I think that console and PC gaming missed their chance at mainstream acceptancy with the rise of mobile gaming. So, gaming as a concept will be widely accepted at one point, but dedicated console gaming will always remain more of a niche.
I think SupremeAC nailed it. People will always be playing stuff on their phones or whatever mobile devices they have. I think they've found a niche as time wasters for the toilet, train, etc. On a slightly wider scale there will also be giant mainstream hits that will appeal to huge audiences from time to time. Pac-Man, Super Mario Bros., Minecraft, etc. Kind of like Shades of Gray.
They may not change the world or even have a message. But they provide pure fun and can bring people together. They are here to make life a little better for all. Games are awesome.
Dvader said:I just had a 50 year old female patient who's phone got a text machine and the sound was a Mario coin. So of course I commented on it and we agreed that everyone loves Mario and talking about how awesome games are.
They may not change the world or even have a message. But they provide pure fun and can bring people together. They are here to make life a little better for all. Games are awesome.
Was she hot?
I fuckin' love cougars.
Cougars: Better than The Witcher 2.
*Now* I am looking into these $200 Wii U deals. If I go to the city today and find any I will be getting one.
edgecrusher said:Was she hot?
No, no no no.
aspro said:I was probably just depressed from having played Crysis 2.
*Now* I am looking into these $200 Wii U deals. If I go to the city today and find any I will be getting one.
That could be your Crysis 2 review: makes you question your life.
aspro said:I was probably just depressed from having played Crysis 2.
*Now* I am looking into these $200 Wii U deals. If I go to the city today and find any I will be getting one.
See you soon on Mario Kart!
aspro said:
*Now* I am looking into these $200 Wii U deals. If I go to the city today and find any I will be getting one.
BUT will you buy any games for it?
Oh man today was like video game day at work. Well that first lady was just casual talk, she liked mario , her kids played it and stuff. The last patient was a full on game nerd chick (for edge, she is a lesbian and NO, but that doesnt matter she is a great person). This was hardcore video game talk. She came in and was like "let me put away my 3DS" I was like WHHHHAAAT?! She was playing Zelda ALBW (the second time on hard, holy shit) so she instantly became a good friend. I rarely get to talk about video games so it was sweet to be able to do so at work. What an awesome day.
Ravenprose said:BUT will you buy any games for it?
it comes with games, thank God. But maybe he'll trade them in. 
Foolz said:Well, we wouldn't be discussing this shit on the podcast anyway. Videogames, like film, have very little chance of having any long lasting cultural impact (we're talking in centuries at least here) because of how reliant they are on transient technology. Their best hope is becoming a part of folklore, but good luck with that LOL. Posterity is for cowards anyway.
Noel Coward. But your larger point abuot transient technology (due to the closed nature of consoles) is true.
It would be like a medium locked within audio casettes, then compact discs, then Mp3 files etc...
Fuck, now I'm depressed again.
Cave paintings however... still playable.
Dvader said:Oh man today was like video game day at work. Well that first lady was just casual talk, she liked mario , her kids played it and stuff. The last patient was a full on game nerd chick (for edge, she is a lesbian and NO, but that doesnt matter she is a great person). This was hardcore video game talk. She came in and was like "let me put away my 3DS" I was like WHHHHAAAT?! She was playing Zelda ALBW (the second time on hard, holy shit) so she instantly became a good friend. I rarely get to talk about video games so it was sweet to be able to do so at work. What an awesome day.
Yep.
Ravenprose said:aspro said:
*Now* I am looking into these $200 Wii U deals. If I go to the city today and find any I will be getting one.BUT will you buy any games for it?
To be completly honest, and I know how stupid I am, I probably wound not have bought a game. Because I spent $120 in petrol to get there and another $300 on some insulation I had to buy.
And I still dont; have a game for the PS4... so knowing all that, as much as I would have liked to have bought a game for it I would not have.
NOW... I did do my due diligence and went to three major retailers that were supposed to have had the deal. Only one of them had the Skylanders bundle and it was $300, not $200, so it was a no go. 
I do not know when I will next record an episode of the game under podcast, so I will say it here.
For many years, I wondered when the "inevitable" would occur. Video games reaching the echelon of Movies and Books (Capitalisation intended) in terms of the default acceptance of the general public.
These days I vascillate between the impression that video games have a chance of reaching the "accendancy" of comic books, but the possibility of ending up in the "train collector" category.
Is this hobby something on a trend to never transcend the concept of general play? Is the contributions of this hobby going to ultimately be, "there were puzzles, novels and cowboys-and-indians"?
My appreciation for the amount of time I invest in play has not dimished, but the more I think about it, Video Games are just another paragraph in the book of "play" and not a book in and of itself.
And now a picture of a man wanking, to illustrate the point...
(okay, not really).