Entry Level 2 - Why I Hate The Games Industry

(Firstly, I must add. For all the readers who make it to the end of these. Please do get involved. It has come to light that so far it seems I am blankly offering opinion without opportunity for discussion. Not the case. I would love to see what you all think. Even if Games do not interest you, I am willing to discuss anything on this topic.)

To "Want" is infectious. It drives, motivates, encourages and ultimately gives us reason to achieve. We want something? We take action. Desire comes into play, and thus the emotions start.

What also takes place is 180 degrees turning point. You want, and continue to want until you reach this zone wherein you decide you do not want, but you hate, because you cannot have. This is basically where I am at.

Please, allow me to make myself clear however, that I do not 'not want'. Oh no, believe me I want. It is just that my 'want' has wanted for so long that my turning point has been and gone. I am deep into the hating phase of wanting, so much so that I may be ready to start the cycle all over again!

So near and yet so far

So how is it I have made it to this point in the road? Well, your best guess will be that I have not quite put the effort in and got myself work. Then you may not have heard about the time I drove over 200 miles in one day handing out my CV in person to many different developers of several different scales. Any response you say? Not even a phone call to say nothing was available. An upside though, Travellers Tales invited me in to take a look at the studios. All in all though, I lost my patience.

I am confident, as a lot of people are, that I have so much to offer; not just ideas (they're like assholes and opinions), but in the substance of my work ethic, passion, intellect, and general interest in the field of games. What is missing? Sadly, the one thing that I believe is keeping the doors from opening to me. It is proof. If you want a job, you have to PROVE that you are worth their time. We have no excuses here, and it is not easy for us to accept that we need to produce something, make something or at least have something to show for our wanting. Then it gets tougher. Not only to you have to produce, but it seems to have to be fucking good.

The other aspect of working in the industry is that horrific vicious cycle of "Experience". Do you have experience?->no->Get a job->Do you have experience? The answer? Work for FREE!! Oh yeah, sure I know. There goes my salary, there goes my flat, there goes my social life, there goes my extra curricular activities and while you are at it here take my girlfriend (She's not shallow, I just wouldn't blame her). Ok, so while I work for you for nothing, living along at home with mum and dad, I have to work my eyes out to prove that I am worth something. Even though to you, I am not worth paying... Volunteering can do one.

Again I feel I may have to make myself abundantly clear, hard work is no stranger to me. I have done those 24 hour stints, working to get a product finished, working to ensure it is finished to my own critical standards. I have bust so many of my (apparently many) balls trying to bring forward something with flash and pezazz, so that I can show it to a developer and go "Fuck you! I CAN do it!". No doubt the response will be, "Ok, but what have you done to satisfy the market's demands? We need you to rejuvenize the cultural flash and 'cool' that gamers want every day. This can only train a monkey how not to throw shit".

I think developers enjoy it to be honest. They love looking down at us lowly "wanters" laughing as they dance in the glory of their £260 million breadwinners, and bathe in their fancy studios and stupendous events with global footage of their next creation set to bring in some more money for the greedy cash hoarders. We are but lice, festering in the furballs that gather in the corners of a room empty and ignored within their minds. One day hoping to itch just enough for them to notice and take a scratch. Yeah, they must REALLY enjoy it up there... c**ts.

Ironically, I am represented as the yellow guy

Perhaps a flood to the jobs market has caused the standards to rise dramatically, and so those who come in with nothing cannot compare to those with something, who cannot compare to those with something good! So really, I am about as fucked as ring-piece in a cock parade. Still, could be worse, I could end up working in Sales. Oh wait...

 NEXT WEEK: Games need MORE sex?

If you have anything you wish to share with me or indeed the readers, feel free to comment or e-mail me at twentyfiveand0@hotmail.co.uk - Don't forget to check out the What Have I Been Playing pages found on the right! OR Check out my channel at www.youtube.com/ike1luv