It used to be that you knew your neighbors and maybe your coworkers - the people in your physical vicinity.

Computer and video games represent one of the most important new media developments of this generation. Unlike many other forms of entertainment they offer players the opportunity to explore, be creative, learn through interaction and express themselves to others. It is vitally important that we protect and nurture this new art form so that it can reach its full potential. Like most new forms of artistic expression that have come before (music, novels, movies), the primary critics of video games are the people that do not play them.

It's rewarding to be able to change people's perceptions of reality, ... They just see their environment in a different way. They have a kind of different-colored glasses that they can see their world in. To me, that's really cool - when games can change you.

I think the idea of having a game based on reality is compelling right off the bat because everyone has some experience with the subject of the game.

A lot of the interesting issues and dynamics within a city occur over things such as socio-economic issues or ethnic issues. But they require a much more elaborate model of human behavior.

In an online community, there's this kind of social economy between the community members. Some people have status because they make cool skins or that's a good website that's visited a lot, but there's no real gameplay there.

Television is a very different thing from video games. It's kind of hard for me to compare.