It started out on this blog, so it seems appropriate to mention this here. Today (March 2nd) is the anniversairy of the Citizen Game Podcast, which myself and good friend Denis record every week. Over the past twelve months we've taken the podcast to the Blizzard Invitational in Paris, to a crazy weekend of gaming at the Liepzig Games Convention, from the radio studio in my hometown, to using rockband mics while we paid for our new studio setup in Cork City.

Its been a pleasure to do every week we can (think we missed 4 weeks last year), on our lunchbreaks, in between working shifts, minutes before plane trips, hung over and/or on a normal day. Just a quick thanks to everybody on Gamespot who gave us feedback over the year. Since the podcast started we've launched the site which has gradually driven and retained more and more traffic each week, to the point where we have multiple daily updates, a wonderful news and reviews staff, and have been mentioned on Kotaku, The Escapist and many other gaming blog and media sites throughout the year.

For anybody who's interested, we're going to record and a special birthday edition of the podcast in about 30minutes, which should be availble on the site and via iTunes in the next 2 hours.

Also, if anybody is interested, were running an open Killzone 2 game night tonight and your all more than welcome.Details on the main page of citizengame.co.uk (sorry, my links dont work).

Thanks again to everybody who supported the site and podcast over the past year. Looking forward to another year of exciting developments.

Thanks again
-Danny :D

So today, while we were working on the show, I got impatient and decided to record and upload a video to the site this week. The first thing that popped into my mind was a Killzone 2 parody trailer, and today we recorded, edited and uploaded just that to the site. It was a quick process and a day off work well spent, but the punchline of the video makes me laugh and cringe every time I watch it. The basic idea is the truth that dispite what all the early reviews say, the only real reason anybody is buying Killzone 2 this week is because of its lush visuals.

Click away, probably NSFW though.

I sware the actual show is far more family friendly then this and last weeks video features. I think it's my way of getting the filth out of my system because God knows if I do ever get a job in the industry I wont get away with this stuff, haha.

In other news, sites popularity still rising, loads of reviews being done and life is still good. SF4 is brilliant.

Oh and my Skate 2 review is up on Gamespot here if you fancy a read :)

Just had an interesting weekend, and in the mood to summerize it all while I eat my 3-days-off celebration breakfast which consists mostly of sausages. Pigs taste Yummy!

So the 3-pronged marketing plan we've put into force on the site seems to be working. First is Google where our google-news hit ratio is pretty damn high on any articles we post up, 'UK podcast' returns us on top pretty often and their bots love crawling our site for content daily. The second is a podcast union im trying to form which I cant really talk about, and the third is quite obviously the upcoming show.

So i decided on Wednesday to create a Valentines themed video to creep in a link on Kotaku, the internets leading games news blog. This started by setting up a voting pole on the site, and using my off-work time on Thursday and Friday evenings to edit it all together, culminating as a rushed YouTube post and email to Kotaku on Saturday morning 10mins before i sprinted to work.

When I got back on Saturday evening my desktop (still left on - sorry planet) was littered with MSN messages, and emails. Apparently our mention on Kotaku had driven 6 thousand people to the YouTube video in hour. The video was pulled because of 10 frames of unforunatly places Hentai at the end of the video, and the internets scrambled into acting, searching out our site for the content. Over the weekend our site transfered 200 Gigabytes of information including a low-res and high-res copy of the video, and a few thousand downloads of our podcast. We've had a nice bump on iTunes America as a result of new subscriptions and a lot of new members on the site.

...and the best part is, our server didnt crash. (success!)

Black box testing of that ammount of digital traffic is impossible, but over the weekend we learned a lot about how much the server could handle, how bandwidth disapears so quickly, and which service to stream out content from.

In other related news, my good friend Dale was onto some big-wigs in Capcom about press kits for games, but apparently they, among many others, use Metacritic as a benchmark for a websites ability to get kits. Unfortunatly, though Ive been in contact with the games editor of metacritic a lot over the past 2 months, we need a lot more content and hits to get submission. He says probably a year of work, but he seems to like us (irish surname always helps) so Im planning to get on Metacritic by the summer.

These sausages are really delicious.

Going to stick up my first editorial of 2009 on here near the end of the week. Been out of action here too long. Hope everyone is still alive and saving up for the next 2 weeks of gaming. SF4, Sonic Collection and Killzone 2 are on my list. Whats on yours?

Just a quick blog. A good friend of mine, and news editor for my website has just had an editorial published on The Escapist. Most of you would know the site as the home of 'Zero Punctuation', but the site is also host to a great array of editorials from amateur and professional writers.

