Thanksgiving - a time for family, stuffing one's face with turkey, watching football, and then later going out and hunting down the year's best Black Friday deals. Thanksgiving is also a time to give thanks, and this year has given gamers in particular plenty to be thankful for.

Besides some of the incredible titles that have released this year, various events and announcements have made 2015 a memorable one for the gaming industry. In celebration of Thanksgiving, Game Rant is reflecting on 2015, and acknowledging what we're most thankful for this year.

Backward Compatibility

Microsoft dropped a bombshell at E3 2015 when they announced Xbox One backward compatibility with Xbox 360 games. We're already seeing the feature implemented, with games like Fallout 3, the Gears of War series, and 100 other 360 titles already playable on Xbox One. More are expected to be added to the backward compatibility list in the near future, giving gamers plenty of chances to try out some of the seventh generation's best titles that they may have missed the first time around.

The Xbox One isn't the only platform enjoying backward compatibility, however. On the contrary, it was recently announced that PlayStation 2 emulation is coming to PlayStation 4. While this will likely be restricted to digital downloads, it's still a great feature nonetheless, and will help shine a spotlight on some of the PS2's many classic games.

Fallout 4 Mods

Bethesda's Fallout 4 released a couple of weeks ago, and many gamers are still busy exploring the vast wasteland of post apocalyptic-Boston. PC gamers have been able to enhance the Fallout 4 experience even further, thanks to a variety of creative mods that have already been released for the game. The mods for Fallout 4 have been impressive so far, and range from practical (such as the mod that improves the game's graphics) to ridiculous (exploding nuclear babies, for example). With the modding community releasing such interesting mods already, we can't wait to see what the future mods for Fallout 4 will have in store.

Highly Anticipated Games Finally Being Made

Before 2015, the Final Fantasy 7 Remake was nothing but a tease by Square Enix. The Last Guardian was trapped in development hell with no chance of escape. And Shenmue 3? Well, fans of that game gave up on ever seeing it produced long ago.

Then E3 2015 happened, and all of that changed. Final Fantasy 7 Remake was announcedThe Last Guardian offered its first gameplay footage in years, and Shenmue 3 was successfully funded on Kickstarter. There was a time when all of these games seemed like pipe dreams at best, so we're certainly thankful that we will all have the chance to experience them within the next few years.

Horror Games Making A Comeback

Something horror fans should be thankful for this year is the resurgence of the genre in video gaming. While the cancellation of Silent Hills and Konami's horrendous treatment of P.T. certainly hurt, this year gave us the Five Nights at Freddy's saga, as well as announcements of compelling upcoming horror titles such as Allison Road and Friday the 13th. Furthermore, the much anticipated Resident Evil 2 remake was finally announced by Capcom, which may prove to be the most significant horror game release in years.

Online Games Working at Launch

A recurring theme since the start of this generation has been online games simply not working at launch. It happened with the online component of basically every big name game, with Halo: The Master Chief Collection having a particularly broken online when it released. That trend finally seems to have been bucked, with multiplayer-focused titles like Halo 5: Guardians and Star Wars Battlefront launching with very little, if any, online issues at all. Games finally working as they should at launch again? Now that's definitely something to be thankful for this year.

What gaming things are you thankful for this year? Has 2015 met your video gaming expectations so far, or were you hoping for more? Get at us in the comments below, and let's discuss what we're thankful for in celebration of Thanksgiving!