Gaming has gone through many changes over the years, but 2008 was most definitely when the self-improvement and non-gaming software genre came into its own.
Although traditional titles continued to break new ground and fare well commercially, any advances made were comparatively small to those made in the self-improvement market.
The successful launch of games such as Wii Fit and Cooking Guide and the introduction of more practical products like Atari and Ubisoft's driving theory test titles has expanded the scope of the genre. Meanwhile, the continually strong sales of the Brain Training series inspired a significant increase in similar, less conventional games hitting the shelves.