Why I Love is a series of guest editorials on GamesIndustry.biz intended to showcase the ways in which game developers appreciate each other's work. This entry was contributed by Andy Cargile, lead designer at Smart Technologies, which launched the rogue-like strategy card game The Last Kids on Earth: Hit the Deck last month on PC.
Have you ever been to a movie where it's completely genre-changing and forever memorable? That's happened a few times for me.
It happened in 1977 when I saw Star Wars in the theater. It happened in 1979 when I saw Alien opening night. And it happened again in 1993 when I played Myst. I just remember seeing this beautiful immersive world, and thinking "Oh my god! What do I do? Where's the UI?" I'd never seen anything like it before. What's fascinating is that 20 (nay 30!) years later, it still feels so utterly different from anything else out there.