Perhaps the critique should not be about metacritic, but the learning curve of developers. Sony did not find its place until second and third generation software developers truly learned the power of the machine. It seems that the learning curve truly affected sales, putting Sony in third place for the total market.

Fallout 3 and it's review reminds one how incredible Bioshock is.

First, I must confess to being guilty as anyone else as I play(ed) Wasteland, Fallout, and/or Morrowind (not to mention Bioshock). As I ride my epic mount around Azeroth, slaying horde and other evil toons, I often tell myself that the violence is no different than playing army when I was a kid (in the fifties). But times have changed since I first played Odysee. The invisible line programmers will not or cannot go over seems to be moving. Several years ago, a publisher attempted to publish a game of Custard vs the Indians. It was never released. I'm certain that a video game of "Lolita" (while having very low market value) would be hard pressed to find a publisher.
The author's remarks could be made for Roadrunner cartoons. They are silly, unbelievable and fun, but somehow did not go over the line of the fifties. Is Fallout like Roadrunner? In a very real sense yes, but in another no. Perhaps the line that is being pushed is not violence so much as the setting of the game that seems to becoming more and more of a reality.

What Gamestop is saying doesn't match with their inventory if you are a PC gamer. There selection is never more than 40% of what is on the market, and often, even new titles. If you want a PC game, the easiest and quickest way to get it is either online or thru a large online dealer, never at the Gamestop retail outlet. It would seem that their inventory in the store tells you that what they are interested in selling is not new retail but pawn.

To suggest that games are going to overtake music is a statement that should be weighed carefully. Is the data for this coming from a growth in wholesale or in retail? If wholesale game units or dollars are outpacing music, then that is quite remarkable. However, if the measurement is being done in retail, this is not a surprise since most of the industry retail profit is based upon "pawn" sales or reselling used games. I suspect that sales are based upon retail and their incredible profitability that comes from purchasing games at extremely low costs, then reselling it at more than a 200% or more profit. This in and of itself would explain the hype in game stores.