JENOVA CHEN

Video games have always been a part of my life.

Designing a game can be like a Japanese garden. It's not what you put in but how much you take away.

I always played games with my friends, but as I got older, my friends stopped playing.

I would rather see a game where you play to feel happier and to make other people like you and to make the people you care about happy.

Seeing games become more of a young person thing, I feel like a toy I grew up with has been left behind. I don't want to. I want this thing to be respected by adults. I want this thing to be growing with me. It's important to have games that could be more nuanced and reflective of the real world and relevant to adults.

When humans are hungry, they look for food. But they are also hungry for certain feelings. They go out to look for entertainment - from music to movies to novels to games - to satisfy their emotions.

If a game is meant to be played by everybody, it deserves to be on multiple platforms so everybody can play it.

A lot of people asked us why 'Journey' didn't let them play with friends or family, and obviously we had a reason - because that would have defeated the purpose of the game. But for a game to be truly be accessible to both children and adults and to men and women, it has to allow people to play with the ones they love.

A great painter can paint something really complex, but they can crystallize it into something really simple.

I would say 'Flower' had a story. It is told through the environment.

Creativity is not talent but attitude.

I feel like that nature has this great power.

When we approach games, we're always emotional-focused, so if a free-to-play business model works against the emotion, we won't use it. If it actually works well with the emotion, or if we can come up with a new way to do monetization that's different and that's unique for the game, I would go for that.

In the free-to-play industry, the most money-making games are often coming from making people fighting against each other and really hating each other and wanting to revenge, so they spend more money to dominate.

At TGC, we are firm believers in the value of making games that respect our players.

Our goal is always to make games that can move people, that are designed for everybody so the whole family should be able to play it together, and that bring people together and really move them in a way.

We founded thatgamecompany to push the boundary of video games as an interactive medium.

If we can make great games for PS3 players... how many PS3 players are out there? If we can make great games for everybody, that's a much bigger service. There's no reason I shouldn't do that.

My dream is to make everyone love video games.

When I read a good story, I often start thinking, 'Should I live my life according to what this character chooses and values?' It makes me think. I feel like I grew up to be a more mature person while thinking about character development in these fictional situations.

With 'Journey,' we created an emotional arc for two different scenarios. So, if you play alone, it's a good game. You have what we think is a complete emotional arc. You will feel, I guess, a sense of transformation in the single-player. Because it's a hero's journey.

Humans are lazy but not stupid.

Even in film, books, and music, there's always action - there's always rock and roll. Young people appreciate that kind of experience.

I grew up in Shanghai, a big urban city.

Look at the genres women like: a romantic comedy game doesn't exist. Few examples of a documentary game exist. What is the equivalent of a real drama game? They don't exist. Emotion with that complexity for a more mature, older audience are necessary to make medium-like video games healthy so it can be highly respected like the film industry.