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This is a really interesting talk about betting on design.  Can you solve what sounds impossible through design?

 

St. Patrick’s Day

March 17, 2016 — Leave a comment

Firstly, happy St. Patrick’s day!

I’m at an event for Irish technology entrepreneurs.  (Silicon Valley 50 Global Awards.)

Forbes has covered the afternoon here: CLICK HERE

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Joey Scoma put a lot of work into showing you how movies cut and transition.

It’s just under 12 minutes.  If you’re into movies or make video, you’ll enjoy it.

It’s from the Rocket Jump Film School.

 

Uber

March 5, 2016 — Leave a comment

This was a surprisingly enlightening talk by the CEO of Uber (not a sales pitch).  Worth a cup of coffee, enjoy.

 

Fergus McGovern

February 28, 2016 — 1 Comment

It’s incredibly sad to hear about the passing of Fergus McGovern, he was only TWO years older than me!  My first car was actually his own personal car, he gave it to me when I made a game for him.

Fergus was the head of Probe Software in Croydon, England.  I had decided to start my own company (in my mother’s living room) and he gave me a steady flow of exciting projects to work on, including the Teenage Mutant Hero Turtles (they didn’t use the Ninja word in the UK), which gave me my first #1 video game.  He also introduced me to Nick Bruty, one of the best artists in the industry and we made endless games together.

Fergus taught me to keep jumping hurdles no matter how challenging things would get.  He believed we could do anything and so we believed it too.  He gave me projects on Sinclair Spectrum, Amstrad CPC, Sega Genesis, Commodore Amiga and Atari ST.

He knew so many people in the industry, and it’s interesting to see just how many had close personal relationships with him.  I don’t think I’ve ever seen such a strong reaction to someone passing in the video game business.

He’s a real loss and sadly this keeps happening now as we all get older.

I had to post something as I’ve been thinking about him all day.  I spent so much time with him, and am really sad that the last dinner we had together, is the last dinner we will ever have together.

 

Thanks Ferg.

David Perry and Nick Bruty

Climate Change?

February 28, 2016 — 2 Comments

I keep getting asked if I believe in Climate Change.  The timing is excellent as Al Gore just did an update on where we are actually at now.

 

Arduboy Arrived 

February 22, 2016 — 2 Comments

Super excited to get my new Arduboy from Kickstarter. Besides being incredibly cool I think it will be amazing for education (future game coders and Arduino fans.)

I’m stoked to have #1 hot off the presses!
   
 

TED 2016 Drone Demo

February 20, 2016 — Leave a comment

This was a pretty impressive demo at TED this year.

 

 

 

Just had a fun chat with the guys at Lost Treasures of Gaming.

http://omgnexus.com/2016/01/episode-19-earthworm-jim/

 

This book does an incredible job of capturing a great deal of the British video game history.  They found a lot of the people working at that time to interview, and I just got my copy in the mail!

http://readonlymemory.vg/shop/book/britsoft-an-oral-history/

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Britsoft: An Oral History is a collective story of the early British games industry. Composed of interviews with thirty-five people who shaped the modern videogame, including David Braben (Elite), Peter Molyneux (Populous), Rob Hubbard (Commando) and Jeff Minter (Attack of the Mutant Camels), it documents a vibrant period of invention in Britain’s cultural history – the start of a new form of entertainment, created on ZX Spectrums, Commodore 64s, Amigas and Atari STs, in bedrooms and living rooms.

The book is a companion piece to the 2014 documentary, From Bedrooms to Billions, and draws from the hundreds of hours of interview footage to find new, untold stories, and craft an original narrative. Through the voices of programmers, musicians, journalists and business people, it traces the making of games such as Dizzy, Elite, Paradroid and Kick Off; and the birth of publishers, magazines and software houses, from Codemasters to Zzap!64.

Britsoft: An Oral History is edited by Alex Wiltshire, former editor of ‘videogame Bible’ Edge, and designed by London-based studio Julia. It includes rarely-seen archive images, such as candid period photographs and magazine ads, which perfectly set the Britsoft scene.

Interviewees: Peter Molyneux, David Braben, Archer Maclean, David Darling, Jeff Minter, Charles Cecil, David Perry, Geoff Crammond, Julian Gollop, Julian Rignall, Dino Dini, Mo Warden, Rob Hubbard, Martin Kenwright, Fred Gray, Martin Galway, Mel Croucher, Mike Montgomery, Rod Cousens, Sean Cooper, Malcolm Evans, Steve Turner, Tim Tyler, Nigel Alderton, Jon Hare, Gary Penn, Eugene Evans, Oliver Frey, the Oliver twins, Peter Stone and Richard Leinfellner, Chris Anderson, Shahid Ahmad, Andrew Braybrook, Geoff Brown.