Name: Perminder Singh Suman
Sex: Male
Date of birth: 9 April 1980
E-mail: [email protected]

Qualifications

GCSE:
- 7 GCSEs of grades C and above

A-Level:
- Mathematics - Grade B
- Physics - Grade B
- Computing - Grade C

Degree:
- Masters in MEng Software Engineering

Computing Skills

Programming:
- C++, Java, OpenGL, Cg, DirectAudio, Assembly, Turbo Pascal, Haskell/Gofer, Prolog, 'B'-tool, Java3D, HTML, PHIGS, MOO (language for creating multi-user dungeons)

Others:
- SQL, Oracle, MS Access, Together, Rational Rose, word processing, desktop publishing, spreadsheets, graphs, paint/photo packages (Photoshop, Paint Shop Pro, PhotoSuite)

Interests and Hobbies

Martial arts: I'm a 2nd Dan black belt in freestyle karate. I often teach the class and attend squad training sessions and tournaments where I have won many trophies. In 1998, I was awarded student of the year. In April 2003, I attended an audition for Fight School, a TV show on Sky One. I also have experience in Tai Kwon-Do and have now taken up boxing. In addition to these, I weight train 3 times a week.

Music: I am a massive fan of Michael Jackson and have been since I was a kid. My favourite song is Smooth Criminal. I have seen MJ a number of times. The first time was in Germany at the MJ & Friends concert in 1999. In 2001, I went on the trip of a lifetime to New York to see him in concert for his 30th anniversary of being a solo artist, in which he rejoined with Jacksons to give an unforgettable performance. It was also one of the most significant times of my life because I made some amazing friends, one of whom is my very best. It was also the time when the planes hit the World Trade Centre on September 11th. You can read about it here. The last time I saw MJ was in 2002 at a fan party and he gave an amazing speech about his fight with Sony music.

Computer games: I am a massive games freak! I love them! My first console was a Telesports 3 which had incredibly rubbish graphics made out of great big squares! Still, they have a certain charm and were probably unbelievable for its time. I then progressed to the Atari 2600, which provided a lot of fun. It even had Double Dragon on it! Atari was a familiar name in my household. We had loads of 8-bit Atari computers throughout the years.

Then we got a Megadrive and it was like living in a dream! I thought that machine could do anything, I was so impressed. The games that came along with it were Altered Beast and Moonwalker, both of them great titles. It was the first time we had anything like 'proper' games in our house (the Atari games were usually single-screen affairs of unheard of titles). I remember my younger brother laughing his head off at Altered Beast whenever someone punched a zombies head off, and how he kept posing like the pictures on the intermission screens. Moonwalker was even better. I was controlling my idol, beating people up by performing dance moves. How cool is that?! One game that I hold close to my heart is Golden Axe. The build-up to it was a personal experience. I had seen it briefly in an arcade and read a review of it in a magazine. I was getting very excited. When it came out in the shops, I watched the demos being played all the time. The day that I bought it couldn't have been better. It was a nice, warm day with the sun shining. When I actually had a copy in my hand, I read the manual in town and the excitement was becoming unbearable. My dad dropped me and my two brothers off home while they went shopping at Tescos. It was getting to sunset and the sky was becoming a beautiful pink, the perfect atmosphere for this game. I put the game in the Megadrive and switched it on. The intro started with a menacing soundtrack to tell us we're in for a serious fight! We started a two player game and the level one music kicked in. I had no idea the music was going to be this cool! It really got the adrenaline going. Everything about the game is nigh-on perfect - the medieval setting with its beautiful backdrops and characters, the music, the quality of the graphics. It is a masterpiece. The only problems I have with it are the difficulty, which is too easy, and the shortness of the levels. However, in time I have realised that these work in its favour as a retro game. The fact that the levels, and therefore the game itself, are so short means that it's not a chore to play through it again and again. And I do play it again and again to this very day. An absolutely beautiful game.

The Megadrive days were probably the best for me. Since then, I have had an Atari ST, several 16-bit Amigas, SNES, Gameboy Color and Advance, Saturn, PlayStation 1 and 2, Dreamcast and a few PCs.

With all these years of experience playing games, I now want to create games. I have the skills, enthusiasm and dedication to achieve my dream. I can't wait!