The Chinese Room dev: "Mechanics will probably never be our core focus"

Among some gamers there's a discussion about "interactive fiction" vs. "video game," but Jessica Curry of Amnesia: A Machine for Pigs dev The Chinese Room says in an editorial on Edge the distinction is immaterial.

"We’re often asked at The Chinese Room whether we’re anti-games, or whether we’re trying to deliberately subvert the medium," Curry wrote.

"This question rests on the idea that games are purely driven by mechanics and goals, and this seems laughably outdated as a concept. Why do we feel the need to classify and name and label before we can enjoy something? Do I need to know whether or not Bach sits in the classical canon before I can appreciate his incredible music? For me, the key is whether it's an engaging experience (or not). The increasing breadth and diversity in games - a medium that ranges from Tetris to Gone Home - is wonderful. Why is difference such an enormously threatening concept?"

Curry sums up the studio's philosophy as such: "Mechanics will probably never be our core focus as they’re not the reason we’re driven to create. What this focus isn’t is: an agenda, a manifesto, a f**k you, a provocation, a purge or a stance. It’s simply us being us."

Read the editorial here; it's quite interesting.