HELLO WORLD!
- Tony
- Sep 29, 2016
- 3 min read
Hello World!
I'm Anthony Alampi (most people call me Tony), but seeing as you had to type my name in your browser to get here, you probably knew that already. Or maybe a friend linked you here. Or maybe no one will ever read this blog until the end of time so I'm actually only talking to myself, which frankly isn't all that out of the ordinary for me. Regardless of who you are or how you got here, or whether you exist or not to begin with, you're here, and I want you to come back. But people don't just come back because you want them to, now do they? Any car salesman knows that it's not the initial sale that matters, but the horridly overpriced maintenance that really brings in the bacon, and If I'm going to convince you to sell your first born child in order to afford that flux capacitor that the mechanic swears is TOTALLY A THING THAT YOU NEED, then I'm going to have to give you a damn good reason to. So let's start with some good old fashion human connection.

Pictured above: Moo, Destroyer of Worlds
I'm a person. I'm a person who makes video games. Preferably fun ones. I was a dinosaur/train/Lego/ Star Wars kid (I'm also a shameless dinosaur/train/Lego/ Star Wars adult, mind you), I love rockets and space and some day I WILL go on a vacation to the moon. I've just recently moved from Glastonbury, Connecticut to Austin, Texas 3 months ago with my cat, Moo, who I've trained to fist pound me on command, and I'm addicted to running, Halo, and honey mustard (Seriously, I would die for honey mustard. No really. Seriously.) With all that said, at the end of the day I'm a guy who makes games because it's what he loves, and I wouldn't have it any other way.
I'm the Founder and Lead Designer of Starside Softworks, an Independent game development team who is dedicated to creating innovative and one of a kind games that go where no one has gone before. I'm still new to this whole "leader of men" thing, and as I work with other game developers on their various projects I'm trying to learn as much as possible about what they do both right and wrong in the hopes of building the best company the world's ever seen.

So that's my story so far (well, minus the embarrassing parts, we'll get in to those later.) I think stories are really important. I find it amazing how the most ridiculous stories with the most exaggerated characters and fantastical worlds can some how speak to people on a level that cold hard facts just can't do. They break through our fears of being judged and ridiculed and even help us see the world from our opponent's perspectives and can change our minds on thing's we're just so certain about without hurting out pride, because after all, they're not "real." They're just stories. But there's no such thing as "just' a story, because the ideas and characters and places and things that "aren't" come from people that ARE.
So there's my initial sale: The beginning of a new story. Chapter one, Page one. I've set the scene for you. The main character's been established, and the journey has begun. As for bringing in the bacon, well, if you'd like to know how the story ends, it looks like you're just going to have to come back for that horridly overpriced maintainence after all.
Until then, see you Starside!
-Tony