BrainyQuote assures me that General George S. Patton said, “A good plan violently executed now is better than a perfect plan executed next week.” So, in the spirit of that advice, I am violently launching this blog now rather than noodling around with it in pursuit of elusive perfection. I don’t host the blog myself, it doesn’t have custom art, and I don’t have the fullest grip on this blog software.

Those things will follow.

Also, in the interest of fair warning: eventually, I will try to sell you something.

But not today.

(Darkwatch was one of the game worlds we co-created)

I am in the games business, have been since I was a teenager (which was three decades ago). I’ve designed role playing games, board games, card games, and (most recently and most profitably) computer and video games. In all the many years I’ve spent in this business, I’ve never quite managed to design the kinds of games that genuinely interest me. It’s all been a job, you see. A damn good job, but still a job.

And I’m not complaining. In a business where crap sandwiches are haute cuisine, I’ve been lucky enough to ship some pretty decent games, like Oddworld and Darkwatch. I am proud of those games. There is certainly a part of me in them. Every game I’ve been a part of making has been a product of late nights and passionate commitment to my craft; good game or bad, they’ve all had their share of triumph, shipwreck, and divorce. But if I hadn’t made them, I’d walk right past them on the shelf.

Now, my partners and I are building a company that will make the kinds of games I genuinely enjoy. This blog will following the birth of the company, the building of our games, the troubles ahead and (I hope) the successes. I won’t tell you everything that happens, but I will tell you a hell of a lot more than most company founders are willing to reveal. Eventually I will pitch you on our games, but no saleman will visit your home.

Comments are always welcome and I will strive to reply. The only rules (aside from the secret rules I do not reveal): don’t be a knucklehead (that right is reserved for me) and try to be interesting.

This entry was posted on Thursday, October 23rd, 2008 at 10:35 am and is filed under announcements. You can subscribe via RSS 2.0 feed to this post's comments. You can comment below, or link to this permanent URL from your own site. Your comments will appear immediately, but I reserve the right to delete innapropriate comments.