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What About the Grey Gamers?
Chris Morris at CNN's Game Over column wonders out loud about the legions of older gamers, and their snubbing by most of the gaming industry. From the article: "The Entertainment Software Association reports that 19 percent of the people playing video games are 50 or older. That's a huge jump from 1999, when players of that age group made up just 9 percent of the gaming world. Game publishers, though, seemingly couldn't care less - mainly leaving senior gamers to Web-based games, such as PopCap Games' 'Bookworm'. And while it certainly makes loads of sense for publishers to focus primarily on the core market, especially in transitional times like they're experiencing now, that focus is at risk of becoming myopic."
Why not, for example, a space exploration game -- concentrating on the science, economics, and logistics involved, instead of the usual shoot-the-evil-green-aliens theme?
Give Escape Velocity Nova a try, if you haven't already. It's available for Windows and MacOS and it's quite entertaining. It may not have the depth you're looking for, but it's extremely freeform for a modern game - you can be a trader, a raider, a transporter, a diplomat... sure there's combat involved, but it's more along the lines of Asteroids than Doom. I find the game highly enjoyable - it's the first piece of shareware I actually payed money for!