The whole idea of a general cultural shift within the video game industry doesn't really get to me at this point. There has been a lot of debate up to this point. I had almost put a bit of thought into it, but then… I decided against that. Instead, I've begun thinking progressively.

Much like Mexicans and the United States, we're seeing a flood of "casual", simple, pick-up-and-play-type games into the market. It seems like many folks are having difficulty adjusting to the rapid "casualization" of the gaming scene, while the opposing side encourages it. Some will point out the fact that this will inevitably change the face of our gaming nation, for better or worse. Others point to the fact that change is the only thing that we can be sure of, as it is constant and infinite. A number of people will try to justify its existence by touting the abundance of cheap thrills.

In finding our way, arguments will erupt. You may find yourself quarreling with a friend, a neighbor, a brother. Slurs like "fanboy", “elitist” and "jim sterling" may be spewed from the fingers and mouths of frothing children.



This is to be expected.

The future will arrive nonetheless. Our course will be chosen by an invisible hand: the hearts and minds of our time, some loud, some quiet - but as a disjointed collective. What will be, will be. No man can predict it, with all his evidence of the past and theory of the future. But we can be certain that change will occur.

I am not concerned with any of the possible outcomes. War could wage, and I, loaded up on self-enlightenment, will care not a bit what may come of it. You see, games are reaching a productive peak, in my opinion. The next two years will provide me with plenty of epic titles. My collection will reap a bountiful harvest! Product of which no man has ever seen the likes of… quite possibly capable of providing a lifetime’s worth of gaming sustenance.

I will be prepared for the future. It may be swarming with frolicking bunnies and playful deer, prancing and basking in the beautiful glory of North America. Naked women may run through the streets, their white T’s drenched and permeable with nary a pair of x-ray specs.
Perhaps the shift will be unnoticeable…
Or, walking mutations may inhabit the twisted nooks and crannies of a dried up, pock-marked, barren landscape. Babies may be devoured upon birth, placenta and all.



I do not care. I will be hiding in a virtual bomb-shelter I will be building this year and next comprised of releases like Halo 3, Assassins Creed, Mass Effect, Fable 2, Valve’s Orange Box and high definition visual and aural technologies. I will be exalted to a heavenly place, which neither love nor hatred can penetrate. Only bliss. Complete, and total, bliss.

Construction begins soon…