I think it was Aristotle who said that the world has just seven stories. This thought kept on going round my head during the three days I spent at E3, the world computer games fair that was held in Los Angeles earlier this month.

"It’s a goddamn gibfest!" is something you’re likely to hear quite a lot at these kind of shows, usually from an exuberant American demo-ing a deathmatch on one of the stands. This year I suspect it was more of a reference to the blood that was spilt as innovative game ideas were butchered, twisted and squeezed into small pigeon holes entitled "Real Time Strategy" and "First Person Shooter". Maybe Aristotle was a bit generous with his seven stories.

The extraordinary visual quality of most the games on display did little to hide the lack of real innovation. Whenever I go to trade shows I try to find a day where I can wander around as a gamer, rather than as a game maker. When I’m doing this I really want to find a game that excites me, that I’m desperate to play. The thrill of finding a cool game is still one of the best things in my life, but this year I couldn’t help but feel a little bit disappointed by what was on display. Where was the next Civilization? I looked high and low and found little that induced the sort of butterflies I felt when I first saw Civilization.

During the week before the show Nintendo announced initial specs for their new machine, the Dolphin. Obviously this generated a lot of excitement, and much of the talk at the show concerned the next generation of consoles and particularly the effect these machines will have on game development. The most commonly held opinion was that development would inevitably follow the Japanese model, with teams of 200 people and budgets in excess of $30 million. I’m not sure I agree with this. It’s akin to saying that all hit films have to be Titanic-style blockbusters, costing no less than $100 million to make. Sure, a lot of the big hits will be from the Shen Mue or Zelda mould, but what about the gaming equivalents of Shakespeare in Love and The Full Monty ? Id, it must be remembered have been making awesome games with a team of about a dozen people for a long time now. I doubt very much that the next generation Tetris, Super Bomberman and Sensible Soccer will rely on bi-linear filtering for their success. Equally, I can’t see how FMV with James Earl Jones will make Tiberian Sun a better game. I would like to think that gameplay will continue to be the paramount factor in a game’s success and that it will still be possible to achieve this with small teams.

Incidentally, has anyone else been amused by the fact that Real Time Strategy and First Person Shooters now have their own abbreviations (FPS and RTS)? This makes me chuckle because a friend of mine has these great stories about working for a huge company. He tells me that three letter abbreviations are so popular in big corporations that "three letter abbreviation" has its own three-letter abbreviation (TLA). Seeing TLAs on the pages of game magazines fills me with apprehension – are these the first rays of a corporate dawn?

Something I get asked a lot is how to get into the games industry. I really sympathise with people who are trying to get in and finding it tough. We get a lot of letters but being a small team the opportunities are limited (we do try to give a limited number of people work experience placements though). The games industry is a closed shop to a certain degree, but my advice is to try and get your foot in the door by any means possible. I know two producers in the industry, one of who started as a tester and the other in technical support. My story is much the same. When I was 14 I entered a competition in Amiga Power in which the prize was a job at Bullfrog. Unfortunately I came second (to Mike Diskett, Syndicate Wars creator and Mucky Foot co-founder). I phoned up anyway and managed to get a week's work experience at Bullfrog. Off the back of that, after I finished school I wrangled first a summer job and then a year there. I started off as a level designer and a tester on a teaboy’s salary. By working very hard I was given more and more responsibilty until ultimately I ended up co-creating Theme Park with Peter. It was a thrill and an honour to work on a game that so many people liked. It gave me my first taste of the professional side of the industry and ever since then I felt it’s been a great privilege to work in such a great area. I really wish people in a similar situation the very best of luck. Stick at it; as with everything in life, at the end of the day it’s how much you want it that will see you through.

The next deadline is almost upon us. Every couple of months Eidos hold a publishing meeting which is attended by the heads of all of their subsidiaries. It’s both professional and brutal. Different developers take turns to present their game and the progress that has been made since the last meeting. This will be our first and it goes without saying that we’ve got to make a big impression. My social life is now a pathetic shadow of its former self and I’ve been considering moving into the office. I’d better hurry though, as spaces are going fast……

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