This is insultingly untrue.
http://www.minecraft.net/ - http://www.bay12games.com/dwarves/ - http://kerbalspaceprogram.com/ - http://www.rodvik.com/rodgames/ - http://www.braid-game.com/ - http://www.thinkwithportals.com/ - http://www.audio-surf.com/ - http://www.telltalegames.com/samandmax - http://www.popcap.com/games/pvz - http://machinarium.net/
This was just off the top of my head, too.
Good list of games, but...
- Sam and Max is cheating because it was conceived during the Golden Age. (One of my all-time favorites).
- Plants vs. Zombies is great game, but doesn't do much to broaden my horizons. And it definitely has a focus on fighting. That said, one of my all-time favorite games is the original XCOM. You really had to think hard to play that game. Had great atmosphere as well.
- Machinarium...okay, it's a great game and currently installed on my machine.
- Minecraft: also a good game that's doing something innovative.
However! None of these games (as far as I know) appeal to a big mainstream audience. I really doubt we'll see Zynga, Blizzard or EA doing anything like these games in the near future. Maybe EA would.
But I'm glad to know that I'm not in a camp of one. :)
Now, everyone under the sun is playing games. There are more gore-only gamers now than there were total gamers back then.
There are still plenty of games in the style of Sierra's... It's just that that same limited audience isn't the loudest voice any more.
The market is there, and the landscape is shifting. The reason $60 AAA titles from giant monoliths all feel like they're imitating each other is that they don't know how to do anything else. But small, innovative developers are finding a lot of success.
As someone who loves the indie scene, it's hard for me to think of a better time to have been a gamer, and I too have been playing since the days of 5.25 floppies.