IQP DMO 3263

THE ORAL HISTORY PROJECT: A HISTORY OF THE VIDEO GAME INDUSTRY
Interactive Qualifying Project Report completed in partial fulfillment of the Bachelor of Science degree at Worcester Polytechnic Institute, Worcester, MA
Submitted to: Professor Dean M. ODonnell (advisor)
Christopher M. Williams Francis X. Williams III

February 18, 2009

___________________________ Advisor Signature
This report represents the work of one or more WPI undergraduate students submitted to the faculty as evidence of completion of a degree requirement. WPI routinely publishes these reports on its web site without editorial or peer review.

Abstract

The purpose of this IQP is to add to the ongoing Oral History project. The project consists of videotaped interviews with game developers. First, we learned interviewing and editing techniques from Dean ODonnell, Jason Scott, and by watching other documentary films. After that, we conducted interviews with Paul Neurath, founder of Looking Glass Studios, and Brian Sullivan, founder of Iron Lore Entertainment. These interviews were then edited to make clips suitable for a museum exhibit.

Acknowledgements

The authors would like to thank the following individuals and organizations:

Paul Neurath

Interviewee.

Brian Sullivan

Dean ODonnell
Provided us with insights into the process of making a documentary film. He provided feedback on all aspects of the project.

Jason Scott

Taught us some very useful techniques in both interviewing and editing. He also provided feedback on how we were doing.

Jacleen Becker

Provided training on editing software.

Rodney Obien

Coordinated with us and the WPI Archives to reserve a room for us to conduct an interview in and items associated with Brian Sullivan.
WPI Academic Technology Center
Provided us with the necessary camera equipment to conduct our interviews.
WPI Archives & Special Collections
Provided paraphernalia and a room to conduct one of our interviews.

Authorship Page

Our project began with a series of practice interviews. We conducted these interviews with members of the WPI undergraduate class. Frank and Chris both took turns being the interviewer and the secondary cameraman. After we gathered the footage, we edited them to make short clips. We divided the editorial work in such a way that both authors did about the same amount of editing. Frank did the majority of editing on one interview, and then Chris did the majority of editing on the next interview. We made sure to critique each other and provide help when necessary. Chris handled communication with the WPI Academic Technology Center to take out the necessary equipment needed to conduct the interviews. For the next phase of the project we had to contact possible interviewees. Both of us researched possible candidates, and we compiled a list of them. Frank asked the potential subjects to do the interview and coordinated an interview date with them. Once Paul Neurath and Brian Sullivan agreed to do the interview, each of us chose one person to focus upon for research. Chris researched Paul Neurath, while Frank researched Brian Sullivan. Once the research was mostly done, we reviewed each others work and made suggestions and improvements. For the actual interviews, Chris once again coordinated with the Academic Technology Center and the Gordon Library Archives to reserve the equipment and a room to conduct one of the interviews. In the case of Paul Neurath, we drove to Waltham, MA. Once there, Frank operated the HD camera and conducted the interview, while Chris operated the secondary camera and got footage of the environment. For Brian Sullivan, we conducted the interview in the Archives room at

interview took place on the WPI campus. We couldnt get an interview set up at Brian Sullivans house, so he thankfully came to WPI. The interview was conducted in the archives room at the Gordon Library in about two hours. The third and final term was spent finalizing the project. First, we had to edit the raw footage that we gathered so they would be in a format more suitable for a museum exhibit (short, coherent clips). Throughout the editing process, we continually used feedback from Dean ODonnell (the project advisor) and Jason Scott to make the clips better. Besides working on the actual clips, we had to do the necessary paperwork, prepare the DVD hard copies, and start converting some of the project to become the IGDA Oral History project.

