I think it's important to have scaling challenge because there are players who I feel play 'Dragon Age' for the wonder, story and exploration but wouldn't enjoy getting their butts handed to them. We do still have easy mode - it's not a pure story mode in that there's zero combat, but it's not super-challenging.

The first 'Half-Life' movie treatment pitched to us climaxed with a tearful reunion between enslaved Vortigaunts and their Vortiwives and children. The last one I saw had Black Mesa invaded by a cavalry unit, just so as to feature a scene of bullsquids tearing into armored horses.

There's a misunderstanding that I've always tried to address straight on when this question comes up, which is that a 'Half-Life' story can somehow exist outside of a game. It can't. The story is created through the process of trying to figure out how to best use the features of the engine within the interesting set of constraints it poses.

The trade-off between speed and image quality is a key constraint of first-person action games, and the job of developing a workable engine involves constantly optimizing both elements. Gamers dream of the day they'll be able to haul their arsenals through three-dimensional environments of photographic clarity, playing 'Myst' with a meat ax.

There is no law of physics that says just because we're connected, there has to be this schism between our physical lives and our digital lives.

Donald Trump should not be underestimated. He'll say or do anything to suck the wind out of the news cycle. His reach and influence on social media are immense and are only rivaled by a tiny handful of people in the world. He's dirty. He doesn't fight fair.

I don't know if the art of stand-up will survive. Stand-up seems dated. Now you can do a mini-movie or a short with a beginning, middle, and end. A guy standing there seems a little old - especially when you can go on the Internet and see 'Funny or Die.'

The Internet has created an incredible democratization of the architecture industry.