Thank God (of War) !!!!

I picked up my brand new playstation controller for the first time and as wierd as it may sound my hands were actually shaking.Maybe it was from the dual shock in the controller or maybe it was the anticipation of finally playing "god of war" - a game i'd heard so much about but seen so little of cos it was 2006 and i had just introduced myself into the world of console gaming...whatever the reason...my hands were shaking.I fumbled with the play button before managing to press it...i expected the game to start in a flurry but my screen went blank ...damn these pirated disc's i thought before pressing play again...thank the "GODS" it worked this time and within minutes i was transported into a world on mind numbing violence with a story line far more compelling and contright with emotions than a Ron Howard flick but yet so similar to a Tarantino masterpiece- Artistic , complex but BLOODY GORY!!! Imagine Vin diesel on a bunch of steroids...now erase that image out immediately cos the protagonist of the game - Kratos had enough aresnal in his left pinky to wipe him out faster than he could say fast and furious.
God i love that guy!!!
After 13 grueling hours ,6 shuddering glares from my mum 4 bathroom breaks ,3 carpel tunnel attacks , i was finally done with ONE HECKUVA GAME!!!
As i sat there on my couch ...my ass permanently imprinted on it due to my lack of
movement,two thoughts ran through my head about a game which seemlessly bridged the gap btw two worlds with just one controller - "THAT WAS SOOOO WICKED" and "GOD I WISH I WAS A PART OF MAKING THAT HAPPEN".

God i wish i was a part of making that happen...huh...imagine that...making a life outta just developing games ... All your brain storming would revolve around your PS plus you could save a ton on new games cos you'd be the one developing em... Pretty neat eh...Come to think of it , being a "Professional Game Developer"(PGD) does have a nice ring to it doesn't it and lets face it , its a much better ice breaker when you walk upto a girl in a bar and she asks you what you do for a living.....

Scenario 1:
Cute girl: SO what do you do for a living
Me: yeah i'm a chartered accountant
Cute Girl: Really???
ME: yeah(sad smileY)...
Cute Girl: .....
Me: ...
Cute Girl: ....
Me : okay then...enjoy your night


Scenario 2:
Cute Girl: SO what do you do for a living
Me: Have you seen the new Christian bale movie - "Hell Froze Over"... i developed the game
which inspired the movie...I'm a "Professional Game Developer"
Cute Girl: Really??? That is so cool !!! Finally a guy who follows his passion and not just
the money... i just had an accountant walk up to me and i was like YAWN....


Well you got the point.

Now back to reality...becoming a PGD does sound kind of far fetched even by my low standards but i had to look it up to check if there was any merit to this profession in India and if fellow "controller nerds" like me actually stood a chance at standing up in this field and make themselves counted on a international scale and you know what...turns out india isn't just rapidly multiplying in population,
apparently its a 860 million dollar industry even here with a growth rate of - i kid you not - 53%.
Now lets put that in perspective, the gaming industry in India is growing faster than the IT and Software - 48% , service sector - 11% , manufacturing industries - 12 % and banking - 9%. And i thought becoming a PGD had no scope...boy are my cheeks red!!! After reading tons of blogs by some actual PGD's, some from India , turns out you basically need the same requirements to becoming successful in the field in question as you do in any other field - a couple of fancy degrees like game designing and computer animation , an ability to fluently apply your learnings on paper(or in this case monitor) onto the real world and of course passion
for the field you're indulging in and apparently after that it aint that hard.
To answer the question probably plaguing through some of the minds of my friends readin this blog whose names i shall refrain from mentioning... a PGD makes
anywhere between 5 to 65 lakhs here in India and 65,000 $ to 100,000 $ a year in the U.S...cross my heart.
But the point i'm trying to make, if you haven't already figured it out yet ,
is that its not just about the
money when you try and make a decision about something as important as
your profession for life... it should...no it MUST be about thinking
"Beyond the Pay cheque".