2. Background

The following two sections contain the in-depth research we did on both Paul Neurath and Brian Sullivan.
2.1 Paul Neurath Origin Systems was founded in 1983 by Richard and Robert Garriott. Prior to this, Richard had made a couple of games, including Ultima. His initial games were so successful that he had enough money to found a company, named Origin Systems. 1 The company was originally located in Richards parents house in Houston, Texas, where Richard gathered his close friends: Chuck Bueche and two ex-Sierra On-Line workers, Mary Fenton and Jeff Hillhouse.2 Robert, who was living in Massachusetts at the time with his wife Mary, actually commuted to Houston to work at the company. In 1983 the company relocated to Massachusetts to end Roberts commute. There, they published their first game together: Ultima III.3 In 1995, Origin released Ultima IV, the first Ultima game to feature moral components and the first time Origin topped the bestseller list.4 By 1987, Origin had moved to New Hampshire because they needed more office space.5 Richard eventually grew tired of New England, but Robert wanted to keep the company in New Hampshire. After much feuding, Richard moved the development team back to Austin and, gradually over the next year, most of the team followed.6 Origin Systems main focus was on quality and innovation. Producer Warren Spector stated in an interview that There was a feeling of creating something new, of being on the cutting edge; that was incredibly exciting. That more, than anything else,
John Borland and Brad King, Dungeons and Dreamers (New York: McGraw-Hill, 2003), 60. Ibid., 60-63. 3 Ibid., 62-72. 4 Ibid., 74-75. 5 Ibid., 75-Ibid., 76.

drove people to do exceptional work.7 When Richard got back to Austin, he started recruiting talented individuals. For example, Chris Roberts joined the company and created the Wing Commander series.8 A major reason why Wing Commander was so successful was its revolutionary sound and music: it began with a virtual conductor direction a symphony.9 Another example of them going to extreme lengths to make a quality and innovative game was their efforts on Ultima VII. When Ultima VII: The Black Gate was estimated to require a megabyte of graphics, which wasnt available at the time, they went ahead and created their own operating system for the game.10 Eventually, Origin found itself in financial trouble. The troubles began for Origin when it was decided that Ultima VI would not be ported to the IBM PC, because Richard thought it was a piece of garbage.11 This miscalculation could have put the Garriott brothers in $1 million dollars of debt; however, the game did come out, on time and intact. They decided to sell the company to EA in 1992 to provide more financial stability.12 Origins creative, innovative and quality driven style did not meld well with EAs business style.13 In 1997, Origin launched Ultima Online, whose huge success of 250,000 subscribers helped launch the MMORPG genre.14 In 2004, EA shut down Origin Systems. Matt Scibilia, president and CEO of Critical Mass Interactive Inc., said that the closing came as no surprise: there wasnt a lot happening at Origin besides Ultima Online.15
Allen Varney, "The Conquest of Origin," The Escapist, 11 October 2005; available from http://www.escapistmagazine.com/articles/view/issues/issue_14/87-The-Conquest-of-Origin.3 ; Internet; accessed 11 October 2008. 8 Dungeons and Dreamers ,76. 9 Steven L. Kent, The Ultimate History of Video Games, (New York: Three Rivers Press, 2001) , 456. 10 Varney, The Conquest of Origin. 11 Dungeons and Dreamers, 78. 12 Ibid., 79-80. 13 Ibid., 81. 14 Varney, The Conquest of Origin. 15 Ann Hatchitt, Origin Systems to close Austin operations Austin Business Journal, 26 Feburary 2004; available
Paul Neurath joined Origin Systems in the mid 1980s, while the company was in New England. The earliest game that he has received credit for was Ogre. Neurath started as a play-tester and programming assistant on games like Ogre and Autoduel and worked his way up to lead programmer and designer on Space Rogue; he was also a programmer for Omega, the last game he worked on at Origin.16 When Origin moved back to Austin, Neurath and a few of the other programmers stayed behind and formed a new company, Blue Sky Productions in 1990.17 Neurath started by hiring a few MIT graduates, like Doug Church. In 1992, Blue Sky released their flagship game Ultima Underworld. Neurath oversaw the production of it. Blue Sky strove to break new ground in the gaming industry. Most RPGs at the time were 2D and featured an overhead perspective. Ultima Underworld on the other hand, had an advanced 3D engine, with full 360-degree movement capabilities;18 it established the first-person RPG genre. In an interview, Doug Church stated that the most important thing Ultima Underworld did was to show the power of freedom and open-endedness in games.19 It was an inspiration for various other games, such as the Elder Scrolls series.20 Soon after the release of Ultima Underworld, Blue Sky merged with Lerner Research, who they had been collaborating with, to create Looking Glass Technologies.

from http://austin.bizjournals.com/austin/stories/2004/02/23/daily37.html; Internet; accessed 13 November 2008. 16 MobyGames. Paul Neurath. Available from http://www.mobygames.com/developer/sheet/view/developerId,5226/; Internet; Accessed 11 November 2008. 17 Dungeons and Dreamers, 102. 18 The NextLevel. TNL Developer Spotlight: Looking Glass Studios. Available from http://www.thenextlevel.com/features/developers/looking-glass-studios/history.shtml; Internet; accessed 12 November 2008. 19 Paul Mallinson, Games that changed the world: Ultima Underworld. Available from http://www.computerandvideogames.com/article.php?id=28003; Internet; accessed 11 November 2008. 20 Arena behind the scenes. Avaiable from http://www.elderscrolls.com/tenth_anniv/tenth_anniv-arena.htm; Internet; accessed 12 November 2008.

