Thanks, Mark - that was a great read. Now I'm inspired to get some other people I care about into gaming! What a perfect way to do it! My Mom looked at Sackboy and couldn't help laughing, in spite of herself; she's never much liked videogames, and I think it might have something to do with motion sickness and spinning cameras - Little Big Planet doesn't have much of that.
Instead of trying to explain to her why I like games, maybe I should just try to show her the kind of experience only a videogame can give you. I'm just looking over older articles, here, but this still strikes a chord with me, even if it's June!