Ok, that's not exactly the title of this fascinating lecture by "Braid's" creator Jonathan Blow, but that's one of the main ideas I'm getting from it.
Title:
Video Games and the Human Condition
The lecture is basically about what popular modern games are designed to put through their players - or their brains to be exact. These are things like developing compulsive behavior while in the games (Skinner box style), or even forcing the players to modify their real lives to accommodate playing specific titles.
As one of the alternatives Blow presents the kind of games that he makes, in which "most of the actual game happens solely in the player's mind as he tries to figure out things" (not an exact quote). He also underlines that game designers should strive to create works that will be really meaningful to their audiences - not unlike filmmakers and writers. His newest game - the somewhat Myst-resembling "The Witness" - will be, as he says centered around the concept (or the experience?) of "epiphany".
Anyway, here is the whole lecture (you can pick video or mp3):
http://edtech.rice.edu/cms/?option=c...ils&event=2349
It's quite long, but worth the time IMO.
