(re: Login in required) Ken, you’re a genious! Seriously, that email idea is great and I think it would work very well. The big gaming companies today are totally anonymous. I’ve read about your philosophy during the Sierra era about holding on to your customers, and I believe it’s a strategy that pays off big-time. You probably have the numbers to prove so yourself…
I was also thinking about your philosophy to concentrate on in-house development. While I believe this has many advantages, not only the gaming industry but the whole industry seems to have gone the other way. In some ways I think this is a positive trend. In the 80’s, any good programmer could make a successful game at home if he/she was devoted enough. In the 90’s, the big games turned into massive Hollywood-style productions, culminating with Phantasmagoria. Today, game engines and development tools using the latest technology has again enabled small groups of enthusiasts to create new quality games. It’s kind of turned full circle. I think this has caused the current situation, with successful game studios growing out of fan-made products.
Also, I would like to mention that I find it quite amusing to read “Hackers” and learn that people were leaving Sierra in the early 80’s, feeling that it had turned “too corporate”. The way Sierra looked at that time would hardly be considered very corporate today. 😉
