Be sure to read Jeff Green’s interview with EA’s Soren Johnson about Spore, game design, and other stuff in the industry.

1UP: So let’s say you were just getting into the business now, but you had the same education and interests. Do you still see yourself pursuing this path on the PC?

SJ: Yeah, because I’m still very much a strategy guy. If computers weren’t around, I probably would have tried to design board games. That still, for me, feels like the place to be. If I was 21 now [and] in school, I’m sure I would have some sort of wonky strategy game site doing some sort of hex-based war game or something.

The most shocking part of the interview? Atari had a hard time selling the Civilization franchise.