A Job in the Industry... For Me?

I've always wanted to work for Rare.

This isn't a bum-kiss thing intended for anyone high up in the company to see, oh no. In fact it's my new year's resolutions entry, but I'll get to that soon enough.

It's almost exactly six years ago since I got a Nintendo 64 for christmas, completely unexpectedly. Six years since I first played Banjo-Kazooie. For whatever reason, I have no idea what it may have been, I fell in love with that game. Playing that - and I've just completed it again recently - reminds me why I love games in the first place. Perhaps it's just a matter of opinion, but I don't think there was anything in BK I didn't like. I played it through as a starry-eyed and slightly confused thirteen-or-so year-old, and throughout it I kept picking up on classic, individual touches that made me realize that the people who made it were really cool dudes.

And even today I can't quite explain what it is in Banjo-Kazooie that makes me like it so much, sure it may have been intended for kids, sure it's like a fairytale with a simplistic plot and script, but it's done so well. The lovable characters have personality, heck, nearly everything has eyes and speaks to you, the music and incredible art direction go hand-in-hand perfectly. That memorable if-you-go-down-to-the-woods theme by Grant Kirkhope still rings in my head from time to time today, unforgettable as it is.

It's the only games company who'se games have given me a glimpse into the minds of the people who made it. In BK in particular, the team's personality is there in the baddies, the level designs, art style in general and of course music, which gives it such a uniqueness. It's what must have made me want to be a part of that team. Of course, the company has changed, there's the Microsoft business, people left, moved around. It doesn't matter to me, I would love to be able to say 'You know Rare? Well I work for 'em. Yep!'

So fuelled by this reoccuring feeling, the Rarewave as it has become known, I washed up again on the shores of their website, new and improved.

I realize now that I want to be part of a team, to work with people in order to create something really special. It would be amazing to look at a game that has outstanding art direction and think that I had a part to play in it. In the work I do, albeit mere art-for-fun and Flash stuff, the end result keeps me working on them. I'll work to the bone to get that feeling of satisfaction, and it's always there!

Well it really sounds like I'm selling myself, I suppose that's what I'm doing. But as I mentioned earlier, my new year's resolutions for 2007 and beyond are here in this post. I'm going to practice 3D and practice my traditional art. I'll become as good as I can be by learning it in all the spare time I have, so that when the day comes and I land a job in a company somewhere, I'll be able to work with confidence. I'm only learning now, but I enjoy what I'm doing, and I can't wait to see the industry for myself.

And to all my classmates, I wish you the best, please better yourselves so we can join this industry together and really make a difference. The new generation and all that! For those who know, I won't forget about Blue Team. Who knows what the future will bring...

Happy new year, everybody!