We thought we’d have a little look at game we produced in January for Katapult Studios for Skillforce’s ‘Virtual Walk To The Pole‘ website.

This really positive project helps kids to follow in the footsteps of the Walking With The Wounded expedition to the north pole.  Some 120 schools across the UK participated over 12 weeks with a series of weekly challenges.   Using stepometers, the kids aimed to walk 10,000 steps each per day, tracked against the real expedition, with scores awarded to see which school would get to the top of the leader board.

The kids also got to play our mini game, Polar Bear Rescue which you can play by clicking here!

We thoroughly enjoyed being involved with such a superb cause and you can find out why by clicking here for more information.

Each month, we like to say ‘hi’ to a member of our excellent team.  This month, we focus our attention on Nelson.  No first name, no surname, just Nelson.

Special Skills?
Being able to clearly communicate the vision of your ideas is key.  Many projects often start with a blank sheet. With Video Games, quite literally your imagination is the only limit, but you still need a format and a process to deliver those ideas as a reality. Having a great team is essential to this, otherwise those ideas will only ever be an idea. Oh, and you need to play video games – lots and lots of video games!

What do you think the year ahead holds in store for the industry?
It’s a fascinating time for the video game industry as ‘new’ markets grow in leaps and bounds. The ‘big budget’ video game industry surpassed movie Industry revenues a few years ago, but the recent surge in casual games (such as on mobile devices), makes it an exciting time to be involved in creating new ways for people to play. Keep an eye on the latest offering from Nintendo, the ‘Wii U’, something that will undoubtedly open new paths, and question and challenge others.

Your favourite game of all time?
Too many to choose from! Having had every computer/console since the Spectrum 48k, it’s just too tough to pick one!

Your top tip for success?
Honesty, courage, humility – Be honest in everything you do (Karma is watching after all). Have the courage to push yourself, yet speak up when you need help. Learn from your mistakes.

A great insight into a great team member!  Until next month!

We’ve developed a number of apps in the past, notably games, including the Peppa Pig series which was really successful.  However, as of late we’ve seen a lot of demand for business-orientated apps.  As we all know, smartphones and mobile devices are rapidly becoming a primary method of accessing information on the web.

So in response to this, we’ve luanched our dedicated app division, FirstApp, and it’s focused purely on building the next generation of smartphone business applications that will bring the full benefits of mobile communications to forward thinking businesses and their customers.

We are of the opinion that having an ‘app’ shouldn’t be the ’sole preserve’ of large corporate businesses.  Our vision is to empower all types of businesses to choose, configure and deploy their own custom app using our web-based ‘app’ delivery platform.

Already gathering momentum, FirstApp has three corporate apps in development and once these are nearer completion, we’ll give you more information. But until then, for more information on developing your own app’, please get in touch!

Welcome back to our blog and we have heaps of new and exciting news to convey!

We’ve expanded and moved!  No longer are we at the lovely iD Centre.  We’ve moved to the other side of our fair city of Derby and now reside in the penthouse of Friar Gate Studios, a superb haven for creative businesses.

Our Peppa Pig game, “Peppa’s Party” hit the iPad and we’re elated to see it take the #1 paid apps slot!  We also launched Peppa Pig “Theme Park Fun”  in March on the DS, which went down a real storm, gaining some great reviews.  Luckily, it came out in time for the grand opening of “Peppa Pig World” at Paultons Park.  We were lucky enough to receive free tickets and had a really great time.

To learn more about a number of exciting ;rojects we have in the pipeline, why not check out our latest newsletter which you can read here!

To read the latest Strawdog Studios Newsletter, please click here!

News includes:
Our recent move
Our latest Peppa Pig release on the iPad
FirstApp, our smartphone app wing

and much more…read!