When that turn came, I was amazed. Star Raiders was one of the coolest things I'd ever seen. No other work in any other medium had ever transported me quite so completely or compelingly to another world. That was the moment I knew gaming wasn't just a passing fad or a novelty, but something way more important. It's kind of funny, given how far we've come and where we are today, but immersive simulation had to start somewhere and, for me, it started with Star Raiders.

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?

Warren: Yeah, I think people are way underestimating the power of designers when supplied with adequate training, powerful tools, and a vocabulary to describe and evaluate what they do. Every other discipline in gaming has rigorous training regimens, commercially developed tools, and that all-important, mutually agreed upon jargon, if you will. To date, design has been the place where people get trained on the job (if at all) and use whatever proprietary tool a programmer hands them (typically a new proprietary tool for each project). Designers are then told to go and make something fun. Whatever "fun" means.

It astounds me that so many designers treat their art as some kind of mystical thing that can't be discussed or analyzed without being ruined. That's nuts. Some very smart folks, led by Doug Church, Marc LeBlanc, Harvey Smith, Rob Fermier and others are now trying to develop a way of thinking about design that removes the mystery and magic - a way of thinking that defines the "fun" without destroying it.

There are lots of really smart people designing games. When enough of them start approaching their craft as, well, a craft rather than as a black art, I think you'll see some startling advances.

Next: Warren Spector (cont.)