Press Start: A New Journey

My mind? Oh, you mean my video game controller.

I was five, maybe five and a half. I still remember it like yesterday. The roars and cheers coming from the ever horrifying basement. But I was curious. "What could be so exciting down there?"

With courage by my side in the form of a beloved fluff animal, I made my descent stair by stair until the closed white door separated me from what sounded like the best playdate my little innocent ears have every experienced.

CREEEAAAK, the door sounds to incrimenate my presence -- only it didn't matter as my elder brother was heavily engrossed by the twenty-inch screen blaring across his scrawny face. His friend was in the banana chair next to him. "Wait! C'mon, c'moooon man..." I was confused; they hadn't noticed me and didn't care. "What is going on?" I thought. "Yeeaah!" My brother yelled, "Niiice!" His friend replies. At this point, I looked at their hands. Paddles. Little grey rectangles with pale purple buttons. And then, my eyes shifted to the blaring screen. 

​A tiny little man ran across the screen and the jumped on a square, then another, and then finally a turtle. The turtle hid in its shell; the little man jumped on it again and WOW! The shell had moved, bounced off a wall, and ran into the little man causing him to jump up in the air and fall through the floor. 

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Say hello to my little friend!

From the bunny-eared TV, I noticed a pair of cables leading to a big grey box (it was big to a five year old me) and from there, another pair of black cables that went into the grey paddles my brother and his friend were holding. And then it dawned on me -- they were controlling the little man! My little brown beady eyes widened with amazement. I looked at the screen and then back to my brother with a big grin, back to the screen, and then back to my brother. Then it hit me -- this was a game! They're playing with a toy and it changes the little man on screen! 

​Ya know, I was born in the year 1989, only one year before Nintendo decided to release their Super Nintendo Entertainment System, but witnessing this digital masterpiece titled Super Mario World was the moment of my conception. The start of a new journey; the birth of a gamer. 

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Me at 21 years old. Damn, I look young.

Fast forward over twenty years later and I find myself wanting to bring that joy of moving characters on big ass screens to others. I was conceieved once again and this time, it was to make video games.

It has only been four months since I recieved my degree from one of the most credited game development programs at the University of Utah and I gotta tell ya--it's a fucking blast making 'em. During those college years, I have had the opportunity to create a game from an initial thought to completion, demo said product at the Game Developers Conference, meet real creators in the video game industry, and watch as my team's game Tentacult! recieved mostly positive reviews on Steam. "What a fuckin' ride!" I still think to myself -- and it's just the beginning. 

This blog, along with my trek to become a more skilled Game Designer, is a journey. And like many past and present adventurers who want to document thier wonderful unique experiences, I have created and shall update this diary from "start" to a "never-ending finish" of my life's work in progress.
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​I thank you for taking the time to read this blog and am glad you are here with me during this time of learning. I cannot wait for what the future holds. ​​

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