Final blog summary

For all my avid usual readers I'm sure you all know that the primary reason for this blog was to keep a frequently updated summary of my experiences in searching for a career. 

Sadly this will be my last post as today's entry is to be a summary that will future the experiences of the successes and failures of obtaining a job, meaning it is the ending post for this blog to finally complete this project. 

Now don’t go all sadface, I will return most likely from a different blogging source, however just for university purposes, especially since the teachers have to mark this. Unfortunately this post will remain stapled to the front page and there will be no longer any updates from this blog site.

Every aspect in this post will be in relation to the university assignment, factors such as attending gaming events reading up on magazines the use of various websites basically everything that I've pretty much touched upon and follows the criteria of this coursework. 

Each area that will be covered will be categorised into different sections to help encourage a clearer and understandable approach in reading this post, so let’s begin!

Introduction: O_O

Back in October I began my voyage on embarking new ground in finding a job in the video-games industry. Honestly at the very beginning I felt slightly sceptical in regards to creating a blog. I hardly update my twitter account, so to keep frequent updates for my career path I felt that it could be quite troublesome.

 

Regardless I am very open to new things to the creation of this blog was quite early, and with continuous attendances to lectures at University and a special thank you to the teachers I began to understand the variety of sources that were open to aid. 

Moreover I didn't know it would be quite fun, especially being given the chance to open yourself to the world in relation to the gaming side of my life.

Self-Promotion:

Everything in this post is going to be taking snippets from the list of various entries from the previous months, which I’m sure you can all review at a later point, at the end of this post for evidence and in-depth information, since these factors will only be briefly explained under this summary.

We'll begin with me and my friends who headed to 'HMV' during the summer holidays in 2010, when we met the designer of my favourite gaming franchise metal gear solid, Hideo Kojima. He was doing a game signing for the latest game in the series. 'MGS: Peace Walker' and I’m sure all you long term readers have seen the images of my signed copy.

'Eurogamer' was another major event; I’ve been to every event since 2008. Playing the latest gaming titles, participating in press conferences and attending the careers fair that was hosted by 'Gamesindustry.biz', where I’ve met many people from the gaming industry.

Last year in 2010 at Eurogamer I applied to volunteer to help out at 'Eurogamer' and this was successful as the event coordinators from this event were happy to take me aboard due to my keen interest and passion for video games.

Furthermore, weeks later  there was an opening to help Bethesda and Splash-Damage, to help these companies out at their booths. So I contacted Eurogamer once again to apply, and unfortunately ‘at first’ I wasn’t given the job since all places had already been taken, it was very limited!

This could be stated as a failure for one point, however since the event lasted for three days. And I was helping on the last day leaving me with two days to experience the gaming event, I spoke with Splash-Damage and Bethesda myself to ask for permission if I could help them out, and they were very eager to have me.

So regardless if I failed once I tried again by asking those in person and it worked and then I got given the chance to contribute by aiding the two firms and it also lead to me to obtain their business cards for further contact.

Additionally I was also asked if I could help out other leading companies such as Microsoft, with Epic games latest in chainsaw tearing action ‘Gears of War 3.’ Due to my flexible and very helpful attitude I was praised by the Eurogamer team, I was very enthusiastic to help.  

In terms of other job searches, I did look online using various websites such as Gamesindustry.Biz, Linked-in and my own personal research on different games companies such as rare or play-fish. For any job entries where I did apply and am awaiting for any reply from these companies. 

Unfortunately I haven’t had great luck in terms of job hunting since there isn’t any company currently who has stated that they are interested in me.

However in the time of writing this, I received an e-mail from Gamesindustry.biz highlighting a game-testing job for 3 months in South-East England. So I have provided the company with my CV and hoping for any contact in return. So this was one highlight of the weekend, to hear about this job entry.

Keepin in relation with finding a career, late 2010 I was asked to come to a role-play of an interview with the games company 'Rebbelion'  I had spoken about this earlier in my blog and outlined details from my experience, it was very good and I feel i gained good experience.

