I just wanted to add my two-cents worth. My career in the games biz goes back to 1983, the days when Electronic Arts ran ads that said "Can a computer game make you cry?"
Back then, the industry was filled with visionaries and dreamers, people who saw the potential of a new medium, and wanted to explore its artistic possibilities. And I have to say, you were one of the finest artists I ever met in this medium.
But now it's a Business. A Big Business, but an inherently unstable one, where lots of people pour money in, and only a lucky handful get money out.
It combines ALL of the risk factors of Hollywood with all of the risk factors of Silicon Valley. Except that the two risk factors multiply each other in a way that is inherently unpredictable and unmanageable. It makes the people who are risking their money crazy. They then pressure the creators, making them crazy as well. And the insanity feeds on itself.
But I got out of the industry for another reason. I left because there seemed no purpose to it any longer. The greatest aspiration most of the Game Industry has is not to enlighten, inspire, educate, or even truly entertain. It's to addict.
What is the greatest "compliment" most game designers get? It's "Man, you would not believe the hours I wasted on your game." Or "I could not stop playing it. My wife threatened to leave me."
And frankly, I just thought there were better things to do with my life than creating high-tech addictions.
Sign me,
Jeff Johannigman Retired Computer Game Producer (Producer on "Master of Orion", "This Means War!", "Worlds of Ultima: The Savage Empire", and about 30-some other games).
Slashdot Mirror
Howdy Talin et al,
I just wanted to add my two-cents worth. My career in the games biz goes back to 1983, the days when Electronic Arts ran ads that said "Can a computer game make you cry?"
Back then, the industry was filled with visionaries and dreamers, people who saw the potential of a new medium, and wanted to explore its artistic possibilities. And I have to say, you were one of the finest artists I ever met in this medium.
But now it's a Business. A Big Business, but an inherently unstable one, where lots of people pour money in, and only a lucky handful get money out.
It combines ALL of the risk factors of Hollywood with all of the risk factors of Silicon Valley. Except that the two risk factors multiply each other in a way that is inherently unpredictable and unmanageable. It makes the people who are risking their money crazy. They then pressure the creators, making them crazy as well. And the insanity feeds on itself.
But I got out of the industry for another reason. I left because there seemed no purpose to it any longer. The greatest aspiration most of the Game Industry has is not to enlighten, inspire, educate, or even truly entertain. It's to addict.
What is the greatest "compliment" most game designers get? It's "Man, you would not believe the hours I wasted on your game." Or "I could not stop playing it. My wife threatened to leave me."
And frankly, I just thought there were better things to do with my life than creating high-tech addictions.
Sign me,
Jeff Johannigman
Retired Computer Game Producer
(Producer on "Master of Orion", "This Means War!", "Worlds of Ultima: The Savage Empire", and about 30-some other games).