Name: Greg Costikyan, a.k.a Designer XJob Title: Game geek
Projects: Paranoia, Evolution, a slew of others; ludography at http://www.costik.com/
Why I Am A Game Industry Rockstar: I am not. Anyone who thinks they are a rockstar, including, say, platinum-selling rock and roll recording artists, deserves a couple of decades of abject failure to teach them the virtues of humility (and will probably get it). I like to think of myself as the annoying mosquito buzz in the ear canal of the game industry. I have designed a number of games that don't suck, along with a fair number that do. I always strive for non-suckiness, but do not always achieve it which, frankly, is about all anyone can say. It perturbs me that the game industry as a whole prizes things like risk reduction and bankable IP over things that don't suck, because that sucks. At present, I design at the fringes of the industry, things like social network and board games, while running a quixotic venture to draw attention to independent games and trying to find games that don't suck to blog about. Also, I cook dinner for my family every night, and occasionally write science fiction.
[Art of Greg by Derek Yu.]
