Producer / Game Developer

Ok, this was totally unexpected...  

I couldn't figure out why I was still getting numerous daily hits on my little neglected nook of the internet.  I mean, if there was such a thing as virtual cobwebs, then my blog with be a good candidate to benefit from this feature. 

At first, I thought some people I knew peeked at my profile in LinkedIn and found the link there, so no worries.  However, no one I knew ever mentioned anything about this to me and it's not something I specifically told anyone.

Maybe it was through google, but how many Yanick Blenkhorn's are out there anyway?  I mean physically!  Probably not a whole lot considering that my very own wife "refused" to take on my family name.  Wait, that's too much information... I digress...

So, after attending the presentation on Assassin's last week at the IGDA, Jason mentionned that the official IGDA website had finally gotten a much needed facelift.  As I am browsing the site I quickly discover a few new sections, and low and behold... I read my name and a link to my Blog.

It's been a while since my last post.  Maybe it's because I've been spending some quality time with my new toy, but I think it's because things are a little more hectic at work and at home these days.  I'm a little disappointed since I bought it at Futureshop on launch day for 149.99.  Browsing through the flyers last Saturday revealed that Toys R Us is selling it for the same price, BUT you can buy Super Mario DS for 4.99 provided you purchase the console there.  Dang! 

Aside from that, I've been playing a mix of Brain Age and Mario Cart so far, but haven't tried the multiplayer functions yet.  One really cool function I didn't know about, one of the artists at work uploaded a demo of Brain Academy on my DS.  So I got to play that for a bit, and now I think I want it also... Good marketing move indeed.

So far, love the size and love the design so it was worth the wait.  Now I think I need to buy another for my son at Toys R Us since his birthday is coming up and a good part of the fun is the multiplayer aspect...

I completely stumbled on this by accident.  Can't say this enough, Brian really was a gentleman.

http://www.legacy.com/can-montreal/Obituaries.asp?Page=LifeStory&PersonID=17974302 

Since the link will probably expire some day here it is:

OBITUARY J. BRIAN CLARKE Passed away peacefully at the Jewish General Hospital on June 2, 2006 aged sixty-seven years. Loving and devoted husband of Mary Di Palma. Dear father of Mark Esposito, Johanna (Mark Hekimian) and Krystina (Luc Beaudoin). Cherished grandfather of Tatyana, Brianna, Kamron and Catherine. Survived by his sister Linda (William Bertram) of Toronto. He will be sadly missed by his loving relatives and dear friends. Brian, while a native Torontonian, fell in love with and adopted Montreal as his city when he first arrived in 1967. He had a life-long fascination with toys of all sorts. An avid model train builder, Brian worked in the toy industry for many years, moving to New York City in 1983 and rising to become Chief Executive of Coleco, a major North American toy manufacturer. He 'discovered' the famous "Cabbage Patch Kids" and had the foresight and skill to lead the promotion of his "kids" to become one of the most successful in the history of children's dolls. At the time of his death, Brian was Executive Vice-President of Strategy First, a leading computer games creator and manufacturer. He firmly believed in giving back to his communities and fellow citizens: He was Vice Chairman of the Constance Lethbridge Foundation, Director of Stanstead College, immediate past Vice-Chair and Elder of Mountainside United Church and past Chair of the Board of Management of Erskine & American United Church. He was an active member of The Opimium Society and the Whiff of Grape. For over twenty-five years, Brian's home-away-from-home has been his summer residence at Bark Lake, Quebec. The perennial Mayor of the town of Barkmere, he showed his love of the area and of its residents by giving untold hours to the preservation of its environment and the life style he enjoyed so much. Visitation at the Kane & Fetterly Funeral Home, 5301 Decarie Blvd. (corner Isabella) on Monday from 7 to 9 p.m. A Service of celebration of Brian's life will be held at the Mountainside United Church (The Boulevard & Roslyn, Westmount) on Tuesday, June 6 at 12 noon. Special thanks to Dr. Gyger and the hematology/oncology department, and to Dr. Lapointe and the palliative care unit. In lieu of flowers, donations to be made to the J. Brian Clarke Fund at the Jewish General Hospital Foundation, 3755 Cote Ste-Catherine Rd., Montreal, QC H3T 1E2.
Published in the Montreal Gazette from 6/4/2006 - 6/5/2006.

