People judge everything by their first impressions, and video games are no exception. Intros to a game are now more important than ever since gamers’ attention spans are getting smaller and smaller every day. Keeping this in mind, let me introduce today’s first list – one that chronicles the greatest video game intros of all time.

The list carries usual suspects like Final Fantasy 7, Metal Gear Solid and Metroid Prime, as well as unusual entries like Skate and Mortal Kombat: Armageddon. Here’s a bit from Skate:

The 3 dozen Tony Hawk games do a great job in worshiping the ground the Birdman walks on to a sickening degree that is almost hard to ignore. This game, however, gives some other talented skaters a chance in the limelight, and you can witness this in the awesome introductory video clip found at the beginning of skate which is arguably the best use of live action ever in a video game… meaning, it doesn’t actually suck. The intro has a decidedly “Jackass” feel to it, which makes it all the better in terms of introducing all the skaters in a goofy, comedic way. The skaters are such oddballs to begin with that they work perfectly well acting in a clip like this one, and the clip overall succeeds in making the gamer excited to play the game, whether or not it has a whole lot to do with it. Bonus points for the Slayer song towards the end of the video.

Which games do you think have the best intros? Also, is an intro video necessary to make a good, long lasting impression on the player?