On vacation, I totally unplug. I don't bring a laptop with me.
For me, what's a more important question is how we get at least the option of more diverse experiences in this media.
The Sims is kind of an interesting case because we had all these expansion packs. We were able to incrementally add on and explore without invading the core dynamic or the core game play.
The second thing for me, probably a few clicks down, is the idea that The Sims smoothly age and have different concerns and motivations and needs at different age ranges.
We're experimenting with new ideas we can put into it, which makes it hard for me to say exactly when we will be done with them.
I think by exploring the bad side you're really just mapping the envelope of the system... you're getting a sense of how far off you can go.
I think for most people, their kind of general aesthetic with games is that the more I control this experience, the better the game is.
We really want to have most of the failure in a game be based on things that the player did, as opposed to things outside of the player's control.
It's gotten to the point now where I surf the fan sites everyday and download cool things the fans have created, which is really ironic in a way!
In some sense that fear of not dropping the ball can really hurt you, in terms of not stretching and kind of going off in interesting new directions.