Warren Spector

Warren Spector
Spector at the November 30, 2010 release party for Epic Mickey at the Times Square Disney Store in Manhattan.
Born	Warren Evan Spector (1955-10-02) October 2, 1955 (age 61) United States
Residence	Austin, Texas
Occupation	Role-playing and video game designer, director, writer, producer, production designer
Spouse(s)	Caroline L. Spector (m. 1987)

Warren Spector (born October 2, 1955) is an American role-playing and video game designer, director, writer, producer and production designer. He is known for creating games which give players a wide variety of choices in how to progress. Consequences of those choices are then shown in the simulated game world in subsequent levels or missions. He is best known for the critically acclaimed video game Deus Ex that embodies the choice and consequence philosophy while combining elements of the first-person shooter, roleplaying, and adventure game genres.

Spector grew up in Manhattan, which he described as a sometimes hostile environment where "short, pudgy, Jewish kids didn't fare well". He showed an intense devotion to whatever topic became his focus at any given time, from dinosaurs and airplanes as a small boy, to an interest in law by the sixth grade. At age 13, Spector had decided he wanted to be a film critic, and by high school, his interests expanded to include cars and basketball.

Spector and game designer Greg Costikyan were friends since high school.

Spector attended Northwestern University in Illinois, still intending to become a film critic, stating that he "knew more about movies than a lot of my teachers". Spector earned his BS in Communications at Northwestern, and went on to earn his MA in Radio-TV-Film at the University of Texas at Austin in 1980. His thesis was a critical history of Warner Bros. cartoons.

All through college, Spector enjoyed gaming, and recalls that he "played Avalon Hill games mainly, and a lot of OGRE and G.E.V. games, and Rivets from Metagaming. It was all boardgames until I became friends with science-fiction writers who were into D&D games, so I gave the game a try. I was hooked." Spector taught several undergraduate classes at the University of Texas at Austin, on the history, theory, and criticism of film.