His article is a true story about Team Fortress 2 and his girlfriend, who I've had the pleasure of playing L4D with many a time. If you have some time, check it out, and maybe leave a comment.

HERES THE LINK, CLICK IT AND WIN AT LIFE!

Pretty exciting times at the moment, we've been shooting and editing CGTV for the past 2 weeks and its shaping up really nicely. Been playing a load of Professor Layton with my better half for the past fewdays, totally brilliant game.

Oh and if anybody is playing much Skate 2, let me know and we'll game it up some.

I'm not a huge fan of American Football, and it's another American sport that isn't received that well received in this corner of the world. To us any athleticism is stunted by the constant stopping and starting, to us it looks like a game of skill swallowed by tactics and statistics.

Which oddly enough seems to be the attraction to other people. I think its a knowledge thing. Most of the time when I catch a late-night match on NASN, I'm praying for an interception, fumble or Hail Mary. Probably because that's about the weight of my understanding of the game. With the exception of Brutal Sports Football (Amiga) there is only one American Football Game I've ever been able to grips with. Many an evening myself and my brother would sit around my Sega Mega Drive and boot up the NHL/NFL Double-Cartridge to sink our teeth into Madden 95.

[video=cX1nkGD55bIPujXd]

My brother, who now works in sports television, always had a great skill when it came to tactics no matter what the sport. He has an eye for learning how to take out opposing teams. I'm severly lacking in that department, but I had one thing. I had the Hail Mary, and I used it ignorantly often!

1st and 10? - Hail Mary
4th and 84- Hail Mary
Field Goal - Screw that, fake Field Goal - Hail Mary.

My simple 9 year old brain couldn't get to grips with the finery of plays, audibles and fakes, but I figured if i learned that one play well enough, I could dishearten my brother enough to win the odd match.

I don't understand Football, much like most foreigners don't understand our games. But tonight, like millions of others around the world, I'll stay up until 11pm with my dad, get a few beers and enjoy the global event that is the Super Bowl. A spectacle of skill, athleticism and wonderful American exuberance.

Happy Super-Bowl Day America!
I'm praying for a few Hail Marys :P

Music & God

I have a horrible habit of putting off listening to bands, for years. I first got into Tool two weeks after myself and some friends saw them play live at RockAmRing, which is coming up on 3 years ago now.

For whatever reason, I also put off listening to Maynard's other band 'A Perfect Circle' since I was a lowly teenager. Yesterday I finally I invested in their first album and enjoyed a good sit down with it. Tool blows my mind, and how happy was I when some of the tracks on Mer De Noms started doing the same.

Right now im enjoying the audio visual experience of the track 'Judith' which carries on Maynard's themes of his now dead mother and her relationship with religion. The video is amazing, the track blows my mind, and the chick in the video does her hair up during a bridge. Nice legs too.

Go Watch Now!

Music & lyrics like this just makes me explode. I resonate with the themes very much. The relationship between people and 'God' fascinates me. For years I was a faithful Catholic. I went to mass, talked to God, and prayed every night. I had a dodgy bout of Obsessive Compulsive Disorder in as a kid which influenced my relationship with cause & effect. These issues were intrinsically connected to God as if I wasn't in charge of my fate, he must be. In fact I struggled with this up until my early teens when one day, I 'realised' that if God did or didn't exist, didn't matter to me. That day I was free.

The song speaks of Maynard's hatred of his mother faith after a stroke left her paralysed. The illness only made her faith stronger and this disgusted him. Its interesting that her faith, which might or may not have benefited her life, was what fed his own hatred of God. From what I can see, individuals relationship, or lack thereof, with their God is very much connected to how they were brought up. There is no universal God to me. It's an internal relationship that either blossoms or dies. Who knows which one is for the better. Maybe that depends on the person too.

What I also love about reading these lyrics is how angry instruments, disgusting words and shouting can come together to make a truly beautiful piece of music. The final instrumental and vocal harmony makes my heart soar. His mother's love of God spawned such hatred, and yet his hatred fuelled such a beautiful song.

And this blog, all because of a song. Music is fantastic.

Sorry I've been neglecting my blog of late, its been 3 weeks of insane work on my own site between getting into Google News sydication, starting shooting on the show, working out some bussiness deals and running the day to day.

For all my Gamespot peeps though, wanna let you in on a competition thats finishing up this Thursday. You can win any game from the fantastic lineup at www.goodoldgames.com - Just enter the comp via the details on the following link or just lob your details into this post here.

WIN any game from GOG.com!

