An interview with Sid Meier

GameInformer has recently done an interview with one of PC Gaming's Gods, the legendary Sid Meier. The title of the interview is "The Future of Strategy Games" but unfortunately, they don't really talk too much about the future of strategy gaming, at least not in much detail (unless you consider saying there is potential for strategy games to be on tablet PCs).

Anyway, here's a summary of some interesting points Sid Meier mentions:

• Sid Meier's role nowadays involves a lot of prototyping of new games
• Sid Meier prefers to always focus on gameplay and he doesn't like games being "run by committee". He would gladly get rid of cutscenes if it distracts from the gameplay
• Using today's technology to provide fancy graphics is a double-edged sword according to Sid Meier. Sid prefers his players to use their imagination and allow themselves to believe they're ruling an empire to stand the test of time. However he concedes that not many players are willing to make that investment nowadays.
• Civilization is such a rich topic that they've definitely not exhausted (so I guess that means the Civ series is here to stay?)
• Sid says the challenge with Civ games is not struggling to find what to put in, but what to keep out.
• Civilization is such a rich topic that they've definitely not exhausted (so I guess that means the Civ series is here to stay?)
• GameInformer's interviewer asked what Sid's response was to Civ V's polarising reaction. He provided a diplomatic response saying that the fact fans are complaining, the fact they care enough about the game to do so is actually gratifying. He says Firaxis will continue to innovate the series and some changes fans will like, others they won't. However, he appreciates all commentary, positive and negative, since it's better having lots of comments than no comments at all.