Jobs and Gamer Lifestyle

Use this forum to post anything that is not video game related.
Post Reply
Icarus
Posts: 6
Joined: Sat Jun 07, 2008 11:47 am
Location: Dallas

Jobs and Gamer Lifestyle

Post by Icarus » Sat Jun 07, 2008 8:08 pm

It is evident that many gamers end up in similar professions. Among those professions, software and computer engineering jobs are, I venture, dominant ones. In any case, as a somewhat young engineer, I can't help but be curious about where other gamers live and what their jobs are like. This thread is to prompt discussion about professions and lifestyle of gamers. I hope that two positive effects can be garnered: a sense of community among gamers and, more ambitiously, a network of opportunities among gamers that can be exploited to bring gamers together in work and play.

To get things started, here's a bit of my story:

Early Game Experience:

Atari 5200
I played Joust with my mom at the ripe age of 3. I was proud when I first qualified at Pole Position. My all time favorite was Dig Dug, with Qix approaching as a close second.

Atari 2600 and garage sales (recapturing nostalgia)
I began to amass quite a collection of 2600 games. I would rifle through garage sale boxes and haggle to get the best games for a quarter or two. I regrettably sold my respectable collection later in middle school when I needed a few bucks. Among the games were: Lock 'n Chase, Pac Man, Boxing, Defender, Galaxian, Adventure, Kareteka (7800), Combat, Pitfall, Yars Revenge.

Nintendo Entertainment System (the highlight of my childhood)
NES was great. I remember the best NES Christmas. My brother told me he was getting me a Barbie Dreamhouse. When the gigantic box appeared near the tree I was angry, but suspicious. Turns out, he got me TMNT for NES. The parents got me SMB2. What a Christmas.

Sega Genesis:
My brother sold the NES to a buddy for some speakers. As a consolation we got a Sega Genesis. Altered Beast was so cool and bizarre, but I missed my NES (Rygar in particular)

SNES:
Finally saved enough money mowing lawns to buy a SNES with Mario World. I'd end up playing a lot of Square RPGs on this.

PSX:
I bought it for Castlevania: Symphony of the Night.

Dreamcast:
A great tragedy. So many great games. First net play. So short. I love the DC.

Gamecube:
Smash Bros. Melee, 'nuff said.

.... I don't have enough energy to recount my video game past, but it has shaped my future.

Went to college for Computer Engineering, not Computer Science. This is because I wouldn't be satisfied with just how the software works. I needed some hardware knowledge.

Got a job doing firmware development at a large corporation in Dallas, TX. Biggest regret is lack of time to play video games. I do primarily web related development for large embedded systems in enterprise computers. Got a commodore C64 in the office. Used to play Ghostbusters until the atmosphere got even more "corporate". Now I work at work and play at home.

Feel free to share a bit of your past video game experience and present work experience. I'm curious about what gamers have become.

~Icarus

Horprodukt
Posts: 76
Joined: Wed Oct 25, 2006 9:27 am
Location: London UK

Post by Horprodukt » Mon Jun 09, 2008 2:45 am

Started out in the late '70s early '80s with the Atari 2600, then a ZX spectrum, Commodore 64.
Had a break from gaming in the early 90's until getting a PS1 in '97. Got hooked again on gaming and bought a Vectrex, Genesis, Xbox.
Recently bought a 360 and a Wii (although i never play the Wii, but the 360 rox!).

I ended up as a digital matte painter, working on tv and film...... most of the Harry Potter movies, 3 Disney films, BBC stuff..... i'm now on a movie from Universal called The Tale of Despereaux. Not really gaming related, but i do texture 3D objects as part of my job, which is probably as close as i get to the game pipeline.
Image

Icarus
Posts: 6
Joined: Sat Jun 07, 2008 11:47 am
Location: Dallas

Tale of Despereaux / Game Genie

Post by Icarus » Mon Jun 09, 2008 1:46 pm

I bought my niece that book last XMas.

Completely off topic (Game Genie):
Were you aware that Game Genie functioned by altering individual bytes at certain HEX addresses. I guess the "codes" were address data pairs. I'm guessing the codes on NES that took two code "lines" needed to alter an entire word to get the desired effect.

Mostly I used GG for Battletoads, that game was flippin' hard. I don't care where you're from, altering the gravity of platformers (i.e. giving the protagonist "space jump" ability) was always good times.

Post Reply