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Looking Glass went on to produce games such as System Shock (1994) and Terra Nova: Strike Force Centauri (1996).21 System Shock was a first-person shooter/role-playing/adventure game. In an interview, Warren Spector said [System] Shock was so incredibly immersive. It was hard NOT to feel like you were actually up there on Citadel station. Everything that might have reminded you that you were just playing a game was just stripped away.22 Terra Nova featured strategic, mission-based action game play, like MechWarrior, but played like any other first-person shooter.23 Both of the games are extremely important in Looking Glasss history because they were both unsuccessful, yet very innovative. System Shock was unsuccessful. It was overshadowed by Doom and Quake.24 Terra Nova was very unsuccessful partly due to its mediocre graphics and the missing multiplayer component.25 Terra Novas failure was especially detrimental to Looking Glass because they published it in-house. These set-backs left Looking Glass in a bad financial position. In 1998, Looking Glass published one of the first stealth-based games, Thief: The Dark Project, another game Neurath oversaw. Thief featured game play that promoted the avoidance of combat, which was revolutionary at the time. In a post mortem of Thief, Tom Leonard, the lead programmer, discussed how the sound played an intricate part in the experience. He believes that the sound in Thief played more of a central role than any other game. It was the primary medium through which the AIs communicated both their location and internal state to player, and the sound generated

MobyGames. Paul Neurath. Gamespy, 20 Questions with Warren Spector p. 3. Available from http://archive.gamespy.com/legacy/interviews/spector_c.shtm; Internet; Accessed 12 November 2008. 23 Gamespy. Looking Glass and Terra Nova: Strike Force Centauri; Available from http://www.gamespy.com/articles/495/495425p1.html; Internet; Accessed 12 November 2008. 24 Ibid. 25 Ibid., 1-3.

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by objects would also inform the AI of their surroundings.26 Thief was one of the first stealth-based games and one of the first games in which sound played a major role in game play, both for the AI and the player, as opposed to the normal visual cues. The last game Looking Glass would release, before shutting its doors, was Thief II: The Metal Age in 2000. Looking Glass was forced to lay off its 60 employees the week of May 26, 2000, when publisher Eidos backed out of a plan to acquire Looking Glass. Eidos spokesman Greg Rizzer attributed this to the fact that a lot of people were buying low-end PCs at the time and they couldnt run Looking Glasss high-end, 3D games.27 While working at Looking Glass, Neurath oversaw the development and design of such titles as Ultima Underworld, Terra Nova and Thief. 28 After Looking Glass went under, Neurath founded Floodgate Entertainment and is the creative director there. Floodgate is comprised mostly of members of the deceased Looking Glass.29 Floodgate has been working on major brand mobile titles, such as Age of Empires for PocketPC, Nascar 07 and Pirates of the Caribbean Multiplayer.30
Gamasutra, Post-mortem: Thief: The Dark Project, p. 3. Available from http://www.gamasutra.com/view/feature/3355/postmortem_thief_the_dark_project.php?page=3; accessed on 12 November 2008. 27 Looking Glass Closing, Laying off 60 Workers Failed Deal Cambridge Game Developer. Boston Globe, 26 May 2000. Database on-line. Available from LexisNexis Academic. 28 Andrew S. Bub, Rick Ernst and Paul Neurath on NWN: The Shadow of Undertide (PC), available from http://www.gamespy.com/pc/neverwinter-nights-shadows-of-undrentide/6532p1.html; Accessed on 12 November 2008. 29 Floodgate Entertainment, About Floodgate, available from http://www.floodg.com/company.html; accessed on November 11 2008. 30 Ibid.

