- logging coolness from 127.0.0.1, daily.
So, I figured it was time to get into the new millenium and set up a new domain for my personal website, which was wedged awkwardly onto the Mono211.com domain. (I'm about to do a big rehaul on the Monotonik website, my free-to-download electronica netlabel, thus the change.)
My old Mono211.com-hosted ffwd blog was also running a prehistoric, comment-removed version of MovableType. Thus, I'm now up and running at SimonCarless.com with the latest WordPress install, which is all kinds of wonderful and easy to use. Anyone who's still using the RSS feed for old personal blog ffwd, please update to the new RSS.
I've also joined the modern age by getting a Twitter feed, which I shall hopefully be updating reasonably often. Also, I have a new Delicious feed that takes the place of the old linkblog. That's for non game-related links, of course - all the game stuff still flows into our ever-esoteric GameSetWatch weblog, naturally.
Other than that, it really is a whole new world! Back to work - what with regular Gamasutra work, judging IGF games and preparing Game Choice Awards nominations for the advisory committee, it's going to be a busy January...
Heck, the ffwd linkblog is still motoring along, but it seems the main bit of my blog is basically updated every 6 months, nowadays. Which is fine by me, since it's a good chance to periodically update on what I've been up to.
So, here's some of the fun stuff I've been doing since, uhh, April:
- We kicked off a new Independent Games Festival cycle, and have record entries again this year to the increasingly important indie game showcase. Also, IGF Mobile is back, and much enlivened by the iPhone boom and a $10,000 'best iPhone game prize' in association with the iFund-funded lovelies at ngmoco.
- My primary charges, game art/business entities Gamasutra.com and Game Developer magazine, continue to do pretty darn well, both from a journalistic and biz perspective - here's a nice UK Guardian write-up of Gamasutra that just got published - and I believe they will continue to for many years to come.
- We're also continuing to expand our blog/job network past GameSetWatch, our alt.editor blog - latest editions include Ryan Langley's GamerBytes, for console digital download games (XBLA, PSN, WiiWare, XNA), and Matt Burris' FingerGaming, an iPhone/iPod Touch game info site.
- Am helping out Game Developers Conference show director Meggan Scavio on next March's show - I'm now officially a member of the GDC Advisory Board. I'm also helping program the Indie Games Summit and Worlds In Motion Summit @ GDC 2009, and working with the editorial team to pinpoint some neat wildcard picks for the conf.
- After a relatively work trip-free 2007, I did manage to make it out and about to Austin GDC and to Tokyo Game Show this year - those are links to Flickr pic sets. Both shows were pretty darn interesting in their own ways - the pic above is Biohazard (Resident Evil) 5's rabid Japanese reception at a business day for TGS. I'm also off to South Korea next month for an industry awards show, which should be interesting.
Other than that, after a very productive few months helping to run Dr. Dobbs magazine and website, and launch custom Web 2.0-ish sites such as Dr. Dobbs' Challenge (so popular that we're doing it again early in 2009) and Dr. Dobbs' Code Talk, I'm relinquishing the reins of those products as part of an internal re-org. Sad to not be working on them, but I expect to see their rise to geeky greatness continue, though.
Only a few months away from the blog - so might well be worth a quick update with what I've been up to. Actually, I updated the bio page, so that would be a good start:
"I'm currently a Group Publisher at Think Services, encompassing game products such as the Maggie award-winning Game Developer magazine and the double Webby award-winning Gamasutra website, the top information sources for professional video game developers - plus the GameSetWatch editor weblog. I also act as publisher for the Dr Dobb's series of products for programmers, including the Dr Dobb's Journal magazine and website. Finally, I function as Chairman of the yearly 'Sundance Festival for games', the Independent Games Festival, which holds its awards at Think Services' Game Developers Conference yearly."
So, I guess the new stuff you might notice in there is the Dr Dobb's Journal ownership - I'm helping oversee the venerable programming magazine/website franchise, founded in 1975 or so. So far under my watch, we've launched Dobbs Code Talk, a Joomla-based community blogging/forum site that we've recruiting some excellent expert bloggers for, as well as The Dobbs Challenge, which is a 'mod your game' competition with full source code for Windows and Windows Mobile games, and $10,000 in prizes for making new game variants from the code.
Also coming soon - a redesign of key Dobbs website DDJ.com, and we're also looking at possibilities for the venerable and rather wonderful Byte franchise, which Think Services (the new name for our part of CMP under United Business Media) also owns. So that's that stuff, at least. But I'm still doing the game stuff too.
Otherwise, still keepin' on - and really enjoying puzzling out new media, services, and high quality editorial in the 21st century web weirdness. Oh yeah, and Gamasutra got nominated for a Webby again, third year running. Yay. See you all soon.
