Welcome! My name is Dean Willms and I am a game animator, artist, pretty cool friend, and you guessed it, writer! If you're here then you decided that you want to hear my thoughts and feelings on life because why else would you visit a blog site?
Let me tell you a little bit of my background. I graduated William Peace University with a major in Simulation and Game Design and a minor in writing. I'm actively applying my game design major in my freelancing, but I thought I should probably put my writing minor to good use. One day I asked myself, "Dean you're smart-ish why don't you find a way to combine your writing with your passion for games?" I thought "wow that's a good idea Dean I might just do that!". So, badda bing badda boom I made a blog about gaming. Genius, I know.
The Man Behind the Controller is a blog that talks through my personal insights and thoughts into a variety of topics. As you might have guessed, one of the main topics focuses a lot on games and the gaming culture. I'm very interested in the process that goes into games and the awesome impact it has on the players. Games educate us, they move us, they form new friendships and romances, and they get us excited about the experience of starting a new adventure and being the hero of our own story.
Videogames are still, shockingly, a relatively new platform. The first ever videogame came out in 1971 and was called Computer Space. In the game you would control a spaceship and and shoot down saucers. Pretty primitive nowadays, since today we have games that have much more dynamic controls, more expansive worlds to explore, and more relatable and connecting characters that even books and movies have trouble competing against. Almost 50 years since the first videogame and the industry has come so far in technology and in the creation of game icons, such as Mario, Link, Master Chief, Solid Snake and so much more. Why would anyone not want to write a blog about such an amazing platform of entertainment!?
But it doesn't end there! As much as I love games themselves, I also love the process of creating them. I'm also going to write about my journey of becoming a videogame animator and the ins and outs of a freelancer who is trying to make it in the industry. There's a lot that goes unsaid about working in the game industry and as I learn and grow in this field I want to share my experiences with you. Who knows, you may also want to break into the game industry as well and this blog might help you get closer to achieving this goal!
As the blog develops, I'm also going to be tackling different subjects of conversation that I feel don't get talked about enough. This includes breakdowns of movies, comics, and of course games along with a neat spiritual tie in to all these different types of media. A lot of people think spirituality and nerd culture are separate and don't have a whole lot in common, but boy are they so wrong! You'd be surprised how much spirituality can be found in games and I'm dying to go in depth to share with you how games, comics, and movies that appear secular can greatly enhance your faith.
Ok I'm getting a little ahead of myself! One step at a time! This is pretty much the overview of what to expect and I have high hopes for The Man Behind the Controller! There's already a few blog posts uploaded already, so what are you waiting for? Go read my stuff and get involved in the conversation! Stayed tuned for weekly updates to the blog and I hope you are both enlightened and entertained by what I have to say. Until next Time.
Dean Willms
~Gamer. Designer. Friend.
