The Retrospector

Chances are, you’ve only read the title and are probably a gamer or a developer of some kind thinking to yourself “yeah, right on man!” Let me assure you, this is not just some measly attempt to pat myself on the back or anyone I know that fits the part. (Well, that’s like half the people I know but whatever…I’m not trying to favor anyone here.)

The point I’d like to make in this post is something I’ve felt for a very long time and have seen ample proof of it since way back in my college days: Almost anyone I’ve seen that is serious about gaming has the potential for being a great developer. disclaimer: I’ve seen some really good programming come from people not interested in games, so it’s not like I’m saying ONLY gamers can code their way out of a wet paper bag. I’ve just recently dipped into gaming again after having given up the addiction for awhile.

Background

My very first interest in electronics came from gaming. My first game was Pac-Man on an old brown Atari or something. Growing up, I could make a quarter last 30 minutes at an arcade if there was a Pac-Man game of some kind. The game concept is very simple. You eat the pellets, the ghosts chase you and you either clear the board or die. As a 5-year-old, making that little monochrome chomping square race around the screen while never even looking left still intrigued me to no end. In no time, I’d mastered the game’s mechanics and used every bit of knowledge possible to last longer than anyone else that played. The timing of power-pellet use… Knowing which ghost used what maneuvers to try to catch you… Once I understood how each part of the game worked I could use it to my advantage as a component of the entire game-mastering symphony of IN-YOUR-FACE-GHOST moves. (more…)