For those of us that grew up in the arcades of the 1970s and 1980s (I'm 38 years old), and have been playing games for most of their life, one favorite game just won't do.

It would be like trying to name our favorite song or favorite band.

Anyway, for me, there's numerous, but if asked to limit my list to fewest possible, I would have to say:

Old School game - Zork I, II, or III for Commodore 64. Interactive interface simple to learn, but hard to master, allowed the player to create a universe or environment all their own, draw maps, whatever. Brilliant game, innovative design.

New School game - Guitar Hero III; so, what male of "30-40-something" age range hasn't fantasized about being a rock star.  Clapton, Page, Hendrix if you're old; John Mayer, Dave Navarro, Tom Morello if you're not. I'm in the middle, and still love both.

We've got 4 kids, they play their DS a lot, but we still love to play Wii (which should receive an honorable mention, at least for resurrecting the party game genre) together, as a family, and watching my kids play Guitar Hero is just a blast.