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2.2 Brian Sullivan In the mid 1990s, the Dallas IT-scene was booming. There were many professionals and companies in the area. In 1995, two brothers, Tony and Rick Goodman, wanted to begin making games. They envisioned a real-time version of Sid Meiers Civilization. They asked Bruce Shelley to join them, and he took the job. Shelley previously worked at MicroProse with Sid Meier.31 Around the same time, Brian Sullivan also found himself in the Dallas area wanting to get into the game industry. After graduating from Carnegie-Mellon, he moved to Dallas and had a successful Software Engineering career. Soon after the Goodman brothers had picked up Bruce Shelley, Brian Sullivan joined the team as the last co-founder.32 They called their company Ensemble Studios. Ensemble went on to create their flagship product, Age of Empires. It was met with initial success, although it had its problems. Brian Sullivan worked as a designer for the title.33 The design team and studio executives all felt that they had made a good product. There were many design philosophies that went into the making of Age of Empires. First of all, the games setting was a shift from the norm. Instead of a science-fiction or fantasy setting, AoE was set in a historical setting. It was the first realtime strategy game to have a historical setting that changed throughout the game. The game was built to be very easy for users not familiar with RTS games to pick up and play. They made sure that the game would appeal to the casual market. They also included features for more advanced users to use, but new users didnt have to even

Rusel DeMaria and Johnny L. Wilson, High Score! (McGraw-Hill Professional, 2003); Internet; accessed 11 November 2008. 32 Iron Lore, "The People"; Internet; accessed 31 October 2008. 33 Moby Games, Age of Empires; Internet; accessed 13 November 2008.

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know about them.34 Ensemble is also notorious for stressing quality in their games. They often delayed games so that they could polish them more and make sure they had great products. For example, Bruce Shelley directly attributes the long-term success of the series to sacrificing an early release for more quality.35 Even with the release of Blizzards blockbuster hit, Starcraft, Ensemble was still seeing success. In 1998, Age of Empires was honored with awards at the Game Developers Choice Awards, including a spotlight award for Game Design for the design team (including Brian Sullivan).36 They began work on an expansion pack, and a sequel. The sequel, Age of Empires II: The Age of Kings. The game was scheduled to be released in 1998, but was delayed for quality concerns. Instead, Ensemble released the mildly successful expansion to AoE, Rise of Rome. By this time, Mr. Sullivan had moved over to the production team.37 There have long been stories of poor work conditions in the game industry. Unlike these stories though, Ensemble strove to make sure that they had a great work environment. Ensemble did more than just have picnics, company outings, gaming events, etc. though. The philosophy was to bring in talented individuals and keep them there for a long time. For example, instead of giving out large bonuses (the company was healthy enough to do so), they gave out stock options to the employees and fostered the mentality that the company belonged to everyone in it. They strove to make the environment a family. They didnt want Ensemble to be just another filler-
Chase Murdey, "Age of Titans: Brian Sullivans Latest Adventures," Gamasutra; Internet; accessed 31 October 2008.
Mark Walker, Games That Sell! (Wordware Publishing, Inc., 2003); Internet; accessed 11 November 2008. Game Developers Choice Awards, Archive / 1998 Spotlight Awards; Internet; accessed 13 November 2008. 37 Moby Games, Age of Empires: The Rise of Rome.

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saw good sales, it didnt seem like Microsoft would close the studio down. The company will still be finishing the upcoming game Halo Wars for Microsoft though.43 Brian Sullivan and Iron Lore began working immediately on Titan Quest. Titan Quest is an action-RPG set in a mythological time period. Sullivan came up with the idea for the game while he was working on Age of Empires. The two games have many similarities. Besides the obvious, such as the overall setting, many of the same philosophies of Ensemble were used at Iron Lore. The game was designed so that anyone could play the game, not just the hardcore action-RPG fans.44 The early stages of the development of Titan Quest were very shaky. The demo team worked extremely hard to try and get a publisher signed.45 It wasnt until July 21, 2004 that Iron Lore announced its partnership with THQ to publish Titan Quest.46 Iron Lore saw some initial success with the Titan Quest and even produced an expansion for it (Titan Quest: Immortal Throne). After the Titan Quest expansion, Iron Lore produced Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War Soulstorm with Relic Entertainment. It seemed as though Iron Lore was off to a great start and would continue making games, but that wasnt to be the case. On February 19, 2008, Iron Lore announced it was shutting down. Apparently, THQ decided to stop funding the studio, so there was no income or contract to make a new game.47 Although Titan Quest was fairly well-received, it did not come without criticism. The main criticism of the game is that it is too much like Blizzards Diablo II. Sullivan, in an interview with Gamasutra, does not deny that the game is very similar, but instead
Ensemble Studios, Ensemble Studios Closing; Internet; accessed 13 November 2008.
Chase Murdey, "Age of Titans: Brian Sullivans Latest Adventures," Gamasutra; Internet; accessed 31 October 2008. 45 Jeff Goodsill, "Iron Lore's TITAN QUEST." 46 Iron Lore, News Archive. 47 Iron Lore, News.

