Q: That's kind of a vicious cycle in that if those are the attitudes of the game creators we're going to see a feedback loop that it's very difficult to escape. How do we go about breaking that, and where does the impetus come from?
Jade Raymond: Well I think that responsibility falls in all the camps. I think for indies you can say, it's easier for them because the budgets are so small that there's less risk - but indies also don't really have the money to foot the bill if those risks don't pay off. They're just as much trying to make a game that pays the rent. So I think big publishers need to take responsibility. I think you can have a greater impact and deliver much more subtle layers of experience when you do have that sort of AAA blockbuster.
I think if you wanted to have a game that puts you in the shoes of a different type of main character, an atypical one: a game where you get to be an elderly person, for example. Something where you get to experience what it's like to have trouble walking to the bus station or something. You don't want a whole game around that, but if you did want to capture that, or let people live through different types of experiences, then I think the best way to do that is in a high-def game.
I think that's one thing that's really exciting about the next generation of consoles: that those finer experiences which need a bit more subtlety to capture are going to be possible with new tech.