Dhruin
SasqWatch
A site called Explicit Gamer has an editorial titled The State of RPGs. I found it a bit scattershot but here's a sample:
More information.The future is uncertain for these story driven games, but one thing is certain, they can not stay the same. In a world where new innovations are constantly being made, RPGs can't afford to sit idle and expect to cash in on old material. Luckily, western RPGs are already changing in order to meet the demand of their audience. It appears that Japanese RPGs on the other hand, have made very few strides to revitalize their genre. You could even say that nostalgia is killing the genre.