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states his reasons for why that is the case. Core Titan Quest game play is very similar to Diablo, because Diablo basically defined the genre,48 In his perspective, he is making a game of the same genre, in the same way that many of the RTS games are of the same genre. The difference is that there are many RTS games, and far fewer action-RPGs. He also goes on to state how games such as World of Warcraft may have played a role in keeping away potential customers. Since MMOs are so engaging, it seems as though people dont have time for other games (or do not want to play them).49

Chase Murdey, "Age of Titans: Brian Sullivans Latest Adventures. Chase Murdey, "Age of Titans: Brian Sullivans Latest Adventures.

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3. Methodology
3.1 Learning the Process Before we could conduct the interviews, we needed to learn how the process of interviewing and editing works. Some of the first resources we used were documentary films. We watched The Aristocrats, BBS: The Documentary, and First Person to see how the craft is done. First of all, we learned that there are many ways to conduct and edit an interview. There isnt really a right or a wrong way to do things, but there are some general guidelines and tips that we learned. When a subject is talking about something that might not be common sense, it is a good idea to use shots showing visual aids that illuminate what the subject is talking about, also keeping the audience entertained in the process. Clips should generally not last more than thirty seconds because the audience might get tired of seeing someone drone on about something for too long. The interview should be edited to be as succinct as possible, without losing meaning, which provides a more enjoyable experience for the audience. The background of the interview should contain many items that help explain the subject; the items should provide clues as to who the subject is, because a short interview might not provide that information. Besides watching documentary films, we conducted practice interviews. First, we took turns interviewing each other about what our favorite games were. After editing, we got feedback from Dean ODonnell as to what worked and what didnt. Our background was boring and didnt provide too much information about the subject. Also, our sound quality was very poor. We edited that interview again and made it shorter and changed the topic. We didnt use any additional footage, so changing the

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topic seemed pretty difficult at first. This was a purely editorial exercise to see if we could juxtapose various segments together to form one coherent clip. Not only did this provide us with practice editing and moving segments around, but it also showed us the importance of asking good questions during the interview. The editing process can often be open ended, and it is better to prepare for a broader range of possibilities, without being too vague. After conducting interviews on each other, we began conducting interviews with other WPI students as the subjects. The goal of these exercises was to practice working with two cameras, a better microphone, the high-definition IMGD camera, to practice asking questions on the fly, and to see which one of us was better at certain aspects of the process (like asking questions, operating the cameras, etc.). We continually made progress with sound quality and the backgrounds through trial-anderror. We also gained confidence in our ability to come up with questions impromptu, because preplanning an entire interview does not take into consideration what the subject likes to talk about. Near the end of the first term of this project, we made a trip to Jason Scotts house, where he and Dean ODonnell taught us even more about the interview process. Jason Scott makes his own documentary films, so he was an invaluable resource to this project. Jason looked at our work, and provided us his thoughts on what worked and what didnt. The most important issue was our sound quality. He taught us that video clips can be replaced, but the sound must absolutely be clear. For example, an overlay of a game could be shown instead of the interviewee, while the interviewee is talking about the game. Also, people are more willing to forgive visual blunders, but they are not as willing to forgive poor audio. He also showed us many other videos that show

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how different people edit documentary films. He even showed us how he conducts the interview. We learned that the questions should be urging the subject to tell a story. So, if someone isnt talking about one thing, it is best to try and find a question that the person will talk about.

