Historically, I’ve been of the mind that actually going out and accomplishing things is far more important than simply sitting around and talking about them. It’s a big reason why this blog is more of a development blog than a criticism blog, [1] and it’s also a reason why I don’t spend a hell of a lot of time blogging in the first place. Lately, however, I’ve been wondering: is this the right way to be going about things, if I want to achieve the goals I’ve set out to achieve? In other words, should I be making better efforts to sell myself?

Ugh. Selling oneself. There’s a big part of me that recoils in disgust at that very thought. I’d rather believe in the notion that all you have to do is make a good game, and the rest will take care of itself. Thing is, while the industry worked this way in the eighties and perhaps the early nineties, this isn’t how it works now. A lot of mediocre games do quite well, a lot of good ones fail, and altogether too many wind up practically forgotten. There are just too many games out there competing for virtual shelf space for it to be nearly as easy to get noticed as it used to be, particularly if you’re young and relatively unknown.

But wait! There’s more…

I want to make games that don’t impress through their next-gen graphics, their sophisticated AI, or their innovative mechanics, but through, as a wise old man once said, the content of their character.

I want to make games that incorporate rather than reject the cultural traditions of other media, while at the same time adding something new and unique to said traditions.

I want to make games where the characters you play feel like old friends, not like puppets to be manipulated.

I want to make games that mirror the world we live in, but don’t painstakingly copy it.

I want to make games that are funny but not frivolous, and serious but not melodramatic.

I want to make games that are compelling, not addictive. I don’t want people to play my games every waking hour of every day. I want my games to inspire people to go out in the world and change their lives for the better.

I want to make games that people come back to after a few years, or even decades, and see them in ways even more profound than they did when they were younger.

I want to make games that speak of the injustices we face in our world, while at the same time inspiring us to make a difference.

I want to make games that I can discuss and demonstrate to my family and friends with pride, not shame and embarrassment.

I want to make games that inspire a little girl somewhere in the world to grow up and make games of her very own, just as the games my mentors created did for me.

I want my friends and other like-minded people to join me in this endeavour to make games that are more than just games. We’re not doing it to be famous. We’re not doing it because we want to elevate the medium to some abstract ideal of “art”. We’re doing it because we want — no, need — to express ourselves. Make our voices heard. Maybe even change the world while we’re at it.

Who’s with me?