W.Soft, I am a Nintendo generation gamer. Starting with the NES I own just about every console (sorry Genesis 32X) and I'm no stranger to computer gaming. Don't worry, this isn't a rant about my gaming preferences - I want to give you some context before I plow ahead.

My objective is to create a series of articles for this site that detail the different challenges, opportunities, success, and failures that I have gone through over the last seven years. I would have been thrilled to experience W.Soft as it is now, and I want to do everything I can to make it stronger. In my mind, that is sharing my experiences in the industry with people who haven't gotten here yet, but want to be.

This isn't about engineering and this isn't about art, I wouldn't consider myself to be particularly talented, but I do have a strong initiative and high confidence. Through luck and very hard work, I've moved through the industry at an accelerated pace.

I think my articles may have insight for everyone, but in particular they should help people interested in Production, Design, and Test. I certainly would be interested in reading similar articles from alumni who have moved up in all the other disciplines in the game industry.

I haven't decided how I'm going to break up each section, but here is a quick look at potential topics.

W.Soft
  • Started a U of M campus wide gaming organization
  • Stepped down as president from said organization
Crisis Wolverine
  • Created a successful campus game
  • Saw a sequel to the game be made without me
Theorysoft / Dark Alloy
  • Started my own company, Theorysoft, LLC
  • Started a GBA project, Dark Alloy; had misfortune and made mistakes
  • Dissolved Theorysoft and let go of a bunch of talented people
Atari
  • Worked as a QA tester in Beverly, MA - Saw my entire department fired
  • Worked as a QA tester in Sunnyvale, then worked as assistant lead tester, lead tester, supervisor and trainer
Mind Control Software
  • Worked as a designer in at a small company
  • Worked at a troubled company, and was then instrumental in the success (rebirth) of the company
  • Have been a producer on multiple titles from Small, to medium, to large.
  • Work as a project manager overseeing a series of games in development.
  • Hired 25 people over 6 months (some from Atari & Theorysoft)
  • Have high level business negotiations and run operations at a studio of 40 people

So, we'll see. These articles may turn out to be anecdotal to most, but I hope they serve as insight into a small part of the colossus that is the gaming industry.

Note: views and opinions expressed in this article are the author's and are not necessarily those of Wolverine Soft.