3.2 The Interviews

The first interview was with Paul Neurath. It took a while to finally select a time that both parties could commit to, but we eventually settled on one. We conducted the interview at his office in Waltham, MA. When we arrived, we were told that we could use the conference room and that he only had about an hour. We quickly set up the equipment and began as soon as we could to maximize the amount of footage we could get. We had a high-definition camera, a standard-definition camera, and a wireless microphone with a clip. When setting up the equipment, we tried to get some of the posters of games that Paul had worked on in the background. Since there wasnt much in the room, the only other object in the background was the white wall. We had previously figured out what we wanted to ask him about (questions pertaining to his past) and stayed pretty much within those confines. We managed to get through all the main questions we wanted to ask. Throughout the interview, we moved the second camera around the room so that we could have many different kinds of shots. The second interview was conducted at WPI with Brian Sullivan. He could not conduct the interview at his home, so we reserved the archives room. We set up the room to have a lot of paraphernalia associated with Brian (which was generously provided by the WPI archives). We placed those items around a chair for Brian and off in the background. As far as the equipment goes, we used the same set up as the first - 20 -
interview. For this interview, we got through our main questions, but had more time to explore other avenues; we had a chance to ask follow-up questions that helped clarify what he was saying. At the end of the interview, we even got some footage of Brian standing next to a very large Titan Quest statue that is in the library.
3.1 Editing To edit the interviews, we focused first on content and being succinct. Since our questions were already split up into various categories, we used those categories to make the different clips. We took all of the footage pertaining to a clip and segregated it from the rest. We did this for each category. Once each was split up, we arranged the segments so that they would answer a question, or tell a story (so each clip would make sense). We also cut out portions that were superfluous or unnecessary. Again, the goal wasnt to just have a pioneer talk, but to provide something worthy of a museum exhibit. Once we had the clips edited for content (or arranged in a succinct way), we focused on improving the entertainment and informative aspects. Generally, we tried not to have clips that were longer than thirty seconds. Since we did have a bunch that were longer (because what was being said was important), we decided to cut to the secondary camera to at least break up the visual clips into shorter segments. Also, we made sure that transitions from segments that had been juxtaposed switched from one camera to another to disguise the fact that the segments didnt occur next to each other in the raw footage. We also went through and put in game box shots and game footage so that the audience can see what the subject was talking about. For example, when

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Brian Sullivan was talking about how units looked in Age of Empires, we showed a screenshot of the units lined up. The final stage of editing was used to do touchups to make the quality of the clips better. If there were any glitches in the way transitions from segment to segment looked, we made sure that they were smoothed out. We also had to do some color and light correction. Since the two cameras were different cameras filming at different definitions, we had to make sure that they at least looked similar in the final product. Besides the lighting, we also had to boost the audio on the Paul Neurath interview so that it was more audible.

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4. Results and Discussion / Analysis
For the most part, the basic core of the project was successful, but there was a lot that could be different with the final quality of the project. Overall, we made clips that were succinct, showed the interviewee, had visual aids, and had no jarring technical errors. This means that all the content needed for this project is sound. As with most other art forms though, there is a lot that could have been done differently to make the project better on the surface. As far as the questioning is concerned, we asked enough questions that were fairly well informed, so the clips have good points being made about the subjects. There are many other questions we could have asked, though, that would have elicited even better responses. This is largely a product of practice though, and probably cannot be mastered easily over the course of a three term project. Our lighting and sound quality was decent enough to have a pretty good final product, but could have been better. For Paul Neurath, we used completely environmental light because the room we were in had one whole side covered by window. The lighting for that interview came out pretty good, but the sound quality suffered because of the close proximity to the street. At one point, sirens from outside overwhelmed the sound from the inside, which rendered that portion of the footage unusable. The Brian Sullivan interview was quite the opposite. The archives room was quiet and wasnt close to the street, so the sound quality came out great. Unfortunately, the lighting suffered a bit because of our inexperience. On the far right side of Brian, the ceiling lights were not on. Over him and on his left the lights were fine, and seemed fine at the time, but presented problems with the secondary camera. We had to darken

