Enjoyed London

Every day things are falling into place with regards a number of exciting things I'm working on, only one of which has been discussed. It's a really interesting and exciting time set to the backdrop of largely bad news elsewhere in the games industry, but a bunch of us are hoping to help deliver something positive and vibrant - I can't express how great it is working with similar minded people intent on change, with strong vision and passionate commitment.

What's also refreshing is that whilst there's a level of finance, funding and structure behind all of the things, there's very little talk of any of that on the coal-face by the people doing the driving, which is extremely liberating and reminds everyone of the reasons we're all doing what we are.

London was great. I enjoyed a number of meetings with excellent people, not only great at what they do (or what they've done) but their attitude in going about it - and being entertaining to boot. Sometimes I really have to pinch myself, I'm very lucky.

On the train, back up to Yorkshire now, for another meeting... it never ends - and I like it.

Pre-travel travel!

Am very much looking forwards to returning to what is perhaps my favourite city in the world thus far - although I imagine I'll not feel the same about any another place, San Francisco on Monday.

Before that I'm overnight in London for a bunch of meetings about new stuff, meeting with old friends about other new stuff and having dinner with another old mate who recently got an OBE, so I better be on my best behaviour.

Tomorrow I swap the bright lights of the capital for Doncaster, which I believe is still in the mid-80's for another meeting which may involve a pint or two...

Friday and it's off to see my new friends Double11 in Middlesboro' and whilst I can't hang about and wet the new relationships head in traditional style, i'll ensure I manage that during March - am very excited and pleased to be working with the Double11 team and look forward to very promising times ahead.

Sunday and its an evening journey down to Heathrow before jetting out Monday morning, to apparently a cold and wet west-coast, although there's always a warm, dry welcome in Vesuvio, my favourite bar in San Fran.

Harsing about

One of the great benefits about working with a start-up is the energy and drive about the place. Double11 are a real breath of fresh-air in that regard.

Take for example my business card, which is a real collectors edition (as are many of their own, which have all manner of nonsense on them).

I think it really shows what the guys are about and kudos to them for having the gumption to be a little different.

It certainly makes my own business cards for Insight For Hire look a little dull in comparison :-)

Two decades of history.

Rooting through my old office drawers, rummaging through personal effects and then the hoard of stuff I'd stored in the warehouse over the years ensured a ton of memories came flooding right back.

I expected to be slightly emotional, but oddly, I wasn't at all. It just felt that I'd finally dotted the i's and crossed the T's. In truth, I guess I'd mentally divorced myself from the place a little while ago and if anything it's made me stronger.

The real test will be sharing a drink with many of my former colleagues next month. Colleagues who became - and continue to be - very close, hopefully life-long friends - and it's those people I'll miss most from the incredible time I had over two very short decades.

Great people, great times.

I'll drink to that, if only because I'm such a lucky bastard, it's happening all over again. They say lightning doesn't strike twice, but I've seen cases where it happens three or four times, so let's see eh?

Double 11

After leaving my former employers, which for certain reasons I cannot discuss or mention, I am delighted to announce that my first new role will be helping Double11, a highly talented group of experienced developers based in Middlesborough, grow, develop and expand.

I'll be working in an advisory/strategy role and they're a great bunch to work with - I couldn't be happier or more excited. They are working on a bunch of projects for Sony and I have great faith in both their ability and potential to be one of the UK's strongest indies. So for me, it feels like starting over.

Home Work?

Working from a base at home has been something I have found very natural and I guess it's helped having Facebook since that's kept my social need for 'craic' going strong, so I really don't miss the office environment although of course I do miss a lot of the great people I worked with for such a long time. I'm having a drink with many at my favourite pub next month - and occasionally run into them on the odd day.

Double 11 is likely to be just the first of a few things I undertake as I ramp up my new company, I am delighted to be offered the opportunity to work with true talent and hope that I can play some part in making their businesses better, stronger and perhaps even more fun.

Double11 Press Release (which got paraphrased in GI.Biz)

Double11 Website

My new company

Wow.

Yep, stuff happened.

Passport out, entering Lancashire.

