December 20, 2006
Curt Feldman at GameSpot has posted what is surely the definitive Doug Lowenstein interview -Â lengthy, but definitely worth a read.Unlike some of his critics, Doug took the high road in his remarks. Here are some highlights:
I don't think ESA is troubled... the last thing I would want to do is walk away from something I created and leave it in some kind of shape that doesn't allow it to prosper and thrive...
We can certainly look back at what we've done... and say with absolute certainty that the appreciation and awareness of the industry are far, far beyond what they were 12 years ago...
About criticism of game content, Lowenstein told GameSpot:
If you're in the content business... you're always going to be doing something that somebody's going to find controversial or objectionable. It's impossible not to do that. So in some ways, if all you do is make product that everybody finds rather acceptable, you're probably not pushing the envelope creatively...
And although Jack Thompson wasn't mentioned by name, the controversial Miami attorney has been Lowenstein's harshest critic. Here, Doug explains his approach to such criticism:
You don't take (attacks) personally. If you engage in the sort of ad hominem personal attacks not only, I think, do you degrade yourself but you really make it much more difficult for your voice to be heard... The media loves that, but I don't think it helps anybody understand anything more about video games for me to attack a critic.
