Path: chuka.playstation.co.uk!chuka.playstation.co.uk!chuka.playstation.co.uk!not-for-mail From: George_Bain@Playstation.sony.com Newsgroups: scea.yaroze.freetalk Subject: Re: How did you get started??? Date: 3 May 1998 11:53:09 +0100 Organization: Sony Computer Entertainment Europe - 119.SS5 Lines: 111 Sender: news@chuka.playstation.co.uk Message-ID: <6ihial$f2a1@emeka.playstation.co.uk> Reply-To: George_Bain@Playstation.sony.com NNTP-Posting-Host: emeka.playstation.co.uk via smtpd (for [194.203.13.2]) with SMTP; 3 May 1998 10:58:23 UT by camsg001.camb.scee.sony.co.uk (8.8.6/8.8.6) with SMTP id LAA09011 for ; Sun, 3 May 1998 11:57:57 +0100 (BST) From: George_Bain@Playstation.sony.com To: news@playstation.co.uk Content-Disposition: inline Well, lets see. I've been playing games ever since my VIC 20 and coded some from the back of books. But then I left coding and just went game crazy! I bought or begged my parents for every system that came out ( see the list on my homepage). I kept on playing and playing until my eyes turn blood shot red. It wasn't until two years after I graduated high school that I went to College ( yes I know ...two years..I was a immature drunken shit to go sooner). After doing my first year in Computer Engineering Technology I decided to head out west to Vancouver and party some more ( yes party some more). I then decided to go back to school in the fall after seeing an ad for Digipen( check www.digipen.com) in a local University Calendar. It was the first video game school in North America to open, which was being sponsored by Nintendo. I then teamed up with four Americans and we all shared a house and went to Digipen. It was great until my student loan fell through half way past the first year and I was ticked off. I had no other choice but to quit. My roomates continued to attend the two year coarse and I was stuck thinking how the hell I'm going to get into this industry. I am Mr. Videogames, and nothing was going to ruin my dreams of getting in. I then had to get a shit cooking job and work 40 hours a week and save up for a new computer. When I bought the computer I coded my ass off for the duration of the coarse they were attending. I had to catch up to my roomates and continue to pursue my dreams. I bought so many damn game programming books ( see list on my homepage) and etc that I couldn't read them all. I did manage to read the books that caught my attention. I would almost lock myself up in my room and code, code, code. I had drank lots of Coke or 7-Up to keep me awake during the long hours. I sometimes coded into daybreak and could hear the damn birds chirping ( might have been on too much caffeine at the time..ha! ). I then decided it was time to go to a cheaper local College and take a programming coarse there..I did but was still broke as hell. I then had to attend College, work 35 hours a week, then go back home and code some demos. After about 8 months of that bullshit I was finally done my coarse and completed a couple of game demos from coding at night ( see my hompage for demos ). By the way I don't wish anyone has to go through that bullshit routine I had to do..don't wish it on my worst enemy. I passed out about 12 times at work and once almost taken to the hospital. I was having 3 to 4 hours a sleep per day..argh!!! Anyhow getting back to the good stuff. Last year at this time I attended the Computer Game Developers Converence to look for a job in the game industry. Well turns out companies were interested but couldn't get me into America since I didn't have 3 years experience or a BSc. I guess it sucked to be me after attending that show. But just before I attended I got my Yaroze in the mail!! So after the CGDC I started to code on the Yaroze, with the same bullshit routine of 12-14 hours a day to knock a demo together. I then decided to apply overseas since I had relatives in England. Well, I did, sent a demo to Sony, and I guess now the rest is history. As for my four roomates they all got jobs in the game industry one month before me...and I didn't even attend the first video game school in North America...also saved $21,000. It's been 16, 17 years playing games and I'm still kicking around. Sorry if I got off topic and wrote a damn novel...ha! >From: "Steve Tolin" >And that's a little story of how a Northern boy starts into video game >programming!!! Hey Sudbury boy, I'm more Northern then you! And this is how someone from Timmins, Ontario ( the great white north ) got into the video game programming, and got into the video game industry. P.S. Is there any snow left up in Northern Ontario? But then again Timmins has got to be one of the coldest places on earth. >What's your story??? :) Regards, George