Translation for those of you who don't understand german
Sorry about few small missing or wrong parts from David's text, unfortunately he wasn't easy to understand due to the german voice over; it was actually far easier to translate the moderator than to understand him. So don't hesitate to correct me
Mod: As a moderator of a music show i'd wish Michael Jackson or Prince would come visit me. There are stars in the IT industry too, and one of these stars we have here today. He wrote a game that became cult. Its name is Elite, the programmer is from the UK, here is David Braben!
[David entering the stage, both sitting down]
Mod: Alright now we need to cable us so we understand each other. Not that easy [fumbling her ear], but, oh i got it already. What's with your ear? Or doesn't it fit again? It's really complicated you wouldn't believe.
David: Ok, sorry about that.
Mod: Yes? Wonderful, no problem.
[both getting comfortable in their seats]
Mod: David, you're from Cambridge, and this little english town inspires people more to learn about medieval history than to work with computers. How did this develop for you?
David: Well it is primarily a university town and that's how i got to know it and the IT industry just grew up around it.
Mod: And your personal history, did you grow up with computers?
David: Yes, it started as a hobby. When i first started there were very few games back then, so it's very much a hobby - rather than gaming as it is now it was programming.
Mod: Your most famous game is Elite - what is that game like, how do you play it?
David: Elite is essentially a game where the player has an alter ego, he gets to trade within a galaxy, and the idea is make a profit by buying and selling goods.
[computer screen is shown] I can show you. Now you get the description of your space ship. The idea is to slowly improve it as you progress through the game. There are various things you can add to your space ship,
[something about buying and selling cargo]. Well, now i take off
[both giggling because he didn't have any cargo to sell]. Now the idea is, for instance in an agricultural place to buy food and to take it to an industrial place. To do this you see the various places
[shows the star map, says something about 2000 worlds in the galaxy, hard to understand] and fly there.
Mod: Wonderful. For the successor "Virus" you even got the "Oscar of the software industry", but isn't it incredibly difficult to create an adequate successor after such a successful game?
David: Yes, but Virus is a different game, Virus is an arcade game, it's a fast action game with pretty graphics. It's more a reaction test, in Elite there is quite alot of thinking and Virus is, shall we say "somewhat small"
[probably means intellectual wise].
Mod: Do you think computer games have a future and will be played in the year 2000, too?
David: Oh yes, but i think they'll be different. I think they'll slowly approach the film industry in some respects. I personally would hope it would no longer be a solitary thing, i'd much prefer several people playing a game, to be more social.
Mod: Do you give away computer games at christmas?
David: Oh no, i much prefer more social banding. Seeing that i and alot of my friends spend much of their time with computers,
[it's just that we need to get away from computers. -hard to understand again]
Mod: Thank you!
Interestingly, the discussion following the interview with Braben was about cracking software and pirate copying. Already a discussion in '88, though i don't know to what extent since the interview cuts shortly after starting.
