I realized this morning that this blog is supposed to be about my innovations and frustrations as an innovator. And I’m getting there. I just have to keep writing and writing in order to get myself back into the habit. But I just read a piece about the infamous Steve Jobs – you know, the one guy that named his company after a fruit and he made some cell phones. As much as I might bash and hate Apple products (while secretly envying them and wishing I could find something almost as good as iTunes to handle my music), I can’t help but admire this guy. How is he so damn awesome? Probably because he decides to do something and, well – he does it.

I decided that I’m going to be an entrepreneur, and an innovator, but I don’t think I’ve exactly locked down on what things it is that I want to make better. The best way to be a self-employed business owner is to find something that is already good and make it better or find a need that people have that isn’t being fulfilled and to fill that gap. For me, I’m very much into the idea of making games very central to our human experiences. Most of the way that we learn through as children is through games. To that end, I have already been working on some applications that kind of pit the competitive nature of games against procrastination. I did this because I know that for me, I get the greatest drive to do when I am competing against other people. I am terribly competitive, and at times I can be a terrible sport when I lose. Ask my boyfriend what happened when he, a rookie gamer, beat me at Marvel Vs. Capcom at the mall.

So to that end, I figured, it’s time to figure out some of the things that I want to innovate.

• Methods of Studying – Growing up, I was That Kid. The kid that never had to study but still got A’s. And even when I did have to study something more advanced, I competed against others to get better grades. I always had to be the better person or be beating someone for me to care about it. To that end, I have an application I’ve been expanding upon that will do just this. Games and education can be paired together well, and social media’s just another boon to the mix…
• Storytelling – I’m not sure that this will count as an innovation. As a little girl, I wanted to work for Square-Enix. I wanted to work on the next Final Fantasy 28. I even speak Japanese. But now, I’m wanting to make my own studio, and my own brand of interactive storytelling experiences. Right now, I’m getting back into writing, but I’m also learning about the Japanese phenomenon of visual novels. I plan on utilizing that base and integrating aspects of it to make a storytelling experience that will be emotionally involving for players to a brand new level. Book meets game.
• Professional networking – Let’s face it. LinkedIn is great, but it’s a touch stuffy, and it’s not exactly the angle that every industry needs. That’s why you still have sites like Model Mayhem. They cater to a different niche with different needs. I’ve found a niche with a need, and pairing this with mobile technology, I’m pretty sure I’m onto something.