...together at the genesis of blogging greatness. On the edge of the precipice we look out unto a vast expanse. Empty yet fertile, the void must be explored and conquered. Not by steel or lead, but by the words of the few, the proud, and the growing. The code is fresh, the aim is true, and it's up to us to create our own bridges off the precipice and into the beyond. Let us grab our newly found conduit by the horns, and ride it off into glory! For blogging! Huzzah!
But seriously, I'm glad I found a reason to yell out huzzah, sometimes we all need to. Thanks everybody at Pixlbit for making user blogging a reality, we needed it. With steps like this, the site becomes more than just a great news outlet. It starts to become a home. I'm not sure exactly what all I might write about on here but I'm thinking of at least studying games I'm playing or have played, and laying out my impressions of them. Like many genesis stories, some form of tragedy has to fit in somewhere, and my current tragedy is that my old 360 has died for the third time so I won't be playing my 360 games for a while. I'm out of warranty at the moment and it's not worth it to spend $120 to fix this first gen frankenstein. I'd rather save up and get a 250G S model at some point, I just have no idea when that will be. Luckily my much older Gamecube still works perfectly like it did all those years ago when I first got it. Seriously, most reliable piece of electronic-anything-in-general that I've ever owned. I've had my silver lunchbox for so many years and it never gives me a problem. I only have a handful of games for it, because there were only ever a handful worth getting, but they are very good and will suffice. For the past couple days I played some Majora's Mask (favorite Zelda of all time) and when I get tired of that I will have to rely on Twilight Princess, Resident Evil 4, MGS: Twin Snakes, LOTR The Third Age, and The Hobbit (a guilty pleasure of mine I will have to explain in a blog sometime). Besides my Gamecube, the only other things keeping me busy in my free time will be books and playing guitar. I read the Halo novels and I'm getting ready to order Halo: Cryptum part one of the Forerunner trilogy. I can't wait to get my hands on it, I'll definitely be reading much more while my gaming habit is on the back burner.
For any of my blogs whether it be at Pixlbit or on 1UP I don't want to do reviews and the reasons why are because I love to analyze games, but I don't like to score them or get involved in the process of educating consumers or helping people figure out what they may or may not want to play. I'm an aspiring level designer and when I analyze games, play games, and talk games, I do it all selfishly... for me lol. I crave knowledge, experience, enlightenment, inspiration, reference, etc. For the betterment of myself, and the good of the artform I love so dearly. I'm very introverted so it's hard sometimes for people to get to know me and they mistake my focus for coldness, or my anti-social shyness for laziness or rudeness. Having a blog might help me open up more to everybody and get my honest uninhibited personality into the world.
A few months ago when I decided to make a change in my studies, degree, skill focus, and career path, I told myself, "I want to constantly keep learning about this craft throughout my life, learn to design levels, ship games, progress this artform, entertain people, and be able to be proud of myself when I lay down at night. I'm incredibly ambitious, but I lack some ego maybe, perhaps confidence. Thoughts of recognition, girls, paychecks, and praise never crossed my mind. Just a singular focus, a passion, chaotic animalistic fury attempting to be held together through reason and logic, a drive for quality, and evolution.
That philosophy permiates many aspects of my life, like music for example. I love to play guitar and I've been at it alone, learning by ear, deduction, experimentation, and generation of muscle memory as well as technique since I was 15 or so, but practically nobody ever hears me. I go at it hard, fast, I let out aggression, passion, and it's always for me alone. In school when my friends were picking up guitars and serenading girls with stairway to heaven for popularity, I was choosing isolation, playing my favorite music by myself and letting the energy out without a worry as to what anybody thought about me, my style, musical taste, and skill. When I started thinking about game design, specifically level design, gameplay, and mechanics, I suddenly saw something that I want to learn which could not only serve to sustain me intellectually, emotionally, and challenge me, but might also be entertaining to people. The opportunity to contribute to the artform, the industry, to the quality of people's lives, is something I couldn't ever pass up or brush off without giving it my best effort. I built some maps in Halo Reach's Forge World and wrote some blogs about them on my 1UP page, link to one of them is here Forge World Diary: OC1
When I learned how to use Forge, messed around in it, created something, and had my friends play it, I was surprised they thought it was fun. They were enjoying themselves, even through the rough playtesting I would have them do from time to time as I implemented a new obstacle, section, set piece, or event. I wasn't custom to creating something, having somebody else experience it, and enjoy it. It shows a grand lack of confidence on my part. Plenty of people create amazing things in Forge (my creations are by no means amazing) and entertain people everyday, but I never had. The experience of building things, playing the game, and seeing others play what I created, it gave me a new focus. To keep going, take this serioulsy, get a degree, get experience, and eventually make games I want to play, and see others play.
With that I'll try to wrap this up. I'm not sure what all I will write about here in my little corner of Pixlbit, but for now at least I know I'm in good company with gamers, journalists, and friends that I appreciate a greal deal. I will be able to open up and discuss more than I normally would in everyday life, and even if it ends up not benefitting others, it'll absolutely be for my own benefit, learning, adapting, and evolving lol. I promise I won't actively try to be boring, unrelatable, awkward, weird, or manic depressive, but in the end I might just be lol. Time to think about what to write next.
Keep your eyes on the prize
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