5.21.24

Who do you create things for?

Have there been people at different phases of your life who provided the impetus or reflected back some creative spark in you, fanning it into a compulsion to create this thing together?

 

Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow by Gabrielle Zevin

This is the first serious novel about the games industry I've ever read.

Generally very well written, and a good look at the interplay between life, relationships, and the games a person creates or tries to. It's all about the way relationships influence the things people create, and about the way the stuff (games) you make are a reflection of all the life that is happening at the time.

It's also a fairly accurate and aware look at a time when making games could be -- was -- mostly a labor of love between a few creators. Smash the Police State, everything at Eclipse, Brute Force, I'm thinking of you. The early days (for me) of Kabam Vancouver. And, of course, the many other creators I've had a special - but usually brief - creative synergy with.

There is a lot in this book worth thinking about and talking about, if only because, well, it feels like a chronicle of some of the lives I've lived. Impossible not to hear echoes of friends long gone in this relationships and smile ruefully at how well Ms. Zevin captures the challenges of creating video games and running game companies while trying to live your lives and be a human.

A well done and moving book, Ms. Zevin.

Throughout the novel the three main characters refer to their games, their company as their children.

I guess that too is a form of striving for immortality.