6. Dragon Age (PS3, 360)

It’s almost unfair to list a game that came out in the waning days of the decade and rank it right up there with such storied franchises after just one outing, but Dragon Age: Origins is actually the beneficiary of all of Bioware’s accumulated experience over the past decade-plus of creating top-notch videogames, primarily of the RPG genre.

So, while I won’t be including Knights of the Old Republic, Jade Empire, Baldur’s Gate or Sonic Chronicles in this list, I include Dragon Age because of how dang impressive BioWare’s games catalog is overall, and Dragon Age: Origins is the freshest beneficiary of all that game design knowledge.

Re-embracing their Baldur’s Gate roots, Dragon Age is BioWare’s license-free take on Dungeons and Dragon-style RPG gaming, with a whole lot more experience under their belts. Featuring a vast world, loads and quests and plenty of story, and with generous expansion packs either released or planned, and a sequel in the works already, Dragon Age is a celebration of everything a US-made RPG should be about.

Loads and fun, plenty of length, a great story, top-notch visuals, and many ways to extend the title’s game play and appeal… who could ask for more without mentioning free cell phones?