Vision

"You see things and you say "Why?"; but I dream things that never were and I say "Why not?"" - George Bernard Shaw

It may come as a surprise to some that I have grown up with a very limited to non-existent support network. I have not had the most supportive family in the world.
In fact quite the opposite. They have tried to knock me down into their perception of the world, the reasoning being that what I chose to do with my life, MY DREAMS, are so beyond their comprehension, so new, it still squeaks when it turns around too fast.

This is partially true, but I take some measure of satisfaction each day I wake up. Fight the system, fight preconceptions.

I am living my life and loving each second, living every breath I take like it is the sweetest nectar in life.

This may seem odd to some of you, but I am talking about video games.

Yes, video games. Odd isn't it.
From a very early age, I fell in love with them. The ability to not just tell a story, not just SHOW a story, but involve the audience in it. THIS is their story too. Not just the characters in the game.

The sensation of it was mind boggling.
I never stopped loving them. I made friends I never would have because of them, and my LIFE has been planned around them.

What do I want to do in life?
I want to make a game so sensational, so amazing, that it captures others in a rapture like I experienced. I want them to feel joy, sadness, and exhilaration in the events of the game.

Every step I have taken in my adult life has taken me closer to this path.
From 16, I was involved in the gaming industry, learning the ropes, the ins and outs. Shaking the figurative hands and kissing the virtual babies as it were.
There was outcries, THE GAME INDUSTRY IS TOO SMALL, IT WILL GO NOWHERE. At the time, my family was right, it was small, barely recognizable, a closet industry. But my time in the industry seemed to coincide with the industry becoming something more than it was, a fact of life, a pillar of modern existence. My time in the industry has evolved WITH the industry.

Today, I think was when I saw the most fantastic thing ever. Games have been recognized, on a level with movies and other entertainment media, as being at least as big as, if not bigger than them.
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/09/24/arts/24halo.html?ref=business
To quote:
“People have been talking about video games becoming a bona fide mainstream entertainment medium, and you really see that playing out with Halo,” said Neal Tiles, president of G4, which will begin its coverage in New Zealand, where the game will first arrive. “They’re looking at $150 million in the first day, which is bigger than any movie has done. Culturally, it’s at least as big as any film opening or TV premiere or book or Broadway opening, and probably bigger.”
This is the moment, when I say "Why not?" and you can no longer tell me "Because that is the way it is".
My vision of a future becomes more and more feasible everyday, and I am living MY life the way I want to. This is contentment.