"Game of the Decade"

[BetaWolf47]

Mine have to be Super Mario Galaxy, Beyond Good and Evil, and probably Banjo-Tooie. Yeah, unfortunately I have barely played much outside of Nintendo systems.

[Rob2600]

Out of the Park Baseball 2007 (PC)-- 96

You also need to take into consideration the number of review scores each game has received. Out of the Park Baseball only has 5 professional review scores.

By comparison, Super Mario Galaxy has 73 scores, God of War has 75 scores, and Resident Evil 4 (GameCube) has 82 scores.

I think games with fewer than a dozen scores shouldn't be counted.

[Dobie]

When going "Game of the Decade," my criteria wouldn't be straight metacritic scores. The game in question needs to be a "king maker." A seller of systems, spawner of genres, franchises, and myriad copycats. It must make an indelible imprint upon the larger gaming community--for good or bad. It must sell to casual and hardcore alike. It needs to be THE game every other developer aspires to make.

The games that immediately come to mind are GTA3, Halo, and Wii Sports. Being an unabashed Halo fan, it gets my vote. It is the game that established Microsoft's Xbox, the game that sold millions on the potential of Xbox Live, the game that every other shooter on the console aspires to be and is compared to. But any of these (and others as well) could be considered highly worthy. Honorable mentions to CoD4,THPS2, HL2.

[RP2A03]

You also need to take into consideration the number of review scores each game has received. Out of the Park Baseball only has 5 professional review scores.

By comparison, Super Mario Galaxy has 73 scores, God of War has 75 scores, and Resident Evil 4 (GameCube) has 82 scores.

I think games with fewer than a dozen scores shouldn't be counted.

Agreed. The following have been removed from the list for low review count:

The Legend of Zelda Collector's Edition (GCN) 2003 -- 8 critic reviews; also because it is a re-release of previously relesed games

Out of the Park Baseball 2007 (PC) 2006 -- 5 critic reviews

Flipnote Studio (DS) 2009 -- 7 critic reviews

I also removed Super Mario Advance 4: Super Mario Bros. 3 (GBA) 2003 because it is a remake.

        
2000:
1. Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 2 (PS) -- 98 -- 19 critics
2. Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 2 (DC) -- 97 -- 18 critics
2. NFL 2K1 (DC) -- 97 -- 22 critics
2. Perfect Dark (N64) -- 97 -- 30 critics
5. The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask (N64) -- 95 -- 27 critics
5. Baldur's Gate II: Shadows of Amn (PC) --95 -- 30 critics
2001:
1. Halo: Combat Evolved (XB) -- 97 -- 68 critics
1. Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 3 (PS2) -- 97 -- 34 critics
1. Grand Theft Auto III (PS2) -- 97 -- 56 critics
4. Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty (PS2) -- 96 -- 42 critics
5. Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 2 (GBA) -- 95 -- 16 critics
5. Gran Turismo 3: A-Spec (PS2) -- 95 -- 55 critics
2002:
1. Metroid Prime (GCN) -- 97 -- 70 critics
2. The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past (GBA) -- 95 -- 30 critics
2. Grand Theft Auto: Vice City (PS2) -- 95 -- 62 critics
2. Madden NFL 2003 (PS2) -- 95 -- 25 critics
5. Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 4 (PS2) -- 94 -- 27 critics
5. Virtua Fighter 4 (PS2) -- 94-- 36 critics
2003:
1. The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker (GCN) -- 96 -- 80 critics
1. Grand Theft Auto Double Pack (XB) -- 96 -- 33 critics
3. Madden NFL 2004 (GCN/PS2) -- 94 -- 19 GCN; 29 PS2 critics
3. Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic (XB) -- 94 -- 72 critics
3. Grand Theft Auto: Vice City (PC) -- 94 -- 30 critics
3. NCAA Football 2004 (PS2) -- 94 -- 15 critics
2004:
1. Half-Life 2 (PC) -- 96 -- 81 critics
2. Halo 2 (XB) -- 95 -- 91 critics
2. Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas (PS2) -- 95 -- 80 critics
4. Burnout 3: Takedown (XB) -- 94 -- 76 critics
5. Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell Pandora Tomorrow (XB) -- 93 -- 74 critics
5. Burnout 3: Takedown (PS2) -- 93 -- 52 critics
5. Unreal Tournament 2004 (PC) -- 93 -- 48 critics
5. World of Warcraft (PC) -- 93 -- 57 critics
5. World Soccer Winning Eleven 7 International (PS2) -- 93 -- 28 critics
2005:
1. Resident Evil 4 (GCN/PS2) -- 96 -- 82 GCN; 38 PS2 critics
2. Ninja Gaiden Black (XB) -- 94 -- 32 critics
2. Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell Chaos Theory (XB) -- 94 -- 70 critics
2. God of War (PS2) -- 94 -- 75 critics
2. Civilization IV (PC) --94 -- 50 critics
2006:
1. The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess (GCN) -- 96 -- 16 critics
2. The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess (Wii) -- 95 -- 73 critics
3. Gears of War (360) -- 94 -- 88 critics
3. The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion (PC/360) -- 94 -- 54 PC; 90 XB360 critics
3. Metal Gear Solid 3: Subsistence (PS2) -- 94 -- 53 critics
2007:
1. Super Mario Galaxy (Wii) -- 97 -- 73 critics
2. BioShock (PC/360) -- 96 -- 44 PC; 88 XB360 critics
2. The Orange Box (PC/360) -- 96 -- 34 PC; 54 XB360 critics
4. Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare (PS3/360) -- 94 -- 44 PS3; 70 XB360 critics
4. Halo 3 (360) -- 94 -- 86 critics
2008:
1. Grand Theft Auto IV (PS3/360) -- 98 -- 64 PS3; 86 XB360 critics
2. LittleBigPlanet (PS3) -- 95 -- 85 critics
3. World of Goo (Wii) -- 94 -- 21 critics
3. BioShock (PS3) -- 94 -- 51 critics
3. Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots (PS3) -- 94 -- 82 critics
2009:
1. Uncharted 2: Among Thieves (PS3) -- 96 -- 105 critics
2. Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 (PS3/360) -- 94 -- 67 PS3; 100 XB360 critics
2. Street Fighter IV (PS3) -- 94 -- 61 critics
4. Grand Theft Auto: Chinatown Wars (DS) -- 93 -- 85 critics
4. Street Fighter IV (360) -- 93 -- 77 critics
4. Braid (PS3) -- 93 -- 21 critics

I think we have Metacritic sorted out enough that we can start adding games that got left out but deserve to be in the running. Off the top of my head I can think of Paper Mario: TTYD and Metroid Prime 2. Unfortunately, I am in a similar situation as BetaWolf47 and have little experience outside of Nintendo so I will need input from those more knowledgeable on other platforms; although opinions on Nintendo games are more than welcome. I would also be willing to add Wii Sports to the list with some more persuasion.