Oh man, video games! There's a subject I could spend a while on. Not because I'm particularly knowledgeable (I'm not) or because I've played all the games on your list (I haven't), but because I think they are such an interesting form of new media (new to me and, I guess comparably new to the world when held up next to things like books or even television).
But video games are particularly new to me because I grew up with very little "screen time" as parents in this generation have dubbed television and video game time. In fact there was never at any point during my life a gaming console in my house. Until this year. Raven, by comparison, has been a long time aficionado of the console console gaming.
I understand the arguments for keeping kids from playing video games or spending too much time endlessly and mindlessly staring at a screen. I should say I'm also very grateful to my mom for keeping our home relatively screen free for much of my life (and basically all of my elementary school time). I don't concretely remember ever being bored, though I'm sure I was and I think that boredom is a good thing for a kid. It's probably one of the reasons I have been writing stories and dreaming up new worlds, characters, stories, and even religions, and languages for as long as I can remember. However, I don't think a kid who has access to more video games and television than I did necessarily is less creative as an adult or even less bored as a kid. Raven has as good (and I think even a better) imagination and penchant for storytelling as I do. With all good storytellers she draws her inspiration from everywhere - including video games.
I'm sure when the book came around (or at least the widely accessible, cheap, and widely readable books) the populace despaired of new generations of dull-witted human beings given too much easy, lazy entertainment. The same I know has been said about television. But with all things there is good that comes with the bad. Though video games can be mindless time wasting babysitting devices they can also be (and in my opinion should be) immervise*, enriching, and creative storytelling devices that encourage critical thinking and socialization. I love that breed of video game. Though I also love the just for fun stuff. After all, not every book you read has to be Crime and Punishment. Sometimes it's okay to throw in a pulpy paperback.
So in response to your list I will give you two of my own.
7 Games I Loved As A Child (For Computer and Gameboy)
1. Pokemon Red/Blue (not sure there's anyone left in my generation who hasn't played this)2. SimCity 2000 and SimFarm (I lump them together because they're basically the same thing on different scales)
3. The Sims (This gets a different category because I was much more immersed in it than the above Sim games and it's also a lot fluffier than the others in terms of substance)
4. Math Blaster (Never has math been so much fun for me)
5. Oregon Trail (The hours of my life this game ate is truly mind boggling)
6. Neverwinter Nights (The first RPG I played - mostly at my sister's urging)
7. Unreal Tournament (The original FPS for me. I have an unreasonable love of FPS games, though these days I like a bit more plot with my bullets.
5 Games I Love Today
1. Neverwinter Nights (I still play this game and enjoy it today, though perhaps for nostalgic reasons the original remains my favorite)2. The Sims (I'm not even a little ashamed of the fact that I still like to basically play high tech dress up with dolls. There is nothing wrong with never growing up and always wanting to play out stories.)
3. Mass Effect (This was the first game I ever fell in love with and finished on my own and it has all the things I love about gaming - immersive* story, interesting characters, expansive plot, etc.)
4. Dragon Age (for the same reasons as Mass Effect, but with fantasy!)
5. Borderlands, especially Borderlands 2 (I love FPS with plot)
As a relative newcomer to the gaming world I'm still learning a lot about what I like and how to play new, interesting games. Next up on my list is Analogue: A Hate Story. I'm playing through it with Raven at the moment and loving every second of it. Every second that I'm not tempted to strangle one of the very sexist, homophobic AIs that is...
*Spell Check would have me believe immersive isn't a real word. It is, right? I'm not crazy...?
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