Column: 'Blogged Out: Special Retro GDC Edition'

In this week's Blogged Out, regular columnist Jim Rossignol's look at recent web log posts in the game development community, we go back in time; exactly one week ago, to the closing days of the 2006 Game Developers Conference, to see what the game community at large were ferverently blogging about during the show. In the following extract, an artist from Bethesda's recent The Elder Scrolls: Oblivion discusses the nearly indescribable feeling of immersion that games can provide: "That's how I felt in the past, when I fist stepped out of Privateer's Hold into the snowy night air. That was how I felt when Iolo first approached me on the streets of Trinsic, or when I was riding the tram into Black Mesa, or when I walked down to the Old Camp along side of Diego. That was how I felt when Garrett said that it was time to begin or when I was trapped in LeChuck's treasure hold. I know games like those made me content, if only for a little while, when I was a kid, trapped in this world, looking for a temporary way out. I know that those games soothed my soul when my entire spin on life was shaken to its very foundation in college. I feel compelled now to try and give that small bit of comfort in return to others out there that appreciate these kind of details and worlds to explore. Games and music are something I very much believe in and are avenues that I am completely dedicated to in this waking existence." You can read the full Gamasutra column, including inspiring words from The Sims creator and magazine cover superstar Will Wright (no registration required, please feel free to link to this column from external websites).