Game Pitches

Three years ago I headed up an effort to start a game development studio in Malaysia. While that opportunity fell through due to the worsening of the Asian economy, I was rewarded with a great experience. Although most of my work during that time was corporate and business development, to keep my mind sane I would take time to cook up the kind of projects I would have loved to develop for PC or consoles.

As they say, it's the execution, not the idea, but dammit some of these ideas would have been fun. Some of these documents are one page, some are several pages depending on my level of enthusiasm at the time. Most of my friends and associates are involved in some way or another with the game industry including my roommate, Kelvin McDowell, who is formerly a programmer for Relic Entertainment, makers of Homeworld. There isn't a week that we don't discuss some element of game design or play mechanics. I also know people who work for Radical, Barking Dog, Piranha, EAC and Digital Eclipse.

Muses
Who is my favourite game designer? That would be a mythical someone between Sid Meier (Civilization, Gettysburgh), Peter Molyneux (Black and White, Populous) and Shigeru Miyamoto (Mario). Meier has the strategy vibe that I appreciate the most in PC gaming, Peter Molyneux for game play mechanics, and Miyamoto for his ability to grasp what is fun and simple. I had the pleasure of speaking with Peter Molyneux after a seminar at E3 and found him a very knowledgeable and accessible person, more importantly, very inspirational.

I've always considered the game industry to be one of my choices for a career because of my personal vibe. Like film, it's one of those creative fields that excites me. Even when the products are said to be increasingly factory-generated and moribund, there is always some element of storytelling and motivation that is quite unique. That element to me is empowerment.

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