Resume
1. Projects
2. Work Experience
3. Public Speaking
4. Education
5. Awards Received
08/20011-11/2012
Sound Shapes | Queasy Games, Toronto, Canada
A musical platformer for the PlayStation 3 and PlayStation Vita systems. Awards and nominations include:
2012 Spike Video Game Awards: won Best Handheld Game and Best Song
2013 Canadian Video Game Awards: wins for Best Game on the Go, Best Innovation, and seven other nominations
2013 Game Developer’s Choice Awards: nominated for Best Handheld Game and Best Audio
2013 DICE Awards: nominated for Handheld Game of the Year,Outstanding Innovation in Gaming and Casual Game of the Year.
2012 GameTrailers Game of the Year Awards: won Best Platformer
2012 PlayStation.Blog Game of the Year Awards: won Best PS Vita game (PSN Only)
02/20011-Present
They Bleed Pixels | Spooky Squid Games, Toronto, Canada
“They Bleed Pixels is a fast-paced, gothic lo-fi, platforming beat’em up that drips, gushes and flows.” Available on PC for Steam.
08/20011
Dyad | ][ Games, Toronto, Canada
"A reactive audio-visual tube creating a harmonious synthesis of color and sound" for PlayStation 3 and PC on Steam.
08/2011-11/2012
Designer/Producer | Queasy Games, Toronto, Canada
Designer and producer on Queasy Games multi-award winning musical platformer for Sony PlayStation 3 and Vita. My role included concepting levels and taking them through to completion (including entity and level design) and working in a producer capacity with programmers, musical artists and (in particular) graphical artists.
02/2011-Present
Design Consultant | Spooky Squid Games, Toronto, Canada
Served as a design consultant on Spooky Squid Games’ PC Steam title They Bleed Pixels, fleshing out the game’s combat mechanics and designing the game’s unique save system before its release in August 2012, before solely designing DLC level “exp. 666” due for release this spring.
02/2011-Present
Design Consultant | ][ Games, Toronto, Canada
Provided early feedback and guidance on the PlayStation 3 title, influencing the representation of game mechanics and overall game flow and pacing.
09/2009-Present
Publisher | exp. Magazine, Toronto, Canada
Fully design, write, publish and distribute exp. Magazine, an independent video game magazine that has been featured at events such as the Toronto Comic Arts Festival 2010-12 and the Game Developers Conference 2011.
09/2007-Present
Writer | Edge<, London, England
Provide news, interviews, previews and features for both the print edition and the website of the hugely influential UK-based video game publication, including coverage of trade shows and conferences such as the Game Developers Conference (2010-11) the Montreal International Game Summit (2008-9) and the Electronics Entertainment Expo (2008-10) and solely writing in-depth (24-32 page) features on game development regions including Prince Edward Island, Texas and Georgia.
01/2007-Present
Writer | Exclaim!, Toronto, Canada
Provide occasional reviews of cinema, DVD and film festival releases for the monthly Canadian music and alternative culture magazine, including coverage of the Toronto International Film Festival 2010.
08/2005-Present
Contributing Editor | Gamasutra, San Francisco, USA
Provide and edit news, interviews and features for the Webby Award winning video game industry website, including coverage of conferences such as the Game Developers Conference (2008-9), the Montreal International Game Summit (2006-8) and Develop (2009).
05/2008-12/2012
Writer | Future Shop Tech Blog, Vancouver, Canada
Provided thrice-weekly video game and tech-related blog posts as part of the writing team at Future Shop Tech Blog.
06/2005-03/2011
Writer | Game Developer Magazine, San Francisco, USA
Provided occasional news, product reviews, interviews, features and show coverage for the now sadly defunct multi-award winning games industry publication.
02/2009-03/2011
Writer | PC Gamer, London, England
Provided work including interviews (such as with EA Mythic’s Paul Barnett) for print and extensive coverage of the Game Developers Conference 2011 for PCGamer.com.
11/2008-12/2010
Contributor | One Life Left, London, England
Contributed short, self-produced audio features for Europe’s only (and award-winning) video game radio show.
