So before I start, just know that I've always supported the 8th gen. Even with the Ps4 dominating with seemingly no exclusives as people say and the other consoles not selling great; I think we have so many awesome 8th games and experiences already. 

Anyway. With that said; there is always a genre breaking and completely invigorating game/games that release that define that generation or at least innovate it. 

With the 7th gen I believe some of those games were Bioshock, Mass Effect trilogy, Last of Us, Gears of War, Littlebigplanet, and Call of Duty 4. These games either brought up a new formula for gameplay or told story in a different way than before. 

Visually they weren't possible on the previous generation. Also the metascores are usually above a 95. 

I don't think the jump this time will be that drastic, but I'm hoping at least for some great innovating games with great meta. 

Some games I think are possible to do this:

Horizon - seems to do something new with the story rpg. Exciting. 

Quantum Break - I've seen a bunch of gameplay videos and honesting this game looks like pure innovation. Haven't seen much like it's type. 

Xenoblade X - so I know it's not pure innovation since it takes a lot from the first title, but I think now with an appropriate budget, HD visuals, and high expectations this is probably the original vision they might have had for the first game. 

Zelda - I mean the first HD Zelda deserves to be on here. Zelda gameplay caught up with current tech? Easy choice. 

Probably missing a few. But I'm excited for these types of games. Ones that go outside the box and succeed at doing some brand new. 

Any of these games you guys can think of?

What about Wii Sports? Anyways, I would say that Evolve is our generation defining game, with all of its microtransactions.

I always thought of Wii sports as more of a tech demo. I had a feeling it would not hold up as I didn't think the wiis motion controls were very advanced even for 2006. 

I did not enjoy evolve lol. Very disappointed since I loved the fuck out of both L4D games. 

Fallout 4, that game will absolutely take games to new heights and set the bar and honestly I see nothing topping it until the next GTA game as bethesda and rockstar are really the pinnacles of quality when it comes to game design, no other studios have the experience, nor make the games with the amount of scope and depth (cd projekt may join the ranks with cyberpunk 2077) also horizon looks incredibly unique as well but no way will guerilla make a better rpg on their first try then bethesda but still alot of potential there

Well we have the obvious problem of defining our terms. For example, the only games that you cited which I would agree with are Call of Duty: Modern Warfare (sadly) and... well that's it, really.

This ... 

Fallout 4 looks amazing from the design to the mechanics ... 

No Man's Sky. After that, I don't think there will be one. Ever.

You don't consider Gears of War genre defining? Nearly every TPS game since is, in some significant way, totally ripping off what Gears of War did. Before Gears of War, there was nothing like Gears of War.

No, I largely consider Gears to be a refinement of Resident Evil 4, which is genre defining. See? Obvious problem.

I disagree on that, but agree to disagree there. I can see how you would view it as a refinement, but I think the difference between the two games is too massive to simply be considered a refinement.