There this thing that I see many times over the years. Certainly within the gaming community, all kinds of people have great ideas about the next “Great Game Idea”. Of course the realities that go into making a game aren’t involved in their thought process about what it takes or how to go about making that “Great Game”. Of course the information is out there for those whom are willing to research into it, and of course all time and again people in the industry has written and commented or had talks and exhibitions on what it does take. But there often seems to be some component missing from this information, it gets referenced certainly but not really discussed.

Yes making games takes time, money, resources, people, etc, etc. But it also takes a large amount of dedication. Yes it takes Passion too of course, but the more often I hear that word “Passion” the more it takes on a buzz word kind of feel.

Dedication, perseverance, fortitude, persistence and determination, all aspects of a similar state of mind, but still words that describe the means that drive one to work their ass off to get where they want to go. With all creative types,  be it a game designer, an actor, a writer, a fashion designer, anything else creative, it can be difficult breaking into those industries, or getting your first product out, proving yourself, proving your concepts, and getting that notice that you “Made it”.

You can have all the creativity in the world, you can have all the practical knowledge you need, you could be an artist-programmer-writer-musician-producer-ninja with all the skills imaginable but if you’re not willing to put the time in and get things done, you won’t make it off the ground.

If you have a great idea then pursue it, learn how to do things, find like minded people to form a team, but even with teams you run into this same issue. We’ve all seen it over and over again, people come together and plan out something epic, but it falls apart because someone gives up. It takes time and people are impatient and often in this “On demand” world of ours, people expect immediate results.

In a perfect world that could happen, sure.

In reality you have to work your ass off to get somewhere, you have to do things you otherwise would avoid to gain skills; you have to invest hours working on building your game, your CV, your portfolio, your creds. From concept to development to production and beyond it all takes work. Not in the metaphorical sense, but in the get down and dirty and kick ass and take names.

There’s no reason at the core that you can’t bring your “Great Game” idea to life, if you’re willing to poor you time and essence into making it happen. Hell, you can make a really good pitch for your idea but then you have to deliver on it. We’re not talking about some abstract thing, we’re talking about standing up and taking action.

I’m guilty of forgetting this sometimes and I let myself go slack as I work on different projects or take side gigs to expand my horizons. Like anyone I get lazy sometimes when I’m faced with work or projects I might otherwise avoid like the plague, but I kick myself and remember the goal, remember where I’m aiming for. So not only am i writing this for you my dear readers, but also for myself, a good self ass-kicking and reminder to practice what I’m preaching is good for the soul, so is admitting my own missteps on the great path of life.

Reminders are great for this; I’m not talking about some tacky poster on the wall, but just that one memento of past achievement or that one game or book that inspired you. We all need out talismans that keeps us focused, but even then you need to remember that no one’s going to get you want you want if you don’t have the drive and determination to carry through and deliver your own destiny.

You want to do something, you want to create and make something, then my best advice to you is to shut up and do it.

Right so as the gaming community is now chewing on the speech by President Obama with his usual comment regarding video games, I had a conversation the other day with Epi on this issue. So like anything else in the world that pings my brain for longer then 5 seconds I’m going to write it up.

Let me start off by saying that I do not in any way have a problem with the idea of play in moderation. I do think many times kids are left to much to their own devices by parents and many spend way to much time gaming. I know I certainly did as a kid and even today it can still be a bit tricky to put the game down to get work done. However, like most arguments by the anti-video game lobby I disagree with most of their tired old bullshit. Not that I count the Pres in that segment but when it comes to certain times, he does come off a bit overboard when he mentions video games in his speeches, or perhaps makes the reference far to often.

But I’m going to look at the other side of things this time around, I don’t feel like ripping the anti game establishment a new one right now. Let’s look at our children, our education system and our society, and take some things into accounting.

Consider the pressure our kids are under from day to day, and for those of us able to remember it hasn’t changed all that much in the last 50 years though perhaps the pressures themselves are different to some extent. (Yes I know as adults we are under pressure in our own lives but that’s a story for another day hmmm?)

Our kids start school usually at 5 years old, though around here they’ve started including some four year olds, and holy shit has primary changed from when I was a kid. They have homework and start on the fundamentals a lot sooner then we did. Most of what I remember from Primary was reviewing the ABCs, counting, playing with blocks and chasing cute girls around the playground. Now kids come home with homework that range from printing, spelling, basic math, reading and so on.

