How I met a Game God

Yesterday I met Richard Garriott, called by many a Game God in the world of computer games and fantasy worlds. Richard is a magician, and we were in a meeting concerning magic and marketing. After the meeting, he gave me and a handful of others a brief tour of his gaming empire.

I've never played a computer game in my entire life, but I left Richard's NCsoft Corp offices in Austin ready to fire up my PC and wear a new role in life.

The thing that fascinated me the most about Garriott -- besides the fact that he began his empire while still a high school student -- is how he creates games with twists.

For example, in one of the early Ultima games, Richard created a program that watched the decisions players made and then judged them as ethical or not. The player had no idea about this feature until the game was nearly over.

In another game Richard set up the user to fail. Most players are the heros who destroy the evil bad guys and gals. Well, in one game Richard set it up so you thought you were the good guy, but after your killing spree, you begin to realize you're the bad guy.

I love these twists and turns and psychological mazes. I don't know anything about games but I am now fascinated by the creativity behind some of them -- at least the ones coming from the brain of Richard Garriott.

Ao Akua,

Joe
www.mrfire.com

PS - Garriott's site is at www.plaync.com His next game has taken five years to complete and the world is excited to see it. It's called Tabula Rasa.

PPS - My June newsletter News You Can Use is now online at http://www.mrfire.com/a/june-06.html It answers such questions as --- Who's the shaman of hypnotherapy? - What is Sir Richard Branson's motto for success? - What's the story behind the famous Canine Concert?- How can you learn Hypnotic Marketing where you sit? - What's new on my video blog as well as news blog? - Where can you find good news on your television? - And much more. Go see.