Merry Merry to you too.
I do agree, and it was a good talk. There's a lot going on in the industry now that is going to be important to its development and I think we all have a vested interest in the whole thing, if only because these games are interactive experiences and therefore part of our lives more than other, passive media - even though passive media is a big part of our lives as well at this point in history. More than that though, its become part of our cultures, part of how and with whom we define and identify ourselves. From that stems bigger emphasis on the community, especially in evaluating quality. Strong association with the community is the compulsion of a shared culture - creating, modifying, and evaluating the cultural mores and rules in the pursuit of concrete belonging and acceptance/approval to which we are instinctually compelled becomes more acutely important as the culture spreads - however diffuse in some ways - into the greater fabric of society and daily life that may have been previously considered "outside" the core elements of the preceding stages of the gaming culture/community. Elitists, hardcore, core, dedicated, enthusiasts, casuals, occasionals, people who don't even consider themselves as 'gamers' - which is a definition in flux - are all now touched by this interactive media type in some way. Things have changed at such a rapid pace from the inception of this media to the present - as fast as the technology that delivers it and the ideas zipping around an interconnected digital communications world.
What I like about your shows, and others of a similar bent, is that they churn up some of the issues involved in all of that process from under the pretty lights and engaging activity of game play itself for people to consider and think about. Which is the thinking we most need to do - even as we hold to the joy and enjoyment of the simple pleasure and experience games offer. Granted, the process for addressing these issues is problematic (as Mordin would say hehe) and the process is unmapped to a large extent. There's been a good deal of unpleasantness here and elsewhere as we grow and develop - or try to develop - shared values and ideals. I expect there will be a good deal more, but I'm hopeful that the more we engage these things the better and more smoothly we will be able to engage them in the future.
