06: WGE MAG
WGE MAG: 07
After entering the video game universe, it was only a matter of time before the seeds of Game Nation were planted.”
in 1993 called Ruke Illustrations. I focused on entertainment and themed venues and grew that company into blink, a full service marketing and advertising firm in 1998. When most artists/illustrators didn’t want to touch a computer, Ruke embraced it. Not only was he able to create hand painted murals, but the use of technology enabled him to contribute to the overall design and theme of entertainment venues and destinations.” Ruke continued, “I wasn’t just contributing to these venues, but I also started representing them in the marketplace. By the eighth year of running my creative agency, I realized I had reached all the goals I had put in front of us.”
of an acre with filled with 190 trees. She said to me, “This is your playground. I literally took over the entire yard, building cities for matchbox cars, miniature Star Wars movie sets and a theme park. We charged the neighbourhood kids candy to go on the rides. Our favourite was a domed monkey bar structure that I turned upside down and hung between two tall trees. After loading it full of friends, my brother and I swung and spun it until everyone fell out or got sick. The back yard also saw many fires and explosions as we made our own pyrotechnics. Why my mom never stopped us, I still don’t know. This world building passion has obviously continued and one of my favourite pastimes is expanding my Star Wars collection (
theBestStarWarsCollectionEver.com). It’s a 600 square foot secret room in my home where my kids and I play with my Star Wars toys on miniature movie sets that we built.”
“And even as a young kid, I created my own little inventions. In fact, on my high school career test, the results suggested that I should be a mechanical engineer.”
Understanding that brands are felt, not read, Ruke expanded his illustration company in 1998 into blink, a non-traditional creative agency. The atmosphere offers employees the artistic freedom to create revolutionary work while making clients successful. Ruke has always looked for the client’s uniqueness in branding, product image and sales cycles, all of which separate the client from their competition. This was a major shift in his career. He was now able to represent projects and companies from an advertising and marketing capacity, as well as contribute to the creative development of their products and services. His drive and passion keep blink on the forefront of art and communication.
At the age of five, Ruke realized that art would become his life. His private training began at age eight and continued until his graduation from Ringling School of Art and Design. Daniel told WGE, “I have been professionally trained since the third grade as an illustrator. After graduating with a BFA in the department of illustration, I started my first company
By blink’s eighth year of operation, Ruke decided to expand from entertainment and destinations to video games. This expansion opened up a wide range of opportunities for blink and the brand, Ruke. The studio didn’t stop at representing video games, they helped develop them. In Daniel’s words, “After examining what I really wanted to get into next, I decided to jump into the video game industry. I got in pretty quickly and started representing them from a marketing perspective and because of my illustration and production background, started contributing to their development.
years of conceptualizing, sketching and building models of where I want to live and play, I was inspired to step out with Game Nation. So if you’re wondering how I came up with the idea, well it was a natural thing. It’s just what I do. And if you’re wondering why...well, cuz it’s where I want to be.”
Daniel is living his own personal dream life and feels fortunate to make those dreams come true, “I’ve wanted to develop a theme park integrating technology as long as I can remember. I had the art. I had the vision. And even as a young kid, I created my own little inventions. In fact, on my high school career test, the results suggested that I should
Daniel told WGE a story about the inspiration behind the planned theme park, “I remember some time back I had a conversation with my wife Sarai. We were talking about where we wanted to live when I retire not that I will ever really do that, but we had reached a point in our lives where we could contemplate it. We thought about what’s out there and none of it appealed to us. We realized that we would never fit into your typical community with a golf course and clubhouse. After all, where would I park my flying car? We wanted to live in a Star Wars, Lord of the Rings or even an extreme sport themed community, a place where, instead of a golf course, we’d have a theme park to play in. And forget about a clubhouse you’d play Bridge card games in! It had to be tree forts with ziplines leading to a clubhouse high in the trees! The biggest difference was that we wanted a place were everyone could gather and play video games, a central hub of technology and entertainment. We recognized that the places of the future have been
“72% of American households play video games. Additionally, 45% of parents play computer and video games on a weekly basis with their children.”
developed by a generation that will not exist much longer and there’s not a place for us or the generation after us. At that point, we knew it had to be a large scale project and that we weren’t the only ones who wanted it. So, after several
be a mechanical engineer. I must say that I’m very fortunate to have been able to surround myself with my passions and hobbies and be able to make a profession of it. When I was very little, wondering about a career, around middle school, my mother told me words that I live by to this day, “Do what you love and figure out how to make money at it.” The creation of Game Nation is a combination of all my talents, expertise and most of all, passions. It’s quite frankly what I’ve been working towards my entire life. With total immersion and complete interactivity, Game Nation will merge video game mechanics with physical themed attractions, creating some of the most unreal experiences gamers have ever had. Ruke will tell you, “Work is not my life. I live my work.”
It’s been about a year since WGE first heard about the Game Nation project and we wanted to know how things are progressing? Daniel replied, “Very well. Look, we’ve all wanted to walk down the street of our favorite map, fight our most feared villain and save the princess. And that’s exactly what Game Nation is going to allow you to do. That’s very infectious and a lot of people want to make it happen.” While the Game Nation team has not yet identified a development site yet, Ruke did tell us that, “We have identified several sites and many more have been brought to us. With a project of this nature, from the job creation to the economic impact, a lot of people want the park in their town. We need to make sure that the property and project matches.”
Ruke prides himself in creating cultural brands and being a keen observer of not only audience demographics, but, more importantly, their psychographics and social graphics. Daniel explained that, “Our target customers are families who are looking for vacation and entertainment for various ages. According to The Entertainment Software Association, 72% of American households play video games. Additionally, 45% of parents play computer and video games on a weekly basis with their children.”
WGE are intrigued by the Realm of Etheria and the Domain of Xeridon that is mentioned on the Game Nation website. We asked Daniel, what are they exactly? He told us that, “Game Nation is going to be the ultimate storytelling destination. So there is an overall story arc that ties the worlds together. But from a simple perspective, Etheria is the medieval world. Alternet is the alternate reality world. Chroma is the cartoon world. Xeridon is the future world and GN Sports is the sports world. Now if you look at what we did, every video
game made fits one of those genres. So, while each of these serve as a storytelling device, there is a practical reason as well.”
If you are interested in a newsletter and updates on the latest happenings for Game Nation, you can sign up at
http://www.demandgamenation.com/. Game Nation also has a Facebook page that you can join: http://www.
facebook.com/DemandGameNation. And, of course, there are always investor opportunities available.
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