Will

I'm really not sure what WWE are thinking at the moment. It doesn't make much sense to me why they put the belt on Reigns when they did, especially given we're about to go into the run up to Wrestlemania. The only thing I can see happening is him losing the title at the rumble via shenanigans and then everything will be him overcoming the odds to win it back at Mania. I don't really want it to be Triple H but at this point who else is there? Brock would be the obvious choice but it doesn't help Reigns get over with the fans and we had that last year. Given the injury listed big players I don't see anyone else apart from Triple H being able to do anything with the storyline. I miss Seth, he was the best thing about WWE this year, it's not been the same since he had that injury.

The whole thing is a big issue and something various different groups have somewhat different opinions on right now. It`s really quite a balancing act and I don`t really think we`ve come to a solid conclusion on how best to run these things. On the OutRun style scenario, from a Publishers point of view, it`s no different to how things were in the past. There comes a time when licenses expire and you can no longer legally sell the game and you`re forced to remove it from sale. In the old days you`d still have stock in shops, pre-owned versions, friends, ebay etc. as ways to get hold of it, now we flick a switch and that`s it no-one new can get hold of it. It`s certainly annoying but unfortunately there isn`t really anything we can do to solve that one. On the side of servers being turned off it`s a really tricky one. A Publisher doesn`t want to be forced to run a game operating at a loss, but it`s also not fair to consumers who have spent money to no longer provide the expected services they`ve paid for. If a game doesn`t seem to be performing as required then a sensible wind-down of operations is something that needs to be pushed forward, and hopefully you end up with a service that satisfies your smaller user-base while not costing too much money to run. Unfortunately it`s often the case that it`s all or nothing - and that`s where things really get tricky. From a personal point of view I`d much rather download everything and not buy any physical games at all. But I don`t trust all markets equally. I don`t mind spending money on the iPhone App Store as over every generation of hardware my purchases have carried over and are still safe in my account. I know if I upgrade my phone the things I`ve paid for will come along with me. I also don`t mind buying films on Amazon. They offer the service across multiple devices and I trust they will be around long enough for me to not worry about having my content library with them. Others I`m not so sure on, I don`t mind downloading PSN games but still tend to stick to buying the physical version on full games. When I finally buy a PS4 I want to download everything but I`m not sure it`s the best option. Nintendo consoles I`d tend to avoid downloads all together until they have themselves sorted out with online in general. It will be very interesting how things develop in this area both from the content creators side and legislation side over the next couple of years.

I usually get about 250Mbs both up and down and a ping of about 20ms. I don't have any problems with online gaming though I only really play Mario Kart and then watch Netflix, which I never have any problems with. Unfortunately I reset my log of speed tests as when I was in San Francisco I had terrible internet, had problems with all streaming and gaming - would have liked to compare the speeds.

I always find the best thing when faced with that type of decision is pre-plan the worst case scenario of being let go in 6 months. Will you be in a better position than where you are to find new work, and will the new experiences add meaningfully to your CV? If you carry on living at your current expense rate and save the additional 10k it also gives you a nice buffer should that come to pass. Also how realistic is it that you burn all bridges? You'll still have the contacts etc. and be building new ones. Now that there is a negative feeling towards the company does it even matter? Sooner or later it will be time to move on and it seems like you have good offers on the table right now... Had lunch with the guys from work today to discuss the final details of my new role. Of course the salary is a big drop from what I was on in the US but it's a very decent wage in Tokyo. On the very positive side all overtime is paid, they cover a decent chunk of your rent, all transportation costs and will also pay for my future Japanese lessons. Added to the fact the role is right in the area I want to be I'm really looking forward to getting started.

I have my first proper job in Japan! I'll be going back to SEGA to work on international strategy and business expansion. Should be similar to what I was doing before but with a slightly wider remit. Just got to do the paperwork and salary negotiation and with a bit of luck I'll be starting on December 1st. Actually really excited, I've enjoyed the time off to study but very much looking forward to getting on with a new work challenge.

Crazy, right? But I really do miss it. The sooner I'm back working the better. It's a date! Hopefully I'll get to visit at some point soon at least.

I'd agree with that on the length of service thing, to the point of it actually being better to get out of there quickly. It's much easier to have been in a role for six months and be able to say it's just not a good fit so you're looking for something you can excel at rather than sit around for two years then try and put work you hated in a good light. I'm interviewing for a few positions at the moment, and seem to be progressing quite well. Annoyingly the best roles are in London and Shanghai, neither of which I'm too keen on to be honest. There are a couple in Tokyo but I think I may have to take something on a lower level if I'm to stay here. Mainly I'm just missing working now, so fingers crossed something goes through soon.

Ah! that was my goal for this year... So far it seems to have gone pretty well, I was lucky enough to be able to take the year off, live in Japan and spend the majority of my time at school. Learning the structures and then being able to use it in real life has brought things on tremendously and I feel pretty confident in most situations now. The JLPT exams are in December and I'm hoping I'll be in a position to pass the generally accepted fluency level (N2) which is the acceptable standard for working here. If you stick at it and do something in Japanese everyday you should be able to get pretty decent at it. If you need any tips or advice let me know!

Another fan here. I've used it for personal holidays, work off-sites and biz trips. I'd definitely recommend it and will continue to use it. As already said, just go for the people with good reviews and you should have nothing to worry about.

