Reading some of these comments, something I think some of you in the "games should be fun" camp are missing is that fun is just one mode of enjoyment, but certainly not the only mode. Games can be fun, but they can also be other things, such as informative, educational, enlightening, inspirational, or being a self-enrichment tool(exercise games are one example), while still providing enjoyment. Focusing on only the idea of fun does relegate games, at least connotatively, into the realm of just being a toy, and those outside of gaming will treat gaming with according regard as toys(not unusual that gamers then get seen as immature and emotionally stunted in such light). In order for gaming to grow, it must span the gamut of enjoyment. It has to go beyond always just being an amusement-park thrill ride or being like a child's Busy-Center(if you've ever seen those toys). It can be those things, but it has to also be allowed to be more than those things.
One of the other problems, I think, is that gaming is often used as a means to escape from life rather than a means of enriching life. I think the doctrine of escapism has been one of the main problems of the entire gaming culture over the past 15-20 years that started with the advent of the home console(in the days of the arcades, gaming was a lot more social and open). I've watched over the years as the basic culture of gaming has rotted and festered in its own microcosm of stagnation and introversion as a result of this ideal. The growth of the industry and the personal growth of the people in the industry and community has become stunted by the constant efforts to escape from people, from each other, from the world, from all of reality. The gaming culture closed itself in a sealed box, with no windows, doors, or ports of any sort, and within that box, it rotted, becoming a twisted, mutated, vile caricature of its former self that rolls in its own filth. It desperately wants to be healed of its current perverse existence, but it fears too much the outside, fears too much venturing into new possibilities. It fears becoming contaminated with ideas and possibilities that it deems unworthy or corrupting to its pure essence. But, it knows that its current state is not right either. Unable to reconcile its predicament, it simply retreats further, creating a sealed box within its already sealed box in a vain attempt to further escape the horrid reality of its own existence.
But, reality can not be escaped; it can only be embraced. You can run all you want, but you will just become tired. You can hide all you want, but your location will always be revealed. You can seal yourself away, but the walls of your container will only be melted away, leaving you exposed. This is reality, and the reality for gaming is that it must grow and expand beyond only being fun; it has to take on more modes of enjoyment and enrichment, and it has to explore new areas of human experience. If gaming just continues to seal itself in old ideas, old ways, and old means, it will only continue to rot and fester until it finally withers and dies.
