Topic: So, what do you do?

@Tasuki: You've definitely tick a few boxes in life already by the looks of it

@iDangerMouse_: ah I guess ye're not so bad as neighbours go, we do enjoy crossing the border to shop in Asda and buy fireworks

@SteveButler2210: Great thread pal.

I'm £&4£, but call me MC or Noisy never call me £&4£. I'm 34 and have a kid due really soon.

I'm ex Royal Navy, ex Ops manager of a call centre, ex precision engineer and now on the internet team for a boss Car Supermarket, having moved back to Merseyside from Plymouth last year due to my homesick wife.

I'm a massive gamer having been a fan of anything since the 2600 and enjoy playing anything.

THE FUTURE - in 3 years when I leave my current role I would like to be a competitive games co-ordinator. The way tlg and other companies run tournaments is terrible and I see a big gap in the market. Maybe with the help of other like minded gaming buddies we can make it a reality. I just need to pay my mortgages off first.

I'm Chill (That's my affectionate nickname, I hate my real name), I'm somewhere between 18-21 according to government census.

I spend most of my time buying/playing games, or going through £9000 a year lectures on how to make games. The art, the programming, the models, animations, writing, etc. etc. And after walking away with A Levels in tow that's not my ideal situation, but I didn't take a year out. It's an enjoyable course when you ignore the PC Master Race crowd saying keyboard/mouse is the best control scheme ever (But not for every genre). And as long as my girlfriend of 4-months is around, which lately, she hasn't even phoned in over a month.

In the foreseeable future? Definitely not games design, as far away as possible frankly. Don't want to be on damage control for my fanbase (See: Sonic) or defending the release schedule (See: Square Enix), nor is it a sustainable job until money rolls in for a release, if lucky.
I reckon I'll fall back on my A Levels, since degree changing is messy with student finance and all that. Go back to Economics or something. And leave my job too, doesn't pay well enough for the travel and dealing with drunks. I'll aim for a PS4 around Xmas though. Just because designing games isn't where my heart is doesn't mean I cant see how the industry improves.

@themcnoisy: FYI i just call you McNoisy, like McDonalds. Sorry but it's been too long now, I can't change.

@Cyber-BLP--: And as long as my girlfriend of 4-months is around, which lately, she hasn't even phoned in over a month.

Sorry dude that sucks, I used to be unlucky in love at 16-24 then all of a sudden boom new car, new house, shed loads of women, boom no time for gaming. I prefered being unlucky in love.

@kyleforrester87 haha that's cool as well bro. Mcnoisy is fine. Like your local Scottish buckfast drinker.

@themcnoisy: It's alright. She deserves her holiday, and her family are quite clingy. I'm sure I'll see her in September. I'm willing to wait. Unlucky in only circumstance.

Well, this'll be nice.

My real name is Jacob, DerMeister being one of many screen names I use. I live in Dallas, Texas, originally from Illinois. I'm 20, and unemployed. I can't get a job since I'm unable to get my state ID because I'm missing a certain document. I'm also not in college. I can't afford it.

My hobbies are mostly sports, trying to play whenever I can. My favorite sports are Basketball and Hockey, and my favorite teams are the Dallas Mavericks, Chicago Bulls, Chicago Blackhawks, and FC Bayern Munich.

Dream job? I don't know. I wanted to do something in music, but there's no way it'll happen. My uncle suggested game development, on the basis that I play a lot of games. Like how you could be a chef if you eat a lot. I'm barely considering it, but I honestly don't want to do it, nor do I feel capable of doing it (I'm probably one of the most stupid with tech you'll see). But I gotta do something, and I really don't have talent in anything else, so I'm stuck.

Yep.

I'm Nathan, 23, and went to a community college in southern Indiana for my associate's degree in visual communications (emphasis on video production) and from that worked as a camera operator for a sports stadium in my hometown. Now, i'm just starting at the Art Institute of Indy to get my bachelor's in media arts/animation. Eventually I'd like to direct my own cartoons and shorts

I'll try posting some of my work here later.

@SteveButler2210: Yeah, I know just how competitive it is - I've gone for two or three entry level jobs at Specsavers and have gotten as far as interviews. The trouble is the sheer amount of applicants makes it much harder to stand out. Hopefully I'll be able to nab something in the next couple of years

Really interesting reading about everyone!

@irken004: Sweet that's amazing, we have an anime thread and you can post in there. Wouldn't mind seeing your stuff, how much would it cost to commission an album cover?

