For two years now I’ve been thinking about revising my site, the intent being to make more frequent contributions about the design and development of interactive entertainment that involves the user on an emotional level. The main motivation for increasing my presence is that I’ve hardened in my belief that too many games fail in this regard simply because there is a lack of understanding about how writing and design choices impact the emotional potential of interactive works. Leaving aside whether I’m personally qualified to exploit that potential, the fact remains that our industry is still struggling to define techniques with which we can reliably generate the same depth of emotional experience that audiences enjoy from movies, television, theater and literature.

It was with this lofty goal in mind, then, that I began to tinker again with a new site design prior to the 2002 Game Developers Conference (GDC). Unfortunately, as had happened several times before, I quickly ran up against my own limitations and the limitations of the web development software I was using. Frustrated as I was, however, I vowed to persevere against all odds this time, and committed to having the new site up before I left for the conference in mid-March.  [ Read more ]