Potential Markets:

I have promoted 'Lionheads' mobile phone game on different occasions on my blog, named ‘KingMaker’ and have been contributing towards this game as well as provoking many friends to download this title.

Additionally looking into other aspects in technology such as the 'Samsung Galaxy tablet' and 'Apple's Ipad

Casual gaming was also stated, indicating 'Microsoft’s Kinect' with the use of its hands-free motion controls enabling players to do much more without the requirement of using a controller.

My future plans:

Overall I’ve enjoyed everything in the on-going process of further developing this blog, from promoting new gaming titles, travelling to different events and promoting aspects of the games industry, such as casual and mobile gaming.

Many factors have been met and I have applied for various titles In different companies, and I’ll try to be short since I’m pretty sure I’ve gone a bit over my recommended number count ha! So I’ll finish off by stating my future plans.

Personally I want to work in the industry as a lead games designer, however before I reach that goal, I will be applying as a programmer because it is possibly the fastest route into the games industry because from experiences and research from websites such as 'gamesindustry.biz' there has always been entries for this particular role. And from speaking to the people from the careers fair I’d been told to choose one area and 

not a mixture.

My plan is to work for a company for at least a good number of years to gain experience and feel far more confident in the development processes in creating a game. However personally I want to open my own business as a games designer.

It will be very hard, however one of my teachers ‘Dave’ mentioned a company named ‘Tiga’ who help and are for the games industry and people who are looking to open their own firm to develop video games.

So I will be getting some advice from them and looking into deeper research in creating my own business in the near future.

I already have quite a few talented people who are eager to join me in my firm that I am aching to create so once the time is right, gained the experience and hold enough funding,  I will be putting my foot down to begin my prospect of becoming a director of a video games firm and forming the name of my business to become a global hit in the games industry.

Alright I’ll conclude with that, sorry if all you teachers felt this summary was quite informal in some cases, however as it is a post for my blog, I felt to keep the language and the style of writing to be casual for all the usual readers of my blog.

Take care all of you and thank you for sharing this experience with me and I really appreciate this. I think I will return again in another blogging website so the markers can be happy and do as they please with this one.

Bye everyone =]

System Reboot [Part 2]

What are you looking at?!? >__>

Don't stare too deep into these eyes, they'll possess you and lure you into her world of danger survival and despair o_O Alright I'll stop talking rubbish =] so yes we return to the reboot of series article, we spoke about MK yesterday and today we'll finish with the almost dead Tomb Raider series.

Yes I'll be cynical in the approach towards this series. Apologies in advance to Lara fans, I haven't got too much of an issue with the character, it's just ever since that abomination 'Tomb-Raider: Angel of Darkness' back on Sony's Playstation 2.

I honesty began to lose my interest, It was terrible and not only that, it was voted the Christmas turkey by many gaming websites and magazines.

Not stating that the later instalments on the Xbox360 and Playstation 3 hadn't improved. Titles such as Tomb Raider Underworld were actually alright. Not great but it had nice water effects, until *cough* Uncharted :/

Right I'll stop being such a critical *ahem* ( I'll let the haters make up the word =]) however honestly I'm making a point here and at the end of this post I think you guys might even agree with me and leave with happy face ^__^ 

Behold the line of lara's o_O

For over a decade the Tomb Raider series has been around and honestly I think the series was at it's prime when it was on the original Playstation. However as soon as it set on the newer console such as the PS2, it went down hill.

It did soon move back up a bit when the series hit the next generation of games consoles such as the Xbox360, the water effects, and the gameplay did improve, however the series struggled to really keep that consistency since the series just felt like losing its touch and more of a lets adjust the bust size of Lara from game to game, seriously! Check out the picture above! 


I mean a certain title from Naughty-Dog 'Uncharted 2' which yes did get inspiration from the Tomb Raider series has gained incredible praise in terms of reviews and reaching game of the year status and in all honestly in comparison to a game series that has lasted over a decade, Uncharted 2 has just seemed a lot more, I suppose you could say a 'satisfying thrill ride of epic fun, humour, character and just complete entertainment.'

Honestly this game is epic!

