Spector clarifies GTA comments

After inadvertently causing a bit of a ruckus with comments made in an interview with the Canadian Press agency at the Montreal Games Summit, Deus Ex designer Warren Spector has gone on record to set things straight and expand a little on his ideas for the industry.

In an email sent to US website GameSpot, the former Ion Storm Austin studio head pleaded ignorance to the media maelstrom he appears to be sitting in the middle of, suggesting that some of his comments had been taken out of context and misrepresented his initial intentions.

"The headlines associated with some of the stories about my GTA comments were far more inflammatory than anything I said," Spector stated.

He went on to say that he was unhappy with notorious anti-videogames campaigner Jack Thompson for quoting some of his comments in legal documents. The documents were filed as part of Thompson's anti-GTA lawsuit - he has since resigned from the case.

"As far as Jack Thompson naming me in a legal filing: That's incredible - and not in a good way. For one thing, the comments I made about Rockstar and GTA, mentioned in the filing, came from an interview I did after my talk," Spector wrote.

"I certainly never intended for those thoughts to be put together to support the conclusions Thompson reached in the court document! If my comments have done any damage to Rockstar or games in general, I am truly, truly sorry.

"I hope the court - if it pays attention at all - dismisses those comments, given that the filing takes them so far out of context."

Spector did reaffirm his dismay at the content of GTA III, which he claims will only ever be seen on a superficial level as an example of the violence in videogames. But the industry veteran also described Rockstar's opus was "a remarkable achievement - artistically and commercially - [which] represents a genuine advance for game design."

His concerns, it seems, stem more from the wasted creativity; designing amazing games, but within a context that can only ever be seen in a negative light.

"Most people won’t take the time to look past the surface, the fiction, the context. They don't see the fun and the freedom the game provides. They see car jackings and gun battles and hookers," Spector stated.

"You can talk about game design genius 'til you're blue in the face. The people who want to regulate games, and the mainstream audience we want to reach, will ignore you. And then they'll drop the hammer on our medium. Hard," he added.

That's that cleared up then. You can read the full interview over at GameSpot.