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I love it. I did something similar and contacted Future Publishing in 1997 for my secondary school work experience. Ended up commuting by train to Bath for a w

I love it. I did something similar and contacted Future Publishing in 1997 for my secondary school work experience. Ended up commuting by train to Bath for a week and working with the editorial team of PC Review. By working they put me in a corner and had me play Little Big Adventure 2. I then also got play and review (with heavy editing) Atomic Bomberman. I still have a print copy of the issue with my name on the review. Twenty three years later and I’ve been making games professionally for fifteen years. My other week was with a flight school at Bristol Airport which was equally fun in a different way. Lots of answering the phone and chatting to adults which as a shy boy was exhilarating and I got to go up with an IFR student in heavy cloud with perhaps the most exciting landing I’ve ever experienced.

bartread 6y ago
That's a great story, and I'm glad it worked out so well. I still harbour a small pang of regret at never having worked in games, but think I'd struggle to break into it now, and I definitely don't have the stomach for the hours these days! > My other week was with a flight school at Bristol Airport which was equally fun in a different way. Lots of answering the phone and chatting to adults which as a shy boy was exhilarating and I got to go up with an IFR student in heavy cloud with perhaps the most exciting landing I’ve ever experienced. This is a little uncanny. In the 6th form I did work experience in flight operations at a firm called FR Aviation, based out of Bournemouth International Airport (may still have been known as Hurn Airport back then). They did a lot of exercises with the Navy so I too got a flight. Mine was in a Falcon, although not the F-16 kind: it was more of a Learjet type thing - just a very small passenger jet with twin engines. Still, my first time in any kind of jet and pretty cool as I got to sit in the jumpseat between the two pilots.
- meheleventyone 6y ago
  These days a lot of games is more sedate albeit not that much better compensated and not always amazingly well run. Lots more cross-over with regular tech as games aim for a longer tail of sales as well. Personally though I’d make them for fun if you want another hobby. I am however eternally jealous of getting a flight in a small jet.
- arprocter 6y ago
  Plane was probably one of these? https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dassault_Falcon https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dassault_Falcon
  - bartread 6y ago
    Yes, I think that's the series.
t_akosuke 6y ago
Future publishing was the shit back then. I lived in the Canary Islands where thanks to the influx of British tourists and migrants we had a steady flow of one-month-late, overpriced British press. Everything from future publishing was miles ahead of the Spanish videogame press, Super Play and Edge were my favourites, i still have a good collection in my mother's basement... It's how I learned English, and the joys of British humour, but also how I learned to think critically about games at a different level. Peter Moulineux was an ever present figure in them, of course.

bartread 6y ago

That's a great story, and I'm glad it worked out so well. I still harbour a small pang of regret at never having worked in games, but think I'd struggle to break into it now, and I definitely don't have the stomach for the hours these days! > My other week was with a flight school at Bristol Airport which was equally fun in a different way. Lots of answering the phone and chatting to adults which as a shy boy was exhilarating and I got to go up with an IFR student in heavy cloud with perhaps the most exciting landing I’ve ever experienced. This is a little uncanny. In the 6th form I did work experience in flight operations at a firm called FR Aviation, based out of Bournemouth International Airport (may still have been known as Hurn Airport back then). They did a lot of exercises with the Navy so I too got a flight. Mine was in a Falcon, although not the F-16 kind: it was more of a Learjet type thing - just a very small passenger jet with twin engines. Still, my first time in any kind of jet and pretty cool as I got to sit in the jumpseat between the two pilots.

meheleventyone 6y ago
These days a lot of games is more sedate albeit not that much better compensated and not always amazingly well run. Lots more cross-over with regular tech as games aim for a longer tail of sales as well. Personally though I’d make them for fun if you want another hobby. I am however eternally jealous of getting a flight in a small jet.
arprocter 6y ago
Plane was probably one of these? https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dassault_Falcon https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dassault_Falcon
- bartread 6y ago
  Yes, I think that's the series.

t_akosuke 6y ago

Future publishing was the shit back then. I lived in the Canary Islands where thanks to the influx of British tourists and migrants we had a steady flow of one-month-late, overpriced British press. Everything from future publishing was miles ahead of the Spanish videogame press, Super Play and Edge were my favourites, i still have a good collection in my mother's basement... It's how I learned English, and the joys of British humour, but also how I learned to think critically about games at a different level. Peter Moulineux was an ever present figure in them, of course.