Game Developers Choice Awards. Archive / 1998 Spotlight Awards. Available from http://www.gamechoiceawards.com/archive/spotlight_1998.htm. Internet; accessed 13 November 2008. Gamespy. 20 Questions with Warren Spector. Available from http://archive. gamespy.com/legacy/interviews/spector_c.shtm. Internet; accessed 12 November 2008. Gamespy. Looking Glass and Terra Nova: Strike Force Centauri. Available from http://www.gamespy.com/articles/495/495425p1.html. Internet; accessed 12 November 2008. Gibson, Ellie. "Titan Quest." Eurogamer. Available from http://www.eurogamer.net/ article.php?article_id=63980. Internet; accessed 31 October 2008. Goodsill, Jeff. "Iron Lore's TITAN QUEST." Game Developer, October, 2006. http://find.galegroup.com/itx/retrieve.do?contentSet=IACDocuments&resultListType=RESULT_LIST&qrySerId=Locale(en,,):FQE%3D(KE, None,9)Iron+Lore$&sgHitCountType=None&inPS=true&sort=DateDescend&sear chType=BasicSearchForm&tabID=T003&prodId=AONE&searchId=R3&currentP osition=3&userGroupName=mlin_c_worpoly&docId=A153064950&docType=IAC (accessed November 11, 2008). Grossman, Austin. Post Mortems from Game Developer. Focal Press, 2003. Available from http://books.google.com/books?id=tQVJEpgoiIwC&pg= PT127&dq=Ensemble+Studios. Internet; accessed 11 November 2008. Hatchitt , Ann. Origin Systems to close Austin operations Austin Business Journal, 26 Feburary 2004. Available from http://austin.bizjournals.com/austin/ stories/2004/02/23/daily37.html. Internet; accessed 13 November 2008. Iron Lore. News Archive. Available from http://www.ironlore.com/news_archive.php. Internet; accessed 13 November 2008. Iron Lore. News. Available from http://www.ironlore.com/index.php. Internet; accessed 13 November 2008. Iron Lore. "The People." Available from http://www.ironlore.com/people.php. Internet; accessed 31 October 2008. Kent, Steven L. The Ultimate History of Video Games. New York: Three Rivers Press, 2001. Laramee, Francois Dominic. Secrets of the Game Business. Charles River Media, 2003. Available from http://books.google.com/books?id=VFHOSRrMH5kC &pg=PA313&dq=Ensemble+Studios&lr=. Internet; accessed 11 November 2008.

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Lavoie, Denise. "Colonial Plymouth has stars in its eyes over movie studio." The Providence Journal, 25 November 2008. http://www.projo.com/business/content /bz_plymrockstudios22_11-25-08_T4CBOAQ_v5.3227638.html. Internet; accessed 13 July, 2002. Looking Glass Closing, Laying off 60 Workers Failed Deal Cambridge Game Developer. Boston Globe, 26 May 2000. Database on-line. Available from LexisNexis Academic. MacDonald, Sally, and Michael Rice. Consuming Ancient Egypt. Routledge Cavendish, 2003. Available from http://books.google.com/books?id=hgeGaln7C4C&pg=RA8-PA213&dq=Ensemble+Studios. Internet; accessed 11 November 2008. Mallinson, Paul. Games that changed the world: Ultima Underworld. Available from http://www.computerandvideogames.com/article.php?id=28003. Internet; accessed 11 November 2008. Moby Games. Age of Empires: The Rise of Rome. Available from http://www.mobygames.com/game/age-of-empires-the-rise-of-rome. Internet; accessed 13 November 2008. Moby Games. Age of Empires. Available from http://www.mobygames.com/ game/windows/age-of-empires/credits. Internet; accessed 13 November 2008. Moby Games. "Brian Sullivan." Available from http://www.mobygames.com/ developer/sheet/view/developerId,34094/. Internet; accessed 31 October 2008. Moby Games. " MicroProse Software, Inc." Available from http://www.mobygames.com/ company/microprose-software-inc. Internet; accessed 31 October 2008. Moby Games. Paul Neurath. Available from http://www.mobygames.com/ developer/sheet/view/developerId,5226/. Internet; accessed 11 November 2008. Murdey, Chase. "Age of Titans: Brian Sullivans Latest Adventures." Gamasutra. Available from http://gamasutra.com/features/20060720/murdey_01.shtml. Internet; accessed 31 October 2008. Neurath, Paul. Interview by author, December 2008, Waltham, MA. Video tape recording. Shelley, Bruce. "Sells like team spirit." Game Developer, July, 2002. http://find.galegroup.com/itx/retrieve.do?contentSet=IACDocuments&resultListType=RESULT_LIST&qrySerId=Locale(en,,):FQE%3D(KE, None,16)Ensemble+Studios$&sgHitCountType=None&inPS=true&sort=DateDes cend&searchType=BasicSearchForm&tabID=T003&prodId=AONE&searchId=R1 &currentPosition=16&userGroupName=mlin_c_worpoly&docId=A87565890&doc Type=IAC (accessed November 11, 2008). - 29 -

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Appendix A: Practice Interviews

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Appendix B: Paul Neurath

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Appendix C: Brian Sullivan

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