Hell, it’s about time I finished college and got on the job market. My Masters thesis on EULAs and digital distribution platforms has officially been approved and I’m getting my degree in New Media and Digital Culture! I’m now officially on the jobhunt for a position that allows me to contribute to the game industry on innovative gameplay, strategic marketing, management and/or new business models. If you know anything that fits my profile, do get in touch with me!

If you’re interested in my thesis, you can download it here.

This year’s E3 was back to its former glory, including the necessary schedule chaos and stressed out PR people. We made it home safe with tons of stories to go around for different outlets and be sure to check out Jonathan’s photo coverage over here!

The Game Developers Conference once again injected the minds of all the attendees with new ideas, lessons learned and a lot of inspiration. Here’s a round-up of all the articles I actually finished writing before the conference ended. More should be coming up soon!

GDC 2010: De stuiterende staat van social games

GDC 2010: De oorlogsverklaring van Jesse Schell

GDC 2010: “Oops, my bad…” De geleerde lessen van Sid Meier

GDC 2010: Wat vlugge tips van Playfish

GDC Beeld: Marketing buiten de doos

GDC 2010: Big Sister was niet altijd briljant

GDC 2010: Epic-producer stuurde zelfs zijn baas naar huis

GDC 2010: Veteranen in social games – Wat hebben ze te bieden?

GDC 2010: Geniet van je eigen game, verwaarloos de speler

I just landed in San Francisco to once again cover this year’s Game Developers Conference. Be sure to check out Bashers.nl for the quick on site coverage the next couple of days!

I just got a call from Nyenrode University to inform me that I’m one of the 50 finalists for the FD Career Challenge. I’ll be visiting the university for a mini-MBA and try my luck at the main prize. Hurrah!

If you voted for me, you now officially have the right to approach me at any time for a drink. Save it up untill summer time if you want a margerita!
Update: The MBA went to a lady this time. It was a very inspiring weekend! Here are the pics.

I’ve alwasy wanted to expand and explore the casual and social game market. Luckily, I’ve been spent  a couple of days in Hamburgy to cover the Casual Connect Conference.

Be sure to check out Bashers.nl in the upcoming days for coverage by both Ellen and myself!

This is my second year writing for Bashers.nl and what a fun time it has been! It put me in touch with a couple of very ambitious young people, inspired me to write some great stuff and always involved some heated game related debates!

So here’s my top 5 retrospective of 2009 (in Dutch), with a surprise on #1, just like last year!

Hope you have a good one!

The HME Multimedia Event has had a big pair of shoes to fill in the holiday season since its inception in 2008. Its second edition seemed smaller, but the event has stated to have successfully attracted more than 54.000 visitors.Quite an accomplishment, since most game publishers were not present. Most of them had shot away their marketing funds in early November. Asking around in the dealer area also lead to some positive responses, with most dealers who attended last years event reporting higher sales. Maybe the smaller scale is actually a good thing, reducing the event to it’s three core strengths: scoring deals on the pc market, checking out hardware and games in the  entertainment area and the social aspects of the HCC community and workshop area.

It appears the HME earned itself  another shot for 2010. They deserved it. You can find our photo report over at the VGV Flickr gallery, right here.

The Dutch Institute of Image and Sound recently hired me to be a part of designing and establishing the content and character of their latest GameXperience event. But what’s so special about that? Well, the fact that this was a unique occasion for 5-12 year old kids and their parents to learn from, talk  with and ask every imaginable question during a collection of workshops by more than twenty Dutch game developers. No marketing buffers or campaign attached.

Check out the extensive photo coverage done by Patrick over on the VGV Flickr gallery, right here.

Words can’t explain the joy of experiencing the new and improved E3. No stress, big delays or messed up appointments could ruin the magic of having the perfect balance between the classic E3 pizazz and the orderly calmness of a well-organized press event. Here’s a quick round-up of our adventures:

Bashers.nl (all in Dutch)

Vlads dagboek: E3 2009 deel 3, het laatste bericht

E3 2009: de nieuwe Left 4 Dead speelt zich af in New Orleans

Gaarheid op de E3, deel 2: Ubisoft bedankt!

E3 2009: een introductie in de wondere wereld van Ratchet & Clank

E3 2009: EyePet is lief, dat is alles

E3 2009: de preview van de preview van actie-RPG Warhammer 40K: Space Marine

Beeld: meer ’sociologisch onderzoek’ op de E3

Beeld: booth babes are back

Beeld: een rondleiding bij animatiestudio Titmouse

E3 2009: het grote Bethesda booth tour action game extravaganza

Vlads dagboek: E3 2009 deel 2, party hardy!

Gaarheid op de E3: snacks en fitness

E3 2009: meer onderlinge discussie dan actie in nieuwe Army of Two

E3 2009: Aliens vs. Predator lijkt iets té oldskool

E3 2009: hakken en knallen op de catwalk, de stijl van Platinums Bayonetta

Beeld: vragen aan James Cameron? Dan moet je op het damestoilet zijn

Beeld: de mysterieuze sculptuur voor het LACC

Vlads dagboek: E3 2009 deel 1, blast off!

Be sure to also check out Jonathan’s E3 Photo coverage, right here!

Token celebrities, hot game announcements and hip new trends during today’s first press conferences launched the E3 vibe into everyone there. There clearly is a lot more tension in the air though. It will never be the E3 people used to know and love, but it looks like some parts have come back: high budget shenanigans, pr people stressing out and much more celebrity involvement. You can find all my coverage about the next step in E3’s evolution on Bashers.nl.

One way or another, the next couple of days promise to be a blast! Check out my good buddy Jon’s pictures of today on his Flickr account, right here.

This year’s Game Developer’s Conference was one big rush. Pulse got pitched, I did on-site coverage for Bashers and even got interviewed myself. Here’s a quick round-up of what happened:

Bashers.nl (all in Dutch)
Post-GDC: Gregg Sauter van Nokia over N-Gage
Post-GDC: Matthijs Dierckx Kuijper van Control
Post-GDC: op de koffie bij de Screen Actors Guild
GDC: tweehandig gamen op je mobiel, interview met Glenn J. Kiladis van Zeemote’
GDC: wie wil er werk?
GDC: Media Molecule haalt kwartetje Game Developer Choice Awards binnen
GDC: de VPRO komt ook even filmen
GDC-dagboek: Part 1; Part 2; Part 3

Pulsethegame.com (English)
Pulse demo ships to publishers
BoingBoing.net interviews Vlad on Global Game Jam, Pulse and GDC
Pulse demo playable on the GDC Expo
Pulse on Paper – On the back of Control Magazine! Other flyers too
Pitchin’ Pulse – Hanging with Harmonix
Pulse mentioned multiple times during IGDA Global Game Jam presentation

Pictures of the GDC can be found on the VGV Flickr account, here as usual.

BoingBoing.net invited me over to their studio in San Francisco today. I had a great time meeting their team and discussing the Global Game Jam, Pulse and the Game Developer’s Conference with their host Matt Kirsch.

The clip includes an interviews with me, artist Marque Cornblatt, Phil Fish from Fez and BB Offworld’s Brandon Boyer.

Big thanks to BoingBoing.net for closely supporting initiatives like the Global Game Jam and for having me. Be sure to also check out their coverage of the GDC!