I was recently listening to a podcast about the invention of the telephone and it helped me to draw inspiration for perseverance in game development.
Why, though? What does the telephone have to do with making games? Well let me tell you – if you’ve ever had an idea that is totally innovative, that could push boundaries or change the way that players experience games – only to be met with head scratching or being told you’re dumb or wasting your time, then you’re in good company.
Alexander Graham Bell was being funded to create a better version of an already existing communication invention – the telegraph. While working on this project, he basically had the thought “this is cool and all, but what if you could hear someone’s voice instead of the dots and dashes of morse code?” His investor told him to STOP pursuing that idea, because it sounded so dumb to him. But Bell didn’t. He even got a prototype working and his investor again told him to STOP. Even though he created freaking magic and connected two voices to each other through wires, his investor didn’t get why that was a big deal. He also borrowed a severed human ear on his path to inventing the telephone, but that’s a story for another day.
Of course, as soon as he premiered the telephone at a communications convention – the world became obsessed. Thomas Edison was even tasked by Western Union to copy Bell’s invention and tried to push him out of business. Only once everyone else saw the vision, could his own investor truly get on board. No one saw this coming, except for Bell.
The point is. If you have a great idea, please pursue it. Please share your gift with the world and make it a better place. Publishers, platforms and consumers may not be as fearless as you, but if it’s a good idea – they’ll have to embrace it. So go make that game. Go build that plugin. Go give that presentation. Just don’t go messing around with severed human ears if you can help it.
Listen to the podcast here:
