Hopeful Parents revisited

Maybe you remember this Far Side cartoon from the early 1990s:

[Update: Unfortunately I had to take the image down after I got a cease and desist from Creators Syndicate. The cartoon in question shows two parents watching their nerdy young son play video games. Above the parents' heads appears a thought balloon of the help wanted section of the newspaper, dated September 2, 2005, featuring ads like "Looking for good Mario Bros Player. $100,000 plus your own car" and "Do you laugh in the face of killer goombas? Call us! $80,000 plus free house." The caption at the bottom: Hopeful Parents. (August 8, 2007)]

This was biting satire back then (note the date on the newspaper).

Yesterday I found this job posting through Terra Nova:

Manager of Virtual World Avatar
Fleishman-Hillard Youth has an immediate opening for someone to oversee an avatar on behalf of one of our clients. If you or someone you know has strong experience in virtual worlds and RPGs, and is interested in youth marketing, we want to hear from you.

"Hopeful Parents" is the kind of surreal spoof that made Gary Larson famous. It's still funny, of course, but the absurd edge is gone. Because today people do get paid to play (or they get paid by trading game currencies or by making in-game artifacts, etc.). It's amazing how far the industry has come in just 15 years.