Neat use of a game engine for something a bit out of the ordinary - no bragging video about how many n00bs she has fragged, no machinima about two disgruntled guards shooting the breeze.
Ties nicely into the comments by/about Matias Faldbakken in a recent article; games are crossing boundaries TV will never be able to in terms of immersion and impact. "As opposed to movies games are non-linear, anti-compositoric (?), devoid of (inner/self-contained) meaning - and as such not ART (artistic/artsy) in the traditional sense" - it is creation, it is a product of both the mind and the actual process, and as such is definitely on line with books, movies, plays and other art. But at the same time a game is really nothing without the player, initiating the action (be it in the form of pre-set scripts for the bots in the Unreal Art, or with you voice doing the 'playing' in Singstar) and making the whole come together. Sure you can (and should) loose yourself in the great books, but the story isn't changed by your perception or attitude. Frodo still takes the ring, Boromir still freaks, no matter how you feel about their tone of voice or the way they look. But in KOTOR? The character could go all Vader or stay sparkly clean. But even though both "paths" are enabled by the game engine and the modules - it is still in the hands of the player.
"...it challenges everyday life in a way not even television has been able to" - with more and more games-related properties crossing over into other media (such as the Doom movie, and the Resident Evil and Tombraider), and the way new games are much more than games - they are platforms for the dedicated users to make their own parts or their own entertainment.
"the future of art is writing" (said about him) - because it is the story that moves us, be it the story behind or the story in the piece. It takes all the pieces (such as the voice of the actors, the musical score, the scenery, the camera angles) and makes it into a whole, something more than the sum of the parts.
