Jason Hall: Hrm, not really. I would say that the parent is right if all the kid was doing on the computer was playing games. If the kid were doing other things with the computer as well as playing games, well then I would point out to the parent that useful learning may be going on, and that they should investigate their kid's activities on the computer further before passing any kind of judgment.

SharkyExtreme: Your bio says: 'Jason knows what makes games tick.' Tell us, what do you think makes a game tick?

Jason Hall: Well, sometimes if you bang on the keyboard while a game is running and overflow the keyboard buffer, you may hear some ticking sounds come from your computer.

Or another way to make your game "tick" is to run a bunch of CPU intensive applications simultaneously along with your 3D game, and that may result in you getting a sporadic frame rate "tick."

Both of those methods work pretty well. :)

SharkyExtreme: Now I see I really have to be more specific in my questions, let's see… was this a career choice you planned for, or was it something that 'just happened' to get your interest?

Jason Hall: My career is a classic example of a hobby developing into a profession. Yes, I deliberately started Monolith, but prior to that I was involved in software production for quite a while, and those opportunities stemmed from the knowledge I accumulated through my pursuit of my gaming hobby.

SharkyExtreme: Looking back through the trials and tribulations that comes with forming a company (like Monolith) and everything that has happened within the company up to this point in time, can you pick any specific event or time frame that makes you feel the most proud of your work?