Profile: Ken Innes IV

I have created a bunch of profiles at various websites all over the web. Some I did just because I was bored, but others, like the Item-Swapping websites, actually serve a purpose. Anyway, here are the ones I know about. Some are filled out more than others.

🌲 Link Tree

Social Networking

• YouTube
• Facebook
• Instagram
• LinkedIn
• RetroAchievements
• BoardGameGeek.com

Item Swapping

• Game Trading Zone Profile

Miscellaneous Websites

• Wikipedia Profile
• Amazon.com Profile
• Moby Games Developer Profile
• Deviant Art Profile
• phpBB Profile
• DuoLingo Profile

School Websites

• ClassReport.org Profile for Hogan High School
• ClassReport.org Profile for Bartlett High School

California State University, Sacramento
Location: Sacramento, CA
Attended: 1995 - May 1999

Solano Community College
Location: Fairfield, CA
Attended: 1993 - 1995

Hogan High School
Location: Vallejo, CA
Attended: 1990 - 1993 (class of 1993)

Bartlett High School
Location: Arlington, TN
Attended: 1989 - 1990 (class of 1993)

Shadowlawn Middle School
Location: Arlington, TN
Attended: 1987 - 1989

Mrachek Middle School
Location: Bartlett, CO
Attended: 1986 - 1987

Vassar Elementary School
Location: Bartlett, CO
Attended: 1984 - 1986

Dan Mini Elementary School
Location: Vallejo, CA
Attended: 1980 - 1984

Want to know about some of my friends? Well, here they are, grouped by the area in which I lived when I met them. If you are one of these friends that I have lost contact with, or a friend that I just forgot to list, please contact me!

From When I lived in Vallejo, California

Gary Smith, AKA "Theo"
Gary and I didn't have any classes together, yet we met each other while both attending Solano Community College. The meeting was set up through a mutual friend and fellow student, Bill Stringfellow, who knew that unlike himself, we both lived in Vallejo. Gary and I got along well, since we're both computer and sci-fi geeks.

James Lin
James and I met in Solano Community College, and I believe it was in physics class, though it could have easily been a math class. James was a huge anime fan, like myself, except that he had walls and walls lined with anime VHS tapes whereas I only had a couple. It was through him that I greatly expanded my knowledge of anime. I also became friends with his younger brother, Mike, and together we fansubbed several anime episodes.

Radford Castro
Radford and I met in Hogan High School, I believe in gym class, though we did have other classes together. We hit it off because we were both fanatics about videogames. Oh, he even wrote a book about videogaming, called Let Me Play: Stories Of Gaming And Emulation. We kind of lost touch after high school, though coincidentally ran into each other inside Sacramento's Virgin Megastore, where I was on my first or second date with Latrice, the woman who is now my wife.

Bill Stringfellow
Bill was another friend that I met in Solano Community College, most likely in physics class. He was not only a very bright guy academically, but he was very smart in general and always very kind and upbeat. He's pretty much what Flander's used to be on The Simpsons, the perfect neighbor (before the producers started making him uber-religious). We graduated from Solano Community College at the same time, and transferred to California State University, Sacramento (CSUS), where we carpooled to for several years. He graduated a year before I did, as I didn't have the programming experience that he had when we transferred.

Conor Vaughan
Conor lived next door to me when we moved back to Vallejo. Due to our proximity and love of toys and videogames, we quickly became best friends. We still see each other on occasion, like when I go down to visit my parents, and we still communicate through email. He was even trying to get a job up here in Redding, but he was beat out by one guy. Still, if that guy leaves, odds are he'll be able to fill the position and move up here, which would be awesome.

Mike Smith
Mike was another friend from Solano College, and another member of my physics class. Though to be fair, he was really more of an acquaintance, since we didn't really hang out separately from working on school projects. We met up again in CSUS, when we realized we had both transferred to the same college, and were looking for partners to form a Senior Project team. We worked really well together, but lost contact after college. I tried e-mailing him like a year later, but the email just bounced.

From When I lived in Bartlett, Tennessee

David Ball
David was my next door neighbor when we lived in Bartlett, TN. He was a little younger than I was, but we still got along great. He had a younger brother, but I can't think of what his name was. Our parents also became close friends. Before we had moved away back to Vallejo, David succeeded in becoming a black-belt in Tai-Kwon-Doe.

Andy Winemiller
Andy and I met while attending Shadowlawn Middle School in Memphis, TN. We became good friends, and remained so even after he had to move back to Arkansas. Luckily, I got to go visit him there before my family and I headed off to put our roots back into California.
Alternate website: Live Journal

Chris Bailey
Chris and I met in Shadowlawn Middle School. He had tons of toys... and I mean tons! He had an entire room just for holding and playing with all his toys. And this was a BIG room. How big? He had the gigantic GI Joe Aircraft Carrier, the Cobra Terrordrome, and many other vehicles and figures laying around, and there was still plenty of room to move around and play. And once he got a NES, he got a television put in there too. Some of my best memories are of sleeping over at his house playing videogames until it was practically morning.

Chris Luckett
Chris and I were friends from school... though I don't think we hung out a whole lot as my memory is kinda fuzzy on him... sorry!

Michael Bernard
Michael and I were friends from school... though I don't think we hung out a whole lot as my memory is kinda fuzzy on him... sorry!

Mike Amos
I think I met Mike through Chris Bailey, as I think they were friends, and he was probably in some classes with me too but I can't really recall. We weren't good friends, more like acquaintances.

Yusuf Kinkhabwala
Yusef lived down the street from Chris Bailey, and they were good friends, so we became friends as well (plus we all went to the same school). I remember Yusef as being very smart and fairly quiet, unlike Chris who was very outgoing. I wanted to be smart like Yusuf and outgoing like Chris.

