Collision of Cultures

One of the topics we discussed in class was how the title of gamer is a choice and that even though a person may play video games, they may not consider themselves a gamer or part of video game culture.  As video games continue to grow as an industry and move more into the mainstream, it is interesting to observe the results of the collision of mainstream and gamer cultures.  Ars Technica recently published a response to an article in The Atlantic which addresses Modern Warfare 3's advertising campaign, one of the most successful and mainstream games in recent history.  As Ars points out, spending your time viciously killing another player's avatar, although routine for gamers, is a very foreign concept to non-gamers.  The Atlantic article, and the Ars response, come from a long line of mainstream and gamer collisions regarding virtual violence that can be traced back to Doom and even Dungeons and Dragons.  I find it interesting how much video game culture glosses over violent and or heinous acts because they are simulated.  As video gaming becomes more and more mainstream, I wonder how this issue is going to be resolved?  Will the moires of video gaming prevail and trump the mainstream?  Or will the mainstream change video games into something more sanitized and palatable?