Tim: Well, there was this moment, playing Mario 64, when I jumped into the water for the first time, and I was swimming, and the music was so tranquil and the experience so immersive, and to sum up my feelings and emotions at that moment, I said, out loud, "Whoa." Everyone around me agreed.

2. Do you think the gaming industry is underestimating one aspect of interactive entertainment that will take us all by surprise in the early 21st century?

Tim: Yes.

3. If there's one thing wrong with the gaming industry you'd want to change in the new millennium, what would it be and why?

Tim: The ads. I hate the ads in magazines. Whether they present two pages of splattered blood and entrails, or some hot woman in lingerie looking bored and lonely because her nerdy boyfriend is preoccupied with his new joystick/sound card/first-person shooter, they're always offensive. And I don't mean they offend my political or moral sensibilities. They offend that part of me that is repelled by lameness and stupidity. And the art is bad.

Next: Tim Schafer (cont.)