In 2005, Microsoft dropped the Xbox 360 onto the masses after a modestly successful debut in the console market with the Xbox. That big, black behemoth (with its equally-enormous controller) sold more than the Nintendo GameCube, but sorely lagged behind Sony's dominant PlayStation 2. The 360 marked the beginning of a new generation of games, entertainment, media services, and eventually, new philosophies. Philosophies of game design, game consumption, and what games could do started to change.
They changed because of the trail-blazing innovators that preceded them. The innovators that didn't just introduced new game mechanics, that contextualized old mechanics in new ways, and that explored new depths in narrative and player interactivity. These might not be the best games of the generation, or even the best examples of what they do, but they set the bar for future games and discussions about games. These are those games of the 7th generation.