Off to Manchester this afternoon, catching up with a couple of friends and maybe having a curry. I fly out to see some other pals in Sweden on Thursday (very early flight) so am staying over nearby the airport. As a consequence it's meant that I'll miss the Leeds-Arsenal FA Cup replay, but fortunately it's televised - it'll be interesting watching it in a Manchester pub to see who the locals prefer (especially after Leeds knocked Man Utd out last year).

Am very much looking forward to Sweden & Malmo, although I'm generally there in late spring when the weather is nice and reasonably warm. No chance of that in January, so hat & gloves at the ready.

But first I have another retinal screening (part of ongoing diabetic stuff) which will hopefully be largely clear (as it has been to date).

Axe-wielding Monday

Had a grumpy Monday so far. Firstly, I managed to finish off sorting all the home network stuff, each of the devices/computers having their own ID (the last lot got wiped by a power cut when I was in Canada). And most importantly, I've backed this info up so I can restore it if calamity strikes again.

Once I'd done all this, one of my mac's (which is also a printer server and has a 2TB back-up drive on it) just wouldn't appear on the network, causing all manner of angst. I tried everything for about 1.5hrs before yep, you guessed it, I turned the router on & off again. Worked fine again.

A while back I ordered a large canvas print of one of my all-time favourite photo's I've taken (one of a small boat in San Francisco Bay, with the skyline silhouetted) and today the canvas arrived. Well, I'm totally deflated because the colours don't match - and I'm a stickler for colour-space, monitor calibration and all that stuff - the result is that lacks any of the vibrance I hoped it would and has in return, coloured me a deep shade of pissed off.

The afternoon can only be better I'm sure.

Hospital Experience

So, I've had this cyst on my ear for a few years, no great shakes. I'm not particularly worried about it, nor do I let vanity get the better of me (it's me, right). BUT every now and again and for some reason, usually when a hair sprouts, it gets a little infected and swells up. When it does, I can hardly sleep since it makes my head throb... which explains why enough was enough, I had to get the bugger removed.

So, there I am at Wakefield's new Hospital, all mod-cons, shiny & contemporary, looked nice. Sits down after checking in, to a big area... which looks like a departure lounge. Then, ping! my name pops up and I'm told Go to Gate 8... Like I'm boarding a bloody plane!

So, I get's to Gate 8, when I'm expecting them to xray my wallet and blackberry, but no, more sitting down (this plane is delayed, I thought to myself) and finally I'm ushered through to the consultant. He has a look, usual questions and all that and OK's the work, quite mystified why I've not been in before.

Then I had to go to another Gate to await a form so I could have it photo'd. They sent me to Gate 19, which was Neo Natal, wrong gate... Gate 15, Medical Photography. If anyone's seen Dexter, this was it, big room, lots of lights, bloke who actually looked like Dexter and took lots of photos of my offending lug with his nice Canon DSLR.

Then more queues and another form before I go to see the duty nurse, where they test you for MRSI infections before they allow you into the hospital (too late suckers, I'm in) and this involved swabbing my groin. I was shaking my head at how this can happen when going in to see about a cyst on my ear, but still.

I then remembered we've got medical cover and I could have got it done elsewhere. Now on a waiting list, but with all the travel, I might be cyst-less in May.

I'll see if I can get the bugger mounted. I'll also have a little scar, arrrgh! (pirate stylee).

Back from Toronto, Canada.

WAKEFIELD-TORONTO

6th Jan-11th Jan 2011.

2 cabs, 2 trains, 1 plane.

I got back from Toronto earlier in the week - and had an absolutely fantastic time out there.

I was out for my old mate's wedding, where I was best-man and also took a few pictures. The wedding was brilliant, great fun and I also managed to meet a bunch of great new people who I'm sure will turn into good friends over the years as I get to go back to that area and terrify the locals some more :)

It was my first time to that part of Canada and it made for a really interesting trip given a couple of days were spent with Scott Simpson, who's also become a great friend. Scott runs a studio in Ottawa and has just joined forces with another in Toronto (I'm not sure it's official news so I can't mention who).

