I call shenanigans.

The gaming market is growing annually at a frantic pace, and so many games are being produced that customers now have to make difficult decisions with their gaming dollars. At the same time, *lots* of decent quality gaming / media engines are available for free ( id, CrystalSpace, SDL, etc ) or low cost( torque, etc ).

To fill the low cost void from the major producers, many little companies are jumping in to provide simpler but interesting games (mostly 2D), websites offering free older games within browsers, or open source levels for existing games.

The only problem I see with gaming is the lack of open tool solutions for the consoles. The biggest reported reason for this is that the console producers are generally losing money on every console they sell, so providing an open API reduces the revenue they desire to stay profitable. The solution for this would be to release an open API for consoles after a couple of years. That could then spur sales of the consoles at the time when their sales are beginning to drop off (and presumably they have already made money through other game sales). A second solution looks strikingly like what the press reports are alluding to with the PS3 - it's a computer! (gee, ya'think?). If it could profitably be released with a supported OS, games could be produced on that.

It's true that company's like EA are milking franchises for all their worth, but they'd stop doing that if they didn't sell so well! Capitalism is a great thing. If 3 million people stopped buying every version of every Madden title available, EA might actually be willing to invest in alternative titles. Innovative titles that are actually *fun* to play sell remarkably well - just look what happened with RTS, Sims, Creature based games...