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Ladies and Gents, I’d like to introduce myself by saying a bit about how this blog got started. I met Bryson at the beginning of summer ’06 when I started work at Liquidgeneration.com, and since then we’ve discussed much of games, players, and the world we live in. We’ve discussed much of our dissatisfaction and much of our love for the interactive medium that games have become.
We’ve set some goals. One of my goals involves this blog, and its maintenance as an honest expression of my ideas on games. Another involves constant game experimentation, as an extension and illustration of the ideas within this blog. And the rest involve a number of larger projects that shall be presented here in the future.
My specialty is in Flash development. I believe Flash to be an incredible tool of unappreciated power and I hope to play a role in rectifying that lack of appreciation. It does have the technical ability to compete with even the best of console or computer games, though its mastery demands a more creative use of resources and ultimately a more creative perspective on gaming. However, neither of those are so difficult to achieve that Flash games should remain as bland and unrespected as they currently are on the internet.
I have studied a number of artistic crafts throughout my life and arrived at Film and Games because I am fascinated by their complexity and their comprehensive integration of so many other art forms. I’ve played with both of these mediums since high school, currently study Film at California State University, Long Beach and study Games independently. Collegiate Game programs turned me off because I found their approach to be generally shallow and believed I could learn more of games on my own and by applying what I learn of Film. That decision has so far proven to be the right one.
So you’ve got an idea of who I am and what I want to do. By all means, challenge me. Post your disagreements. Tell me I’ve failed. Say I act or speak hypocritically. None of us will make any progress if we are too timid to challenge each other.
I’ll be the first to admit that I’m making things up as I go along, but then again, so is everyone else. If there was a guidebook somewhere, a set of rules we could follow that laid everything out, we’d have finished this game stuff years ago. There are no rules and there is no wrong or right education. If you’ve played video games, that’s all the degree you need. You’re as educated as anyone else is, so speak your mind.
Without feedback, what the hell good is a blog doing either of us?
-Christopher J. Rock
