You’re a lot like the games you make, aren’t you? We’re not trying to reach for something like Auteur Theory, but...

Chris: First of all, I’m very hyper. Always have been, since I was very young. My parents worried about me when I was young - worried whether something was wrong. But I’m also very cerebral. I tend to think deeply about everything - which is why I appreciate your questions where you’re searching for a much more complex answer than a number or a quick sentence.

The games reflect a chunk of that. The games are high energy. There’s a lot going on. I’m pushing to go somewhere new. I mean, if you and I were going out for a drive for four hours, I don’t want to tell you all the same shit you’ve heard from me for all my life. You want to hear something new. I’m going to try and find stories you never heard. I’m going to try and shock you by creating scenarios with clowns and midgets you’ve never heard before. I’m going to try and take you some place new. The stuff which we haven’t announced is very much taking each of these traditional experiences somewhere radically new, as I’m getting tired of recycling the same old core games.

I think we pushed Supreme Commander as far as we could, and there’s so much we changed... but this is a pretty fantastic art form, and we’re really just getting started in ways of pushing the boundaries. Have you read anything I wrote about punishment systems? We shouldn’t be punishing our players. Punishment is not cool. I don’t get punished when I watch a DVD or read a book... Why should I be punished playing interactive entertainment? It doesn’t make sense.

Do you know Jonathan Smith? He’s the Giant Entertainment guy who worked with Traveller’s Tales on Lego Star Wars. He described watching kids’ reactions to failing at games as almost like child abuse.

Chris: [Lego Star Wars] is one of the best game designs. I refer to it in all my meetings with designers. I always refer to it. I don’t know the guys at Traveller’s Tales, but it’s genius. When you have design that radically reforms traditional gameplay like that, it’s the stuff of genius. I love it and my kids love it, and have logged more hours on that than any other game. I never said to them they should. That’s what happens when you create stuff that’s great.