I admit that I am being pretty harsh on the Tomb Raider franchise however the series has lost that magic about it. However the arcade title on the Marketplace and Playstation network store 'Lara Croft Guardian of the Light' did really well and was enjoyable.

What I'm trying to get as is that, the series is going towards a more positive approach and this year the series is going for a whole reboot.

It's to say this whole decade of the gaming franchise 'Tomb-Raider' never happened. The developers Crystal Dynamics are doing a total system restore of the series and starting a whole new Tomb Raider. New looks, basically the whole game is going to be made from the ground up! A fresh new start to reclaim that positive image that Tomb Raider is good live and kicking!

Your eyes do not fool you. This is new Tomb Raider! (I know old news!)

First off all thank you Game-Informer for providing the images that I will be using within this post. I gained the information from the preview that I read off one of the game magazine's I read(GamesMaster). And honestly from what I've seen the new Tomb Raider is not just looking great, but in terms of gameplay very interesting but fun and entertaining at the same time, which is what you'd want =]

Mysteries of the Island

According to what I've read, the sole purpose of the new Lara Croft who has a totally different appearance, and is 21 years young. The developers have given her a far more down to earth look, she seems more vulnerable, delicate and a lot more human, who seems totally inexperienced to a combat scenario.

The Gamesmaster magazine stated that Crystal Dynamics the developers had said their main goal was to "not create a heroin that can overcome any obstacle with sutra pout and a witty quip but a younger, less experienced lead with an inner strength who must overcome overwhelming fear and emotion". 

That small quote from the developers alone shows what the new Lara Croft is about; this reboot is like the birth of a new character and a new fresh start for the Tomb Raider franchise.

Oh noos she's hurt =[

The new Tomb Raider is said to be set on a remote island, she and other passengers who were in a ship wreck had been captured and taken away by the native people who live on this island filled with mysterious, suspense and danger.

Captured by the bad Island People? O_O

This new Lara's goal is survival! She will not have the cunning attributes that the previous Lara Croft possessed. She's inexperienced and has not dealt with such situations. It is you the player who must keep her alive. And without the weapons and any other thing that may have come granted in previous titles.

In this game, your alone, just you on an island of danger where you will have to use anything that is at hand, scavenge for anything useful and according to the ‘Gamesmasters’ magazines article, perhaps even design your own weaponry or anything else that could come in handy such as finding an axe to use as leverage to climb a small hill or mountain cliff.

You could say this is like a mixture of lost, castaway anything that comes close. However I don't think Lara is going to become insane and become friends with a football. o_O

So this new Tomb Raider could be said to be hybrid of an action/adventure, survivor, horror game. The story and tone will be far darker and this game from the looks of it seems to be taking Tomb Raider to lengths the series has never come close to reaching, where the main protagonist of the game, can be stabbed or crushed by a rock, there seems to not be any limits towards the brutality and survival atmosphere that this new IP should bring.

Running back to what I said earlier about the Tomb Raider losing its magic and just being a dead series. I'll stick with that comment. However this new reboot of the game franchise. A new Lara, a new persona and honestly I will be forgetting the previous games even existed. To me this is not a new Tomb Raider, but a whole new franchise that will come to home consoles and PC hopefully sometime this year in 2011. My guess, it's near Christmas time. 

The gritty new look of Lara really brings out the character and survival antics of what this game will hold.

Hope this post didn't seem too cynical and I agree I did bad-mouth the Tomb Raider series, however like I said before the arcade title did well, and with this new title I see a bright future for Lara Croft and honestly I’m actually quite excited to hear more about this game. Yes I cannot wait and once I find a release date, this might even go on the pre-order list of must have games of 2011 ;) 

Oh yes and sorry for being an angry (gamenerd) like the one from Gametrailers o_O Not trying to be unprofessional just stating how much of an improvement this new Tomb Raider seems to be in comparison to what was brought to the table in the previous instalments.  

Alright <3 you guys take care ^__^ 

System Reboot. [Part 1]

Sometimes in the world of media. Things seem to lose their touch and kind of end up getting nowhere. Sales go downhill, and as hard as the production team works on such games it just leads to more of a..."meh...." scenario.

