Game Design

The heart and soul and co-founder of EA, Bing Gordon, came to our Game Design workshop. This guy is the creative force behind Madden Football, one of the biggest video game franchises ever. It's sort of the movie/tv equivalent of a David Kelly, Michael Mann, maybe even Spielberg...essentially a creative force at the top of a HUGE business. He comes in and gives groups feedback on their game designs. Pretty awesome, I'd say. Too bad it wasn't my lab section.

Anyhow, to me, it reflects the coolness and excitement of the game industry, which seems incredibly open to new blood, new ideas, and is so completely unpretentious about themselves compared to the rest of entertainment. These guys are smart as nails and understand games, which are arguably more complicated systems than films -- actually this is a weird problem...games are more mathematical and systematic, whereas films are more empathetic (ie based upon feeling for another in a given situation). I'd like to say emotional...but games can be emotional too, albeit in a different way. I dunno know exactly how to articulate the difference, I guess interactive vs. passive.

Whatever. The point is, the industry seems cooler to me than TV/Film. Too bad I don't play video games.