Recently, I found myself in a discussion with a colleague about the discomfort of sharing one's career or achievements in a manner that does not sound boastful or overstated. It can be a difficult path to navigate as our achievements and success are truly not our own. There have been many people along the way: teachers, family, friends, mentors, and colleagues, that have played a part in you becoming you.
I have often said that, "Without a Woz, there is no Jobs." Full stop.
But, I also know that without ones own tenacity, self-reflection, vulnerability, passion, and sacrifice, becoming an "expert" in ones field (as much as anyone can become an expert in anything) does not happen. That does not mean that you are never wrong, but your assertions are grounded in your immersion, constant learning, devouring as much information as you can, and spending time wrestling with that information. The output should be knowledge, not information.
Knowing and living as much as I can about the games industry, consumer behavior, and technology build/adoption loops, has found me making predictions about the shape of our markets, platforms, and tech throughout my career. I do believe that my track record for predictions is significantly more correct than incorrect over the years, with a couple of glaring exceptions.
In fact, one such glaringly incorrect prediction was that Nintendo may have exited the hardware business after the GameCube. How stupid, in retrospect, but it felt like a possibility at the time. No more hardware turned out to be Sega's proposition, not Nintendo's.
MAN! I really WHIFFED on that one!
I say all of this because I am going to be writing a series of posts about where I think the future of the games industry is headed, both opportunities and pitfalls. More than that, I am ALSO going to be launching a prediction tracker that points to what I got right, half-baked, and completely wrong.
So, if you want to walk with me though those musings, both historical and moving forward, I'll be keeping track of it all, right here.