05/2010-11/2010
Writer | 1UP, San Francisco, USA
Contributed news stories three days a week on a part-time basis for the Hearst Corporation-owned video game network.
12/2009-04/2010
Writer | 1001 Games You Must Play Before You Die, London, England
Contributed 56 entries on seminal games from the 1980s until the present as part of the group of “leading international critics” selected for involvement.
01/2009-12/2009
Writer | Fingergaming, San Francisco, CA
Provided reviews of iPhone, iPod touch and iPad games for Gamasutra’s sister website dedicated to Apple’s handheld platforms.
06/2008-09/2009
Writer | GamesMaster, London, England
Provided preview and feature coverage to UK’s best-selling multi-format video games magazine, including coverage of the Electronics Entertainment Expo (2008-9).
09/2005-09/2009
Contributing Editor | Torontoist, Toronto, Canada
Provided regular film coverage, city news and a weekly film column, for the respected Toronto city blog (at the time a member of the Gothamist network) including accredited coverage of the Toronto International Film Festival (2007-9).
06/2008-08/2009
Writer | Official Xbox 360 Magazine, London, England
Provided preview, interview and feature coverage to the UK’s official Xbox 360 magazine, including coverage of the Electronics Entertainment Expo (2008-9) and interviews with key Microsoft executives such as Don Mattrick.
06/2005-08/2009
Columnist | Game Reactor, Aalborg, Denmark
Provided a monthly opinion column for Game Reactor magazine, Denmark’s biggest games magazine. (Translated into Danish before publication.)
06/2003-08/2009
Writer | Insert Credit, San Francisco, USA
Provided news, reviews, interviews and features for the seminal new games journalism website, including coverage of trade shows and conferences such as London’s European Computer Trade Show and the Game Developer’s Conference Europe (2003-4).
07/2008-07/2009
Writer | Rock Paper Shotgun, Bath, UK
Provided extensive coverage of 2008’s Electronics Entertainment Expo, and occasional opinion pieces such as part of Rock, Paper, Shotgun’s “Gaming Made Me” series.
02/2008-07/2009
Community Manager | The Dobbs Challenge, San Francisco, USA
As community manager of the Dobbs Challenge and its sequel contest, the Dobbs Challenge Deuce, I helped to develop the concept and create the website, which included management of a web technician and co-ordination with a freelance software developer. As part of my ongoing duties I updated the website, communicated with entrants and the community (via e-mail and through moderating the Dobbs Challenge forum) and judged entries.
01/2007-04/2009
Content Director | Independent Games Festival Mobile, San Francisco, USA
As content director of the first two years of the IGF Mobile, I helped develop the festival, created and updated the website, judged entries and maintained communication with entrants, finalists and judges before helping present the awards at the Game Developers Conference 2008-9, which included managing the IGF Mobile Pavillion at the GDC Expo.
03/2008-02/2009
Editor | Worlds In Motion, San Francisco, USA
Provided daily news and twice-weekly features, along with other editorial duties, for the social and massively multiplayer game industry website.
09/2008-11/2008
Writer | Eye Weekly, Toronto, Canada
Provided a Holiday Tech Gift Guide for the Toronto-based weekly alternative newspaper.
011/2005-10/2009
Writer | Eurogamer, Brighton, England
Provided regular reviews, previews and features for the respected, and popular, British games journalism website, including extensive coverage of 2006’s Electronics Entertainment Expo.
07/2008
Writer | Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, Toronto, Canada
Provided extensive coverage of 2008’s Electronics Entertainment Expo for the CBC News Tech Bytes blog.
12/2006-04/2008
Editor | Games On Deck, San Francisco, USA
Provided daily news and twice-weekly features, along with other editorial duties, for the mobile games industry website.
05/2006-04/2008
Writer | The Globe and Mail, Toronto, Canada
Provided games reviews for the online technology section of the Globe and Mail, the newspaper with the largest circulation in Canada.