The trip started smooth enough but all that ended Canada side when a sudden snowstorm had closed one of Toronto's runways. This meant a 1.5hr taxi/wait for the gate since planes had to cross each other coming in/out and there was a fierce blizzard.

Getting out of the airport eventually to find one half of the cabs on strike was a surprise and I had to enlist the services of some dodgy taxi, which was hair-raising for a while, but I finally got to the Hotel and it was with some relief I quickly got myself sorted and met Mr Simpson in the lobby, to go "for a pint". That was around 9pm and at around 3am, I was finally getting to bed (after 'several' pints and Jameson's along with great conversation as ever from the man-bear) which made it the usual 25hrs up, so a great start but not wholly unexpected.

GADGET FRIDAY.

Friday arrived quickly and I went and did my shopping (a new grip for the D7000 camera) and finally a MacBook Air for my travel use - taking advantage of much cheaper prices than in the UK. I'd convinced myself to get an Air after finding the iPad just not quite enough to do any heavy duty work on longer trips (and I like it on my desk with the keyboard thing, tracking to-do's and the calendar stuff) and my now-ageing Macbook Pro is just too heavy to haul on long-distance trips - the difference is incredible. The Air is so light, so fast and lasts for ages on the batteries - it's an astonishing piece of kit. It also allowed me to edit the photos pretty quickly, which I took at the wedding, which was a bonus.

So much for not buying any more gadgets in 2011, I'd lasted a week - kneel to my willpower! I also kept being asked if I was cold whilst walking about Toronto, I wasn't wearing shorts or just a t-shirt, but presumably I wasn't typical. My response of "No, I'm from Yorkshire" had most stumped.

MET THE BRIDE.

I met Andy and Jane for lunch - the first time I'd met his bride to be - and whilst we went for lunch, I ended up just having a couple of beers given my body-clock was already out of kilter. Anyway, it was nice to chat with Jane at last and obviously put her right on all the folklore and stories that appear to precede me :)

OUT WITH TREV & Co.

Later I got together with Scott and we went out with a bunch of his Toronto friends, including Trevor Fencott (another nutcase and ace new pal), some guy who looked like Mrs Doubtfire and an actual Knight of the Realm (I kid you not) who it's best remain nameless, but won "best story of the night" for his early sexual encounters.

This was in a former distillery imaginatively called 'The Distillery' with a ton of beers on tap, nice place.

Food came and went - and I think I managed just one "hot" wing, which was so bloody hot I've still got the scars.

Mrs Doubtfire (actually an investment banker) left early, presumably sensing the way the evening was going, I swapped shirts (a new theme) with Trevor and I'm not 100% sure what happened to Dave the Knight. We did a late visit to Trev's nearby studio and I don't really recall much after that, but it appears I have the T-shirt to prove it.

OH MY GOD, I FACEBOOK-RAPED A KNIGHT OF THE REALM.

At some point it seems that I also did the usual facebook status-rape on the Knight (who better go un-named) and we played one of those electronic shock-games for shots, which I just started drinking indiscriminately. It ended up pretty messy all told. And this on a night where we'd discussed taking it easy because (a) we had to be up around 6am to catch the Arsenal-Leeds F.A.Cup game and (b) I was to be best man at a wedding so needed to be capable of my duties - and take some wedding photos.

I think we finished around 2-3am again and I'm not quite sure how I managed to get myself up at 6.30ish, maybe because the UK time was 11 or so... Anyway we staggered out of the hotel into what was quickly becoming a blizzard as we headed to "The Footie Factory" a bar around the corner (meaning 20mins walk in Toronto, something I learned) which opened at 7am, showing the game live - which I was very excited about, there's something special about watching big games abroad and meeting other fans.

ARSENAL 1-1 LEEDS (F.A. CUP)

Fortunately the bar was only serving tea, coffee and breakfast, which was the first food I'd eaten in 24hrs as I'm notoriously bad at eating when abroad for some obscure reason (I've lost 11-12llb since the Lyon trip in November).

