I strongly suspect that far too few game designers really understand what “entertainment” means. They do appear to be getting better at it, but are not quite there yet. They are also somewhat unaware of the “unintended consequences” of really good game design – consequences that can serious damage the long term viability of a game or even the publisher. - I'll explain a little hear about the 'pre-cradle to post-grave' user experience, and fun, and some design issues in games of every type - There is one drawback of getting this absolutely right, of course. Can you guess? Yes, long term: a really great game is compelling, addictive, rewarding and so damn fine you don’t want to play anything else. Which means, of course, you will never sell another game, as everyone will keep playing the last one. Did you think about that in the design phase?   more »