Zeeby results are in!

And Brainiversity didn't win, but it was a runner up! Like I said yesterday, I was elated just to be nominated. Here's the results for my category.

People’s Choice Award for Best Word & Trivia Game of 2007

Winner:
Trivial Pursuit Genus Edition (Publisher & Developer: Real Games)

Runners Up:

• Boggle Deluxe (Publisher & Developer: iWin)
• Brainiversity (Publisher & Developer: Red Sprite Studios)
• Flip Words 2 (Publisher & Developer: HipSoft)
• Jeopardy 2 (Publisher & Developer: Sony Online Entertainment)
• The 80’s Game with Martha Quinn (Publisher & Developer: Funkitron)

And if you want a summary of the cool stuff from day 2 of Casual Connect, click here for the Gamezebo Day 2 wrap up.


www.passfieldgames.com

Casual Connect Seattle

Casual Connect is on this week in Seattle. If you're not attending then check out Gamezebo's coverage of the event - you'll get all the latest news as it happens!

Here's some interesting news from the show:
* Zynga raised $29M with Kleiner Perkins and adds Bing Gordon to their board
* Our friends at Wildfire Studios have released Jungo to retail!
* And a new study of casual gamers shows up some interesting information

Oh, and the Zeeby's are on very soon... I'll let you all know how Brainiversity fares tomorrow.
At this stage I'm just elated to have been nominated for an award!!!

www.passfieldgames.com

Home Again!

I've arrived home safe and sound from my LA trip.

Ironically many game developers were pouring into LA for E3 as I was leaving. I even bumped into the guys from Media Molecule (Little Big Planet) as I was catching my cab to LAX.

How things have changed... just a few years ago I would have been super excited about E3 and would have have been looking forward to walking the floors to see all the cool new games. But now I can catch up on all the news as it happens instantaneously via the web. I even get to see more than I would if I was there - and my feet don't hurt after standing/walking all day.

One show I would like to attend this year is Casual Connect. It's on in less than two weeks - but I've already done my share of travel so I'll be sitting it out. I've been nominated for a Zeeby and it would be cool to be at the awards show in Seattle.

I have friends that are attending, so if I do win, they can pick up my award for me :-)

www.passfieldgames.com

LA Story

I'm currently chilling out at the Beverly Hills Plaza in LA. It's a nice little hotel on Wilshire Boulevard, just a short walk away from Century City - a Westfield shopping center. Funny thing about Westfield is that it's an Aussie company and they seem to have a shopping mall wherever you go these days.

The trip has been productive - and I even managed to catch up with a friend at DreamWorks Animation and another from The Third Floor.

I was hoping to head back to Brisbane tonight (Friday) but the flights are booked out until Sunday - so I've got two days to chill in LA. Now is a great time to catch up on my DS games and some books that I've neglected. In fact, I just picked up Space Invaders Extreme for the DS today - and it is a lot of fun! So I won't be bored (not that you could be in LA).

Tomorrow morning I'm heading into Santa Monica on a quest for a Barbie doll for my little girl and a cool toy for my little boy. Toy shopping can be such a drag sometimes :-).


www.passfieldgames.com

Coffee!

I got an early birthday present two weeks ago - a Sunbeam Cafe Series Espresso machine. It is a thing of beauty. Sleek, stainless steel and capable of producing the most awesome coffee known to man.

Of course it's not just the machine that makes a coffee awesome. I'm extremely lucky to work in the Valley in Brisbane, ground zero for a lot of great coffee shops/roasters and oddly enough ground zero for the Australian games industry... hmmm, I wonder if there's a connection?

Anyway, we now have a fine selection of coffee blends at home to choose from courtesy of the fine Valley coffee merchants. Here are my faves:

Campos Coffee - makes a mean brew. Their Dark City is smooth and strong. The New York Times says its worth the 22 hour flight down under from New York.

Merlo Coffee - they have a very yummy espresso blend.

Di Bella Coffee - a true blue Brisbane success story, Di Bella's Swiss Water Decaffeinated is wonderful!

Now there's only one problem with having a great machine and delicious coffee at your beck and call any time of the day... you become a coffee snob. I'm off to LA next week and will struggle to cope spending a week away from my stainless steel wonder.

I guess there's always Starbucks...

www.passfieldgames.com