In a recent Elon Musk interview by Sam Altman for Y Combinator, the conversation somehow found its way to the world of video games. In a short clip, taken from the longer interview, Altman asks “I’m looking for a new video game to play, can you give me a recommendation?” He replies, without pause, “Overwatch.”
Musk has been vocal about his love for Overwatch, back in the summer he tweeted about the game with high praise, saying, “Highly recommend @PlayOverwatch by the good people of @Blizzard_Ent if you like ultra fast team FPS action.” He’s even known to drop video game references during his trade shows. Showing off Tesla Motors’ designs for a self-servicing A.I. charger, Musk describes that it would move on its own, “articulating like a snake, like Metal Gear Solid or something.”
You can tell Musk sees the potential for video games to craft meaningful stories and experiences. Later in the Y Combinator interview, Musk pines about how the newer attention to graphics and technology might have interrupted the importance of storytelling.
“Some of the oldest games, the graphics and sounds were terrible, so they had to rely on storytelling,” says Musk in the Y Combinator interview. “Honestly, I think that’s really neglected.”
Talking specifically about the Deux Ex franchise, a franchise known for its storytelling–and one you can tell has a place in Musk’s heart–he regrets, “that’s the criticism I heard of the latest Deus Ex, is the storytelling is kind of lame. Whereas prior Deus Ex, and the original–the original Deus Ex the storytelling was amazing.” But optimism hits, and when people around the room echo Altman’s recommendation of The Last of Us, Musk perks up at the promise of a new storytelling experience. As we all know, he’s in for quite the treat.
In any case, it is relieving to hear that the forward-thinking innovator of our generation has an appreciation of our forward-thinking medium. Yes, count on Elon Musk to “de-stress” with the Hegelian dialectics of Fallout: New Vegas.