Edge & GamesMaster =]

I've been reading these magazines for the past thirty minutes now, more like skimming through it. I was just soo eager to post something new today to all you magical people! (No lie! O_O)

The issues are actually a good read, especially the new Games-master! [Yes I know this magazine hasn't been the greatest and Edge rules.] Thing is, the latest issue has quite some nice previews that include the new Tomb Raider (we'll get to that =P) and of course as the front cover shows Mortal Kombat!!!!

Today’s post is pretty much based around the reboot of video games series' that have been here longer than a decade now! And explain why this is a good thing and why these new titles will have a very good chance at not being pure FAIL!

The latest instalment of the MK (Mortal Kombat), 'slowly dying' series. Honestly sorry for being very cynical in this post however it is true. The previous games haven't really been that great, and have seemed to go quite timid on the whole brutality that is MK!

Additionally I don't know where the series was going when the last game brought in superheroes from DC universe. The series seemed to have taken the wrong turn and honestly if this was to continue without any vast improvements it was soon to head first into a pile of ash.

It's not to say the previous games were rubbish, they were good however they lacked the whole insanely gory atmosphere and being able to lunge enemies to their demise using the environment. It just seemed that the series had lost its touch.

That being said a new Mortal Kombat has arrived and was shown to the public last year in 2010. The classic series has been set to redeem its self and we'll begin this preview with a short video of the latest instalment.

Remember to watch in HD. 720p or 1080p =]

Alright that trailer was awesome! And I think It did make people go 'wow o_O' Another factor that you must have noticed was that it had Kratos from God Of War. He is a PS3 exclusive I’m afraid.

And in all honestly I know there may be mixed emotions but for anyone who has played God Of War. I think Kratos would make a great fit into the Mortal Kombat universe.

For the Xbox360 owners, there has yet to be any confirmation on who will be the special guest star for Microsoft. Perhaps there might not even be one o_O

Back to the topic! So yes the trailer looked epic, but regardless of that, the game has been revamped and has gone back to its old roots from the previous Mortal Kombats that were released on home consoles such as SNES or PS1.

Scorpion's uppercut to the chin doubles up as a splash-guard. Aint he Clever XD

The visual pwarness of the game is easily the best for the series, including the brilliant and atmospheric 3D backgrounds.

However the gameplay will be constricted to a 2D plane. Leaving the player to only move forward or back. Classic MK style =P this is what the fans wanted and the developers 'Nether-Realm' (previously Midway) listened. See this is why people should listen; something good can come out of it! 

So no more moving around in a 3D arena. Imagine you’re stuck in rectangular steel cage match. Just you and your opponent in a fight to the death. Nowhere to escape! Or waste time by running around other places in 3D-space. So yeah <3 it. 

The story (honestly I never really followed this...) will take place on the events from MK 1 to 3. Long story short, from what I've read Raiden was about to get killed by the big bad skelator looking dude 'Shao-Kahn' (the big guy in the skull mask from the trailer) 

However before Raiden got killed, he managed to use his telepathic God powers to warn a previous Raiden in a different time-zone. Of what will happen if he doesn’t act fast! 

The sweet news is that for people new to the series or who haven't been following the story. It's a great way to reboot the series to bring back the old MK with gory finishers and over the top insane moves o_O as well as environmental fatalities! 

Said to be most visually brutal MK yet, no holds barred this time round and the below two pictures are sure satisfy the awesome goriness that the series has lacked a bit in the previous games. 

The X-ray moves are awesome! Pounding your opponent and being able to mock them as they see their own demise! 

So far I haven't seen a release date, and there's said to be 16 or maybe even more characters to choose from. According to the games-master preview the set of features will include, (I’ll mention the few not so obvious)

Tag-team mode (you can do co-op combo moves), Challenge-Tower Mode, In-game currency (I guess you'll be able to customise?) 3D-support (If you’re lucky enough to have those expensive TV's. O_O) and blood physics. (So you can see the blood swish away all over =P)

Overall I think this restart of the series was a big necessity. If the game kept on going the way it was, seriously it would have ended up nowhere. 

