It's a matter of patience, I think; Gamers no longer have it. Well, not the "mass market" holy grail type of gamer that every publisher panders to.

I blame EA, myself - their "vertical slice" philosophy of allowing the player to see pretty much everything the game has to offer in the first ten minutes of play has destroyed the perseverance in most casual gamers. Within a few minutes of playing Burnout Paradise I was drifting like a Pro and winning races and challenges like I'd been playing it for ever, despite the fact I haven't played Burnout in years.

Go back to WipEout 3 after a bit of time and the handling is unweildy to the point where most casual gamers would be running for the hills screaming for their copy of Need for Speed like the sky was falling.

Remember the bit about WipEout having to be more accessible to attract the casual market recently? Well that's why we have an abundance of barrel rolls and craft that never really feel like they're cheating gravity. It helps the journalists at game shows feel better about themselves when they're playing it in front of a crowd of their peers, executing barrel rolls and slamming into the track at high speed without having to pitch up the nose or learn a greater degree of control. It makes them look cool - that's all that matters, regardless of the lack of effort required to do so.

They tell marketing that ease of entry and a vertical slice is what they want to see. Then marketing tells the producer that. Then the producer tells the designer that. Then the game is made more mass market, with more check-box features for the back of the box the game will end up in.

Then the game peaks at #19 in the PSP only charts, holds for a couple of weeks at #20 and then drops off the face of the Earth entirely. That's the mass market for you. Three years ago they were stampeding in the streets, knocking over grannies who happened to be standing in front of game stores - tins of cat food scattering everywhere in their wake as they surged to the counters clutching a copy of WipEout Pure.

In 2208, dripping with mass market features (you want your Project Gotham vehicle skinning? CHECK!), for whatever reason WipEout Pulse cant even inspire the grannies that survived to buy a copy for their grandsons.

That's the mass market driven games industry for you.

It's no wonder that we hanker for games from the past when the future holds none of the hope we thought it did.