As per Paul Barnett and Kieron Gillen, here’s a list of games I think are canon, followed by a list of ‘in the now’ games I think are worth playing for various reasons.

Here’s my canon list:

1. Half-Life – Screw Doom. And Wolfenstein. I actually don’t like most of the id-era first-person shooters. I played them, of course, but they never grabbed me the way the tram car to Black Mesa did. While Half-Life may have Doom to thank for getting made, Valve reinvented the genre the id guys helped popularize by proving you could tell a compelling story while killing zombies at the same time.
2. The Legend of Zelda: Link to the Past – The original Legend of Zelda is fantastico, but the perfect entry in the series has to be Link to the Past. I like it substantially more than any of the entries since, and it sets a tone that was aped by a number of games to come after. While the first game may have set the stage, Link to the Past was the game that delivered on the promise of the format.
3. Super Mario Bros. – On the other hand, the first game in the Mario series deserves special lauding. Not only did it teach a lot of us in the states how to play videogames, it made the platforming genre a bedrock foundation for every console to come after. While FPS titles tend to be the bread and butter of home gaming platforms today, sidescrolling and platforming were the original killer apps.
4. Resident Evil – A dog busts through a window and scares the pee out of you. How can it not be canon? Plus, the dialogue is a great example of why localization is so important.
5. Goldeneye – The first FPS that worked on a console, period. There would be no Halo/Killzone/FEAR/etc/etc without blurry, pixelated work of Bond on the N64.
6. EverQuest – UO and M59 may have come before, and WoW obviously has had a lot bigger impact, but there’s a reason I always call this the ‘grandaddy of MMOs’. EQ is worth playing if for no other reason than it gives you insight into the mind of almost every MMO designer to touch the genre since.
7. Baldur’s Gate – The ur-game for American RPGs. While there are a lot of different styles of American role-playing, the impact of BioWare on the US vision of cRPGs is impossible to overestimate.
8. SimCity – “So let me get this straight. This is a ‘game’ where you pretend to be mayor of a city, and you decide how much to tax people? And where to build industrial districts vs. commercial districts? Yyyyyeah, sounds awesome.” And yet, where are we today thanks to this game?
9. Grand Theft Auto III – Though I was tempted to put Morrowind here, GTA III had a broader impact on gamers and technically came out a year before. ‘Sandbox’ gameplay is ridiculously popular today (even where it shouldn’t be applied). This is the game that made that so.
10. Dragon Warrior – As Baldur’s Gate is to US gaming, so Square is to jRPGs. Dragon Warrior and (later) Final Fantasy defined an entire genre of videogames, all the way through to today.

And here’s my list of more modern plays:

1. BioShock – Stories are all about words or wooden voice acting! Atmosphere is the one thing everyone can agree the developers got right on this one. Plus, personally, I think ‘the twist’ in BioShock is one of the best ones in any videogame I’ve played … even if you did see it coming.
2. Dungeons and Dragons Fourth Edition – “We have this game that’s somewhat well known but not that many are playing it. Why don’t we figure out why that is and then … make it more fun?” Given that Wizards of the Coast and original D&D publisher TSR were once well-known for their hubris, this simple admittance that maybe they needed to re-examine their thinking was pretty huge. It’s a great test case for anyone with an existing product and fading interest.
3. Fallout 3 – Bethesda’s search for the perfect open-world sandbox came continues with this fantastic post-apoc game. Check out how they make the world seem ‘big, but not too big’. Plus, dig how storytelling can be embedded in a landscape as big as the DC Metroplex!
4. World of Warcraft – Play WoW to level 20. Think back on all the hum-drum, ho-hum activities you went through during your (estimating here) 4 or so hours of play. Now consider that the *reason* you think that’s ho-hum is *because* of WoW.
5. Left4Dead – Recent comments from Gabe Newell about Valve’s innovative highlights with this game is well worth appearing on a list of notable modern games. Not only is it a fantastic example of small-group social gaming, but the huge benefits of free updates after the original purchase are a big deal here.
6. Fable 2 – Hey, guess what? Fantasy RPGs don’t have to be inscrutable hard-to-control borefests! They can be fun, action-packed, even funny! A fantastic example of why accessibility and fun are becoming so important in gaming.
7. Tomb Raider: Underworld – I firmly believe that some sequels are good. Some franchises are worth revisting, some old games are worth remaking. The Tom Raider series continues to prove that I’m not crazy on that front.
8. Viva Pinata: Trouble in Paradise – Family-friendly games that make Dad and Mom just as happy as the kids? Buy, I wonder if those will sell well.
9. EVE Online – I personally don’t understand this game. This game isn’t ‘for’ me. But to deny that EVE is one of the most important online games in the MMO genre would be foolish. This game is *important*, and it’s getting moreso every day instead of less.
10. Little Big Planet – Despite the fact that this game isn’t as popular as I (and others) would like, LBP is a first step down a pretty amazing road. It’s a must-play.