Nah. This is actually a pretty common feeling, but it's not based on the right perspective. The two realms exist separately. Without the 3D apps that exist, the games couldn't exist. In turn, the games spur more development in the 3D Apps. The reason I say this is that a game, in particular, a game like the sims, is actually created first in a 3D app. All those little icons essentially point to a routine that is a set and fixed point already predetermined for you in a 3D app. Your choices are, ultimately, limited. With 3D apps you are not limited -- assuming you know how to use the program. In poser alone there are two powerful modifers (wave and magnet) that actually allow you to completely reshape a figure to your whims. DAZ studio, I believe, has now or is planned to have similar modfiers. These modifiers, and more advanced one in the actual modelling applications (poser is not a modelling tool) are what allow an artist to create the options you use in a game. The game itself does not make any changes, it merely takes what has already been made and displays it. Poser and D|S, on the other hand, are a sort of middle ground. Poser is a figure design and animation tool -- it's a step beyond a game (and therefore will be somewhat more difficult) and a middle ground between a game and a modelling/rendering suite. Often, you will read debates here about how Poser should have this advanced feature or that advanced feature. The difficulty with adding them is that they push Poser into a different realm -- one where expensive high end applications reside -- rather than that special middle ground. To the other extreme, there are calls to "simplify poser", which reduce it to the level of a game-like environment. Again, this pushes Poser into a realm where a game like version would be more applicable -- which reduces the rich feature set it already has. The cause of this is often based in user ability. More advanced users want more advanced features. Less intense users want greater simplicity and ease of use -- and don't need all that fancy stuff. That push and pull is actually proof that Poser is where it needs to be, but walking that line between the two is difficult. As it is now, it is an outstanding artists tool - and, from private discussions, had some influence on the development of Sims2. So it's not so much a "hidden motivation" as it is a different purpose. The Sims is made to entertain you. Poser is for creating things that entertain you. It's a fine distinction, but an important one -- even if the majority of users rarely move beyond making a nude female they can ogle...

thou and I, my friend, can, in the most flunkey world, make, each of us, one non-flunkey, one hero, if we like: that will be two heroes to begin with. (Carlyle)