When GameSpot associate data producer Conor Egan isn't yelling at kids from his porch, he's reading your e-mails to [email protected].

　　But how far away are we from adult games that are adult for reasons other than sex and violence? When will we see a World War II game that expresses the emotions behind the battles in the same fashion as The Thin Red Line? Where's the narrative comparable to Kieslowski's Bleu? Can video games even accomplish that? I'd like to think that they can--that they will--and I hope it will happen before the medium is challenged once and for all by the remaining political and social forces that don't understand it.

　　What philosophers really talk about: 'Man, I'm beat; I was up late playing Prince of Persia.' 'Oh, snap! Is that the one where you can run on walls?'

　　There are a lot of misunderstandings about video games, but I think it's unfair to completely dismiss the cries of those who upbraid their content. The truth is, for any game you can claim as having some redeeming intellectual value, I can name 10 that have none, and have sold a lot better. As with any entertainment or artistic medium, with games, you have some that actually have a deeper meaning, and some that don't. It's possible that the detractors of video games focus more on the bad eggs, but it is just as foolhardy for a video game fan to defend video games as a whole and refuse to make some concessions.

　　A good example of a game with little intellectual value is Need for Speed: Most Wanted. You have to really be some kind of zealot to defend the message of a game like this. After all, street racers are idiots. Hey look, I'm fine with tuning your car and taking it to a track or to an abandoned airfield or something. Then, when you blow it, everybody still has their legs. I can appreciate that I'm playing a game, and so the events I'm seeing are fantastical and unrealistic. However, certain idiots make it easy to criticize games for being a bad influence, and when you consider that video games are essentially raising millions of kids nowadays, they may have a point.

　　That said, I do wonder if the cries of the video game illuminati for more intellectual or honest games will ever find a sympathetic ear. Judging from Carrie's most recent column, I'm sure that her paper on Prince of Persia made an excellent case for that game's intrinsic aesthetic value. However, I don't know that video games are the best vehicle for making a deep or artistic statement. I, too, was a philosophy major with an appreciation for profundity, and all I remember of that game was beating up tons of fools and doing badass gymnastics. I might be different than other video game players, but I mostly play games to "veg out" and get some thick and chunky entertainment, hand-eye-coordination-style. If I'm looking for a good story, I'll read a book or watch a well-crafted movie.

　　The problem is compounded by the fact that it's so expensive to get a game out nowadays. Game companies are seldom willing to take a chance on a game that breaks the mold and delivers a message of interest. Most video game stories (even the ones that borrow from philosophy or try to make a statement about human nature) are just a wrapper for gameplay and the game's hot new graphics engine. Context is important in video games, but not that important. It's a different situation than other art forms, which rely on stories and characters exclusively. When you're on a budget and your shareholders are breathing down your neck, it's tough to push a release date back because you're still working on a four-hour sequence on the main character's journey of self-discovery.

　　See, the fly represents the frog's inner peace and the cars represent his self-doubt. The traffic represents cognitive dissonance and...well, I need another quarter.

　　I also find the concept of an "adult game" rather puzzling, since I'm not sure what that means, exactly. Certain games seem to have a level of depth beyond what can be reached by a preteen. Games like the Advance Wars series have aspects that resemble chess, and can require very subtle strategic decisions. Other games may present stories with irony that goes over the heads of younger gamers. Are these "adult" games? Ultimately, I think that for young players or old players, video games provide a diversion and chance to enter a fantasy world different from the world in which they live. As a "grownup," should I yearn for more than blowing up tanks or riding a motorcycle at 160mph in a video game? I hope not, because I do these things to avoid thinking about other "grownup" stuff.

　　I hear the cries of some video game players for more realism and more-nuanced storylines. I wonder, though, if this is what most people want from a game. It helps a video game to be pulpy and sensationalized, because we all get a healthy dose of reality during the rest of our waking hours. I think because they are in an interactive medium, video game stories are usually going to exist to serve the gameplay and not the other way around. This is why we skip long-winded story sequences and buy mindless action games. Still, I do look forward to seeing games that feature greater realism and present more-mature themes--I just wonder if they can still be fun.

　　Next Up: Freeplay by Greg Mueller