Plus starting today we have another competition in co-operation with our good friends at 2D Boy to win a signed copy of the award winning 'World of Goo':

Win Signed copy of World of Goo

Ill blog soon don't worry. It's just terribly time consuming to manage a website that's trying to compete with the big guns, alongside a 30 hour day-job. But when the visit-counts keep doubleing I can't help it. Life is good at the moment, I hope the same can be said for you guys. Chat soon.

Peace.

CopyPasted from my website.

If you live anywhere near a Zavvi in Ireland or mainland Britain and looking to buy a PS3, Xbox 360, iPod or Britney Spears CD, its probably best you run out of the house right now.

The bleak financial shadow of 2008 has casts itself on Zavvi for the last time as a mass sale of software and hardware is being undertaken on all Zavvi locations in the UK.

Starting yesterday between 20%-50% is off all stock on the floor, with 30% off being applied to all hardware. Our very own Dale Cantwell purchased a PS3 earlier today for the bewildering price of €280 (RRP €399.99).

On the other hand this sale means the loss of thousands of jobs in entertainment retail across the British Isles. As a grunt in another high street entertainment chain I feel for anybody stuck on the wrong side of those tills this weekend.

If you do go down for a deal, make sure to say 'Thanks'.

Then give them a chocolate bar and a hug.

------------------

Now the Blog Bit:

Said I would lob this up here for anybody who tracks me in the UK. Its been a busy week on the website, just as well as stories like this dont make me feel so confident about my job in MHV. Imagine having to worry about a job in retail, the world is going crazy.

As i said though, 2009 is going to be hug for CitizenGame. Our new frontpage layout allows some more exposure for our weekly features. The weekly podcast is back with all new features, competitions and soundtrack. Our daily visitor hits doubled once again in December so we're going to bevery excited once the show launches in January (for reals this time).

But yea, get down to Zavvi and buy some stuff while you kickstart the economy. I bought a PS3 10 days ago so Dales news today was particuarly lame :P

Recent Purchases
Everyday Shooter - PS3
Mama Mia - BluRay (major browny points!)
Motorstorm Pacific Rift - PS3

Any more suggesstions for my Ps3 folks?

As of a few hours ago I've been alive on planet earth for a decent 23 years, huzah!

I'm not a big birthday person to be honest, mine falls the somber period between Christmas finishing and the school term starting. It's also fair to say that since that horrible year when I turned 20, stepping out of those glorious teenage years, I've considered every birthday since as another step closer to my eventual death.

This year seems different though. In the twelve months since the horrible 22nd birthday I've left home and hometown to live with my girlfriend of near 5 years and finally graduated from my course with a decent grade.

Of course when you concentrate so hard on certain aspects of your life, naturally others fall by the wayside. I weighed myself last week and sack-boy like frown appeared on my face. See the calendar in the background of that shot? Yea, the World of Warcraft calander (a present). Those X's are the days Ive gone for a 3mile run before work. My see-sawing of weight has got to come to an end this year, so I'm running and eating well like I used to once more. Well, apart from the gelatinated treat that I couldn't say no to for fear of offending my housemates.

So heres to fresh starts to everybody here on Gamespot. It's easier when theres a nice round date like January 1st, but its only because life forces us look back at what we've done. Like the wise man said, it's only when looking back you understand where you've arrived. Happy Birthday to everbody for the next year, and good luck to anybody trying to make a meaniful change in their own lives, and the lives of their loved ones, in 2009.

Wish me luck. I live beside 2 pizzerias and cake shop :(

PS: Game of the Year results on my site have just gone up. Check them out if you voted, or if you didnt. Click here.

Hey look what I bought with moneys:

Thanks to Christmas money presents from my lovely girlfriend, and lovely mother (women are lovely) I went and bought myself Playstation 3. What are my initial impressions you ask? In bullet-points you say!?

> Little Big Planet is much fun. Girlfriend reacted with interest. Must by second controller.
> Metal Gear Solid is 110% crazy. David Hayter on a chat show?
> Remote play is useless but amazing.
> Ratchet 'n' Clank is much fun. Never played it before.
> Within an hour of buying the console I suddenly had an interest in Bluray.
> PS3 Graphics are pretty.
> Kula World and G-Police on PSStore? Sweet!
> Home is kinda fun. Im seriously gonna do up my aparment and invite some hot digi-babes for naked poker. EULA loophole.


and a worrying revolation.....
> Playing games without achievments is more enjoyable than I anticipated. I'm actulaly exploring games now...... Hmmm, I feel an editorial brewing.

on and Happy New Year 2009 Gamespotters!