Needlepoint

I like listening to gaming podcasts and reading gaming blogs. If my consumption of media were the measure, then it would be easy to think that there was nothing else in the world other than gaming (with some philosophy and psychology thrown in for good measure). However, it's important to remember from time to time that gaming is a small, niche activity. We're almost an industry, but only in the sense of "cottage industry."

And the thing I like to think of that reminds me of this is needlepoint. Run a search at Google and you'll get over three million hits. There are corporate sites (the big evil capitalist bastards) and there are free sites (the indie needlepointers) and there are fan sites (house rules) and gatherings (mini-cons) and even podcasts.

There's more media out there for needlepoint and it's a cottage industry that's been around for centuries. Whenever I think that the indie gaming industry is starting to sound a little too pompous, I only need to think of needlepoint and the smile returns to my face.