2012.01.04
As gamers, we bring to the world some very special gifts. We move forward at lightning speed and embrace technology and invention in a way that surpasses every group of people that has ever come before in all of history. To play it safe in this business is to deny our inner nature. It is to deny our responsibility to the world and to the players. To not take risks is to go against the very principles of fun and risk that define the art of game development.
In short, This Is Gaming. If you're not exposing your players to anything new, then you are just asking them to connect dots. Connect-the-dots is not a game.
God put you on this planet along with the other game makers that you might complete your mission, a crucial part of which is scaring the crap out of your investors.
You are to do this by exposing those investors to your brilliant but untried ideas. And if the thought of that investor walking out the door with his money is too frightening for you, and because of that, you can only bring yourself to propose ideas "that work" and "that people like," then you are not a game maker, you have no idea what makes games fun, and it is morally imperative that you go into another business. You might try selling soap. People always need soap. And if you don't want to do sell soap, then take risks. Start with the Big Risk, where John and John started: Dedicate your life to your work. And then, you gotta go past them, you gotta innovate, you gotta keep on going.
The book "The Fat Man on Game Audio" talks about Nudie, the guy who made rhinestone cowboy suits and dressed Elvis http://www.nudiesrodeotailor.com/
[Oh my foes and oh my friends, when the Devil counts, he starts at zero.]
@fivethirtyeight State with highest voter turnout in general elections should have first presidential contest. Reward Democracy.