Many extremely talented artists will be in Montreal for this event.  And we're sending one of our lead 2D artists over there to see what all the hoopla is all about.  

http://www.conceptart.org/

While checking out the site, I'm not sure what was more interesting, the actual art or the people themselves.  They come in all shapes, styles and colors.  Creativity is not something that is lacking for these talented individuals.

One of the Senior Programmers at Gameloft introduced me to this free networking tool about a month and half ago. 

I never realized so many people I knew already had profiles there, and to think no one thought of including me in the fun.  Oh wait, I recall some people did tell me and I brushed them off under pretext that I had no time for this type of nonsense.  "I will never leave SFI!  Mwhahahaha!"  :)

I have come to realize now that since SFI is now mostly dismantled, all my old friends are scattered across the continent.  Since people have a tendancy of job-hopping, this is a great way to still maintain some sort of contact.  That is, provided the people take the time to update their profiles.

So if you know me, add me to your list of contacts and I'll consider adding you to mine.  My email is yanickblenkhorn@gmail.com.

SFI pulled him out of retirement a few years ago where he acted as one of the VPs.  In the 80's, he was the former President of Coleco, makers of the popular ColecoVision and Cabbage patch kids.  I remember having a long chat with him at one of the company Xmas parties in 2002, and he explained to me how they made games back in the 'ol days. 

He had an incredible presence and when he talked people listened which made him a tremendous speaker.  His deep voice alone would make Barry White jealous.  He was a kind, charismatic, no-nonsense gentleman who knew how to get things done and always made himself available.  Heck, even after I was no longer working at SFI, he offered to give me a hand with a personal problem. 

I am told he was battling cancer for the past year or so afterwhich he slipped into a coma late last week and subsequently passed away on Friday.  Ugh...

Our thoughts are with you.

Several Positions have opened up in the Creation Dept.

We are looking for Producers, Designers, 3D Artists and 2D Artists.

http://www.gameloft.com/corpo_jobs.php?job_country=38

If you enjoy working in smaller teams where you can fully showcase your talents, then this is the place for you.

I will attempt to attend the next chapter session on June 15th, featuring Bioware's Sci-Fi RPG Mass Effect.  More information can be found here: http://www.igda.org/montreal/index_e.htm 

If anyone I know is planning to go also, please give me a shout so that we can meet up there.

Ok, I have to say that this was somewhat unexpected.  Low and behold, the Executive Director of the IGDA aka Jason Della Rocca stumbled across my blog and took the time to respond personally to my concerns (or excessive whining & complaining as I reread myself) posted in Part I and II below. 

He explains that several game companies which sponsor IGDA memberships requested the withdrawal of the names of their employees from the list of members on the IGDA website.  So, in effect they are still members, just not displayed in any of the online lists.   The major companies affected by this are basically A2M, EA Mtl, DC Studios and Ubi (although I did see many people from Ubi on the list, but nowhere near the 1000+ employees of the Montreal Studio).

So thanks for taking the time to clear that up Jason! :)

It's a shot in the dark maybe, but I suspect this may have something to do with Ubisoft and their non-competition clause which is included in all employee contracts of all levels.  I can imagine that the last thing a competitor wants is Ubisoft lawyers breathing down their necks because they mistakenly hired an ex-Ubisoft employee who did not wait for his 1 year non-competition clause to expire.  Having the names of all employees working for a specific company posted in a public place makes it easier to pinpoint these kinds of hiring "errors" and could end up very costly.  I know for a fact that EA will not accept any CVs from Ubi applicants.

On a sidenote, I find it ironic that one of the biggest defenders of this contraversial clause was ex-Montreal Studio CEO Martin Tremblay, who after having a severe difference of opinion with Ubisoft upper management in France, jumped ship and landed a job at Vivendi Universal.  Now Ubisoft has succeeded to block this from happening http://www.gamasutra.com/php-bin/news_index.php?story=9127. 

Couple days late posting this, but has it been 9 years already?  Kudos to my wife for still being with me after what I put her through with my crazy work schedules over the years.  Countless allnighters, at least 14 hours a day, every day including weekends and during our vacations.  Not many people would stick around, and certainly no one else I know.  But I'll try to post some detailed stories when I have a little more time cause it's a little surreal. 

My only defense is that from the very beginning of my career I never "felt" like my job was actual work, it was just something I enjoyed doing, and there was always so much to do.