[jheriko]

Has Romero done anything worthwhile since touching Quake? and who is Brenda Braithwaite? Maybe I am out of date...

I'd take it all with a pinch of salt - but then I am a game programmer talking about game designers - so take me with a pinch as well. :)

I think Valve have the right idea on game design from what they have shared. For one thing they actually ship consistently good games - for another they take a very scientific and reproducable approach. No confusing, unsubstantiated theories floating around, or guesses based on vague psychology... just iteration based on experiment.

Its a shame more developers don't share more with their crazy NDA happy approaches. I think it would be good if game design was considered more seriously as a field, but its not going to happen when academia and industry are far apart and the industry is keeping all of its knowledge of the field locked away behind NDAs.

http://www.gamasutra.com/view/feature/3408/the_cabal_valves_...

http://www.valvesoftware.com/publications/2006/GDC2006_HL2De...

http://www.computerandvideogames.com/147512/interviewslookin...

[ciroduran]

Brenda Brathwaite is the responsible for the Wizardry videogame series, if you're old enough to have played them. She also has done extensive work in teaching game design, you might like Challenges for Game Designers, which she co-authored with Ian Schreiber. More info: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brenda_Brathwaite