Who is Vinny?
Greetings! My name is Vincent Dominic Pa'ez Layog and welcome to my blog!
If you're here, that means you're either stalking me or I sent you the link to this blog directly. In any case, congratulations! This is your chance to peek into the machinations of my mind. I usually keep everything I think about in my head, but recently I've been wanting to jot some of it down. I think it would be a good writing exercise, as well as a great opportunity for me to talk about my perspective.
Okay, first things first. I love videogames. Honestly, it feels very cliche for me to say this. People that have known me for a long time know that games are my domain. Growing up, I was always so interested with games. Being born in 1993, the games that ultimately defined my childhood consist of later Playstation 1 games, such as Crash Team Racing, Metal Gear Solid, and Ape Escape. Later on, the Xbox 360 was my console of choice for many of my favorite games; like the Halo series, the Elder Scrolls series, and the Fable series to name a few.
I'm a console gamer at heart because of multiplayer. Growing up, my younger brother and I always shared our games. The first thing we thought about when buying a game was, "Is it multiplayer?" This is why Halo had such a great impact on me when I was younger, it allowed for 2 players to play the story-mode on 1 screen. Borderlands was also a great multiplayer game that I played with my brother, our cooperative playstyles were so in-sync that communication was always quick and efficient. I remember completing Halo: Reach's cooperative campaign on Legendary in less than 3 days; those golden visors were my favorite thing to wear when teabagging noobs online.
I am also an avid handheld gamer. My parents grew up playing games in the arcades in the 70s and 80s, so buying a console with Mario on it was nothing strange to them. I'm a fan of Pokemon, but never really got into EV training. I guess you could say that I'm really good at Mario games, my perfectionist side shows when you look at all the secret coins I've collected. Recently, I got into Monster Hunter and.. oh god, I can go on and on about that.
I could label myself a hardcore gamer, if we're looking at the hardcore gamer stereotype.
But my love for the medium extends further than my enjoyment of playing.
Ever since I was a kid, I've always been interested in how things worked. I remember when I was in Prep (in between Senior Kinder and Grade 1), I won the award for Best In Science. Back then, everybody won an award of course. But deep inside, I really loved science. I loved the objectivity and the precision. If you understood Science, you could explain all kinds of phenomena that occur in the real world.
I wanted to become a scientist, but that didn't last very long. At the time, we just spouted whatever we thought made sense for what we loved doing, or what our parents wanted us to become. I wanted to become a scientist not because I knew what scientists did, but because I really just wanted to know everything.
My dad spent his youth reading encyclopedias, so my parents always made sure that I had the most up-to-date resources available growing up. This came in the form of Microsoft Encarta, a digital encyclopedia that came on 7(!!!) compact disks. 90s af. They also bought the JumpStart educational game series, which I blazed through. When I was 7, I was able to finish JumpStart Grades 1 - 6. (Yes, even The Mystery of Mathra. I was kind of a genius.)
This early exposure to educational games helped foster my love for learning. Gamifying education in that way provided a reward system that has ingrained itself into my everyday thinking. Essentially training me at a young age to recognize problems and to find ways to solve them.
When I was a byte older, my tito gave me his old Sega Genesis with a cartridge that had 35(!!) different games on it. All at once, I was exposed to a beautiful 16-bit world of limitless imagination. I could be a race-car driver, a night-walking vigilante who beats up thugs, or a blue hedgehog. In real life, we play by the rules of society and the culture around us; but in games, we play by the rules of the game's world. Games existed in another reality where we could detach ourselves from who we were and assume the role of the characters in them. Games became my hobby and I spent every waking moment thinking about or playing games.
I appreciated games as more than just a way to pass the time, but as a medium. I saw games as a new form of television or book. They were created by people that had a vision or goal in mind, to serve a specific purpose. My curiosity led me to the "discovery" of Game Developers and their critical role in creating these games. I started recognizing the names of game studios. Tony Hawk's Pro Skater and its sequels were made by a consistent team of people. Spyro the Dragon was created by a company. Electronic Arts was a publisher that worked with several studios. Way before I could even comprehend the game development process, I was already hooked on the videogame industry.
Every chance I got, I begged my mom to buy me videogame magazines: GameNOW, Tips&Tricks, and my favorite: Electronic Gaming Monthly. These publications provided a glimpse into an exciting world of technology and creativity. The magazines were full of game reviews and previews, but the articles about the industry were the ones that captured my imagination; the way the writers painted a picture of the videogame industry as a living, breathing community of creators. Interviews with top developers like Shigeru Miyamoto, Hideo Kojima, Peter Molyneux, Tim Schafer, and the like gave me an idea of their passion, a sample of their mindsets. People who stayed up long nights, and worked long days to make their dream a reality. In the days of dial-up and Netscape Navigator, magazines were my portal to a world where people loved the same things that I did.
I decided that I wanted to become a Game Developer. I didn't know how, but I knew that this is what I wanted above all else. It became my goal. My dream. Above all the things in life that I could do or be or want. I wanted to be a Game Developer. I was going to be one, no matter what.
-fast forward many years of social awkwardness, a few console generations, high school drama, hundreds of issues of EGM, the death of printed games journalism, the rise of social media, etc-
When I was in 4th year highschool, an opportunity presented itself. De La Salle - College of Saint Benilde was now offering a course in Game Design and Development. I was ecstatic. That was it. My chance to chase my dream. I was pondering taking a course abroad or even online classes, but this was infinitely better!
I only applied to one college, "foolishly", but I was accepted and got a scholarship for being one of the top 20 scorers in the entrance exam.
Call it luck or divine providence or just plain old destiny, but getting the scholarship was proof that I was meant for this. My path was set and it was up to me to make the most of it.
Next time, I'll talk about college!!
