Make Things!

I just read an article called New Years Resolutions for Game Industry Newbies, since I do one day, eventually, want to make games. All five points really made sense. Number one was to Make Things - something I'm incredibly excited to do.

I've been thinking quite a bit (instead of Making Things, I'll admit) about the marble game that I want to create. After playing Portal, seeing and trying (links at bottom) Echo Chrome, reading about Braid, and playing Cursor*10, I've made the decision that I don't want to make the same marble game everyone has seen and played before. I want to make something different - something that makes people really think and use their brains in a way they haven't before.

I'd say that's one of the powers of video games. It's the ability to change and bend the reality that someone is experiencing. Maybe you can see yourself through a portal, change your perspective to solve a problem, or help yourself in a new way. I absolutely love things that make me think in new and exciting ways, and those are the kind of games I want to create and let people experience as well. Perhaps you'll learn something about others, and especially about yourself.

And, since it's literally 2:30 AM right now and I can't sleep at all because there are huge trucks doing some damned loud revving engine (moving trees? blasting the road? digging for pipes? performing an alien landing cover-up?) things on the street across from my front door, I'm going to expand my mind with some Portal. Making Things is not an option at this time of night, except for a blog post I guess, but I don't think that counts.

Missed Games

Last week I took a short couple-of-hours-a-day for a week fun course called "The History of Video Games." It was fun, and I learned a lot of things about the world of video games. The course ended with a sort-of list of the top 10 video games of all time. Our teacher left out the entirety of computer games, and the list was heavily weighted to the Nintendo side, so there was a bit to be desired. The list was of course much-contested by everyone in the class (since top 10's are incredibly objective), but some games were mentioned that I've never played.

I decided to make a list of games that I totally missed in the last 15 years that I'm going to go back and play someday. One reason I missed them is because after purchasing a PlayStation and a few games for it in the mid-90s I basically went completely to computer games, leaving out consoles until about 2003 when I bought a PS2. Here they are, in no particular order:

N64:
Super Mario 64
Star Fox 64
Legend of Zelda: The Ocarina of Time
Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask
GoldenEye 007

GameCube:
Super Smash Brothers: Melee

PlayStation:
Metal Gear Solid

PS2:
Shadow of the Colossus
Resident Evil 4
Okami
We Love Katamari
God of War 1 and 2

XBox:
Halo 2

PC:
Deus Ex

Some of these games seem to be on just about everyone's best-of all time lists. Do I have any glaring omissions? Maybe I need to put together my own personal top 10 list. I think I will, but I've really got to mull over it for a while. Check back in a couple days!

Since I'm currently still playing The Witcher and BioShock, I won't be playing these too soon, but we'll see. I will say that after about getting 10-15 hours into The Witcher, it is still very, very good. It just might make it into my top-10 list...