9. Soul Calibur 2 - August 27, 2003

Three platforms, three exclusive characters, plenty of stabbing for everyone, that was Soul Calibur 2. PS2 fans got to play with Heihachi from the Tekken games, Xbox owners got Necrid, some Todd McFarlane creation and GameCube devotees, the luckiest of the bunch, got to spar as Link, he of the green tunic. Whichever version you picked, the fast combat, diverse weapons and beautiful stages from Soul Calibur were present and a blast to experience. This also marked an end to the drought of good fighting games on the GameCube, hell, probably the end of the drought of good games period, and helped those of us who stood by the little purple cube feel like our devotion was rewarded, if only for a few moments.

8. TIE Fighter - July, 1994

A combat flight sim in the Star Wars universe sounds like a no-brainer. When Lucasarts released the original X-Wing it took gamers by storm, allowing them to sit in the cockpits of the fighters of the Rebel Alliance. Then in the summer of 1994, TIE Fighter hit the scene and suddenly it was clear: Lucasarts was serious about Star Wars videogames. The game sported much better graphics, a deeper storyline (which allowed you to join an Imperial "secret society), multiple fighter types including a "secret" prototype and the chance to fly under the watchful eye of Darth Vader. You got to fly in seven different sectors during the long campaign, and flying in the lightly armored TIEs was a lot tenser than the tanks in space that the Rebels used. Shields? Who needs shields? TIE Fighter not only pitted you against the pesky rebels but also pirates, smugglers, and other forces that the Empire wanted to put under its thumb. Best of all, it was easy to play—you didn’t need to be a hardcore Falcon flight simmer to love TIE Fighter.

7. Deus Ex - June 26, 2000

So many good gaming ideas came out of Deus Ex, which was ironically one of the few good things to come out of developer Ion Storm. It was the classic hybrid: RPG, shooter, and adventure all wrapped up inside a fantastic story. The fact that such an impressive mix of styles was released in the summer showed either a complete lack of faith in the mix or a "if you build it, they will come" approach to bringing gamers in from the outside. Gamers did come to play and many of the ideas found in Deus Ex have found homes in subsequent games, much to the delight of those looking to shun the sun worldwide.