Video gaming and its discontents

Salon.com Technology | Video gaming and its discontents: "It's the best of times, it's the worst of times for video gamers. There are no interesting games, there are stacks of interesting games. Gamers are bored with games, they are excited about games. The Entertainment Software Association reports that the average gamer is now 28 years old, and maybe that's part of the problem: We are not so easily distracted by shiny pretty things anymore. But how to resolve the contradiction that where some find ennui others wait with bated breath?" I think about the issues presented in this article a lot. There is a part of me that wants to be a part of the birth of a new art, a medium that I grew up along side of... But the truth is I have grown faster than games... Despite my deep affection for, and excitement about games, I am concerned that they are not evolving quickly. Their growth has been stunted by corporate control and the sheer mass of skill, time, and money that are required to make a premier title. Nobody wants to risk it. This article articulates the issue from a gamer's perspective, but fails to properly explore it. Figuring out how to attract female games is not the issue, we're talking about the discontent of current gamers, but the article really spends most of its words on the girl thang. When the games are broader in scope and stronger in content, the fems will play. Regardless, the end of the article expresses it wonderfully: "We're ready for cultural products. Good, bad, and ugly games. Experimental games. Games that are not entirely successful but try out a new idea or a new technology. Games that are more than just games. We're getting there. And for all the love of video gaming that gamers still bear, that seed of discontent is just what's needed to keep looking for the next great thing that breaks boundaries, wakes people up and rocks the world."