Designers make culture. Not to say that there aren’t other things that make culture (there are), but design is where we mindfully create the cultural fabric in which we live.
So, to all those game designers who rail against “gamer culture” (and I’m one of them!), I say this: it is up to us. The games people play inform their behavior in the subculture. It’s our responsibility to fix things that are broken.
Of course, the critical issue is that of penetration, which is where (shock horror) marketing comes in. If you haven’t listened to Clyde’s Interview with Keith and Matt, you should.
This isn’t anything new, but it’s something we I know I need to constantly remind myself of. Just sayin’
ndp design blog 
Absolutely! Then again, we get to examine our designed compensations for bias as well. I personally like games that have language and social negotiation as part of the core of the system, so I design those types of things into my games… which could be seen as a commentary on “gamers as socially inept” or a similar stereotype.
This isn’t to say that the biases can’t be manipulated: had a debate with some folks on TGC about collaborative v. competitive games. A more accurate way of seeing the debate from a game theory viewpoint is to say that the systems are collaborative and non-collaborative, which implies a one set of solutions that aren’t as obvious when the word “competitive is used.”
Thanks for the reminder – I needed it as well… 😉