Some of my fav games don't work, this is a dissapointment.

Thats interesting... I think one animated film that did well with countering this was FF: Spirits Within. I swear during a few times while watching that movie I thought there was a real-world environment and actors. But like the article implies, there are some things in video games about characters and such that make it "uncanny" and always remind you that its video game and/or animation.

Guys by "American" games its more or less the kind of games that blend or represent our culture more generically.