?I believe that games are not art, and will never be art. Let me explain ? games will only match their era, meaning what the people of that age want reflects the outcome of the game at that time. So, if you bring a game from 20 years ago out today, no one will say ?wow.? There will be some essence where it?s fun, but there won?t be any wows or touching moments. Like a car, for example. If you bring a car from 20 years ago to the modern day, it will be appealing in a classic sense, but how much gasoline it uses, or the lack of air conditioning will simply not be appreciated in that era. So games will always be a kind of mass entertainment form rather than art. Of course, there will be artistic ways of representing games in that era, but it will still be entertainment. However, I believe that games can be a culture that represent their time. If it?s a light era, or a dark era, I always try to implement that era in my works. In the end, when we look back on the projects, we can say ?Oh, it was that era.? So overall, when you look back, it becomes a culture.? -- Hideo Kojima in the July 2006 issue of Game InformerI like this quote because I can?t figure out if he is really right or just really wrong.

After a month of letting posts slide, I'm ready to get back at it. Unfortunately, in the big churn of Internet attention, leaving your blog idle for a few weeks usually equals the rapid departure of your regular readers. Oh well. I guess we need to implement a global blogger vacation policy. You know, some sort of social service that lets a blogger take a few weeks off every year without worry about loosing thier blogger job. Just a thought.

I've long wondered when solid business reporting would become a mainstay of the game business. Sure, Dean Takahashi's new Xbox book is a classic boardroom narraitve and a must read for anyone interested in the mechanics of the big dollar game business. And I've always found Chris Morris as well informed scribe as any. There are others, of course. But in general, we get business people who jump in, make stupid speculations and then get ink as if they have been paying attention.Case in point, check out Forbes reporting on a Merrill Lynch analyst pulling a $200 price point for the Wii out of, well, thin air.I've been tentative about this topic in the past, but now I'll confidently predict that it wont happen. And here's why the Wii will cost at least $249, and might even cost $299 or more.