possibilities
A platform for peaceful pursuits?
I
first became interested in video
games at the age of nine when the
local Sears installed a couple of
arcade machines in the front of the
store. At the time, I wasn’t able to
reach the controls but I was extremely
curious about the lights and sounds
the machines made. I remember it
being shortly after my tenth birthday
when I was finally tall enough to play.
Little did I know that those machines
22 IMAGINE l FALL 2018
and video games, in general, would
be a huge part of my life for the next
thirty-plus years.
I got my first computer for Christ-
mas when I was twelve. The primary
purpose was to use it for “school proj-
ects,” which was really secret code for
“playing games.” In addition to a few
games and some business related soft-
ware, the computer came with built-in
BASIC programming language. At the
time I only knew what programming
was conceptually, but I definitely liked
the idea of being able to write my own
software, especially games. So I spent
the next few years reading books,
technical manuals and magazine ar-
ticles teaching myself to program.
As a teenager, I had shifted my
focus to other things besides pro-
gramming, and by the age of nine-
teen, I was working more towards
an education in designing computer
hardware. My programming interest
was rekindled when a friend con-
tacted me about a job at her brother’s
new game publishing company. When
I saw what these guys were doing, I