A big problem in video games is keeping up to date with the latest gameplay designs and technologies. Problem for me, anyway. You’re expected to play the latest and greatest which can each range from a couple of hours to dozens of hours. I look at the new stuff and get consistently drawn backward instead. Games like Legend of Zelda (Majora’s Mask and Link’s Awakening, not the ‘save the princess’ crap), Pokemon Red/Blue, Ico, Shadow of the Colossus. Of the new slew of games, only the quiet, serene experiences like Limbo, Braid, World of Goo, and Journey are of interest to me. Shooters bore the fuck out of me. I can only play something like Assassin’s Creed or Dishonored once before I’m weary of the type of game. It’s a strange place to be in. Nostalgic for the fond memories of past games and eager for new and different approaches to game design.

I think I’m just tired of working at the big publishers. It’s a highly corporate culture focused on the bottom line more than good, intriguing games. I don’t blame them, big as they are. Need to pay all those people working for them. Just makes me want to work at a small game studio even more. The first company where I worked was absorbed into Activision. EA, Microsoft, and now I’m considering Apple if I can’t get in at the small studio where I’d like to work. Behemoths whose only purpose in my life is to give me money and a nice name to tack onto my resume.

Comes the day I may want to start my own small operation. Something independent where my decisions make or break it. My calls, my writing, my creative drive.

A man can only dream to have that kind of pressure.