@DerMeister: Move to the UK I think everyone else is lol. Its tough being 20 but you seem to have a neat writing style. Your analogy of programmer/chef is boss and I'm nicking it for later use if you don't mind.

@themcnoisy Whatever floats ye boat. I honestly was kinda using it as a joke though.

I'm sure I'll find something to do. I've actually watched some behind the scenes stuff for games like Uncharted to kinda get the idea for game making. In regards to my writing, I always did get consistently good grades in english, the only subject I was able to in fact.

I'll also apologise for sounding negative. Don't like being a downer, and it's great to get to know you guys

@DerMeister: English is a damn essential skill. Id hold onto your writing abilities for as long as possible, keep the imagination going.

Hmm. It's interesting reading all of your stories, so I suppose I'll do mine. My name's Sammy and I'm 26. I'm from the UK. I did English, Business, and IT A-levels, and then did a Business Information Technology degree. While I was doing that I figured I needed a hobby, so I started Push Square in 2009. I kept working on it while I finished university, and bizarrely I'm still working on it today - although it's changed quite a lot since 2009.

It was almost quite different actually. I messed about with university for a while - I wanted to do music production and live the "student life", but it didn't really work out. So I ended up doing my degree close to home, and subsequently, because I wasn't living the "student life" I made Push Square instead. I'm glad I did, as I wouldn't be sitting here reading all your stories if not. It's important to note that countless others have helped me reach this point, though.

Ever wondered what the site looked like when it launched:
https://web.archive.org/web/20090130135200/http://www.pushsqu...

Separate fascinating fact: new on the PlayStation Store on the day that archive is from was Supersonic Acrobatic Rocket-Powered Battle-Cars, which would, of course, go on to become Rocket League!

EDIT: It's shocking reading back some of those articles by the way. The typos! The grammar errors! The disgust!

@Cyber-BLP-- Yeah, for sure. I often write little stories, article like writings and I still write song lyrics just to challenge myself.

@get2sammyb Great to hear from the head honcho. I'm glad you made Push Square as well, as I enjoy the site and the community here. So thank you Sammy.

And bah gawd, early Push Square looks so weird. No puns or Taylor Swift related humor.

I'm 32, until recently I was a Ph.D student but now I'm an adjunct professor at a Uni, I love teaching and is what I want to do for the rest of my life but I need to get a full time job as only working as an adjunct does not pay enough... I had been away from video games for many years but I turned back to them 2 years ago to help me cope with depression during my Ph.D years... now I game a lot as it still helps me cope and keep my sanity

@get2sammyb: Definitely worked out for the best. What happened with your music?

I'm was a fellow student and I started making T-shirts when I too was in uni, that was our plan. Initially we spray painted over stencils then started sewing and using transfers. It was great. Wish we carried that on could of been huge, shows determination and guile to make your site a success, props to you buddy its really easy to quit and get a normal job. Like I did

@get2sammyb: What a transformation! But seriously wow, I had no idea that you started Push Square as a one man operation! What with PS being part of Gamer Network and with the ties to NLife and Pure XBox I always just assumed that the 3 sites had been created alongside each other as part of a larger operation. It really is amazing how far the site has come from such small beginnings - you should be incredibly proud of the top quality site and the community that you started!

How did the transition from one man band to where we are today come about? Were you noticed early on by a publisher and offered funding, or was it more of a homegrown thing for quite a while? As a newer member to the site (the last year or two), I'm intrigued to hear how it happened. I had always sort of assumed that most of the big gaming websites just started as larger affairs with publishers deciding to set them up and employing people to do it - never really considered that some of them started out just as the hobby of your regular average Joe!

@get2sammyb: I am glad you did it. It is such a lovely community where we can all openly discuss about one hobby we all love.
Infinite thanks to you and to everyone who made this possible!

and to back-up @SteveButler2210 , would be interesting for me (and I guess for many others) if you'll write an article telling us the story and evolution of Pushsquare, maybe for someone will be even inspiring (I see many are still looking for a "purpose" in life... )

@DualWielding: I can hear you. For me it was the same during the PhD, tough job. Plus, my long stand relationship with who I still call "the woman of my life" ended up badly at the time. So depression and bad feelings all the way.....

It ended up me leaving it after 4 articles in conferences and journals, I had enough of it, wanted to change it for a job maybe less intellectually rewarding, but easier to cope with....