A self-taught computer geek is set to become a millionaire after inventing an iPhone game in his bedroom.
Simon Oliver, 31, dreamed of becoming a games programmer but was rejected by dozens of firms because of his lack of experience so he decided to teach himself how to design games for the Apple iPhone in his spare time.
Mr Oliver, who earned money by building art installations for the Natural History and Science Museums, began learning the new skill in March last year.
By July he had uploaded a video of his game on YouTube, where it was spotted by a small U.S. games publisher and put online to download.
Today it was revealed the game, called Rolando, has been bought by more than 700,000 people and a sequel is already in production.
He said: ‘I’ve always wanted to be a computer game programmer but I just couldn’t break into it. I wrote to dozens of firms, but never got anywhere, so I decided to teach myself.
‘Once I had a small demo, I uploaded it on to YouTube, and everything went mad. It received over 100,000 views, and I got called by a publisher very quickly.
In the game, players tilt the phone to guide small ball characters called Rolandos around a maze. Mr Oliver was inspired by Gerry Anderson’s cult Eighties TV show Terrahawks, with small robot ‘balls’.
‘This is really my dream, and if anyone said a year ago I’d be running my own games studio with a hit under my belt I wouldn’t have believed them.’
Once again this proves if you have a dream and keep at it miracles do happen.
[Thanks: http://www.examiner.com]
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