Now that Microsoft has opened Game Room, you might want some guidance from an old soldier.

In the gaming community, I'm an old man. I was raised on the Atari 2600, ColecoVision, and the Apple IIc, in that order. I wrote video games in high school for the IBM XT.

As soon as I got my driver's license, I'd drive down to the arcade in the afternoon and watch people playing games. That's what you did when you ran out of quarters -- you huddled around a stranger, watching him playing a game. When he messed up, he'd curse and slap the case with his fist. When he did something well, we'd all cheer.

He might even turn to you, smile and nod - we were so cool.

So, which of Game Room's 30 launch titles are worth playing? As someone who's heard of all of them and played most of them, here are my recommendations. The top five titles to add to your personal library.

Check out the game picks after the jump:

Asteroids Deluxe (1980, Atari)

asteroids_deluxe

If you're talking about classic games, you gotta mention Asteroids -- when Asteroids came to the arcades, the mullet hairdo was just being born. Asteroids could be called the first shooter game -- piloting your space ship, your job is to fire at asteroids and destroy them while not getting blown up yourself. Alien spaceships loom threateningly in the distance and you volley pixel-sized bullets back and forth. If you can believe it, the screenshot here is from the deluxe version, which had upgraded the video to that strange phosphorescent blue, among other small gameplay tweaks.

Red Baron (1980, Atari)

red_baron

Arguably the first flight simulation game, Red Baron had an outrageous casing at the arcade, complete with faux handles and cardboard guns. As you can see from the screenshot, you really had to use your visual imagination as the landscapes were predominantly comprised of lines in varied angles. But playing the game actually felt like piloting a plane -- you could watch gamers leaning to one side as they pulled the controller.

Adventure (1979, Atari)

adventure

In 1979, Atari developed the must-have app for the Atari 2600, and it was Adventure. You may see this screenshot and confuse it with a Lego toy set for a two-year-old, but in its day this game was da bomb. The goal was to return a stolen chalice to the gold castle. Along the way, you'd battle three dragons and unlock three other castles. Adventure had the first inventory system on a console game -- you were allowed to carry a single item at a time! Adventure is also known because it had the first "Easter Egg" -- a hidden piece of functionality only accessible by those in the know -- in a game. By selecting a invisible gray dot, you could enter a secret screen that listed the game's credits. Right on!

Tempest (1980, Atari)

tempest

Tempest was rendered in 3D, it had vector graphics, and it was in color -- a video game triumvirate in 1981. I mean, this game was wacked out. You used a trackball the size of two fists to move your ship in an arc at the bottom of the screen, whilst shooting all kinds of, well, bow-ties or bicycle spokes. Upping the complexity, the game also added challenges between stages where you had to navigate your ship away from debris that lined certain pathways. Tempest was a terrific retro-challenge because as you got better the game got harder. A lot harder.

Crystal Castles (1983, Atari)

crystal_castles

Things had come a long way in just a few years -- by 1983, Crystal Castles had detailed 3D graphics, music and sound effects, multiple levels and exquisite animation. You played a cartoon bear on a mission to collect all the crystals on a level. Think Pac-Man, except in three dimensions and with a lot of body hair. Like in Tempest, you used a trackball as a controller, and a button to jump. Unlike Tempest, however, moving a bear in four directions with a round ball is really really difficult, especially if you're just missing this one crystal in the corner. Still, Crystal Castles is the most addictive game of the bunch.

Obviously more titles will be added to Game Room over time, and we'll be sure to keep you updated with further recommendations.

What game are you most excited about picking up in Game Room? What games would you like to see made available in the future?