I lost total interest in this series however from viewing the videos and looking at the screens and features honestly I'm actually looking forward to Mortal Kombat.....After probably around 8 years. >_<

Hope you enjoyed this preview, MK I can honestly say will obviously not become Game of year 2011! But it's nice that the developers are trying to being back what MK is and not something that is showing signs of desperation. MK vs. DC seriously WTF? T___T

I'll see you guys later, watch out for part 2 =]

Rare-Jobs

Happy new year to all of you! First new post of 2011. I know It has been a while since the last update been caught up with things however this year my time management will be far improved =] so this blog it all began with me promoting myself to the world to find a profession within the games industry.

I have been doing my research and I did come upon a very successfully established company who have been creating iconic favourites on the Nintendo 64, to becoming part of the Microsoft family. I'm talking about the shiny and magical company....

Conker =P

Years back they designed many memorable titles that included a pretty Lo@d mouth squirrel that was not only fun, packed with action but hilarious! I loved this combination when it came to a video game to keep the player entertained.

Thank you IGN. (Conker-Live and Reloaded on Original Xbox)

Banjo-Kazooie

Banjo-Kazooie held a similar persona as the above game, minus the curse words =P.

 Rare is a company that has created
Some very successful titles and now are working under the Microsoft Brand, and developing games such as Viva Pinata.

This doesn't mean the brand has been always creating titles that would not cater for a hardcore gamer who would only enjoy a shooter.

Perfect-Dark <3

Both titles contained brilliant action, and the likes of Conker even contained a third person shooter perspective in various levels.

In fact the company had even created a couple of the finest first person shooters to date.

The likes of 007 Goldeneye was a master-piece and then the release of the co-op frenzy incredible fps title Perfect Dark.

Allowing players to team-up and complete the game together, to help enhance the gameplay and create a more fun play-style.

Games such as the like of Bungie's Halo and Gears Of War who have catered there campaign modes for a cooperative experience must have taken inspiration from what Rare has provided the gaming world.




The coolest part is that Rare love to hire graduates, they like new talent and the reason why is because they like to teach people to work, how they work using their own techniques.

Introducing new-comers to the way of work, helps them to adapt to their ways a lot faster than more experienced talent could be one big factor as to why they <3 young talent! =]

Oh and they do internships, so if you are interested in gaining some experience within a gap-year at university well now is the time to apply!

Shh...Stole this picture from Rare's recruitment site =P

The company is located in Birmingham, two hours from  me since I live in London. However I do have family up there so re-locating wouldn't be too much of an issue then ^__^

Never be afraid to re-locate people, I did mention this in some previous posts, its fun to explore and aids in gaining far more opportunities! 

Internships: 
 
By following the link, you'll be able to read up on everything Rare are offering. But remember the deadline is 31st of January 2011. So that’s only a few weeks away from now! So get those applications in! 

The company provides you with an application form that needs to be filled in, along with a C.V and a covering letter.

See I wasnt Lieing!

 http://www.rareware.com/careers/internships101112

If you are lucky enough they'll get back to you by March 2011, to notify that you have the job ^__^

For the rest of us, who will be leaving university this year or any others reading, I'm not sure about any dead-line and the company aren't after any specific type of job role as it states on the website, so If you are interested.

I'd quickly get on the website and start applying as soon as possible, don't rush your CV or covering letter, take it easy however make sure everything looks good and have a nice portfolio to demonstrate to the company. So they can check out what you can do =]

http://www.rareware.com/careers/speculative-applications100712

Best of Luck, to all people who apply! I'll be filling in my documentation soon and sending it off, so hopefully things will go well for me.

If so then I'll be happy like Commander Shepherd!

The picture does look kinda freaky but hey it's still a gaming master-peice!


Right well I'll be taking my leave from here, hope this post was alright and you enjoyed it. I'll be back soon with another post.


I recently purchased a couple of new games magazines and I have yet to read up on them, so I think I'll set myself off to that.

Bye everyone and take care! =]