3. The Rise of the Indie Game
To speak of Journey is to speak of the indie game, which received a massive push this past year, given that in the eyes of many, the best games of the year were indie titles. With such excellent games as Trials Evolution, Journey and The Walking Dead all being available for a quick download at a cheap price, it's no surprise that they've been racking up massive sales and considerable critical acclaim. Though the year had its share of excellent A-list titles, it's indie developers that really pulled out all the stops and impressed us this year, showing that you don't need a studio with several-hundred team members to make a fantastic game; all you need is an idea, a little cash (of course), and the drive to get it made. These nascent content platforms such as PSN and Xbox Live only promote greater creativity, and really, when is that ever going to be a bad thing? What's great about it is that this is only going to grow, too, so in 2013 we can expect even more great gaming gems storming their way onto our consoles and PCs.