We then watched the game, taking the piss out of a Man U fan (there's always one) and greatly enjoyed a tense game where Leeds almost shocked Arsenal, before they got a late penalty to earn a replay back at Leeds. There wasn't much of an atmosphere in the bar to be honest, it was early, the weather was bad and myself and Scott were pretty low-key after 2 heavy/late nights. Trev popped in on his way back from the night out - which was incredible given we'd left him 3-4hrs earlier!

During the game I also noticed with some tension that the blizzard outside wasn't easing any and I began to get more than a little worried about the wedding - or even getting out of the bar we were in, thank god they were not serving real drinks at that time...

So after the game, we walked back in the snow, which had got pretty deep pretty quickly (maybe a foot or so in 2-2.5hrs) after pausing for my photo in just my Leeds top. This took longer than it should have done since Scott kept stopping to try and get a cab, whereas hailing a Snow Plough would have been easier.

Getting back to the hotel, it was obvious that we weren't going to be able to squeeze in an hour or two of sleep (given the previous two nights drinking) so quickly changed and headed out for PJ O'Brien's, the Irish Bar selected for the ceremony and festivities. That's right, a wedding in an Irish Bar, never let it be said that Andy Davies hasn't got any class :-) Brilliant!

THE WEDDING.

We were first there, we'd scrubbed up well (especially Scott, who even had a tie on and Andy told me not to bother, presumably so he looked better!) and we lasted 15mins before one of the (very) attractive Irish bar-maids asked if we wanted a drink. How could we refuse?

Anyway, 5-10mins on from this and the first other guest arrives, who had an air of "I know you" about her, even though I didn't. So I opens with my traditional faux-pas "ah you must be Jane's mother".

Bombshell. Not Jane's mother, but good friend and only 12 months or so older.

Several squirmy minutes later and gritting my teeth, she relaxed once she had a rum and coke. To be fair, Jennifer (for that is her name) was a a great sport and later (presumably after more Rum) told me it wasn't the first time it had happened, so I was pleased to be left off the hook - although it became a humorous theme across many photos and comments throughout the day.

Eventually the bride and groom arrived in a very casual and relaxed way, guests trickled in and we got to meet lots of new friends - and as usual tried to buy someone's hat, but he couldn't be bought. I think Scott got up as far as $500, but it wasn't the point that it was a $7 hat.

At some point into the day (and we'd had a few drinks) it was time for the main ceremony, I was ushered to the front, met the maid of honour (Dianne) and we were given rings to hold. The guy doing the ceremony was a guy from the Toronto Police Force so I had to be on my best behaviour (ish). Despite pretending to have lost the ring in the very few seconds I had it, the marriage went without any problems. There was lots of laughing, clapping, cheering and it was all laid back and a ton of fun - just as Andy and Jane wanted (both their 2nd marriages).

Then it came to the speeches and at the very last minute I decided to drop the one I'd agonised over writing for some time and just went off the cuff. (I later found that the women had found my original script and 'marked' it).

I banged on about friends and the fact that all these cool people in the Toronto area were gaining an awesome new friend (I did mean Andy) and then did a toast to friends and family, it seemed to go down very well and people enjoyed it - I really am not one for sticking to the script.

A bunch of women were purring about my accent too, I really wish that would happen more often :)

APRES-WEDDING JAPANESE KARAOKE ACTION

At around 9pm, the wedding festivities were coming to a close, but the Simpson-Brown roadshow continued as a bunch of revellers including "Take one for the team" Miguel and "Jane's mom" descended upon a great Japanese karaoke club somewhere in downtown Toronto. 4hrs went by in a flash and after a lot of crooning and Tom Jones shirt-throwing, we were done around 2am or so. Pretty pricey, but a fantastic time had by all.

SUNDAY - DAY OF REST!

Sunday was a complete write off for me. So hyper I couldn't sleep (maybe it was those Vodka-redbulls) and I felt lousy all day after 3 pretty big days with my pretty-big friend. Scott flew back to Ottawa around mid-day and left me to weep into a towel (i had pretty horrible hangover). I had recovered enough by later in the day to start editing and uploading photos of the wedding I'd taken and these were well recieved.

TORONTO THOUGHTS...

