I love this thread but I am so very, very late to it. I honestly stopped checking the Games forum because nothing ever happens in here that relates to game writing, which I do. I don't know how many other game writers are on this site, but hello!
Anyway, some thoughts:
AAA games have a money problem right now. VWS's statement (on page 5, see above re: late to thread) is actually kinda accurate. I'm working on projects even at the student level where the entire narrative gets cut for scope. I sigh and fire it in documentation so hopefully someone can do something with it later. We just don't have time before deadline. Developing stories, approving concepts, editing--it all takes time and, as everyone on this site knows about every type of writing, is really hard. Selling story in games to higher-ups (or even teammates) who either don't think it's important or don't know that a story is about more than a male revenge fantasy plot is frustratingly difficult. Threads like this give me a lot of hope that story in games is valued. It's a culture change that has to happen but I'm sympathetic to AAA studios that increasingly need insane financial returns to even have a hope of keeping the operation afloat. The level of depth people expect in games combined with current graphical standards mean that producing a single asset for a console game really does cost thousands, if not millions. As a writer I'm always wanting to "just add a character" to take care of that, or fuse characters, or perform any number of storytelling tricks--but even to fuse a character would have a catastrophic effect on a game pipeline. So it has to be proposed early. Mostly I wish studios would not just think about story early in the process but also vet it early in the process. Even then, it's going to change at some point in development. Sure games are stories. They're also games, aural experiences, improvisation, and visual installations. That union to me is their power and potential but it makes the creative meetings kind of delicate. Writers sometimes lose. Even often, because writing is still less established in game culture than art.
/end rant. Sorta.
Point being this isn't an easy thing to do. I love games with depth and story. Zelda, Final Fantasy, Dragon Age, Ace Combat, Mass Effect, and so on. So I believe that it can be done. There is a lot of interesting indie work that uses story in innovative ways. The problem I have with indie is that the innovation sometimes saps actual enjoyment, and smaller teams and budgets and lower scope and graphics quality means the full experience I like in AAA games isn't there.
I don't want to wade too much into the gender-in-games subject because I'm a white, heterosexual male with no real knowledge to talk about it. I know I value games that subvert the oppressive, stereotypically masculine display currently offered. There are exceptions--again Zelda, parts of Bioware's stuff, a lot of indie games--but a lot of these aren't "girl games" or LGBTQ games per se, though they do exist and have their spheres, I think. Good games are good games. I know that's reductionist. But Zelda isn't a game girls might like because it doesn't have 40kg submachine guns. It's a game anyone who likes puzzles, exploring, and precise strategy can enjoy. I think it can be dangerous to get into considering demographics as "for girls 12-25" because really, is a game mechanic, on a cognitive level, for girls 12-25? And Zelda is successful because it is, mostly, marketed to that mechanic not to stereotypes. Mostly.
There are games for girls. There are games for people who like mountains. There are games for people who like gardens (if you're interested in my prototype...). None of these are right/wrong. Just saying "for girls" demands further explanation, though, and is probably too broad a brush to be a proper part of any qualitative persona. Some marketing uses personas. Some doesn't. I wish more would. Culture change needed.
Even the debate alone is good and thank goodness it gets some more people in the Games forum. But there are SO many issues wrapped up in all of these things. The much-needed culture change probably won't happen until the AAA business model is fixed. That may involve the rise of the indies, if the hype is to be believed. Better stories are needed in games, but a lot of that comes down to the skill of particular producers/project managers in setting up teams where it can thrive even in competition with other creative areas, but they won't be hired in volume until the business model is stable. Game development is stressful enough that folks deserve to be paid for it. Same as publishing a book.
All the usual caveats apply. I am not by any means experienced in games. I only know what I've seen as a player and as someone currently learning the art of developing them, faced with trying to get a job in six months time.