TGR: With digital demand, you are going to have to have some piece of hardware of course to interpret the data.

DD: Maybe it is just a controller that you hook up to your monitor. That is my thought into the far future. But you know, predicting the future is like predicting the weather.

TGR: A lot of people are looking to get into the industry. A lot of people do not know how to or they see it and they are just trying in many different ways that are just not working. What would you recommend to the budding young passionate person that either says, “I want to develop video games,” or, “I just want to get into the industry?”

DD: You have to go to school. Certainly, we are creating the Interactive Arts and Science specifically for that and there are really no accredited degrees for game design right now, which is a whole new field that these two can be accredited for. There needs to be some development in that area. But education is your first thing and then apply and do demos and actually just start doing it and get ready to be in the industry. Whether you are in or not and showing that kind of dedication to what you want to do, will get you a job probably.

The industry is very, very selective in some ways; I guess it is hard to crack. From my perspective, you need to understand, that we just did it. I did not apply to another company simply because I wanted to make our own games. But starting your own company these days is a much more different phenomenon than back when I did it with two people and we spent our summer making our first game. Now with games taking hundreds of people, it is just not the same ballgame anymore.

I would recommend definitely going to school and then make some demos and depending on whether you are a programmer, artist, musician; it does not matter. Do whatever you like, but just start working towards and apply at the companies that you think are right for you, because there are very many different companies out there.

TGR: Do you know of any resources off the top of your head where people can get templates of design documents, to find a good place to start?

DD: That does not exist yet.

TGR: Well, I guess we will need to talk about that.

DD: At the Interactive Arts and Sciences, we are starting to create programs to move towards that. We want to get to an accredited degree and hopefully we will get there. We are working actively with Universities and the Governments right now in Ontario, to try and make that happen.

TGR: What would you say is the most memorable event that you have experienced or observed in the industry?

DD: When we were going down to Malibu, we were at a party at a really nice location. I believe the place was in the movie Kiss, Kiss Bang, Bang. Nice pool, overlooks PCH, with ocean views. An inebriated guy jumped in the water and was totally soaked. He decided to dry his pants off in the fire pit near the couch. So he takes his pants off, is in underwear, and throws his pants in the fire. Eventually, they burn of course, to his surprise. People were surprised that they burned – which confuses me, because he put his pants in a fire, after all.

Aside from that sort of whimsical story, I think certainly seeing the industry move away from CES get its own E3 and then see E3 kind of shrink to what it is now, and seeing the industry mature, has been one of the most interesting things for me.

TGR: What is your favorite game all time, and it cannot be one that you have ever worked on.

DD: Either Resident Evil 2, or Total Annihilation. I guess Resident Evil is way up there and it is not because of the player, it is actually the story, and the way it is told. I thought it was pretty interesting. I really liked Ultima 3 quite a bit.

TGR: Are you a Zorg fan?

DD: A little bit, but I was not into the text adventures as much as I otherwise would have been. I was more into strategy games at that time and RPG’s. I was playing the Ultima’s rather than the Zorg’s but I did play, and I did like it. But it just was not way out there for me.

TGR: What games are you playing right now?

DD: A lot of Too Human. I have been playing a little bit of Metal Gear Solid which I like a lot, and Solar Empire, which I like a lot. I just look for unique game play and I think it has it. There are a few others, but I have not really been playing that much because of Too Human. Quite frankly, it has been all Too Human mostly.