A screen shot from a Fifa game - contributed

You say it is too complicated. It is not for Jamaica. Well, you are wrong. For years people have been making games in their bedroom, cubicle, basement, Internet cafés and even at libraries.

Let's go back to the early '70s, when creating a game took several years and sleepless nights. Just to get a pixel to move across the screen was a big accomplishment. This may sound weird but the movement of a dot on the screen made the first game quite popular. Which game is that? Ping-Pong. Simple, but very addictive. Next came along Tetris which allowed companies to make millions of dollars. The point is, graphics do not make a game, it's simplicity.

Choosing your platform

First you have to think about the device you plan to make the game for: Xbox, PS2, PSP, Wii, Game Cube, cellular phones, PC and the Internet. The most portable platform would be Internet games, created mainly from flash or Java. Cellular phone games are also now on the run. They are also mainly created from Flash or Java. PC games vary from simple to extreme with low-end games such as Tetris and high-end ones such as Halo with multiple 3D engines running simultaneously to create life like movements and sound. These games are mainly created in a programming language called C++. All other video game consoles use their own proprietary software and development kit that can either be purchased or downloaded over the Internet.

How to get started

First you need to read. Get as much material as possible on game development. The Internet is always a good place to start. (www.gameyaad.com provides links to development sites). Next you can try to re-create an old favourite like Tetris to get a basic understanding of the platform. Once you have done that, you are now ready to create your own game. Remember that all games have one thing in common, a goal.

Getting paid

After practice and several trials you could place your game on sites as demos and allow people to pay for the full game. There are many sites that offer this service like Amazon.com. The next best promotion is word of mouth as people are always looking for games to play, and if you have a good game they will pay for it. Another thing you can do is drop them in stores, paying a commission for each sale.

Did you know?

1. In 1984 Tetris was created by a Russian computer programmer named Alexey Pajitnov.

2. Thirty two million copies of Tetris for Gameboy was sold. 2 million in the first year!

3. In 1989 Atari had to destroy 300,000 copies of Tetris cartridges, because of Nintendo.

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