If you're here, that means you're either stalking me or I sent you the link to this blog directly. In any case, congratulations! This is your chance to peek into the machinations of my mind. I usually keep everything I think about in my head, but recently I've been wanting to jot some of it down. I think it would be a good writing exercise, as well as a great opportunity for me to talk about my perspective.
Okay, first things first. I love videogames. Honestly, it feels very cliche for me to say this. People that have known me for a long time know that games are my domain. Growing up, I was always so interested with games. Being born in 1993, the games that ultimately defined my childhood consist of later Playstation 1 games, such as Crash Team Racing, Metal Gear Solid, and Ape Escape. Later on, the Xbox 360 was my console of choice for many of my favorite games; like the Halo series, the Elder Scrolls series, and the Fable series to name a few.
I'm a console gamer at heart because of multiplayer. Growing up, my younger brother and I always shared our games. The first thing we thought about when buying a game was, "Is it multiplayer?" This is why Halo had such a great impact on me when I was younger, it allowed for 2 players to play the story-mode on 1 screen. Borderlands was also a great multiplayer game that I played with my brother, our cooperative playstyles were so in-sync that communication was always quick and efficient. I remember completing Halo: Reach's cooperative campaign on Legendary in less than 3 days; those golden visors were my favorite thing to wear when teabagging noobs online.
I am also an avid handheld gamer. My parents grew up playing games in the arcades in the 70s and 80s, so buying a console with Mario on it was nothing strange to them. I'm a fan of Pokemon, but never really got into EV training. I guess you could say that I'm really good at Mario games, my perfectionist side shows when you look at all the secret coins I've collected. Recently, I got into Monster Hunter and.. oh god, I can go on and on about that.
I could label myself a hardcore gamer, if we're looking at the hardcore gamer stereotype.
But my love for the medium extends further than my enjoyment of playing.
Ever since I was a kid, I've always been interested in how things worked. I remember when I was in Prep (in between Senior Kinder and Grade 1), I won the award for Best In Science. Back then, everybody won an award of course. But deep inside, I really loved science. I loved the objectivity and the precision. If you understood Science, you could explain all kinds of phenomena that occur in the real world.
I wanted to become a scientist, but that didn't last very long. At the time, we just spouted whatever we thought made sense for what we loved doing, or what our parents wanted us to become. I wanted to become a scientist not because I knew what scientists did, but because I really just wanted to know everything.
My dad spent his youth reading encyclopedias, so my parents always made sure that I had the most up-to-date resources available growing up. This came in the form of Microsoft Encarta, a digital encyclopedia that came on 7(!!!) compact disks. 90s af. They also bought the JumpStart educational game series, which I blazed through. When I was 7, I was able to finish JumpStart Grades 1 - 6. (Yes, even The Mystery of Mathra. I was kind of a genius.)
This early exposure to educational games helped foster my love for learning. Gamifying education in that way provided a reward system that has ingrained itself into my everyday thinking. Essentially training me at a young age to recognize problems and to find ways to solve them.
When I was a byte older, my tito gave me his old Sega Genesis with a cartridge that had 35(!!) different games on it. All at once, I was exposed to a beautiful 16-bit world of limitless imagination. I could be a race-car driver, a night-walking vigilante who beats up thugs, or a blue hedgehog. In real life, we play by the rules of society and the culture around us; but in games, we play by the rules of the game's world. Games existed in another reality where we could detach ourselves from who we were and assume the role of the characters in them. Games became my hobby and I spent every waking moment thinking about or playing games.
I appreciated games as more than just a way to pass the time, but as a medium. I saw games as a new form of television or book. They were created by people that had a vision or goal in mind, to serve a specific purpose. My curiosity led me to the "discovery" of Game Developers and their critical role in creating these games. I started recognizing the names of game studios. Tony Hawk's Pro Skater and its sequels were made by a consistent team of people. Spyro the Dragon was created by a company. Electronic Arts was a publisher that worked with several studios. Way before I could even comprehend the game development process, I was already hooked on the videogame industry.
Every chance I got, I begged my mom to buy me videogame magazines: GameNOW, Tips&Tricks, and my favorite: Electronic Gaming Monthly. These publications provided a glimpse into an exciting world of technology and creativity. The magazines were full of game reviews and previews, but the articles about the industry were the ones that captured my imagination; the way the writers painted a picture of the videogame industry as a living, breathing community of creators. Interviews with top developers like Shigeru Miyamoto, Hideo Kojima, Peter Molyneux, Tim Schafer, and the like gave me an idea of their passion, a sample of their mindsets. People who stayed up long nights, and worked long days to make their dream a reality. In the days of dial-up and Netscape Navigator, magazines were my portal to a world where people loved the same things that I did.
I decided that I wanted to become a Game Developer. I didn't know how, but I knew that this is what I wanted above all else. It became my goal. My dream. Above all the things in life that I could do or be or want. I wanted to be a Game Developer. I was going to be one, no matter what.
-fast forward many years of social awkwardness, a few console generations, high school drama, hundreds of issues of EGM, the death of printed games journalism, the rise of social media, etc-
When I was in 4th year highschool, an opportunity presented itself. De La Salle - College of Saint Benilde was now offering a course in Game Design and Development. I was ecstatic. That was it. My chance to chase my dream. I was pondering taking a course abroad or even online classes, but this was infinitely better!
I only applied to one college, "foolishly", but I was accepted and got a scholarship for being one of the top 20 scorers in the entrance exam.
Call it luck or divine providence or just plain old destiny, but getting the scholarship was proof that I was meant for this. My path was set and it was up to me to make the most of it.
Next time, I'll talk about college!!
Comments
Post a Comment
Got a question for me? Constructive criticism? Leave a note.