The Winners:

1) Super Smash Brothers: Melee

This is the only game I've ever played that has never, ever gotten old. I've put thousands of hours into this silly game and will still stop just about anything I'm doing for the chance to play. I've played with friends, roommates, and even gotten into the college competitive scene for a while. I still play it with my brothers every time they're in town and it somehow continues to provide hilarious entertainment every time we pick it up. I don't really know what it is about this game, but there's definitely something special about it to me.

2) Final Fantasy X

This game is a favorite of mine mostly because it was a "first" for me. It was the first game I played on PS2 (and I never had a PS1) and also the first RPG I can ever remember playing. The story made a big impact on me and I spent a lot of time with the game doing everything there was to do. It's hard to convey my enthusiasm properly, but it was definitely an important experience to teen-me.

3) World of Warcraft

Another "first" for me, my first MMO sucked me in pretty hard. Criticize the genre as you will, but there is something absolutely entrancing about playing in a living, breathing world. I've avoided MMOs since my WoW days (excepting a brief fling with SWTOR) but one day, something new will rekindle the magic and I'll get sucked in again. If nothing else, I have no doubt that some futuristic MMO will make my old-age bearable.

Honorable Mentions:

1) Warcraft 2

Oh, guess what? Another first. War2 wasn't quite the first PC game I played, but it was the first to "get me". It may have been my first online multiplayer game, actually, which was cool in and of itself ($$$$$$$BGH$$$$$$$ maps, anyone?). I think one of the biggest reasons I remember this game so fondly, however, is that I credit it with kindling in me an interest in the PC as a platform. Weird as it is to think about, before War2, I wasn't a computer geek. Ever since, I've been almost nothing but. Computers are, to me, everything from social identity to source of income these days and I owe a lot of that to Warcraft 2.

2) Nox

I don't really know that I have a very good story or reason behind this one. I played it a lot with a friend and had a great, social time. Twas fun. My brothers and I still quote many of the lines to each other on a regular basis.

3) Dance Dance Revolution

I had a large group of friends in high school and, for whatever reason, we started playing DDR at some point. Being reasonably agile and possessed of quick soccer-feet, I was (dubious honor though it may be) easily the best player of our group. Being young, male and competitive, I quickly bought a pad of my own and played obsessively for hours each day until I was very good at the game. Every time someone new came to hang out with us, my friends would always drag out the DDR pad so I could demonstrate my l33t skillz. I entered (and won) a couple of small, local DDR competitions. I felt like a minor celebrity.

I admit it was foolish and I wasn't all that good compared to the actual DDR "scene" but I had a lot of fun being "that guy who's awesome at DDR." Even today, though I rarely play anymore (despite having a hand-made pad given as a wedding present at my disposal), it still makes for a hilarious conversation-piece skill. It's just one of those things that no one knows much about and everyone likes to watch (read: laugh at).