I wrote recently a newspaper article (published in Aamulehti, June 6, 2006) on the direction of game design and research. In summary, I think that examples like Nintendo‘s Wii control and the emphasis on easily accessible games appealing to ‘non-gamer’ audiences are promising signs, that the need for true multimodality in game design (not only multimodal interfaces, but the support for multiple modes of gameplay and style) is also something that at least some people in game industry seem to recognize. But any true evolution in game cultures will require also public recognition for games’ cultural significance, including education (meaning also us in universities, and the Ministry of Education funding us) paying serious attention to games. See the pdf manuscript version: link to article (in Finnish).
frans goes blog 
I enjoyed your article.
I think Finland needs serious and trained professionals to make noticeable games. I’m a Kemi-Tornio polytechnic student and currently a trainee in mobile games company, Fudeco oy. I wish to study game designing, but few schools are offering that possibility.