From When I lived in Aurora, Colorado

David Shepherd
Once David (I hope I spelt his last name correctly) and I met, we quickly became best friends. We met during recess in Vassar Elementary School. We both loved Transformers and any other robot-style toys. We hung out as much as we could, which wasn't all the time because he didn't live within walking distance. I believe he was scheduled to move to Texas shortly after we were scheduled to move to Tennessee.

Ian Zinth & Kyle Zinth
These two friends lived down the street from me in Aurora, CO. Ian was my age, and we went to the same school, usually walking there together in the cold Colorado mornings and then walking back in the afternoons. Kyle was a few years younger, but we all still played together since we liked the same toys and cartoons. They also had a younger brother named Robby who would sometimes hang out with us.

Ivan Jackson
Ivan I met in school while living in Aurora, CO. I really don't remember how we met, but I know we didn't live nearby each other. We liked the same kind of cartoons (such as Thundercats) and we'd hang out at recess, oh, and we did some school projects together. I believe that he was going to be moving away to Austrailia shortly after we were scheduled to move to Tennessee. He recently contacted me through e-mail, saying that he was now in the military, but I haven't heard back from him since I responded, so I really hope he's okay.

Patrick
Sorry Patrick, I can't think of your last name. We must have met in school, because we didn't live within walking distance of each other.

Mike
Sorry Mike, I can't think of your last name. We went to the same school... I'm pretty sure. Actually, I don't really remember hanging out with him at school. He was the same age as me though. Mike lived at the end of the street in the opposite direction of Ian & Kyle's house. It was a bit of a walk, especially since we lived on the crest of a hill and he was at the bottom.

From When I lived in Vallejo, California... The First Time

Jason
Jason was in my elementary school class. We weren't really friends, as we didn't hang out or anything, but we were on the same Soccer team. It was called the Defenders, named after the videogame. At least, it was for one year. I don't actually remember how many years I played, it's all kind of a blur. I remember not liking it, though.

Michelangelo
Michelangelo lived across the street from me when I first lived in Vallejo, and he would often come over and play with Steve and I. As typical with children, I didn't keep in contact with him when we moved, though coincidentally, after we moved back, my mom and I met him and his mother in a store. I didn't even recognize him, and honestly, couldn't really remember anything about him, just that I knew we had been friends.

Steven Garcia
Steve and I lived down the street from each other when we first lived in Vallejo. He was my best friend and we played together all the time. Then towards the end of fourth grade we moved away, and when we returned something like seven years later, we ended up in the same high school biology class together. Unfortunately, our reunion was short lived, as he was going to be moving away, to Florida I believe, and that happened only like a few days later.

For all of my buddies out there that I missed, I'm sorry! Contact me and really chew me out!

Once I became part of the Working Designs team, I would occasionally receive requests from students interested in my line of work to answer some interview questions. This is one such interview that I did back in August 2004.

1. What do you do on a typical work day?

We localize games from Japan, so for the most part the projects we get are already functional. On a typical work day, I edit and modify the source code. Near the beginning of the project, this is to get the game running in English, but after that I add new features to the game and fix bugs that were present in the original game.

2. What do you feel is the most appealing part of your job?

I love being able to take an enjoyable game and modifying it so that when I'm playing it I won't have to say "This is fun, but I wish they had done this".

3. What do you feel is the most frustrating part of your job?

Well, sometimes we aren't sent everything we need to build the game, which is really frustrating, because initially I can't tell if we really are missing something or if I'm just doing something wrong.

4. What part of your job do you spend the most time on?

Modifying the code to add features and make the game flow smoother.

5. What jobs have you had before reaching your current position (if any)?

In high-school I worked in fast food, in junior college I tutored Physics, and in college I improved and developed for a company's intranet.

6. What was your major in college?

Computer science, with a minor in math.

7. What courses are required for this field?

A lot of computer science and some math. I don't remember what all the different classes were called.

8. What kind of training did you yourself go through?

I didn't go through any training to get the job, and there was no training once I got the job other than learn as you go.

9. What additional training do you feel would be beneficial (if any)?

It probably would of helped if I had tried writing my own games, even if they were simple ones.

10. What was most appealing about pursuing your career?

I wanted to localize games because I didn't want to spend years working on a game and have the chance it would turn out crappy. This way we start out with great games, and the only place to go is up.

11. How did you go about finding your current job?

I sent a resume and cover letter to the company.

12. How long was the interval between the time you decided to be a programmer and the time you actually became one?

I was considering it toward the end of high-school and the first year of junior college. I became an official programmer as soon as I graduated from the University.

13. What kind of demand is there in your field?

I don't really keep tabs on what kind of demand there is.

14. What kind of competition is there?

I'm not really sure about this either.

15. How much can someone just entering this field expect to earn?

Depends on where you're located. Redding has a much lower cost of living than somewhere like L.A. It's enough to live comfortably.

16. Do you really have to sometimes pull "all-nighters," and if so, how often?

Yes. How often depends on the situation. One time I spend basically a week just practically living at the office because we had a major hard drive crash and lost almost everything. Usually, though, there isn't strict deadlines, so I could just come in on the weekend to finish up something.

17. How do you feel when you finish a project?

Relieved, and dismayed that I'll be starting a new project soon, since starting a project is always the hardest part.

18. What advice would you give to a student looking to become a (insert occupation title here)?

Practice on your free time creating a variety of different programs.

19. Are there any similar occupations that you would suggest I find out about?

Not that I can think of.

20. What kind of attitude should one have when pursuing this career?

Always keep a positive attitude.