An excerpt appeared in the print version of Stanford.
First video game experience:
“I don’t remember the first time I saw a video game, but I do remember when my dad brought home our Commodore 64, which is a machine that transformed my life. The computer started with a command-line prompt that understood BASIC, so I learned some simple programming right away, and—of course—began trying to make games. The games that transformed my life at that age all came from Electronic Arts. Their early games, such as Seven Cities of Gold, Pinball Construction Set, Lords of Conquest and Adventure Construction Set had ambitious goals. And the company’s packaging put the designers right out in front, as if they were musicians or artists. It was an inspiring thing to see as a 7-year-old.”
Favorite video game:
“My favorite video game is Sid Meier’s Pirates!, an action/adventure/RPG hybrid game that let the player be a pirate in the 17th-century Caribbean. The game contained a remarkably accurate map of the region (which updated itself by decade) and provided players an incredible amount of freedom in deciding how to navigate that world. Players can ally with one of four different countries (Spain, France, England and the Netherlands) and then decide how to play, as a treasure-hunter, privateer-for-hire, pirate on the open sea, or even merchant trader. I have a natural interest in historical setting (unlike the sci-fi or fantasy settings so common to video games), so Pirates! hit all the right notes.”
Stanford video game memory:
“As a game developer, I am most known for my work on the Civilization series. In fact, I bought my copy of the original version of Sid Meier’s Civilization in the Stanford Bookstore on my first day on campus. Perhaps not a wise move for a young student as Civ games have a tendency to keep the player going for ‘one more turn’ until the sun comes up. I had a few sessions like that my freshman year, and six years later, I accepted my first full-time job to work on Civilization III.”
