If you think the troubles Nintendo has been facing with certain publishers pulling away from the Wii U is a new thing, you're very much mistaken. These guys are used to it by now - back in the GameCube days, big boys like EA were just as wary. But as we know, Nintendo doesn't rely on third-party goodness to make or break a console, and with their incredible library of in-house titles it's easy to see why. Mario is always the flag bearer for the brand, but for more mature audiences it has been Metroid which has earned the most critical praise. Metroid Prime was a vast departure for the series in that it took us into the third dimension for the first time, throwing Samus into a first person shooter perspective. A gamble, possibly, but at a time where side-scrolling platformers were old news it was time for something new. The result was one of the most highly rated games of all time, on any platform. As dark and brooding as any Metroid which came before it, Samus in FPS-guise was an engrossing shooter that demanded even more of the player than before.
8. Halo 2 - Microsoft Xbox (2004)
The idea of corporate megacorporation Microsoft diving into console gaming was met with all kinds of disdain, distrust and general skepticism. How could the suits at Redmond have any clue about the intricacies of this very specialized industry? Our fears weren't entirely misguided - the original Xbox fought an uphill battle to gain market share, console sales paling in comparison to that of the PlayStation 2. But, sales disappointments aside, one thing that we will never forget about the Xbox was that it gave us Halo and it's sublime sequel. Microsoft's console needed something special to drag it out of the jaws of obscurity, and the adventures of Master Chief played that part perfectly. The franchise debut introduced a lot of what has since become standard operating procedure for console shooters, and then Halo 2 sharpened and refined all of that. Arguably the most important instance of real online multiplayer FPS action on consoles at the time, Halo 2 solidified the franchise's reputation as one of the most feverishly defended and attacked console exclusives ever made.
Game-obsessed since the moment I could twiddle both thumbs independently. Equally enthralled by all the genres of music that your parents warned you about.
