I actually read it. And no, I think PC is fine for that purpose. In fact, it's necessary. The only proper console analogue would be nothing but a PC with set specs. Which is how it USED to be, the variance came from so many different companies making their own versions of a computer.

Walls of text are rare and welcome these days. Keep at it!

Okay, so my response -

I, too, share in your discomfort with the idea that corporations have the ability to dictate just what is considered 'messagable' - and the Syndicate Wars tagline "Corporate Persuasion through Urban Violence" comes to mind quite freely.
However, when you say that, "now three companies essentially determine what will be produced, and thus attempt to define the medium for us", the stress should be put upon <i>attempt</i> to define. No corporation, government, person, or bureaucrat, has any ability to tell me what I'm going to like, or dislike. They all have some control over what is produced, but it is ultimately <i>my</i> choice to see what I want in their (crappy) products.

And that's where outsiders and indie games come in. You say that we need a console "for the people"? Well, we already have hundreds. And there are thousands of people out their creating for them. Atari 2600 cart programmers. PSP devtoolchain. Nintendo DS Homebrew. XBOX Media Center. Hacked NES roms. The list is endless. I daresay that every console out there has some kind of SDK that has been built by devoted hackers and released to the general public. For every corporation out there that wants to prevent users from making their own content and having their own personal enjoyment with console, there are 100 coders willing to devote their time to crack it and create the development tools for it.

So to say that you're spelling out the ideal in a concrete form is true, but that ideal has already been in everyday practice for 30 years at least. I can remember borrowing free Apple //e programming books at my library, taking them home, then typing in the BASIC programs line-by-line all night. The power to create has always been in the hands of individuals and communities. The only thing the corporations have done is create even more tools for people to exploit and enjoy.

You really should read "Society Must Be Defended" by Michel Foucault. I think he puts to rest the idea of complete domination by any institution - and instead argues that these institutions MUST survive in order to make life meaningful for those who have the courage to make microcosmic communities-of-meaning (he calls them "practices of freedom") for themselves. Just like your blog.

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