Katie Salen, the Executive Director of the Gamelab Institute of Play and an Associate Professor of Design and Technology at Parson's School of Design, was interviewed by FreedomLab concerning the trends in games. Salen talks about how the change in consciousness of people through time have affected how games are developed and played, from casual games, to Second Life, to even geocaching. From a clip of the interview (which you can watch here), Salen talks about what could possibly be a subconcious trend going on in gamers' minds as we speak:

When gaming became very digital for awhile, it moved from the real world really into the screen (right), and then there were years when all gaming took place kind of on screen, in this virtual world. My feeling is that has been a trend now that for people to want to move away from the screen. For me, it's idea of a return to the body because in the 80s and 90s there was all this discussion about virtual avatars, and what does this mean to have a digital representation of yourself and your body, and I think we were really interested in that idea... this disembodied human. But I think we've gone through that conversation, and now kids growing up to have like 17 avatars that represents them means nothing to them. It's not a big deal. That there is now some kind of return to a sense of, "Well how can I take that game out of the screen and bring it back to my physical space. And how can my body become a part of that interaction.

She's so learned! Kim Phu

Game Trends: Smaller, Casual, Cross Platform, Spaces, Hybrids [FreedomLab]