Chris Crawford on Game Design

The Wheel of Fortune

During my latter years at Atari, I became known as “Mr. Atari” among user groups and developed quite a reputation. I was a big shot and, as befits my youth, it went to my head. I actually started to believe the adulation that splattered all over me. But then Atari collapsed, and overnight I became Mr. Nobody. I couldn't understand why I was so suddenly passé. For two years I labored in solitude, ignored and unadulated. But then Balance of Power became a big hit and I was Mr. Bigshot again. This time I was a little more suspicious of the capriciousness of fame; this round lasted about eight years, largely because I added a number of games and the Computer Game Developers' Conference (CGDC) to my fame portfolio. But once I ...