So I decided that my previous education wasn’t going to take me very far, therefor I started to search for shorter courses to add on to my two year game design diploma. Due to my huge interest in Apple products as well as mobile handsets in general I looked into some educations that would concentrate in those areas. I found one in Malmö in the south of Sweden, at Malmö Yrkeshögskola that had a special one year programming iPhone & Android program.

I applied just for fun as I continued my current work at Telenor Sverige as an event salesman. Then I received an email saying that I got in to the school yesterday! I hope to learn some new relevant skills and apply some of my old ones into this education, then hopefully get to carry out one of my biggest dream and start my own business.

Look for me getting something out on the Appstore by the end of the year!

Peace.

The first half of it I spent on my education as a Game Designer which lead up to my degree in June. After that I searched around the world for a position in the industry, by July I finally got the chance to go on an interview in Scotland for Realtime Worlds as a QA tester.

It was a great experience but unfortunately I didn’t get the position.

The latter part of the year I’ve been spending on other things not having anything to do with Game design. Spent the last three months in Umeå developing my skills in selling products over the telephone. Interesting job, but nothing that I would like to keep doing.

But now I at least got a little more money than I had going into the fall of 2009. Hopefully I will get a new spark and maybe try to search for a couple of more positions in the gaming industry but at the same time I really want to go out and travel.

We’ll see what the future holds after new year. Mind you, this blog won’t be updated as regularly as it has been in the past, but hopefully I can jump in and share some of my experiences as a graduating game designer in the 2010 as well.

Until then, merry Christmas and a happy new year!

My friend had a lot of problems finding the controls but that could have something to do with him not reading through all the tutorials (which seemed to be nice video tutorials). But I’m not convinced. I placed my MMO urges on a shelf next to my subscription of WoW a long time ago, but I can still respect what they do for gaming.

I won’t let myself get caught up in the hype anymore (except for maybe some future WoW).

Maybe time for a new memory stick though?

Go get it here.

— UPDATE —

After have played the game for a while I can just say one thing, the controls are BROKEN! If you’re about to pick this game up right now wait until a patch or something comes along. The visuals and the music is still awesome though.

geoDefense impressed me with it’s sleek looking graphics, the tower defense genre seems kinda outdated but as long as there is an interesting art style I will try one out. Gameplay is what is to be expected from a tower defense, you pick up your towers and place them on a limited grid map. The procedure is seamless and everything work as you would expect it to work.

Very much worth it’s 7 SEK ($0.99) pricetag.

I never had the chance to play Secret of Monkey Island when I was younger so I thought this would be a perfect opportunity to try it out. The game has a 50% sale through this weekend as well, so there is no reason for nobody not to own this game come Monday. I haven’t been playing enough point & click games during the past couple of years, leaving the first few minutes of the game a bit awkard.

Without it’s great hint system I would pretty much be stuck from the get go. Just by shaking the iPhone you get a hint as to what you need to do next. Great for todays gaming audience who don’t have as much patient as P&C’s once demanded.

Both games was a bit of a impulse buy but I couldn’t be happier to have them both at the ready in my pocket.

I finally gave into my need for singing old Beatles song in front of a TV and got myself The Beatles: Rock Band. This will be the only new game for quite awhile if my economy is to be believed. One of the biggest reason for me to get this game is to spread the joy with my family, who is big Beatles fans. I barely have had time to play the story mode due to my mom and dad keep wanting to sing songs in quickplay mode.

The game impressed me right from the intro cinematic with it’s cool look and feel, not to mention the sleek looking menus. Story mode is where the game really shines and unfortunately I’ve just managed to get through the three first sets. But from what I can tell the story and songs following it is accurate to the history of the band.

Fundamentally the game is a Rock Band product, which is a great thing. The Rock Band franchise has established itself as a great platform and I hope this game will receive as much support as any of it’s siblings.

To put it short, this is THE Beatles game to own.

• Heroes of Might & Magic
• Heroes of Might & Magic 2 Gold
• Heroes of Might & Magic 3 Complete
• Giants: Citizen Kabuto
• Fallout

I probably rant enough of my love for the Heroes series, but I can’t stop playing them. I love that type of turn-based strategy games. Two more games to hit my PC gaming que is Giants and Fallout, both of which I picked up from GOG’s great 1 year anniversary Interplay sale (which is still going on).

These will probably keep my gaming needs down for a while, but The Beatles: Rock Band is lurking in the shadows. Time and money will tell if I pick it up.

Until next time, play your games!