I'd disagree with that. RPGs were always pretty much a niche hobby. There's a rich fandom if you know where to look, and the industry is adapting to the pressures of technologies in some interesting ways (e.g. embracing print on demand). Check out the activity on forum.rpg.net to see the hobby alive and well.
Interestingly, a few years back with D&D 4th Edition, there were a lot of new players coming from the video game side of the house. And not just the stereotypical nerds. As a friend lamented once, "You know, I get that you play these games. But why are my frat brothers playing D&D?"
A lot of popular RPG video games are either based directly on a tabletop system or get a tabletop system made for them. In the latter case, it's often an easier game to get into (the Dragon Age RPG is a good example) than some of the more standard tabletop systems. And then there's Cortex and Cortex+ which exists pretty much just to turn movie/tv shows into RPGs.
I'd disagree with that. RPGs were always pretty much a niche hobby. There's a rich fandom if you know where to look, and the industry is adapting to the pressures of technologies in some interesting ways (e.g. embracing print on demand). Check out the activity on forum.rpg.net to see the hobby alive and well.