Will Wright feels "a bit of remorse" when he makes the choice to kill civilians in GTA IV, he said, speaking at the Vancouver Art Gallery for its "Krazy! The Delirious World of Anime + Comics + Video Games + Art" exhibition.
Gamasutra covered the event, during which Wright added, "but if it's to progress the story, then 'God told me to do it.'"
He covered a broad range of subjects during the talk, including whether games are perceived as an art form ("When comic book people are looking down on you as cultural refuse, you know you're at the bottom of the barrel,") and his vision of games as a "co-collaboration between player and designer."
Still, he thinks we have further to go:
We have yet to prove we can do meaningful things with this form of expression, but I believe we are at the cusp of a Cambrian explosion of possibilities [referencing the geological era in which complex life flourished]. We are a couple years away from being respected as a form of expression, but it's not a battle we need to fight. We'll win anyway."
Will Wright - Video Games Close To 'Cambrian Explosion' Of Possibilities [Gamasutra]