Welcome!

Welcome to the future of entertainment: now is the time and you are the one. For far too long, the game industry has been perceived as a “low art”, aimed at socially inept, young boys with power fantasies and a general lack of initiative. All too recently, this industry has invaded so many new demographics that the big wigs are laughing all the way to the bank; just read the quote from the article about Nintendo as the #3 industry in the nation of Japan.
But I’m not here just to talk numbers, I’m here to talk about what this industry is all about: innovation. Not necessarily focused on “the next big thing” like the industries of television or fashion, innovation in gaming very much surpasses the “fad”. The hardware is here, so there’s not much we can do about that; we are one year into this generation of consoles, and as a gaming editor titles his blog listed below, “The Honeymoon is Over”.
I’m listing innovation in three big categories, all of which are fully explained in the videos below: first, you’ll find a big stress on user-interactivity with the saved film feature in Halo 3 and the online community of PS3 Home. Both of these massively impacting programs give gamers a voice, saying, “I did that. That is unique to me and now everyone can see it”. Call it the youtube and myspace of gaming, but add the pitcher of passion gamers all-too-often have to hide for fear of social inadequacy.
The second innovation you’ll find is in one single game: Super Mario Galaxy. Mario, perhaps the second most recognizable figure in media history (#1 goes to Mickey Mouse, of course) returns next month in a game that is widely being considered the spiritual successor to one of the most successful games of all time, Super Mario 64. Blast off with the Italian plumber to the depths unknown in this groundbreaking game.
Finally, although I haven’t included a video for Wii Fit, it represents a MAJORLY important facet of the gaming industry today. The elusive non-gamer has been captured with casual games such as Sudoku, Brain Training, Nintendogs and the like and it has meant big bucks for anyone and everyone involved. A few of the quotes below touch upon this phenomenon.
I hope you concede to this ever-growing avenue of entertainment media: it concerns us all in a big way. But more importantly, it’s a lot of fun!