John Romero Illuminates the Idea of Ideas

John Romero Illuminates the Idea of Ideas

On July 18, 2023, famed game designer John Romero released his autobiography Doom Guy: Life in First-Person. In it, he offers advice to those who are full of ideas, but never seem to believe they can succeed with them. “Execution is everything: Success is not defined by an...
Henk Rodgers Teaches Nintendo How To Sell

Henk Rodgers Teaches Nintendo How To Sell

Prior to the release of the Nintendo Game Boy in 1989, Henk Rodgers was simply a game developer and salesman. A salesman who knew how to get his foot in the door of major developers from whom he wished to acquire rights to titles. One of those developers...
Todd Howard Explains the Rules

Todd Howard Explains the Rules

In an interview with MTV at the 2009 D.I.C.E. Summit, Todd Howard listed the three principles that every game designer should have: 1) "An ability to leave even their favorite ideas on the cutting room floor." 2) "The capability to think smaller and keep things simple." 3) "Being...
George Plimpton Starts a (Console) War

George Plimpton Starts a (Console) War

In 1979, Mattel Electronics released what would be the first viable competitor to Atari with its new Intellivision console. In order to separate themselves from Atari, Mattel released a series of ads starring acclaimed American writer George Plimpton. In these ads, Atari and Intellivision were placed side by...
Phil Spencer Comments on the Console Wars

Phil Spencer Comments on the Console Wars

During an interview with The Guardian during E3 of 2018, the CEO of Microsoft Gaming Phil Spencer was quite candid about a variety of topics, including the "console wars." What he said puts in perspective just how unnecessary it is. "The biggest challenge I feel now is gamers’...
Warren Robinett Waxes Poetic

Warren Robinett Waxes Poetic

In June of 1979, Warren Robinett, a programmer at Atari, submitted the source code to the second game he'd developed for Atari. The game was called Adventure, and it would be the last game he would develop for the company, leaving soon after submitting the title for production....
Business Advice from Nolan Bushnell

Business Advice from Nolan Bushnell

Nolan Bushnell is the type of person who seems to always have an idea. To that end, he also follows through and works to implement the idea. In an interview with CNN in 2002, he was asked about his ability to continue being inspired. In that interview, he...
In 2001, Ken Kutaragi Wished the Best for Microsoft

In 2001, Ken Kutaragi Wished the Best for Microsoft

The year is 2001, and Microsoft is on the cusp of entering the gaming industry with Xbox, a console that Microsoft hopes can make a dent in the market share that Sony holds with its PlayStation 2 console released 1 year earlier. In an attempt to market Xbox...
Shigeru Miyamoto Weighs in on Tetris

Shigeru Miyamoto Weighs in on Tetris

In the mid eighties, Tetris was being quietly passed around the video game industry. When it made it's way to Nintendo, Then Nintendo President Hiroshi Yamauchi asked game industry legend Shigeru Miyamoto to try it out. When Yamauchi asked Miyamoto a few days later if Tetris was any...