That's part of it for sure anythign on TV becomes mainstream for it's 15 minutes. For me couple of guys at work are into it and the whole video game thing is getting stale. It's the purity of it that people like. I 'm not sure if thats the right word but I think you can catch what I'm saying.
Online poker is fun as heck. Been playing for a while now, and just won $100 in a freeroll, which is now at $175. It does require quite a bit of thought/skill when you play. Also, if you play the right game, you can play a ton, without a ton of risk in losing money (of course, the wrong game you can lose it quick as can be.
I've been playing for about a year now, and I've been playing video-games a lot less often as a result. I actually just finished a tournament with my friends (which I won BTW, $140). A lot of my friends in my area are seriously getting into it, and I've become friends with a lot of people I thought I'd never been friends with as a result. I play a good 4-5 times a week. I play mostly online on PokerStars but I've been playing a lot on FullTiltPoker.com which just recently opened and has a lot of famous poker players who sponsor it playing on there.