It's sort of funny that people treat interactive fiction as a thing of the past. There's still a strong design community that holds annual competitions and INFORM, the language these games are typically written in, is still being updated. There are things that you can do with the written word that just aren't possible with the kind of graphics-intensive mainstream games. Why do you think we still have books in modern times? If you don't know what I'm talking about I'd highly recommend Galatea or For A Change, or for something lighter there's Augmented Fourth or A Meteor, A Stone, and A Long Glass of Sherbet. Hell, just wandering around the INFORM Museum can be a good time. These games will run on virtually any computer (I hear someone even made an iPhone version of Frotz) and have a degree of wit, liveliness, and artistry not seen in most major console or PC releases.