8. Social & Mobile Gaming
This is one of my favourite things to come out of the generation. Game developers by the end of the previous generation had realized that the competitive games they had been developing may not cut it, and may be deterring potential buyers from purchasing their games. So this generation introduced a very broad niche for social gaming: where before, Nintendo was the only way to go, Microsoft and Sony opened up to the idea of catering the crowd. Most of these were games like Rock Band, multiplayer games that were easy to pick up and play, and stop whenever you had your fill. This wasn't limited to just PC and Consoles though - with the introduction of a wide-array of smart phones, Apple and Google could also enter the fray. It's hard to picture a world today without Angry Birds isn't it? It's gotten many a student sent to the office, and many an employee reprimanded, but these games all share a common trait. Be it for your iPhone, 360, or anything in between, these games are addictive and hard to put down once you start playing. The best part about it is that they don't have that same "hardcore" atmosphere that fighting games or shooters have, so these titles have been attracting gamers that might otherwise never be... gamers.