I believe one of the people who commented on TGO's blog said it best.

The games industry doesn't need help growing. It's already doing a bang-up job on its own. It just needs time, because the changes necessary can't and won't happen overnight. Besides, gamers themselves have a lot of growing up to do first.

Know why Call of Duty dominates sales charts? It's because it's currently one of the few ways players can get big, stupid, pretty and explosive action and yell obscenities at minorities. Activision and others are creating games that play right into that market. Do you really think that politics has anything to do with it? Don't be so naive: it's where the money is.

What needs to happen for the games industry to grow up is twofold.

One, control of intellectual property needs to leave the hands of publishers. Right now it is impossible to make games of any sizable budget without being beholden to someone, and publishers want their games to sell as much as possible because they are (SURPRISE!) corporations who are legally bound to minimize costs and maximize profits. They aren't evil; they're doing exactly what they're supposed to do as defined within American business culture and law.

That's changing because digital distribution and cheap development platforms are becoming available. Look at the thousands of games released on iOS, LIVE Arcade, Steam, etc. to see that there are plenty of game developers out there with great ideas and who don't want to sacrifice their intellectual integrity. We're already starting to see a breakdown of the traditional publisher model... but that's only going to happen when the technological arms race that fuels mainstream games becomes prohibitively expensive. That's also not going to happen too soon so long as labour can be so readily outsourced to India and Asia.

Two, gamers need to grow up. It's easy to say "gaming culture used to be so much better, more innocent, etc." because it was... the culture was full of children! What do you expect when 90% of the games market was made up of the 4-18 demographic? Now that those people have grown up and continue to play games, and have developed their own political opinions and ideals... is it any surprise that a lot of those people also tend to have certain political views? Videogames of the 80s weren't some magic bullet that taught people to be good and intelligent. They grew up like everyone else. Games might have taught some people a few things, but I don't think it's fair for someone like Bob to impress his own experiences growing up with game and geek culture onto everyone else.

It's fallacious to say that Hollywood has grown up, too. Films that discuss interesting and meaningful issues without appealing to wider audiences tend to be failures at the box office if they have any kind of budget. Being successful in Hollywood isn't just about making smart movies, it's about making movies that appeal to an audience - the smart stuff comes after.

We're fortunate that many great filmmakers have appeared and gained control in the film industry (which hasn't happened in the games industry, due to the larger collaborative forces behind big-budget games, and publishers' interests in downplaying individuals), but let's face it: even if we allow that films are a bit more intelligent than games, and that the film-going audience is a little more highbrow, people are still people. The best-selling stuff is still the stupid, politically reprehensible crap, toy commercial kids' movies, offensive comedies, etc.

Games aren't growing up because gamers have yet to grow up, and because the business model for creating and selling games does not support it This has less to do with some abstract "maturity" and more to do with the simple hard realities of the world: how games are made and who they're made for.

I've been playing since the NES and times change. People changed. My sisters played video games with me till they all reached high school. Some people are not interested. Some people don't have time playing games.

If I want a game ambassador, I would want somebody with sound mind and body as a philosopher about gaming and why it will become the best or worst of several outcomes.