...hmmm..pets and animals? yea that'll do...

Hi yea, so. The site myself and my friend Denis set up last year was fairly successful, we landed 35,000 unique visitors since January 1st, were mentioned several times on Kotaku, Steam, N4D and hundreds of other sites, and had a great time reporting from Leipzig and Blizzards Invitational. But we've learned a lot, but to cut to the point, a reboot is in order.

Before moving to London i spent a few weeks programming and designing the new site, and organising a change of focus. Im aiming high with CitizenGame v2, very high. High enough that Its probably not right to post it on Gamespot, but in honesty this is where many of the CG contributors came from, so it makes sence to go fishing here before anywhere else.

To cut to the chase if you're interested on colaborating with the launch of the UK's most exciting video games website, reply here or email me at dannyodwyer@gmail.com - Areas needed include:
- Writers
- Reviewers
- Video Presenters
- Tech (audio / video)
- Web (programmers / graphics)

Please have some version of your work available to see/read and its a big advantage if your based in London.
If your driven, passionate about games and willing to put in the work, get in contact.

I have a vision of whats missing in the games press, and what can be done to unite the core and casual into 1 portal. Managing the PR influence thats polluting the mainstream games press, getting out of the boardrooms and into the sitting rooms. More importantly, im no longer stuck in Ireland on my own trying to do it. This is no pipe dream, I have the ability and drive to get this done, I just need a strong team of people to help me pull it off.

If you can help, get in contact.

Im off to play more Burnout

It's been one calander week since myself and my lady friend made the final move to London and well over a month since I posted on my beloved Gamespot, so what better time than now to write an exaustive list of the better and worst points of live in Europe's largest city. LETS DO THIS!

Green = Good Times
Red = Bad Times

The Tube - Though I'm sure (like rollercoaster testers) the novelty wears off, the underground is simply superb. Excellently well run, fairly priced (with an Oyster) and at least in my experience so far, puntual and fast. Buses aren't bad either. I've never seen public transport like it.

Groceries - Oh man is stuff cheap here. Economies of scale is the winner over here with Basic fruit & veg, milk, meat, beer (shops and bars) and medicine being almost half the price in some shops. Even when you factor in the Euro-Sterling thing. Speaking of which...

Sterling - A minor gripe. It just feels silly that I can go to Italy or Eastern Europe with my Euro, but have to exchange it for Queen-moneys when take a 1 hour plane trip.

iPlayer, 4OD & Spotify - As a *cough* TV licence holder, I've access to all the free on demand and live broadcasts from national broadcasters. Watched Wimbledon live on my PC this week. No internet in my flat yet though, I'm posting this with my dongle hanging out my window, 150feet in the air. Spotify is genuis too.

No Car - *sniffle*, I miss being able to drive to the local beach or mountains for a day with nature. At least the views here are amazing....

Views from Apartment - (see below) I wake up in the morning and see south London glistening in the morning hue. Its glorious up here. Im a sucker for views, we can see hills 20 miles away from my old house in Ireland, so getting an appartment this high was fantastic. We're right beside the 2012 Olympic village site, which is facinating to watch being built. Free residents gym too, so bye bye love handles!

No Tayo Crisps or Decent Cider - Im Irish, I love Tayto crisps and miss them dearly. Most Irish children are raised on a diet of Tayto, its in our genes! Also I know understand why Bulmers is called 'Magners' overe here, its because another 'Bulmers' cider exists overe here, which tastes better actually. Not that it matter, im not really drinking as Im going to the gym.

Entering Gamespot UK Competitions - The main reason I moved over actually. No more will I be denied access to sweet-ass-prizes because of the xenaphobic policies of Gamespot Uk (i jest!)

Stuff to do - Its Endless. Theater, music, arcades, museums... you could never get bored here. And if you are, try living in Cork for a year....

Price of Games - Though my 30% staff discount in HMV is now lost to me, the price of games in the UK are so insanely cheaper it makes me wonder why we pay so much back home. In fact Im now convinced the reason HMV Ireland were the cheapest back home was because they were using the UK pricing schema. Note to anybody in Ireland, buy your games in HMV!

Thats all I can think of right now. I'll probably follow up with another next week, but for now its back to the problem at hand, job hunting! Im living in Stratford, East London for those of you who want to know. If you guys have any tips or comments about life in the capitol, let me know.

Danny

It's official, my girlfriend was offered a job teaching Science in a school in Newham, so the big London move is a-go-go. Really excited at the moment (I've never had so much cancelling a net connection) but also trying to figure out the logistics around the big move.

Quick few notes, this doesnt mean the end of my site CitizenGame.co.uk - We're still commited to running the podcast via Skype and if anything, being in London will help us do more news work for our UK audience.

Updating my portfolio site like crazy, looking for jobs in anything from Web Design, Graphics, Video, Writing Production or Shoemaking. Its still work in progress, but any feedback on it would be greatly appreciated: http://www.dannyodwyer.com/

Anyway, really excited, must go write my notice letter for HMV now.
Its funny how things work out, today is exactly 1 year from when I first moved to Cork.

Peace
-Danny