Now that in and of itself isn’t anything overburden some I suppose if the kids are prepared for it, but parents may not be bothering unaware of it, or plainly to busy. (Again a story for another day) So now kids are faced with this whole new environment, learning new things, concepts and in an enclosed world/social ecosystem. Now look at the fact that from start to finish in most cases kids are in school for the next 13 years of their life. Facing new challenges of learning every day save summer and Christmas vacation.

Add into that they are growing up, going through puberty, first loves, first enemies, changing world perceptions, and all the extra activities they are either willingly or by parental directive joining after school.

When you take a step back and look at the situation objectively, kids have a whole lot of shit thrown at them from a young age till they are nearly adult. Now add in during (usually) the teenage years they become drivers at 16, they deal with sexual issues starting anywhere from 10 and older these days (Scary as that is but I digress), and all that noise they get from their peers and family.

From their parents they will hear how they have to have good high grades, get into this university or that, find a good job, go to the Olympics or some other big dream plan dreamed up (usually) by the parent(s). Hell of a lot of pressure to put on a young individual still coming down off of hormonal turmoil, changing life perceptions and sexual awareness.

From their peers, we know what that all entails, sex, drugs, everything else under the sun that kids might experience to get them into trouble. Even more pressure atop from school, physical changes, emotional changes, and parental/family/cultural pressures.

It’s no small wonder kids can implode sometimes and why they turn to things like drugs, gangs, and other things that are far removed from parents expectations. People complain about video games like their something evil, yet video games are often one of the few pressure valves kids have. Sure some kids go outside and play, and that’s all well and good, but the video games also provide cerebral experiences that can relax a weary brain, assist in hand/eye coordination, and with online games, kids who deal with social anxiety/awkwardness/shyness might blossom into their own personality online more readily then in more physical social environments.

As I parent I certainly try to make sure my children have a balanced amount of video games vs. outdoor/indoor play, physical activity, and study homework time.

Do I think video games lead to children becoming violent mass murderers?

In some rare cases perhaps, though in many cases I suspect where the games not available to these few kids their violent outburst/explosion would likely have happened sooner rather then later.

We as a society need to look at the amount of pressures we place on our children, teenagers, and even our selves and think long and hard about how we can work to take some of the stress out of our day to day lives. Provide children with the love, encouragement and support to deal with their own pressures give them the room they need to grow and guide them towards the future.

Allow them what they need to relieve their pressures in a safe environment. If a couple hours of daily video game playing help your child wind down after the hell we know as School, then what’s wrong with that? After some time cooling off on some good fun playing games they enjoy (though you all know well I don’t advocate violent or mature games for kids their not intended for so don’t give me any shit on that) They’re more likely to be refreshed enough to tackle their homework either following some relaxation time or knowing they’re entitled to it upon completion.

Everything in moderation is true, be it play, or be it work and stress/pressures. We should be more forthright with our kids and involve them in serious discussions. We expect kids to grow up way to fast and we stuff so much “adult” information on math, sciences, and other subjects in school, yet we don’t hold real discussions with them because their “just kids”

The differences between their education and the way we treat them outside of school borders on naked hypocrisy.

We expect our kids to learn their biology, physics, chemistry, calculus and so on and get high grades, but we can’t seriously discuss important subjects like sex, drugs, and balancing their work and play time?

We allow kids to learn how to handle cars at 16-17 but we stumble over the idea of actually involving them in choosing or finding a direction in our lives?

I’ve covered some of this before so I won’t harp on it, video games and violence, video games and drugs, video games and gangs, video games and sex. All hot topics with the anti video game lobby, yet has anyone pointed out to these paper-asshats that Violence, Drugs, Gangs, and Sex has been around a helluva lot longer than video games. All these evil things video games cause in kids, predate video games by something in the way of oh I don’t know, most of human civilization.

But enough ranting from me, my closing points are simple.

Everything in moderation is a good idea, especially, the “Everything” part.

Our kids are under immense pressure all through school, then university especially when they dive right from one to the other. We need to look hard and long at our education systems.

Video Games won’t cause anarchy amongst our youth, but they might keep our youth from going bonkers.