Waiting for Spielberg

摘要

Can a computer game make you cry?" that was the provocative question posed by an upstart software house in its first ad campaign, more than a decade ago. Though the company (Electronic Arts) was ultimately successful, the promise implicit in the marketing campaign has yet to be fulfilled. Interactive programs may be a multibillion-dollar industry, but by and large they don't reach our imaginations—or our hearts—as much as a mildly compelling genre movie does, or even an afternoon soap. Computer games divert, addict, sometimes even teach. But they don't make you cry.