Sunday, December 13, 2009

Change

House sold, 3 months and 3000 miles later I'm in Florida making video games. I started an independent gaming company called pixelMEGA. That sounds fancy, but that only means I registered the business name, opened up a bank account and now I receive a bunch of junk mail from people wanting to sell me stuff for my business needs. That aside, I can't tell you how excited I am to be here doing what I'm doing.

My biggest priority in life is to leave a mark. I think we all crave to be more than the sum of our parts, to imprint something immortal in the minds of others when our body has long since turned to dust. Sculptors use stone, Pharoahs use pyramids, some people can do it with just a smile. Me? I want to change education.

When I was young I loved math, but sometime during high school pre-calculus I started to detest it. We learned obscure functions and time and again I would ask when I would use them in my lifetime. I never received a satisfactory answer. We learned them to pass the test and swiftly forget them. Now that I am making video games my love of math has returned. Video games are 100% math. Had I known this is high school my lover's quarrel with math would have never happened and who knows where our relationship would be today? There must be better ways to get young children interested in learning the right way. Learning for the thirst of knowledge rather than the passing of tests.

Independent games are my first step in that direction. I feel that video games and other forms of interactive art and entertainment are going to change how the next generation learns. Video games are one of the most influential forms of media in our time, just as TV is now and newspaper before it. Video games will probably be the biggest influence for many in the rising generation. I want to be a part of that.

I want to create deep, meaningful experiences as well as simple fun diversions. Eventually I hope that my games will embody both ends of the spectrum.

I have 4 game prototypes that I am currently working on. I am not quite sure which one I will end up focusing on to finish first, but I will make that decision once I am satisfied with the prototypes. Here are some development screenshots from two of them:

Catapult for Hire

Cloudee

They're not much to look at since they're still at the prototype stage, but the gameplay is coming together so they're actually fun to play. Once they're amazingly fun I will get some real art in there.

pixelMEGA.com is now live with nothing more than a logo, but soon... more! Much, much more! Thanks for dropping by, and please do have a cookie on the way out.