As I walk through the streets of Harvard Square in Cambridge, I can smell the heavy aroma of intellectual capacity and learning. Somewhere nearby, the future leaders of the country are being molded and developed, their thirst for knowledge being sufficient to ensure their dedication to the task in hand.

Some of them probably even play video games to unwind at the end of a long day.

But Cambridge is a haven for more than just those starting on their journey. It houses designers, Internet-savvy companies, the visionaries and the creators of worlds.

It is also where I have arranged to meet Ichiro Lambe, the leader of local indie developer Dejobaan Games, creator of AaaaaAAaaaAAAaaAAAAaAAAAA: A Reckless Disregard For Gravity and arguably my favorite game of the year.

Deciding against the lure of Starbucks, we opt for the quieter atmosphere of TeaLuxe, and I cradle a rather fine black iced-tea as we settle down to discuss topics that range from the joy of gaming to the benefits of organic growth. We even touch on the thorny subject of filthy lucre – otherwise known as money. For some unknown reason, I don’t think that 15 minutes will be enough.

Naturally, we start the discussion with Dejobaan’s forthcoming release, the “music game” currently known as ooo! ooO! oOO! OOO!:

Bostinnovation: How is the latest addition to the Dejobaan brand progressing?

Ichiro Lambe: We’ve been working on it for six months and we’re very happy with the way that it’s going. It’s the first game that is allowing us to do “research” with a capital ‘R’ in algorithmic content generation, which I find really fascinating. So it’s all going very well.

Bostinno: Ooo is a gaming experience that lets the user select the music that affects the game. Where is the music sourced from?

Lambe: You can use your own mp3 library or anything downloaded. Anything you have downloaded into your mp3 player you can slap into the game.

Bostinno: Does the speed of the game increase with the beats per minute (bpm) of the music.

Lambe: Actually the speed doesn’t increase but the density of pieces increases. You’re falling at terminal velocity and as the music increases in speed or it becomes more lush (makes drumming sounds), things just start flying at you at a greater density so that where the sense of speed comes from.

Bostinno: So if you are playing the game with Jack Johnson as your soundtrack, it may be easier than trying to navigate to the sounds of Slayer?

Lambe: (laughs) We use Enya (Irish, sang Orinoco Flow, inexplicably popular) as our quintessential example.

Bostinno: Awesome base-jumping game AaaaA has been on the market for a while and is now available through OnLive.com. Are you pleased with sales?

Lambe: We’re pretty happy with them. We’ve just run a summer sale with Valve and we have another package sale coming along which will boost sales. Every time we do one of these packages we get a blip, which feeds us (enigmatic smile).

Bostinno: When we spoke in April, you were keen to emphasize the element of fun. Is that still the most important part of the Dejobaan universe?

Lambe: (Long pause) For the most part that is what we see in all of our favorite videogames. The other side of that is art which….it’s not a binary thing. I would like eventually our games to start touching on peoples emotions, but I don’t think we are there yet. So the focus is definitely on joy.

Bostinno: In order to touch a player’s emotion, you have to create the right gaming conditions. Dejobaan have previously produced simplistic (and addictive) games, do you see the studio moving more towards immersive gaming?

Lambe: Absolutely. My initial impetus for going into games was to make people cry or laugh or think about things but that can be very difficult. You need to layer that on top of a basic mechanic that is enjoyable so we’re really focusing on that core part and we want to layer on top of that.

Bostinno: There has been a lot of press attention focused on 38 Studio’s forthcoming move to Rhode Island. What would Dejobaan do if you were offered $75 million to relocate?

Lambe: We would probably hang ourselves unintentionally. There is something to be said for growing organically. I saw this during the dot.com era where suddenly companies had piles of money, hired huge amounts of people and they didn’t have them do anything. If we had $75 million…we would invest a bunch of it and then grow the team slowly. We would continue as we are, albeit at an accelerated rate. (pauses) What I would not do is hire 20 people and assume that I, Ichiro, could handle that…I don’t think I could.

Bostinno: It would be nice to have that dilemma….

Lambe: In terms of security it would be great. It just can be a dangerous thing. We would probably create a couple of teams to develop in parallel, have a bigger and heavier research arm. We would have the opportunity to take even more chances than we do now….but honestly, I’m very happy with the way things are going. It’s the Ben & Jerry model, growing organically versus the Amazon model.

Bostinno: Do you blame 38 Studios for looking elsewhere?

Lambe: Hell no! Firstly, it’s still a New England company but they have to do what’s good for them. I love the fact that we have a strong Boston community and, if anything, would have loved to seen Massachusetts counter Rhode Island’s offer with one of their own. I think that would further strengthen the community and this would provide payback in spades.

Bostinno: Bearing in mind that gaming brings in $2 billion per year to Massachusetts, should the local government be considering the gaming industry as another “creative” that can help the local economy?

Lambe: I think they should, although I’m not sure what the results of that search will be but I would like to see more of that total revenue being generated in Boston. I love California and New York but I want their business!

Bostinno: Lets move away from the subject of money….

Lambe: I’m American, I love talking about money!

Bostinno: Do you consider yourself to be a maverick?

Lambe: No, I consider myself to be a man who has made so many freaking’ mistakes that the only things left to do are potentially the right ones…and even then I bet I could screw that up (laughs).

Bostinno: So the games reflect your personality?

Lambe: I think that one of the strengths of indie games is small team development. Each of our personalities can show up visibly in our games. If you’re on a team with 200 people…maybe not so much. God bless the people who make these games, I love playing them but I’m not making them yet.

Bostinno: What are you playing at the moment?

Lambe: I have just finished GTA IV, believe it or not, and I’m playing Left 4 Dead II with my gameplay architect Dan (Brainerd). Games should offer entertainment for all levels of people who are either sitting there for ten hours or who just want to go there for fun. Maybe we did that with AaaaA, I know that we want to do that with the next game.

Bostinno: Casual Gaming seems to be an industry buzzword at the moment. What do you think of the new generation of Pick Up N’Play?

Lambe: They’re not our market but they are viable. Look at how much money Zynga are making. They’re changing the answer to the question “What is A Gamer?”, when my grandmother can play games and becomes a ‘gamer’…that just changes my whole concept of the game development industry. That’s great, I think there will be more of that.

Bostinno: What about developers like SCVNGR or Foursquare, are they producing ‘games’?

Lambe: Games aren’t a binary thing. It’s not necessarily this is or isn’t a game. They are both slightly games but not entirely so. You get some of the same feedback, some of the same joy from playing them but they don’t have the hallmarks of a traditional game, they may not have a victory condition but then neither did The Sims and I consider that to be a game…(adopts a wistful expression) That’s a great game.

Bostinno: Finally, apart from Ms. Pacman and AaaaA, what are your favorite games?

Lambe Deus Ex, Starseige Tribes and, of course, Life; it’s a big game and you can set your own rules.

With that, our time is up and TeaLuxe has started to be filled by future leaders.

When he says that life is a game, I am in complete agreement. Although not having a reset button when you make a mistake can prove to be slightly annoying, as long as we all keep playing well enough to reach the final Boss stage, that is what we should strive for.

And I was right, fifteen minutes was not enough.