I know less than nothing about computer games, but I am acutely aware that for a cultural commentator this is a serious defect. Computer games are now (you have only to look in the racks at Blockbuster) a huge, huge deal, now making up blah per cent of the GNP, etc.

For a symptom of how huge they are, take a read of this:

As perhaps the clearest evidence yet of the computing power of sophisticated but inexpensive video-game consoles, the National Center for Supercomputing Applications at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign has assembled a supercomputer from an army of Sony PlayStation 2's.

The resulting system, with components purchased at retail prices, cost a little more than $50,000. The center's researchers believe the system may be capable of a half trillion operations a second, well within the definition of supercomputer, although it may not rank among the world's 500 fastest supercomputers.

Read, as they say, the whole thing. Thanks to Daryl Cobranchi for the link.