If you could show your younger self one game from this gen...

[The_Decimator]

Anythigng that uses Kinect. I would have s*** my pants wondering how that's possible.

[Crisp]

Minecraft.

[Charisma Veteran]

I think just the newest Mario games, with the latest graphics. I think younger-me playing Super Mario Brothers 1 on the NES would have been amazed by the difference and would love to see the contrast.

[majortom1981]

I would not show my younger self anything. I started gaming with the atari and nes. Then the Snes. The games for those systems i stil lthink are better then a lot of the ones out now. I wouldnt be very impressed.

[Yusuf M. Veteran]

I'd show myself StarCraft 2, but only to see my reaction. I'd hate for my younger self to be spoiled by a game that was made in 2011. Any game I play as my younger self just wouldn't be the same, especially StarCraft and StarCraft: Brood War.

[Twisp]

... I can't think of any. This gen has been ****.

[SongHyeonDeok]

Batman: Arkham City.

[The Teej]

... I can't think of any. This gen has been ****.

I haven't played as many games as I used to this gen, but even I can't say this generation has been ****. Almost all genres have had a very rewarding champion, I can't believe you think every game that has come out in the last 6 years has been complete ****.

[qdave]

... I can't think of any. This gen has been ****.

Absolutely not true. How about mass effect, dragon age, or Assassins creed. Those would make me happy in 1995 :D

And nfs most wanted since i liked racing games back then.

[firey]

Probably Rift

[Kondrath]

Definitely super smash bros brawl! Just imagine the uproar it would cause, with sonic being in a mario/nintendo game back in the 90s!

[DJ-Light]

X-Plane 10 or Sims 3

[madd-hatter]

I would give myself a guitar and keyboard and tell myself to stop wasting my time.

[scumdogmillionaire]

My younger self would have **** bricks with Batman Arkham Asylum/City or the Ghostbusters game.

[compl3x]

... I can't think of any. This gen has been ****.

Wow. Your standards must be incredibly high.

[Muhammad Farrukh]

Combat Evolved

Modern Warfare

Skyrim

Dragon Age

Arkham City

Crysis/Crysis2

Dead Space 2

Battlefield 3

I know I need to play more games :cry:

[The_Observer]

BF3

[Twisp]

Wow. Your standards must be incredibly high.

They are in fact pretty high, yes. Most genres have gone downhill, imo.

[Albert]

tetris

[.Markus]

Infinity Blade 2 on my iPhone, still cant believe the graphics and that you're actually holding it in your hand...

[Minifig]

Minecraft :D

Exactly this. Being a LEGO fan from a young age (eight, almost nine), my younger self would have loved to see Minecraft.

[LingeringSoul]

Great topic idea :)

For me, I would probably have to go with:

Mass Effect: Not so much for the gameplay (which admittedly was extremely rough around the edges in the first game), but just for the excellence in storytelling, the interesting characters that you actually wanted to learn more about, and the feeling that your actions actually had a tangible effect to the storyline. Mass Effect was one of the first games that truly made me feel like it was "my" story, and the game that you played was "your" story.

Starcraft II: In my humble opinion, it is hands down the greatest multiplayer game of this generation. I would show it to my younger self, because then perhaps my younger self could realize just how great a multiplayer game can be when the developers pour their heart and soul into the community, and when the community responds by pouring their hearts and souls into the game. Starcraft II is also nice because it comes at a time when learning how to become competitive is easier now than it has ever been before, thanks in part to YouTube and the many, many great shoutcasters that are out there. Admittedly, I'm a terrible Starcraft player, but the difference between 2011 and 2001 is that now I have nobody to blame but myself.

Dark Souls: I would want my younger self to realize that a game can be beautiful in all of the most unorthodox ways. The "beauty" of Dark Souls is not of the superficial variety. Rather, Dark Souls is beautiful because of how it rewards your dedication, punishes your impatience, and truly gets under your skin like few other games of this generation. I would also want my younger self to realize that a game can be difficult without being cheap (well, most of the time, anyways).

The World Ends With You: Prior to playing this game, I didn't realize that a mobile game could have this much personality. WEWY is the quintessential example of a game that you will either love or hate, but if you fall into the former category, you will come for the gameplay and stay for the extremely cool world that the developers managed to create. It's also one of the only good games that Square Enix has created in this console generation. Sorry, young LingeringSoul - Square Enix kinda took a nosedive after you left middle school.

Catherine: To be honest, my younger self probably wouldn't appreciate this game, but I would tell myself to wait until I'm older.

[mattmatik]

I'd go back to 1990 when I was ten and playing Tetris on GameBoy. And I would demo Tetris on iPhone. High definition colors, better than 8-bit sound, and, of course and most important touch controls. I think my ten year old self would shat a brick.

[neoadorable]

excellent thread. would show him GTA IV and either MW3 or BF3.

[Ayepecks]

Portal 2.

Go back and show anyone that game 10 years ago, and their jaw would drop. I don't mean graphically, I mean gameplay-wise.