It's a big, BIG city. Canada has this "Tonka" feel to it, everything is big and chunky, large, making stuff in the UK look almost tiny in comparison. The city was sprawling but it's people very welcoming, full of fun and good nature. The people were great and I have a lot of new friends. I'll certainly be back and I barely scratched the surface of the city in 4 days, I'd need a lot more time...

Freshening up the blog.

New year, new energy.

This blog was previously called 'Halfway Through' given I was around 40 when I started it.

However, it seems that on a daily basis, heroes are going in their 60's so maybe 80 is a bit of an ask. Seems crazy to think it's only 16years to that point, when my eldest will be 33 - when 20years at Team17 went by in a flash.

So, with that in mind and my impending 44th birthday in January 2011, it's time to grab life by the balls.

I'll be updating here more often, particularly since I have quite a bit of travel coming up, starting tomorrow when I fly to Toronto, where my long-time friend Andy Davies is getting married. I'm best man and semi-official photographer, so I'll have my hands full, if only keeping the imitable Scott Simpson at bay.

I'd actually hoped to spend a few more days in Canada this time rather than the 4/5 day jaunt, but I'm sure I'll get chance to go back, maybe to Scott's hometown, Ottawa, next time. I've only ever been to western Canada before, to Vancouver, which I liked a lot and have very fond memories.

I've decided to really get my arse into gear in terms of photography and take plenty of images, some will be through the Blackberry and hopefully a lot with my decent DSLR (Nikon D7000).

In the meantime, stay tuned and apologies for the way the blog petered out before, a mixture of being so busy, some degree of apathy and life in general played it's part in it's slow and painful winding up.

Twitter and Facebook

I've decided to try and update once in a while.

In the meantime, I'm tweeting random crap at @martynT17

I've also fired up Gowalla on Facebook too, for those I'm linked with.

Business contacts are all on Linked In.

what to do...

Blogs, so mid 2000's it seems.

I just don't know what to do with it anymore. The world has moved on and people are used to tweets of information these days, rather than waffle about nothing much.

I'm not sure if it's because I haven't got much to say these days, actually it's quite the reverse, but that is mostly about my work and that has to be reasonably timed according to what we're doing, which is a lot. However the time I spend on Facebook, with comment snippets here and there, photos and more is certainly to blame.

Am about to travel to San Francisco again, along with Paul & John and face a very busy week over there, which will make a change from a very busy week at T17 towers; it's been non-stop for some time.

Bad blogging. Sorry.

I'm considering winding up the blog since I'm simply rarely finding time to really think about posting. I think it's really suffered at the hands of Facebook, whereby news and info and photos and such are updated frequently, so much so that I don't feel a need to blog.

I'll have a think about it.

A much belated welcome to 2010

Wow, 2010 already and my slackest blog update period ever. 5 weeks or more.

Well, mostly it was due to totally winding down at Christmas and vegetating, something I do when I run out of steam, which I had done by the end of November, not helped by a particularly high blood-sugar reading (related to my diabetes). I've spent the last 3-4 weeks on new medication and it's only finally settling down.

When my blood-sugar reading is high it not only is very bad for a wide variety of physiological reasons, but it also leaves me listless, un-energetic and totally demotivated. It leaves me procrastinating over things and just not doing things because it just feels a great effort when it isn't really - it can lead to depression also, so it took some effort to drag myself into the various blood tests, consultancies, retinal scans and new medication.

Fortunately I'm the other side of that now and starting to feel a lot more like the old self, which depending on which self you know, is either a good thing or a bad thing :)

December was a pretty busy month, we finally saw the release of Alien Breed on XBLA (to come on PC, PS3) and this got to No.2 in the XBLA charts, kept out only by Worms Armageddon, which was Xmas No.1. We also had our Team17 party and I don't recall too much.

Christmas at home was nice and quiet, with the weather crippling any plans to visit Speyside and our friends up there, we just didn't wish to risk the lengthy travel on hazardous roads.

Other than a night with Bry & Gordon in the land that time forgot (The Leopard pub in Doncaster) and an unbelievable afternoon in The Poplar (Altofts) to witness Leeds beating Man U in the FA Cup, I had a very light christmas booze intake - and didn't even buy any cans in.

