Football video games have had time to mature, what about non-commercial games?

Chris Stubbs points to a story of how PSU quarter back Anthony Morelli used a commercial console football game as a training tool. Of course football video games have been around for a long time, and as such have had ample time to grow more detailed with well-honed interfaces and mechanics. I wonder where we would be today if there was a well funded effort around educational gaming for the past twenty years. Just like public broadcasting in the United States transformed television's use with shows like Sesame Street and Mr. Roger's Neighborhood, imagine the uses of educational games that could be realized. Today we could have games that might be able to inform and enlighten in a way that is currently unknown.

I must give credit to this piece, Why We Need a Corporation for Public Gaming, that first turned me on to this analogy of public broadcasting and public gaming. Thanks to del.icio.us I was able to re-find this web page.