Solitaire is part of a shrinking group of games: those that are designed to be played alone. Casual gaming has lowered the barrier of entry for games, expanding the participants in the pastime significantly. In addition, networking capabilities are bringing to gaming many of the benefits Web 2.0 brought to the Internet.

Let's play a little game: Name as many famous game designers as you can, as quickly as you can. OK, time. Who'd you come up with? Sid Meier, Peter Molyneux, Will Wright, John Romero, American McGee? Furor and Tigole, if you're into those kinds of games?

Independent games are fertile ground for marketers and advertisers. Yet distribution channels are limited for existing games. Often, the game was born of a hobby or personal project, and the creator doesn't have the means or knowledge to get his game into traditional distribution vectors. These games, many of which are incredibly novel and make up for the lack of production value with ingenuity, are begging for sponsorship.

"Halo 3"'s launch will probably end up one of the most extensively marketed events of the decade, with the incredible Microsoft hype machine drawing in brands from Mountain Dew to Comcast cable to promote the launch of the capstone of its banner franchise (other than Windows, of course). The first week of the release saw $300 million in sales and over 40 million hours spent on Xbox Live. Even though many reviewers pointed out that the franchise is no longer as innovative as it was when it first launched, it can't be disputed that "Halo 3" is a monster success.