The semi-related topics of used games and digital distribution have been the subject of a lot of debate, discussion, and controversy in recent times. And even more recently, RPad.TV caught up with one of the masterminds behind such prominent games as Gears of War and Unreal to find out what his thoughts are on the matter.

Raymond Padilla: With games like Shadow Complex and systems like the Sony PSPgo, digital distribution is becoming a bigger part of the gaming business. How does digital distribution impact you as a game designer?

Cliff Bleszinski: A couple weekends ago, I was up in East Village at "Videogames New York", a combination new/retro game store. On the front counter, they had Borderlands and in the back aisles, they had the Vectrex and Game & Watch. My feelings went from initially geeking out to immense nostalgia to overwhelming pride for how far this business has come in my lifetime alone. We go digital and that physical history starts drying up and eventually vanishes. Older games become the same as a 45 record.

Digital distribution has the potential to end the used game debate that's currently raging across the business. I have mixed feelings about the whole thing. On one hand, I love having that pipeline into my house: Look, a new game is up on Live; download the title right to your hard drive and fire it up. At the same time, I love having games, movies, and books on my shelves at my home. It feels like an IRL representation of the facets of your personality and tastes whenever people come over to visit. The Kindle and other devices are equally fascinating. I fear not leafing through a book ever again but at the same time I cringe at the thought of having to deal with a CD and a jewel case in a world of digital music.

Finally, as far as the kinds of games I'd like to design and contribute to? Digital frees up some risk. You can make that little dream game you've always wanted to make and take more chances, which is incredibly appealing as a creative.

Raymond: I'm sure you've been asked this a thousand times, but what's your stance on used games? Obviously it effects [sic] developer royalties, but what do you say to a gamer that believes it's their right, similar to how they have the right to sell a car they bought new?

Clifford: I touched upon this earlier and as a developer I need to tread lightly as this is such a hot button topic. I want as many people as possible to be hands-on with our products. We have found that stores such as GameStop have been great partners in launching games like Gears of War. The key to working through this issue is to positively motivate people to purchase a game new and fresh, and I guarantee you that everyone industry-wide is having many meetings to discuss this very issue.

I for one would love to visit this "Video Games New York" place. It sounds like a fun time of the sort GameStop seems to be increasingly pushing itself away from.

Bleszinski talks about other subjects in the interview, including OnLive, what he sees in Project Natal as a designer and as a gamer, Sony's motion controller, Hideo Kojima's poem about Obama winning the Nobel Peace Prize, what he's playing, and a look back at getting punched in the face by the interviewer in San Francisco. You can find all of that stuff here.