Archive for the ‘People’ Category

HandsOn reorganizes

December 11th, 2006 by Arjan Olsder Posted in People | No Comments »

According to MocoNews, HandsOn is reorganising. The most notable is the change of position for Keith McCurdy. Though only recently appointed as COO, he has now left this station and will only work as advisor for the company, while Lynne Crawford replaces him. Other details are unknown at this time.

Interview Tony Pearce – Player X part 1

November 29th, 2006 by Arjan Olsder Posted in People | No Comments »

Mobileindustry.biz just put up the first part of their interview with Tony Pearce, ceo at Player X.

Player X added Tassos Kazinos as COO

November 14th, 2006 by Arjan Olsder Posted in People | No Comments »

Player X announced Tassos Kazinos to join the management of the company. Tassos has over 10 years of experience in the technology and media industry and a special expertise in the independent film production business. Something that really fit’s the strategy of PlayerX to not only do games, but also mobile TV.

“I’m delighted to have Tasso on board,” commented Player X CEO Tony Pearce, “he adds further quality to a team that already includes heavyweights such as Nick Alexander, Ynon Kreiz and Adam Valkin. By bringing in somebody from outside the industry who has experience in film and broadband only underlines how far mobile media has come.”

It’s Jail Time! (former Gizmondo exec)

November 9th, 2006 by Arjan Olsder Posted in People | No Comments »

Sorry for being so late with this news. Windows broke down on me yesterday when I had nearly written it all down.

One of the industry’s longest running soaps seems to come to an end as Bo Stefan Eriksson has been sentenced to thee and a half years of jail time in California.

The whole story started off when Stefan was involved in the startup of Gizmondo (I still have the T-Shirt), a handheld console with mobile connectivity features. The Gizmondo was by many expected as the successor to the N-Gage. Not long after Gizmondo started, rumors spread around the net about shareholder intimidations and other organized crime. True or not, the whole thing ended in a bang

Interview with Rockpool

November 8th, 2006 by Arjan Olsder Posted in People | No Comments »

MobileIndustry.biz has released an interview with Paul Gouge, MD at Rockpool games. It’s a good interview which explains more about the launch of a subsidiary company called SoGoPlay which targets the online market of casual games.

Scott Guthrie new SVP North American Sales & Distribution

November 6th, 2006 by Arjan Olsder Posted in People | No Comments »

THQ announced it’s newest hire as they appointed Scott Guthrie as Senior Vice President of North American Sales & Distribution.

“Scott has a proven track record of success in many different entertainment categories across a wide variety of distribution channels,” said Farrell. “He has already played a critical role in the chart-topping launches of THQ’s major titles this year – from the cross-platform release of Disney/Pixar Cars in June to the recent release of our brand new property Saints Row for Xbox 360. We look forward to Scott’s results-oriented leadership as THQ continues to transform itself through a new cycle of growth.”

Mark Ollila from TelcoGames to Nokia

November 2nd, 2006 by Arjan Olsder Posted in People | No Comments »

Today we found an email saying Mark Ollila, who you all probably know from TelcoGames, is now picking up an executive role in Nokia’s gaming department.

"Joining Nokia during the final strategic developments of Nokia’s next generation mobile games platform launch is a unique challenge – where new social and connected technology benchmarks and consumer experiences are being delivered for the first time to the mobile entertainment market," Ollila commented. It’s these kinds of progressive developments that form new cultures and greater opportunities for our industry, which I am delighted to be involved in."

Interview with Tim Closs (IdeaWorks3D)

October 28th, 2006 by Arjan Olsder Posted in People | No Comments »

MobileIndustry.biz has put up an interview with Tim Closs based on the company’s release of Airplay 3.0. Read the whole interview here.

Interview with Harald Behnke

October 19th, 2006 by Arjan Olsder Posted in People | No Comments »

MobileIndustry.biz published an exclusive interview with Exit Games CEO Harald Bahnke. Exit games, is a Hamburg (DE) based company is specialized in developing networks for connected gameplay under their Exit Games Neutron label. In the interview with MobileIndustry.biz, Harald announced that the industry can make a lot of money by focusing on connected gameplay. Selling virtual items like expansion packs can boost the income generated from the consumer. This is really important in a time where it’s hard to establish a long-lasting relationship with the consumer. Read the full interview here.

Jay Sharples from iFone (Glu) to Rockpool

October 18th, 2006 by Arjan Olsder Posted in People | No Comments »

Rockpool games has signed up Jay Sharples (ex iFone boss) to reinforce the team and improve quality of the overall portfolio. Therefore Jay will fulfill the role of Creative Manager in the internal development studios.

"Jay’s appointment is further recognition of our absolute commitment to creative quality," said Paul Gouge, MD at Rockpool. "Jay brings with him an impressive track record of countless quality mobile titles for key-players such as Sony, Sega, Atari, and Hasbro,"

"My remit at Rockpool is to be the qualitative guardian for all mobile games developed by the studio,” said Sharples. "I’m here to provide guidance and motivation to all the internal development staff in order to ensure that the high creative quality of our games