that probably has something to do with it, but it’s worth pointing out how much more specialized and regimented kids activities are now. Most things kids are into involve being part of some sort of established extra curricular activity with a strongly regimented schedule. Video games don’t fit that mold, but they’re also not essentially face-to-face social the way playing sports or being in a band is (although I know that there can be a strong social component, which is often now experienced over the internet). Being in a rock band is social and requires practices as a group and requires special equipment that needs to be bought, like sports, but it was never something kids did through a school or other community organization the way that sports are. I think it’s true that video games more kids would want guitars instead of game consoles and computers and would be more likely to get together and form bands, but that’s still a social activity that’s more in the mold of sandlot baseball than it is playing on a school baseball team. Video games helped effect these social changes, but there’s a certain amount of chicken vs. egg. Alot of this rigid scheduling probably has something to do with parents and schools trying to make sure kids stick with activities that get them away from sitting on their ass in front of a screen, but it creates social patters that feed back on themselves.