06/2004-06/2007
Writer | Plan B Magazine, Brighton, England
Provided monthly reviews, news and opinion columns for music publication Plan B’s games section.
06/2006-01/2007
Writer | Broken Pencil, Toronto, Canada
Provided features and reviews on the independent gaming and film scenes for Broken Pencil, the magazine of zine culture and the independent arts.
11/2006
Writer | GamesIndustry.biz, Brighton, England
Provided features on the launch of the PS3 and Wii in North America.
09/2005-10/2006
Writer | Twitch Film<, Toronto, Canada
Provide coverage and reviews for respected Canadian genre film website Twitch Film, including some of the world’s earliest reviews of films premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival in 2005 and 2006.
06/2006-09/2006
Columnist | Gamesetwatch, San Francisco, USA
Provided “Letters From The Metaverse’”, a column covering the (then) emerging virtual world of Second Life.
08/2004-06/2005
Writer | The Banter, Paisley, Scotland
Writer for Paisley University’s student newspaper.
06/2002-07/2005
Senior Tester | Absolute Quality Inc., Glasgow, Scotland
As a senior tester, my work involved play and regression testing and bug report writing, For two weeks in development of my first project I took over the project as lead tester. Later I performed tester duties on a cell phone games, PC ports, and European cell phone provider Orange’s content deployment system. I led the European arm of the testing for a PS2 game in which I managed a team of 6 language testers. I last worked for them as an engineer porting games between cell phone handsets.
11/2010
Speaker | Gamercamp, Toronto, Canada
Performed the closing keynote of the first day of Gamercamp 2010, “We Are All Trapped In The Belly Of This Horrible Machine And The Machine Is Bleeding To Death.”
09/2010
Panellist | Information Exchange 10, Toronto, Canada
Took part in “Emotional Engagement,” a panel discussion of video games ability to engage players emotionally.
05/2010
Moderator | Toronto Comic Arts Festival, Toronto, Canada
Moderated “Where Comics Meet Video Games” a panel at the Toronto Comic Arts Festival 2010 that included speakers such as Scott Campbell (Double Fine) and Miguel Sternberg (Spooky Squid).
03/2009-09/2009
Lecturer | Canadian Film Centre, Toronto, Canada
Performed a short series of lectures on the history of video games for the Canadian Film Centre Media Lab.
07/2009
Moderator | Develop, Brighton, England
Moderated “After the iPhone Honeymoon: Where Next for Apple’s Mobile?” a panel at Develop 2009, a video game industry conference held in Brighton, UK.
03/2009
Panellist | Information Exchange 09, Toronto, Canada
Took part in “Kidz-ville,” a panel discussion on virtual worlds for children.
02/2009
Speaker | IGDA, Ottawa, Canada
Performed a talk and Q&A for the Ottawa Independent Game Developers Association chapter.
11/2007
Panellist | Montreal International Game Summit 2007, Montreal, Canada
Took part in the closing session of the Montreal International Game Summit, a panel discussion on games journalists and their importance in, and interaction with, the games industry.
11/2007
Speaker | Future Play 2007, Toronto, Canada
Led a session discussing machinima’s history and its place as part of game culture, including showing and critiquing some famous works in the genre.
08/2001- 06/2005
BSc. Hons Computer Games Technology | Paisley University, Paisley, Scotland
Learned a broad spectrum of skills including 3D modelling and animation with Lightwave; programming with C++ and Java on PCs, mobile phones and PS2s; game design and artificial intelligence. My honours year dissertation was an investigation of emergent AI for sheep flocking.
08/2001-06/2005
Japanese Stages 1-4 | Strathclyde University/Glasgow University, Glasgow, Scotland
These classes encouraged development of conversation skills, vocabulary and expressions, introduced complex grammatical points, and practice in Hiragana/Katakana and Kanji.
12/2003
Japanese Language Proficiency Test Level 4 | Japanese Embassy, London, England
Requires mastery of the basic elements of grammar, knowing about 100 Kanji and 800 words, and the ability to engage in simple conversation and to read and write short, simple sentences.