This morning I put Solo Pong on the Android Market, after registering as an Android Developer under the name Petronic Arts yesterday. Petronic Arts has been a “company” a long time in the making. Dating back to my 6th grade year in fact. 6th grade was when I started writing software. I felt that I would make millions a lot faster writing epic video games than making websites. Unfortunately it hasn’t happened yet in either medium.

Anyway, in 6th grade I formed Xenex Games with Michael Betz, a good friend of mine and very talented composer. You can sample some of his work here. Anyway, we started learning how to program in Blitz Basic. Before long we had a “falling out,” or as much of a falling out as 6th graders could have within their small business (we stayed great friends.) He moved to music and I stuck with software. There was no way that either of us had the rights to the whole company, so new ones needed to be formed. With that I started using the name Petronic Arts. The logos associated with Petronic Arts were used the most heavily during my development on the Microsoft Zune with Arcade Classics. However, I released everything under my name instead of hiding behind a company front.

When I started thinking heavily about putting Solo Pong on the market, I had to pick a name once and for all. Throughout the process, these were the names that I considered the most:

• Tornado Software
• Vortex
• Intelliware
• Tornquist Software
• Petronic Arts
• Pancakes and Waffles
• Sheltered Byte
• SquareFish
• Antorn Technologies
• Dynamic Design
• Xenex Games
• Bits and Bytes
• Nathan Tornquist Technologies
• Tornquist Design

Some of the names were taken, and some didn’t really feel right to me, but I considered them all nonetheless. The hardest part of the process was deciding if I should use my own name/variation of, or if I should try to create a brand. After reading tons of “official” reports I learned that it really didn’t matter. The product did most of the defining, which just made my choice harder. There was nothing I could just default to. Nothing except Petronic Arts of course. The company that I started years ago and have used as a username (Petron) on numerous forums, has finally turned into something real. This certainly isn’t anything that a 6th grade Nathan Tornquist would have expected, although I did have grand dreams.

Over the past seven years I have released countless small indie projects online, but this is the first application that is available to a wider market. For the first time you will not have to install development tools to run my software. And with that, I introduce you all to Solo Pong, a game by Petronic Arts. Enjoy.

Nathan