David Rodriguez, Lead Designer at developer High Voltage, has written an interesting column for PopCultureShock.com in which he voices his frustration over not being able to make full use of his creativity when designing games. It's a compelling piece that offers unique insight into the world of the game designer.

Rodriguez describes how when people find out what his job is that they tell him about the kind of "awesome" game they would make if in his position. However, he notes that you usually can't make exactly the kind of game you want because most developers have to answer to publishers. Not everyone has the freedom to create like Will Wright, Shigeru Miyamoto and other luminaries in the video game industry.

"It's like these people think that all bad games are the result of the people who make them not knowing or caring about what they are doing. While this is surely the case in some instances, it isn't always how it goes down," Rodriguez explains. "I've been involved with or have watched other games that were on a track to possibly be a good game, slowly get churned into a giant steaming piece of crap through no fault of the people directly working on it. Developers, for the most part, all want to make a great game and will work themselves to death to get it done. But sometimes no matter how hard you work, someone more powerful than you is going to come in and stick their d!^* in your peanut butter."

He continues, "Many developers work for publishers who fund the production of the game and so they have a limited influence on how the final game is going to turn out. Sometimes you luck out and get great producers who let your team do what they do best. They offer suggestions and some feedback but they don't attempt to live in your assh*le during the fourteen months of development. Sometimes you don't work on a game that has seven levels of approval (Yes seven. There is publisher, licensor, licensor reps, directors, and some other people I can't remember. I just remember seven levels). Each of these seven people having different opinions and ideas as to what should go into this game, and each one of them having more direct control than the people making it.

"This isn't an easy thing to deal with. The people who work in games are creative by nature, and having that creativity directed, shaped, and abused by people you perceive as non-creative can be a very painful experience if you're not prepared to withstand it. Some developers feel that in a fair world, the best idea should win out and what is obviously good should naturally go into the game. While in a fair and just world that might be true, reality is a harsh mistress."