Petronic Arts – Idea to Reality

by admin

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