Required Playing

[OuroborosChoked]

You can't only pick 3. That being said:

Tetris - the basis of most modern puzzle games.

Super Mario 64 - How 3D platforming is done correctly.

Either Super Metroid or Zero Mission - Both are great games that invite exploration and experimentation.

Castlevania: Portrait of Ruin - It takes all of the developments since Symphony of the Night, adds them all up, and improves on them.

Either Gradius V or Ikaruga - Both are Treasure games and top-of-the-line sh'mups.

Legend of Zelda: Link to the Past AND Ocarina of Time - How adventure gaming is done in 2D AND 3D.

Metal Gear Solid - Despite all the later variations, this one is still the best choice for the genre.

Contra - The best side-scrolling shooter. Legendary.

System Shock 2 - The game that made Deus Ex possible. It used RPG, stealth, shooter, and horror elements to maximum effect.

Final Fantasy VII - Yes, I know... we've all heard it before. Regardless, it's the game that got me to start playing RPGs and despite the entry-level existentialism, it started my love of philosophy. So And, it's very non-RPG-player friendly. It's a good starting point, regardless of criticism.

 

[Spartan Bannana]

I'm gonna have to say:
Half Life 2- You should cry in the corner if you haven't play this game
Fallout 2-Freedom! Need I say more?
Psychonauts-Nice blend of great characters, story, gameplay and humor

 

[ZenMonkey47]

You can't only pick 3.

That IS the point of the exercise. You only have a finite amount of time to cover each game, so you have to pass over some amazing games to cover other amazing ones. The question is which ones do you pass over and which do you cover?

 

[Sp0ck_z0mbi3]

1. Super Mario Bros! - The classic's classic

2. Half Life(entire series including portal) - You damn well know why

3.Tie Fallout or Elder Scrolls III and IV (with an essay discussing the change between them) because todays kids ether need to know of Power Armor or Umbra

 

[OuroborosChoked]

But you can't only pick 3. You won't give an accurate sample of anything. And what kind of video game-centered course would only cover three games in an entire semester? I took An Introduction to Russian Film 2 and we covered a new film every class with additional suggested viewing each week. Even if you covered a first-person survival horror action RPG, a side-scrolling, platforming puzzle adventure, and a 3D strategy fighting game, you'd still be leaving out racing games, cinematic games, epic RPGs, courtroom dramas, 3D crime adventures, and countless other types of games.

You just can't cover everything in 3 games!

 

[LadyZephyr]

Okay, I would love to do this. I'd run a few different topics.

Games as a Physical Art Medium
1. Okami, students shall write on the topic of unusual coloring styles in games. Bonus points for including discussion of cel-shading and the similarities and differences.
2. Shadow of the Colossus, students shall write about how SotC dodged the graphical limitations of the PS2, maintaining an insane draw distance and utilizing the "bloom" effect in a successful way.
3. Rez, students write about minimalist game environments.

That's one unit right there.

 

[TsunamiWombat]

Valve (yes, Valve gets it's own course)

Half-Life
Half-life 2
Half-life 2 Episode 1/2
Portal

Disasters of Gaming History

E.T.
Daikatana
Star Wars: Masters of Teras Kasi

 

[LadyZephyr]

Disasters of Gaming History
[...]
Daikatana

I've seen that LPed. It was horrible. It was hilarious to watch someone else have to suffer through it.

 

[Xelioth]

hmmmm.....

1} Super Mario Bros. 3 or Super Mario World. doesn't matter which.

2) Half-Life 2

3) Chrono Trigger

get a good, solid, basing of the 3 main genres of video games. I would put Shadows of the Colossus on this list, but I feel those 3 are slightly more required than shadows. shadows would, however, be my fourth place pick.

 

[PersianLlama]

Stories in games

1) Half-Life 2
2) Final Fantasy Tactics
3) Metal Gear Solid

Students will write about how those stories were executed/pulled people in.

 

[Jobz]

1)Final Fantasy VI, VII or IX - To show them a good game with a good story and character depth.

2)Half-Life 2 - To show them that first person shooters can be intelligent and have good stories if done correctly.

3)Final Fantasy X-2 - To show them how not to make a game.

If I could choose a fourth I'd have them play every Madden game from 2000-2008 (They may as well be one game) and write down all the differences between them excluding graphics and line-up changes. If anyone could give me more than ten they'd get an immediate A in the course.

 

[Jumplion]

If not yet released games count, definately LittleBigPlanet. Who knows what those whacky kids will come up with?!?! It's the perfect game to use in any sort of project really, I wouldn't be surprised if I did so myself.

