Hello Game fans! My name's Chris Dugan, and I'm the Internet Manager at Handy Toyota and Handy Chevrolet in St. Albans, Vermont. I live in St. Albans as well, moving back a few years after I left college and lived in Washington, D.C. for a while. Speaking of college, I attended UVM from 2002 to 2006, and went to High School at Bellows Free Academy in St. Albans, Vermont from 1998 to 2002.
I enjoy spending time with friends and family, along with work which is essentially my life. I work around 10 hours a day paid and another two or so at home. It leaves a lot to be desired in terms of a personal life, but it's not my employer's fault; I've just become somewhat of a recluse in the past three to four years.
Obviously I enjoy gaming, or else why would I dedicate a chunk of my time to a review site, right? Since my new career is taking a large portion of the week to week goings-on, I have struggled to put the amount of time into gaming that I'd like, but I still reserve Sunday's for such. People say I'm an addict because it's nothing for me to play for 14 hours straight, but I try to tell them when you don't have time for your passion, is it really so bad to get a small part of your fill when given the chance? I also run to my PS3 after work, so I get a few hours in a day. As I write this I think to myself the hilarity of the fact that hardcore gamers like myself will scoff at the fact that I work so hard, yet hardcore workers will call me a game junkie. I'm not sure if it's irony or just a matter of perspective, but I digress.
I read about the owner of PopCap Games, the developer/publisher behind the Bejeweled series among other online and shareware games, and learned that while he was in college he started a gaming blog. That blog was read by a magazine, though I forget which one, and he was asked to write freelance for a while before being hired full time. After he had his foot in the door, he and his roommate started up Super Sexy Game Studios, or something ridiculous like that, developed Bejeweled, changed that horrid name to PopCap, and now enjoys being the owner of the highest selling video game IP ever, boasting numbers of upwards of 30 million purchases and hundreds of millions downloads. THAT is what my dream is.
Not so much to be a game designer or developer, but to own or at least work for a video game magazine. I found, after reading a corporate owned magazine for a few years, that games one month from release were being hailed as revolutionary only to be deemed unplayable in the following issue. I started to wonder to myself how these games can go from great and unfinished to horrible and complete in 30 days or less. It makes no sense, and has me wondering if the corporation that sells games and magazines in the same breath has ulterior motives--it does make sense after all.
So I figured if the guy from PopCap can do it, so can I. As I said, I got this new job as Internet Manager, which is more in depth than just managing links. I write five to six blogs a week, constantly make new web pages, direct the making of newsletters, etc. It's really given me a chance to let my writing skills improve, in which I think I have a pretty good foundation already.
I am in the process of registering my game review title as a legitimate domain, so stay tuned. When that happens, we'll have it made, and anyone that puts any effort into my cause will gladly be taken along for the ride. It may seem like a pipe dream to some, but unlike my normally dismal outlook on life, I have confidence in my skill and determination.
I would love suggestions, comments, input, or any other help anyone can give. I am always looking for writers and editors and what not, so if you're interested, contact me via cdugan9@gmail.com.
Thanks for reading, and keep gaming!
Chris Dugan