The weather/Ice-Age in the UK has put a dent on the restart back in the office, but am hopefully that will be over soon and we can get our teeth into things once more. I'm also looking ahead to the now annual trip to Galway at the month end with a bunch of mates for birthday booze-up. After that I'm away to San Francisco & Seattle again.

Whoah

Almost a month went by without an update. Clearly, I'm slacking.

Tons going on though, with a new management appointment at work, a new FD will join us in Feb. Been to Dublin, getting ready to go to Lyon and Alien Breed finally certified and ready to release on Xbox 360.

Also swapped my car, since I've been contemplating getting all practical with four doors again. Of course I went with common sense (considering a diesel) and walked out with a 5litre guzzling monster. Ah well, you only live once. It does have 4 doors and plenty of room for 4 adults though (which was a problem on my 2+2 former car, which I did like and will miss). I've had a ton of problems with it though, since it's got large wheels/tires and it obviously wasn't set up right when I bought it, which resulted in the suspension rubbing on the wheels etc, this is still in the process of being rectified - and it's a been a real shame because I love the car (if not it's fuel consumption).

The news about Alien Breed was a huge relief after a fairly tiresome few months and it remains to be seen when we'll launch, but well be on with the PR soon.

Lyon's Game Connection looms and for the first time we're attending as prospective publishers.

After that it's wind down to Christmas, a ton of Leeds matches and also the Team17 party.

And I'm back on bloody facebook. Pah.

Standing still.

I can't believe that I have a full month with no international travel, I think it's the first one for quite a few years. To be honest, it will feel good to not have to pack & sort. There's just one short(ish) trip to Lyon this year and that's that, although that won't happen until I sort my new passport out.

It's been quite a positive week in the office, with Alien Breed getting a tremendous response at the Eurogamer Expo in Leeds - and a ton of coverage as a result, it was great for the lads in the office to hear players first hand loving the game up.

Oh and I crept back onto facebook. Pretty poor show from me, but I do aim to moderate it.

Twain now awwiving at Wetford.

Its not often a coach load of people on a train break out laughing simultaneously, but the genius of the North Eastern line hiring a guy with a lisp is to be cherished, particularly as it slows into Retford on a sunny Wednesday morning.

Thing is he said it loud and "pwoud" as he confidently announced that the "Twain was now awwiving into Wetford. Wetford next stop. This is Wetford". It was very funny seeing peoples eyes go wide and eyebrows raise up on the first Wetford, mouths open on the second and everyone piss themselves in unison at the third when everyone realised that they had really heard it.

Perhaps Porky Pig does work on a train after all.

It's finished up a good 24hrs or so for me, after the radio & TV PR yesterday, then down to London for the London Games Conference, then beers with old mucker Mick Morriss and friends (including Gareth the posh geordie) in a very swanky private members club late on. Even Leeds managed an emphatic 4-0 away win.

Am currently still on the twain, heading for Wakefweild then the Eurogwamer conwerence.

Give me a (tax) break

I was interviewed on two BBC radio programmes this morning, more or less with regards to the attempts by the video games industry to lobby government for tax breaks.

TIGA handles this for the body of developers so I had to have a bit of catch up on where things were at, I've obviously been aware of the incentives offered in Canada, France and other regions - and the investment that's occurred there rather than in the UK, a more traditional hub of technical & creative excellence.

The UK film industry has had substantial support and as another leading creative industry, it's time the government backed us too before it's all too late.

Until then, Indies like Team17 will continue to fight the fight :)

BBC-tastic!

Somewhat of a BBC frenzy tomorrow (Tues 27th Oct) since I'll be on "Wake up to money" on BBC Five Live at around 5.45am and then there's a Team17 featured piece on the games industry airing at 6.50, 7.50 and 8.50am respectively on BBC1 Breakfast Time TV.

Later I head off to London for the London Games Conference on Tuesday evening (which we're sponsoring) and then back home on Wednesday.

In other news, the beard has been shaven off and Leeds lost their unbeaten status - I believe both events to be unconnected.