If the reason for video games' existance would be to sell, why do we have crazy awesome experimental titles like Otogi, Jet Set Radio, and aforementioned Space Giraffe? Space Giraffe especially was made to be as non-casual as possible, I recall Jeff Minter stating. The whole game is working against you as a player. The graphics don't even help you understand what's going on, in fact, they make it even worse. The vast majority of everyone who's ever seen the game has been insanely turned off by it - because he wanted to make a new type of game, not caring that it wouldn't sell. That's why he managed to make it the minimum game price on XBL Arcade, too, even though half of the games go for twice as much.

And then there are free games. You know... free games. Games that people WOULD pay for, but the developer has no intention of making any money off. Related to the artsy thing, I'm reminded of The Endless Forest which is a flimsy online social game made in a program called Quest3D. Apparently, it's still going strong despite it having exactly no gameplay at all, still getting updates from the makers and still getting new players. And it's online, for free.

I want to believe most game designers really just want to make games that are cool to play. Or maybe just make games for the fun of creating them. Like how artists just want to make art. Sometimes, not even for people to look at, but just to get it done and feel good about it. Most musicians don't play to make money, either. Heck, even programmers like to work just for the fun of creating things, from what I've seen with the guys I've worked with.

Put those together and you have a development team. Of course money has to be an equation, because when people want to do something so big that takes so long, they can't just quit their normal jobs and live on the street while working on it. In such a case, the result would probable be one of them awesome indie games you can download for free off obscure websites. But that could lead to the development of a company, so these guys could create their dreams every day. And with a company comes the need for income to keep it running. With that need comes the desire for people to pay for their hard work so they can keep doing what they love. The more money they can get, the better, because then they could maybe even expand and hire people to make even grander creations.

And now, today, digital distribution is actually changing that. With things like PSN and XBL Arcade, indie guys get a chance to actually sell their tiny creations online and earn a little bit of money for it, and getting a larger audience to enjoy their work. So the trend is kinda reversing a little to where smaller teams need less money to actually get games published. And that's awesome.

But I strongly doubt that anyone would ever get into making games for the money. There are many safer bets to make if you're in it to get rich.

I've often found that a lot of religious folk seem to think that atheism seems like a sad, empty way to live, but I really disagree with that. I always thought that the idea that this sort of universe could arise by chance is even more elegant than a belief system that requires some sort of plan behind it all. It's beautiful, really.

I've reacted to that, too. The idea that atheism seems depressing and lonely. And empty. You know what you can do when something feels empty? You fill it up with something. I'd recommend something that doesn't unearth you quite as much as religion wants to do. There's plenty of other things to do that! Like art and music and video games!

In that sense... Religion, to me, seems a lot like a really big, narcissistic hobby that wants to take over all other hobbies. I recall reading a pamhlet handed to me by some Jehova dude a while ago. Upon reading it I noticed halfway through a little article on music that it was trying to make me look upon music as a miracle created by God. Because music is so beautiful and magical and touching, it has to be divine.

... I wonder, could I apply that logic to video games, too?

Mmm... I don't thing religion has a lot to do with terrorism. I think a lot of people use religion as a tool or a reason, but I think it's rarely the cause. To be completely honest, despite me being a cynical realist who laughs in the face of all things Godlike, I think if all of the people on the earth were truly religious, the world would be a better place. Because religion like to teach about peace and love and junk like that. If everyone could understand that, then the world would be a  better place. Religion, in itself, is a very good thing. Despite it being compeltely unfounded...

On the other hand, my non-realist side likes to believe in balance. Maybe it's just me trying to look on the bright side whenever bad things happen, or maybe there's some truth in it, but that side of me believes violence and destruction has to exist to feed peacefulness and productivity. Ye olde Yin and Yang.

All religion is a product of human imagination. [...] We are just atoms.

Yes.

Religion is bullshit. The sooner fundametalists realise this, the less bombings we will have.

No.

Hay guys. Yeh, I'm still alive. My computer asploded while I was doing some internship at a freaky game company up here. I'm done with that 3D education that had been stalling my 2D stuffs now, so yay for that, right? But now I'm stalled by not having a computer or a job. I'm taking advantage of being at school for a little while longer, since I do have a computer here. But my future is uncertain... In two days, I'll go back home to an apartment where I have no 360, no computer and where I can't seem to receive any channels on my TV...

I need a job... and I've missed this place!