Hard times

Hey all,

I know things are looking pretty glum at the moment, especially for those
amongst us who are copping it financially due to recent events. I also know
that lots of people are trying their own indie things and some have met with
success and others have met with less success. I myself have found it really
hard to get together the time and motivation to keep my pet project going.
Making games is fun, but it's also hard. I just wanted to say that I think it's
obvious that our little game dev community is behind you 100% no matter what
situation you are in, and I know we'll bounce back as a community because of
that. It's so great to watch how friendly and supportive everyone involved is.

Look at where we are now compared to where we were just a few short years
ago:

* The last Let's Make Games event was HUGE. I didn't realise our game dev
community in this little corner of the planet had grown so big. A few years ago
our groups and gatherings of game developers only had 5 or 10 people!

* We're not as afraid of failure as we used to be. We're going out on a limb
and making small companies and groups and trying stuff out. Check out the list
of 'Local Game Developers' on letsmakegames.org. What fertile grounds! Many of
these ventures will fail, but we're small and fast, and agile enough to try
again. Which is exactly what we should do.

"Fail cheap. Fail fast. Fail often. Always make new mistakes."
 - Esther Dyson

* We definately got some net positives out of the Interzone experience:
1. Some of us got big game company experience we might not have otherwise got
in Perth. 2. We got a life lesson to remember (ouch!). 3. If Interzone hadn't
come here and employed a bunch of us, we might never have all met. I think it's
so great that some people came to Perth who might not have otherwise, and other
people stayed in Perth who might have left, and that we all got to meet so many
great like-minded people. To me that last point is the biggest benefit of all.
What a great community we have now. You guys rock!

* Look at all the great groups and events we have now. Let's Make Games,
GameJam, IGDA, OneTwenty, Nullarbor, GO3, (hope I didn't forget any) not to
mention all the new courses at the universities keeping things fresh in recent
years. It's awesome.

Anyway, I just wanted to put that out there. I hope nobody gets so
disillusioned from this experience that they give up on game dev completely. My
deepest condolences to those who are in a hard place because of this, but there
are some up sides and I think those will become clear as time distances us from
all of this.

Hope you are all well, and stay awesome!

Chris.

-------------------
http://mccormick.cx

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