"'The future of gaming'? Crap! Don't you need to be an analyst to have enough balls to write about the future of the medium? Either way, I gathered myself and wrote back that I'd do it, knowing full well that ingrained into my DNA is the easily called-upon, opinionated, stubborn Irish ego that would enable me to make bold predictions about a subject dear to my heart. Without further ado, I give you the death pool."

"I didn't know what to expect from my brief affair with television, but I knew it wouldn't all be long walks on the beach and playing kissy-face. For a start, I've known television my whole life. I've suckled the great glass teat since I was a toddler, and TV has entertained - or at least occupied - many hours since. Climbing into bed with the boob tube sounded a little incestuous."

"One of the International Game Developers Association's many roles is to deal with all the crap that's going on in the game development community, from defending developers' right to creative expression to pushing studios for better work-life balance. ... But another aspect of my job, one that I often neglect, is to be an industry evangelist - to promote all that's cool and wonderful about games and game development."

"I had just entered the world of Morrowind. I had enough problems without this guy in my face, whining about his stupid ring. One well-aimed arrow shot later, and I found myself squatting in his secluded Seyda Neen cottage. But it wasn't just somewhere to keep my spare weapons and armor. I found myself decorating. I kept the place clean. It was my home.

"That's when it really hit me: This wasn't just some level in a game. This was my vacation home in a digital environment."

"After three years, you're still one year shy of a college degree, two years shy of being able to apply for U.S. citizenship, and 70 years from seeing that saguaro cactus you clipped while driving drunk in the desert fully re-grow its arm. Three years is nothing.

"Then again, three years can be an eternity. Three years is more than half a lifetime for a game console, and twice a lifetime for most games. For gaming celebrities, it could be a career. On the internet, it's an epoch."