplay is good, the story is good, and it’s fun. But creepy. Really creepy.

The Remains of Edith Finch

This is an amazing story game. OH MY GOD DOES THIS GAME LIVE ON IN MY DREAMS. Two of my kids and I went through parts of this together. It is wonderfully constructed, and it outdoes Bioshock in cringe factor by a lot. It should be here because it is so different than everything else; it’s a wonderful experience... Even if it sometimes wakes you wondering why they died that way.

Supernatural

This is not really a video game. It is a work out. Running on the Quest 2 VR headset, this “game” will kick your ass into the ground. You get to go all over the world to complete routines punching, swinging, and meditating. It’s very good.

Shooters

Division 2

I don’t join clans. I don’t have friends that play this, so I can’t really even do parts of the game that require raiding parties. I still have spent so many hours on this thing, mostly because of the mindlessness of shooting fake people.
I need breaks from work, and this is what I do for 30 minutes at a time. Sit down and shoot stuff.

Battlefield 1

I have been intrigued with World War I and that period of history for quite a while now. It was only natural I’d gravitate towards this game. I appreciate it’s simplicity when it comes to technology; games like Call of Duty became ridiculous in the number of perks they allowed for killing streaks.
Like Division 2, this game was largely for spending time. I enjoyed it.

Why I Game

If there’s one thing I realized during this series; I have played a lot more video games than I’d thought. I’m an outlier. A 60-year old gamer, who doesn’t play much at all with other people online.

I like video games for two reasons. They provide escape from the world in which we live. Part of that escape is about immersion, which leads me to the second reason. I have spent a career in IT and I am intrigued by where technology can take us. Video games have obviously increased in graphics and realistic game play, but this is only the beginning.

I purchased a pair of Quest 2 VR headsets a while ago. I wanted to see what they could do. The family and I have had fun exploring, and there are some really interesting games available. You’d think this would be the future of gaming, but there’s something about Meta that makes you always aware that this is about them making as much money as possible rather than the focus being on providing you with the best experience.

VR headsets should continue to provide increased immersion, but we’ll see where that goes. I’m sure the technology will only improve. It’s a matter of whether they can bring fantastic imagination to the platforms.