John Bankley got a degree in CS from the and an MBA from Purdue in 2000. He recently founded Polyphorm Games, Indiana's first and only video game company. Granted, Indiana is an odd place to develop video games, but like me, John is a midwestern guy. The company has several million in venture capital, a few dozen empoloyees, and recently announced a distribution partnership with . They are developing several strong titles for the as-yet-unannounced PlayStation 3 and . recently published a story entitled, "Polyphorm Poised to Explode".
I first met John when he personally came to Purdue's job fair last semester. He wanted to hire an intern to work for the summer at his new company. I waited in line behind maybe four or five other students who had also heard through the grapevine about the small game company. When my turn came, I handed John my resumé and we talked for a while about my desire for a summer internship. That short conversation led to an on-site interview at the Polyphorm offices overlooking the White River downtown. I signed the employment contract over spring break. I start work on the Wednesday after finals.
Update
Yes, it is an April Fool's joke, but there is a kernel of truth in that story. I did recently accept a summer job with a software development firm and I do start on the Wednesday after finals. The company does not make games (which is a ), but it made for a good story. Instead, it does contract software development and consulting, exactly what I want to do when I finally decide join The Real World. It is older, bigger, and closer to home than Polyphorm as I described it. I am really looking forward to finishing this crazy semester and starting work again.