ABOUT ME

Hi I’m Dean Wilson, a Game Developer and Software Engineer from Perth, Western Australia

Career & Education

Ever since high school, I would tinker with Game Development in Game Maker and eventually moved up to Unity, learning C#. In 2015 I graduated from SAE Institute with my Bachelor’s Degree in Games Development. I then worked on a small couch co-op game with a local independent game development studio. 

In 2018 I went back to University to study for a Bachelor’s Degree in Computer Science, Majoring in Software Engineering. During my studies, I worked at JourneyOne as a Graduate Software Engineer, working on a Software as a Service product in React and Javascript. I finished my degree in 2021 and now work at Insig Technologies, creating Web Applications in Vue 3 and Typescript with a C# backend.

While working as a software engineer I still like to keep up my game developer skills, working on small side projects and posting Devlogs to my Youtube channel.

Interests and Hobbies:

Video Games:

Naturally, I’m an avid gamer. When I was three years old my parents got me a Nintendo 64, I don’t remember much from back then but I have seen old videos of me playing Super Mario 64, and I was hooked for life. Growing up I played a lot of different games, from many different genres. One of the earliest games I do remember enjoying was Pokemon Red on Gameboy Color. I think this is where my love for RPGs came from. I have always found the progression of these games rewarding, as you become stronger and stronger to take tougher enemies.

My favourite game is Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic. Admittedly the second iteration improved the mechanics of the game drastically, however, the first one holds a special place in my heart. The rich story and character development coupled with the choices of becoming a valiant Jedi or a vicious Sith Lord were intriguing for a young gamer, I find that I enjoy this game a lot more as an adult for completely different reasons.

If I were to take off my nostalgia goggles and pick a more recent title I think Persona 5 Royal is my pick. I think that game perfectly captures all of the elements I find enjoyable in games and lays it out in a long but thought-provoking narrative. While it’s by no means a perfect game, I find the dichotomy between balancing your social life in the game and increasing your social skills with “stealing the hearts” of sinful adults that take advantage of the protagonist and his friends to be very stimulating and also oddly familiar to my experience with finding a work-life balance in real life. It’s like the game was constantly reminding me why I was playing the game while also providing another commentary on society and social issues.

Music:

Another hobby I partake in outside of gaming is music, after I finished high school I taught myself to play the electric guitar and went on to play in a progressive metal band with some friends from school. After gaining some confidence I decided to pick up singing lessons as it was something I always enjoyed but never really felt comfortable learning to do. For the past 5 years, I have been taking lessons, playing in a couple more bands and writing/recording my own music in my room. I have a pretty wide music taste as I often practice and listen to a lot of heavy metal music but I find myself writing songs that are more Pop inspired.

You can find some of my covers and clips on my music channels on YouTube and Instagram