The Show Must Go On...

5…6…7...

The numbers on the display panel changed as I fixed my gaze on it while my mind wandered. My mind wandered to the recesses of the memories in the last month, the whole whirlwind of events and all the doors of possibilities that opened up one by one over the course of the last month. Memories of the struggles I had within and with-out of myself given the plethora of choices; “You want to work in a bank?”, “Hope that you can come over to my side to help me,” “If I decide to apply, will you help me?”, rang in my head as the lift continued its ascent.

8…9... *ding*

Deep breath, big step; each following stride a reinforcement to my decision in opening this door.
”So what number am I?” I asked, stepping into the interview room.

“Number 55,” said the Director, in a very soul-less tone, obviously fatigued from the consecutive interviews.

I sank into the chair and eased my nerves in the process. Queerly, I wasn’t as nervous as I had anticipated, perhaps I really was getting more experienced with the whole presentation thing, after having some much more intense presentations with the last company.

“I think I have your test right here on my laptop,” the all-too-familiar Producer said, as he opened up my submission, “Roy the Bouncing Hippo, right?”

“Yes, that’s the one,” I said, as I started my presentation to the weary countenances, continuing with my inspiration source for the game, with a well-concealed grin underneath it all.

“So, which question did you pick?” the Director asked.

“Oh, I picked the question to design a one-buttoned cell-phone game with the core mechanics of ‘bouncing’.” I replied confidently. “So basically the story goes like this…” as I started to run through the gist of my 2-day brain-child.

As I moved along the slides, I sensed the growing interest in my concept from the Producer’s eager nods and the Director’s firm nods of affirmation.

"So after the bar stops Roy charges a fart and propels himself forward, burping every time he bounces off the wall" I continued with my explanation of the details of the game mechanics, much to the the accompaniment of laughter from my interviewers.

"Yup, so that is the main gist of the game, any questions?" I asked, as I concluded.

"Actually, normally I will have questions to ask, but the thing is, I don't really have any questions to ask now," the Director said. "The thing is, I kinda like it."

"Yeah, I like it too," the Producer added in.

Relief and elation from deep within erupted into a smile on my face as I heard the positive reviews, recalling the 2 days that I spent looking at everything in my world bouncing around, trying to get an inspiration for the concept; to the extent I literally stared at the gas bubbles bouncing about in a Coke can every time I drank my poison. I recalled the long-forgotten experience of rushing for a deadline overnight as I sat in front of the PC till 6am in order to complete the presentation. But alas, it was all worth it when the acknowledgement was passed on.

"So if given a choice, would you choose to be a producer or a designer?" the Director asked.

"I think I would still choose to be a designer if it really came down to it. The whole reason of me going into the games industry was for the creative aspect of it more so than anything else; not that you can't give creative input as a producer, but its just that the focus of the roles are different. And for me, I prefer to be in a creative position more so than that of a management position," I replied comprehensively, to the Director's approving nods.

"Well, I guess that's all I have for you, any questions?" the Director asked me.

"Uh, actually, I was wondering if there is any bond to this whole thing?" I asked sheepishly.

"No, no bond at all. The whole purpose of this programme is to give people a chance to break into the industry to grow the industry. So the main objective in it is just to get more people involved in the industry, to train more talent," the Director replied smilingly.

"Thanks so much, Jeremy, you'll hear from us some time next week regarding the selection process," the Producer told me as I walked out of the door in confidence, as he went on to welcome the next candidate.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

3 days later...

An email with a "No Subject" heading from the Director popped-up in my mailbox. I moused over it in hot anticipation, took a deep breath and clicked on it...

"Dear Jeremy,

I am pleased to inform you that you have been selected by Gambit for the Summer Internship."

My spirits lifted, as I saw knew that the show will go on in MIT, one of the most prestigious universities in the world; located deep within the heart of the land of the Freedom, Bravery, and HOT, TASTY *ahem*American Pies.

But the most consoling thing was the rays of hope that I saw beyond the vision of the next 3 months of free-loading; the hope that I could continue dreaming for just a little bit longer...

.... The Show MUST Go On...