I'm not really sure what I expected to be honest. At least, once I realized I probably wasn't going to be a WWE wrestler or F1 world champion. During my A-levels and degree I just kind of showed up and went with the flow of where things took me, I didn't do anything with a long term plan or end goal in mind, it all just sort of happened. I don't think at the time I had much or any expectation of what 'real life' was going to be. Through a series of fortunate events I landed a good job not long out of uni and things have gone on from that. For me, the key thing is that we have one life and you're the only one who can make things happen for it. I see way too many of my old school friends who just assume something they want will end up happening in the end yet do nothing to make it come. 10 years out of uni and they're still in the same place they were when we finished, just waiting for something to happen. Well, you live like that and you'll look back with massive amounts of regret in my opinion. I guess as a kid all decisions are made for you, and you just go from point to point passing arbitrary goals as you go. As an adult you make the rules and are the master of your own happiness, so you better be damn sure you know where you want to go and that you can rely on yourself to get there. You have to take risks, face setbacks and put yourself out there to be hurt if you want to move forward. That's not really needed when you're a kid, someone will sort everything out for you, but as an adult you need to sort your own shit out. Unfortunately too many people realize that too late I think.

I passed my latest Japanese exam! 3 months until the major exams at the end of the year so time to really up the studying!

Oh I did - I moved to Japan at the start of the year though.

As I'm not currently employed had to be screened to get an industry pass to Tokyo Games Show (the public days are hell and impossible to meet anyone). This involved a phone interview - in Japanese. I wasn't 100% sure but I felt I managed to understand most of what they asked me, give good detailed answers and all the proper phone call niceties etc. It was almost kind of fun! Anyway, my pass just came through! So I guess my Japanese has progressed to the point of being able to get by some fairly in-depth stuff. Or it was so ridiculous they didn't dare risk having me call back. Either way, I feel I hit a good milestone in my learning and I can go and have a nice relaxed Friday checking out all of the new stuff.

Had some friends staying here last week - we bumped into The Fonz on the train.

The trains here are a nightmare so I've bought a new bike for commuting.

I was paid bi-weekly in America and much preferred it to monthly, having money come in more regularly and on a specific day (every other Friday). It was strange at first but never having to wait too long for the next paycheck was actually pretty good. Maybe every week is a little too often and obviously smaller amounts each time. I'd definitely take bi-weekly if I was ever given the choice though.

After 8 years, 4 offices, and about the same amount of roles I finally left SEGA last week. I'm kind of sad to leave it all behind but I also feel like a massive weight has been lifted from my shoulders. No more need to worry about whether we're on track for BP, how delayed our games are going to be or if we have some disastrous resource problem. It's really very liberating. My plan is currently to take a few months to focus purely on my Japanese and then start looking for some good roles in Tokyo. Have already had a few companies call me up so may not get quite the break I was hoping for, but for a good role that will be a minor inconvenience. Now I just need the rain to stop and I can fully enjoy a first summer off in god knows how long.

I upped my pledge to get the PS4 boxed copy. I've quite liked the additional tiers they've added, they really seem to be doing a good job of running this.

I enjoyed Rocky Balboa and from the trailer this certainly looks promising. Definitely on my to watch list.

I think the general idea behind this is great, give people the money they need to survive and if they want to do more or less then they can without worrying about it. The reality is that the implementation of this completely changes our economic structure and applied to our current economic policy just shifts all costs and income by whatever the amount the pay out is. Fundamentally I support this idea, but it needs a complete change in our economic policy to actually achieve the results it wants to. It's a great idea, but without wider policy moves it's basically a waste of time.

I would say if you can afford to bugger off on holiday then do it. A change of pace and time to refresh is sometimes exactly what you need to focus on what you want and how to best make it happen. I was absolutely shitting myself when I quit work to randomly move here but six months in I've made progress I never thought I would be able to in Japanese (though I still suck at it) and know exactly the kind of role I want when I start working properly again. If the options you have are career directions I'd say you couldn't go wrong with directly contacting people in those areas and just asking if there is anything available or coming up. Many people are happy to help out people who show a bit of initiative in that regard. I'm with King_V, I hate recruitment agencies with a passion from the job hunt side, they're only good if your trying to find people and there is money in it for them.

I think it`s a little more nuanced than that though. In the absence of a game most people just want to find out how the hell the story ends, in whatever way it takes. But if a game is coming it will set certain expectations of at least some level of quality. The originals were flawed, sure, but they still had a huge scope and tried to do new and interesting things we hadn`t seen before. I`m certainly not expecting a masterpiece, but at the moment I`m worried it`s going to be a disaster. I`d rather not know how the story finishes than have it done in a crappy way.

Which I think is fine if it's made clear how everything is fitting together. For me, somewhere the numbers don't add up, so I want to understand them more. I really hope this is the case, but if Sony haven't put any money in, and it's the kickstarter money only, the fans won't be getting the game they've waited 14 years for.

For the sake of the quality of the game that point really worries me. The game really is going to be quite bare-bones if it's reliant on money being mainly from the kickstarter. Some of the stretch goals confuse me too, $100k per language for localization is a crazy amount, it"s totally out of line with what they have for the game development budget. I think it depends where the money is really coming from though. If Sony have just given them a small kick-off and then it's being done independently then I think its OK. If Sony are a major backer then it really sits uneasily with me too. Leading on from my point above this is not a $2m project. If it was I have no doubt it would have been made years ago through a regular publishing route and not needed to go near kickstarter. I'm really happy we're getting at least something, but my confidence in something high quality is pretty low at this point.

Oh absolutely its do-able, my point was more around the fact that it needs to be somewhere in that area rather than around $2m. Personally I think it`s a bit off having some money come from Kickstarter and other money from elsewhere. Dependent on the balance the devs direction will be lead from one side or the other, and that may not be whats best for the people that back the game. It also paints an unrealistic picture of whats possible with particular budgets. If it was possible to make Shenmue 3 on a budget of $2m I`m fairly confident it would have been picked up and published in the traditional way. I`d be super interested to see a full financial breakdown of both the funding and the expenditure for the project once the kickstarter is finished.