In case you missed it over the holidays, here's game design luminary Warren Spector interviewed recently before a live audience in Sinespace. Among the topics touched, we discuss the new game he worked on, Underworld Ascendant, his much-anticipated upcoming game System Shock 3, developing in Unity 3D, and his skepticism with VR. Here's some highlights with timecodes:

4:30: Warren talks about the relationship between Underworld Ascendant and the groundbreaking PC game Ultima Underworld, which he produced in 1992, and discusses the influence of that game on the simulation genre in general.

12:05: Russ and Warren talk about how high-end graphics in AAA games are becoming a limit on development — and how Otherside is dealing with this challenge, including the highly stylized look of UA which is inspired by miniatures gaming.

15:20: Warren and Will from his team discuss the advantages of creating immersive worlds in Unity 3D.

22:26: Warren talks about Otherside’s development of System Shock 3, how the studio got the license to make the sequel, and what we can expect from the game.

25:00: Why Warren is skeptical about VR, which he predicted three years ago had deep “cultural and social problems”. Warren then goes on to talk about VR hype, its future and uses, his own experiences working on VR games back in the 90s — and worrying about your wife coming up from behind you with a baseball bat when you’re in virtual reality.

More highlights (and credits) after the break: