An Inside Look, Continued
RW: Speaking of content, I've heard you're not fond of the game rating system.
Ruby: I really don't have much respect for the ESRB. There is a serious problem with the system when the people that are in charge of rating the games don't actually play them. Playing a game and watching someone else play a game are two totally different things. There are some things that can't be accurately observed by watching. So the whole rating system approach is to observe the content. But you have to ask yourself why video games are considered learning tools. Is it the content or is it the design and the mechanics of the game? It's not the content. Take Grand Theft Auto; I don't think the game teaches you how to murder people. But Full Spectrum Warrior, which nobody ever criticized because it doesn't have content that people deem offensive, shows you how to shoot people and blow things up. So I think the uproar is part of a lack of knowledge about games, and that's why the level of debate on the issue is so low.
RW: You began working on this book around the time that Microsoft got into video games with Xbox, which has certainly been a watershed moment for gaming. Still, it hasn't been as successful as people have expected. How would you rate Microsoft's total effort at this point?
Ruby: To be honest, I was a little skeptical about Microsoft's strategy at first. I thought it was about using video games to expand their business from their desktop. I didn't think their strategy had anything to do with loving games, but that was only partly true. Because Microsoft had guys like Seamus Blackley and Ed Fries, there was a true passion for the video games project within the company, so that gave Xbox the juice it needed.
I think another key to making it work was keeping the Xbox development separate from the rest of the company. The project even had its own building outside the rest of the Microsoft sphere. Now Xbox is its own division, and to me that is huge. I really think it will be a breeding ground for the next great minds at Microsoft.
