As I near the finish of my week long series spotlighting my top five console games of all time, I’m struck by the realization that while my number one remains the end all, be all of the list, the other selections really jockey for position in terms of what number they fall on. Essentially, numbers five through two share two characteristics in common:

1. They’re beloved titles I could play and replay endlessly, and
2. They’re not number one.

With a shout out to Highlander, “There can be only one.”

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Three down; two to go. Bear in mind, this list focused on my top five favorite console games. At some point, I’ll offer up my favorite PC-based entertainments.

But, at heart, I’m a console kid. I was reared on the Atari 2600, and the Nintendo Entertainment System helped melt four years of high school. It was on the NES that I began to witness this medium’s ability to tell a story. While so many titles followed the familiar “Save the Princess” narrative, some brave titles took stabs at displacing celluloid as the parchment for inking a good yarn. Of note, the Ninja Gaiden series and Bionic Commando made impressive use of their primitive tools.

That’s why it was incredibly rewarding to witness technology catch up to the demands of Hideo Kojima’s vision for the Metal Gear series.

Without further adieu, here’s number two:

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Here we are at the series mid-point. So far, the titles I’ve selected have been fairly popular upon their release. No real surprises in the bunch. While I’m tempted to raid the vaults and come up with some obscure indie release to properly display my street cred, I find that in selecting my top five favorites, I have to be true to my heart. I discovered these games upon their initial release and fell hard for each one. While they all went on to enjoy varying degrees of success, their popularity doesn’t diminish their appeal. They got popular for a reason.

Today’s selection spotlights the first in a series that experienced the peaks and valleys of too much exposure. Here’s a title that blasted out of nowhere, gave gaming a new cover girl and eventually slid in disrepair. While we’re beginning to see a renaissance for this property, nothing can diminish the real pleasures provided by that initial title. Sure, it hasn’t aged well, but if we do the time warp back to 1996, this was as good as it got.

Without further adieu, I present number three:

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Yesterday, I launched my week long feature focusing on my top five favorite console games of all time with my number five selection — Shadow of the Colossus for the PS2. With today’s selection, a theme is beginning to reveal itself: it appears I’m a sucker for exploration. I like being placed in an “alien” environ and then being tasked with making sense of how that unique world works.

Therefore, today’s selection isn’t much of a stretch from my number five choice. Once again, I’ve fallen in love with a game that dropped me in the midst of an organic environment and charged me with making it from Point A to Point B using equal parts brains and brawn.

Without further adieu, I present to you number four:

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No matter how old I get, I can’t shake this gaming jones. Of course, as the calendar pages fly and the responsibilities mount, I find I have much less time for gaming than I once did. Still, I refuse to surrender it completely. So, like many people, I find time to insert my pastime into the crowded confines of my busy schedule. And I find that most days, when the house grows still and bedtime is close at hand, I’ll fire up a game versus mindless channel surfing to unwind. My wife finds that action incredibly ironic, as she feels her tension level rise when she plays, but I’m just the opposite. Saving the universe seems much less taxing than filing a TPS report or obtaining requisition authorization for a new frame relay.
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For my inaugural Blog post, I thought I’d bring you all up to speed on who I am and what I’m about.

Let’s start here.

I’m a man of many identities. Now, don’t get me wrong. I’m no Sybil. But over the course of my life, I’ve been on the receiving end of my fair share of nicknames.

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