I came across a bunch of Ion Storm Austin / Deus Ex 2 items, so I've decided to group them.

Gamespy has a short interview with Harvey Smith. Excerpts:

GameSpy: When you are developing a game, what aspect drives the process -- programming, AI, level design? Smith: High-level conceptualization is what drives the process. What is the game going to be -- game play, setting, fiction. That drives everything else.

He also says he thinks console games "seem to be a few years behind PC games". I disagree. Time to whip up that blog entry about innovative console games...

Gamespy also has an article on Deus Ex 2's new sound system, which they heard about (ah ah) at the GDC. It sounds like an extrapolation of what Dreamworks Interactive did in Trespasser.

And apparently Ion Storm Austin has added rag-doll physics to Deus Ex 2 - so far the only thing people seem to be using physics for, outside of racing games. DX2 is supposed to do more with physics than just that, so let's wait and see.

Apparently I never mentioned this older preview of DX2, again on Gamespy. While they were in Austin, Gamespot was there too.

In this Austin Chronicle article about the entertainment industry in Austin, Texas, Warren Spector adds a few words about the games industry.