But if they have to be released;

1. Pong; The students need to see how it all started.

2. Super Mario Brothers; Our students need to know the very game that saved the industry.

3. Metal Gear Solid (series if possible); These students need to know how far storytelling in games have come.

 

[Helmet]

I'd go with:

1) Halo CE ....First FPS I remember actually playing. I know, it's not great, but it's a good intro to real games.
2) Lost Odyssey. Say what you will, I don't care. The game drew me in, I connected well with the characters, and if they made a book of the dreams you unlock I'd buy it and carry it around with me at all times.
3) Castlevania: Symphony of the Night No particular reason other than I love it, and if the professor loves it expect it to show up on a test.

 

[Janus Vesta]

I would try to stick to one genre and have different timeframes. Like:

Platformer:
Super Mario Bros. (Late 80s - early 90s)
Tomb Raider (Mid-late 90s - early 00s)
Mirror's Edge (Modern)

FPS:
Quake/DOOM (Early-mid 90s)
HalfLife (Late 90s - Early 00s)
CoD4/BF:BC/Halo 3, It's all the same shite really (Modern)

JRPG:
Phantasy Star/Final Fantasy (Late 80s - early 90s)
Some game from mid-late 90s, I didn't keep up with JRPGs back then.
Eternal Sonata/Infinite Undiscovery/ Final Fantasy XIII (Modern)

 

[ElephantGuts]

Hmm. That's a tough one. For an RPG with good story/characters I'm guessing one of those JRPGs I hate would be the best, but I would never touch one myself so I can't really be more specific than that.

Civilization 4 or Company of Heroes for strategy games.

Then, probably COD4 for an FPS.

I would also want to throw Bioshock or Fallout 3 in there somewhere. And Rome (or Medieval): Total War.

 

[Samurai Goomba]

hmmmm.....

1} Super Mario Bros. 3 or Super Mario World. doesn't matter which.

2) Half-Life 2

3) Chrono Trigger

get a good, solid, basing of the 3 main genres of video games. I would put Shadows of the Colossus on this list, but I feel those 3 are slightly more required than shadows. shadows would, however, be my fourth place pick.

Actually, I think Shadow of the Colossus is a better platformer/puzzler than any of the mario games, but I'm in the vast minority.

 

[Avatar Roku]

I'll have to list the 3 units and what makes them up, because just three games would be impossible.

-Unit 1: Arcade games
-Pong
-Donkey Kong

-Unit 2: "Hardcore" Games
-Cod4
-Oblivion
-Wow
-Halo (good or not, it's had an impact)
-Bioshock (leads into next unit)

-Unit 3: Rise of Casual Games and Art in Games (have to consolidate)
-Bioshock (see above)
-Guitar Hero
-Okami
-DDR

 

[gamebrain89]

Shadow of the Colossus, for their report on games as an art medium (that game is ART and I don't care what anyone says!!)

Homeworld 2 for strategy

and Mass Effect for some more mature subjects, and by that I mean racism, agression and our place in the universe (not hot girl on monogendered alien action, you sick, sick bastard).

 

[Avatar Roku]

I'll have to list the 3 units and what makes them up, because just three games would be impossible.

-Unit 1: Arcade games
-Pong
-Donkey Kong

-Unit 2: "Hardcore" Games
-Cod4
-Oblivion
-Wow
-Halo (good or not, it's had an impact)
-Bioshock (leads into next unit)

-Unit 3: Rise of Casual Games and Art in Games (have to consolidate)
-Bioshock (see above)
-Guitar Hero
-Okami
-DDR

Your views on "Casual" and "Hardcore" games leave me perplexed....CoD4 hardcore? What?! Oblivion? No.

A hardcore game is a game specially made for that special crowd of gamers who really know the business and are incredibly hard, in this category falls STALKER, Ninja Gaiden 2, Rainbow Six Las Vegas and The Witcher. Oblivion wasn't hardcore, it was an RPG. COD4 wasn't hardcore it was mainstream, WoW is an mmropg and yes if you're into it like a rapist is into rape than it can be "hard". Bioshock wasn't hardcore.

On casual gaming, they're piss easy games made for the crowd that doesn't need a storyline or any special innovation and basically just want fun, on this category falls Peggle, Rock Band, Singstar, sport games and the like. Bioshock wasn't casual it was mainstream which is a different concept. Okami was different, yet again not casual.

Sorry for the little annotation, just needed to take it off my chest ;o

Yeah, the second part of Unit 3 was Art in Games, which is where Bioshock and Okami come in. And about hardcore, I look at it like this; it's not casual, so it's hardcore. No middle-ground.

EDIT: I could be wrong about that last part, but that's just the way I see it.