An Introduction to The Game Shrink

Many of you probably know me already, but for those of you who don't (or those that need a refresher) I'd like to start with a simple introduction.


Video games, for me, are more than a mere hobby. I was around three or four years old when I first picked up a controller and led Mario on his topsy-turvy quest for Princess Peach on the NES. Over two decades and six generations of consoles haven’t brought any lessening of the joy I find with those joysticks. I’m not sure what it is exactly that continually draws me to video games. My best guess is a mix of the psychological rewards for completing objectives coupled with the constant input from the user in order to progress the stories. I’ve always been a fan of books,and this interaction of user and content just feels like the logical next step in storytelling. Regardless of the rationale behind the madness, video games will always be a huge part of my life.




And yet, it wasn't until relatively recently that I discovered this fascination to be better described as a life-long passion. All my life I have been on the outside, playing and consuming video games with rabid enthusiasm. My relationship with the MMO City of Heroes brought me into the development side of the industry. The unique dialogue the developers of COH have with their player base brought me onto the forums to talk with them, and it completely rocked my point of view. I decided after graduating from Virginia Tech to take my Bachelor’s in Psychology and minor in Creative Writing and use them to break my way into the gaming world.


I want to create characters that people fall in love with and want to play with again and again. I want my stories to be told and retold by gamers for generations to come. And I want to use my knowledge of people to create ever more believable heroes, villains, and everything in between, until gaming is elevated to an art form on par with film and literature. If all of that proves to be beyond my reach, then I simply want to be professionally involved in video games any way I can. In short, I want to devote my life to the industry and culture that gave me so much joy growing up in the hopes that I can return that joy to the world.


To that end, I have created this blog to share my theories and views on video games, both in specific cases and in general as a medium.