Tony Goodman

I began freelance consulting (programming) in 1987, after two years at UT Austin. I started my first corporation, Ensemble System Consulting, in1990 with John Boog-Scott, (a high-school/college friend), who was with Anderson Consulting at the time. Ensemble Systems has grown to over 50(incredibly talented) people. We have just been informed that we made this year's Inc. 500. In January 1996, I founded Ensemble Studios with the dream of eventually becoming the worlds premier game development company.

Games Web: When did you know you would have a career in the gaming industry?

Tony Goodman: I have long known that I was going to start a game company. In 6th grade I played my first RPG (Monsters Monsters). This and Tolkien's Lord of the Rings had a tremendous impact on this part of my life. I have since been a hard-core gamer... computer games, Avalon Hill style games, role playing. Also, I had reached the conclusion much, much earlier in life(observing less-than-satisfied adults) that when I grew up I would only do something that I absolutely loved to do.

Games Web: As technology advances, multiplayer games are more and more involving, where do you feel that computer-based games are headed?

Tony Goodman: The computer based game experience will continue to get better and better. Online play is a very natural extension of this experience. However, it is important to remember that computer games provide experiences that are similar to both board games and books. Online play(as it relates to group play) will never replace the personal book-like experience. The real explosion in Online play is simply waiting on accessibility to the general public. You will know when the Age of Online are has arrived... It will be ushered in by one great game that proves to the world that online games are for everybody. Very much the same way that Doom brought computer game visibility to the general public.

Games Web: What excites you most about the future of the gaming industry?

Tony Goodman: That's easy. Our participation in it, for sure! It's a wide open, virgin, field of dreams for creative talents all over the world. We are going to seize the day. Our team is the most ambitious group I have ever known. These guys are not satisfied unless they are pushing the extreme edge of the game experience envelope.

Games Web: What's the most difficult part of creating a quality gaming experience?

Tony Goodman: We have so many great game ideas that we want to do. It is very difficult to not be able to do them all. It is necessary for us to put many good ideas aside in order to focus on only one or two great games.

The problems of victory are more agreeable than the problems of defeat, but they are no less difficult.
-- Sir Winston Churchill (1874-1965), British statesman, writer. Speech, 11 Nov. 1942, House of Commons. From The Columbia Dictionary of Quotations: Copyright (c) 1993, 1995 by Columbia University Press.