How it started
I began in the nineties, when the internet in Colombia was barely a promise. I was one of the founders of ALDEA Comunicaciones and set out to experiment with the earliest forms of communication on the web. From that time comes a project I still remember fondly: "8 days alone with the world" (1998), where we isolated a person for a week so they could communicate only through the internet. It became the most-visited Colombian page of its time, with more than 700,000 visitors. It was a question turned into an experiment: how far can the internet sustain a life?
Platforms
For almost two decades I directed the development of digital platforms for the country's media. At RTVC, the public media system, I headed projects like RTVCPLAY and the portals for Señal Colombia, Radiónica and Radio Nacional. Later, at RCN Radio, I directed the division's digital products. I learned to build things used by millions of people, caring about the architecture, the experience and what those platforms make possible.
Video games
In parallel, I never let go of play. From my first prototypes at Mankala to GameLoop, my current studio, I've made games that explore identity, memory and the city: independence, the nights of Chapinero, the pre-Columbian, a future Bogotá. I'm interested in the video game as a medium to tell who we are, not only to entertain.
And now, academia
A few years ago I wanted to think all of this through more rigorously. I did a master's in Digital Humanities and today I'm pursuing a PhD in Communication at Javeriana, where I also teach. My research studies how video games build cultural representations, especially of Latin America. It's the place where the builder and the questioner finally come together.
And outside all of that
I've done all sorts of things: writing about video games, teaching, photography, video, podcasting. I'm a fan of comics, food, film, television and music. And, above all, I'm the proud dad of Margarita. 🙂
