GuardBaby.com

Lord Guardemort

2011-12-02T00:16:00.002+00:00

Lord Guardemort by ~joemdesign on deviantART

To celebrate the first ever game I helped design along with the other amazing people at Traveller's Tales (that game being LEGO Harry Potter Years 5-7), I've turned Guard Baby into "He who should not be named". Enjoy!

LEGO Harry Potter Years 5-7 Box Art

2011-09-02T01:07:00.002+01:00

Just now hitting the net, it's the front cover art for the new LEGO Harry Potter Years 5-7!

Helping to design this game has been amazing. It's not quite over yet but here's something to look for on stores shelves later this year (I did a post like this for LEGO Star Wars III: The Clone Wars so I thought Harry deserved the same).

Guard Baby Obi-Serious

2011-04-06T01:18:00.002+01:00

Guard Baby Obi-Serious by ~joemdesign on deviant ART

This isn't the Guard Baby you're looking for! With the release of LEGO Star Wars III: The Clone Wars, I decided it was time to arm GB with a brutal lightsabre and an even MORE brutal beard!

I feel bad that I didn't get to spend more time on this but with LEGO Pirates of the Caribbean on the horizon, I thought I should say goodbye to this before I spent too long on it. I'm still pleased with the results but it could have been so much more with a little more time.

Guard Baby Christmas Haulage

2010-12-12T02:58:00.001+00:00

Guard Baby Christmas Haulage by ~joemdesign on deviant ART

Another year, another attempt at doing a festive version of Guard Baby... I wish I had more time to get this done but I like the colours. =D Never mind! Merry Christmas, folks!

LEGO Star Wars III: Box Art Revealed

2010-11-21T03:15:00.002+00:00

Now THAT'S what I call a box cover. Look at Grievous' eyes!

(ps. I've decided to update my site with regular LEGO games news from now on. Gotta share what I'm doing with the world somehow. :P)

LEGO Star Wars III Developer Diary HD

2010-11-15T12:40:00.002+00:00

Video Games | LEGO Star Wars III | Developer Diary HD

XBox 360 | Playstation 3 | Nintendo Wii

LEGO Star Wars III: The Clone Wars is coming next year and this little video shows you what you can expect to see in that galaxy far, far away!

Guard Baby the Boy Wizard

2010-10-29T02:43:00.001+01:00

Guard Baby the Boy Wizard by ~joemdesign on deviant ART

Something for Halloween. Guard Baby dressed up as his favourite boy wizard!

LEGO Guard Baby

2010-09-23T02:02:00.001+01:00

LEGO Guard Baby by ~joemdesign on deviant ART

Given the nature of working at Traveller's Tales, I figured that Guard Baby needed a new look. Not that he's happy about it or anything though.

LEGO Harry Potter - Gametrailers.com Video Review

2010-07-01T12:41:00.001+01:00

Video Games | LEGO Harry Potter | Review HD

XBox 360 | Playstation 3 | Nintendo Wii

(spoilers) I'm so glad they liked it!

Simpsons Whiteboards - Bart Simpson

2009-11-27T01:21:00.001+00:00

My attempt to draw Bart on Bebo's whiteboard system.

Joe gets on UK Resistance... again! Dreamcast symbol found in videogame "Flock!"

2009-05-17T13:19:00.004+01:00

I've been working so hard that I almost didn't realise the infamous SEGA fansite UK Resistance had once again featured one of my submissions. You can tell that it's a slow news day when they resort to posting one of my obscure SEGA-related ramblings:

SUBLIMINAL DREAMCAST REFERENCE SPOTTED IN "QUIRKY" ONLINE SHOP GAME "FLOCK"

Previous submissions from myself include:

UK:RESISTANCE: FAKE EMILY BOOTH INTERVIEW / PROXIMITY KIT

and

UK:RESISTANCE: DEEP INSIDE SEGA WORLD, IN 1999

Kelly Kelly (Barbie Blank) Portrait

2009-03-29T13:36:00.001+01:00

A quick sketch study of the WWE Women's wrestler "Kelly Kelly" (Barbie Blank) done in a 2B pencil on regular paper.

Based on an original photograph from UK Wrestling magazine "Power Slam" (issue 117 - April 2009) by Ryan Brenna.

Kelly Kelly Portrait by ~joemdesign on deviant ART

Guard Baby Character Concept Art - Lori Laproscia - Ace Reporter

2009-02-20T16:05:00.002+00:00

More re-designs. This time we get to see how Lori would look with the heart-shaped eye socket from the previous Guard Baby model.

I thought it was important to find a way to create an attractive face using the new structure and get her proportions correct. The result isn't too shabby and I'll be looking forward to making more of these soon.

You can see the 3D model of Lori in the Guard Baby: Collision Course animation in the video section!

Bang Bang Baby - New Guard Baby Art

2009-02-19T13:34:00.005+00:00

A baby waving a gun around? In the wrong context... this could look bad. This new slight re-design has a new colour palette, new heart-shaped eye area and a circular badge. I don't know why so many of my GB pics are so angry-looking. When will this baby mellow?

This drawing also marks the official debut of the "Guard Gun". This diminutive detective will bust a cap in your... knees.

TNA UK Tour Provides "Bang Bang" For Your Buck Meeting Mick Foley!

2009-01-27T17:28:00.007+00:00

Click HERE to visit the Exclusive TNA Maximum Impact Tour in Glasgow Photo Gallery

Hello, wrestling fans! I had a really great weekend which started on Thursday night in Glasgow's Braehead Arena for TNA Wrestling Live! I know there are probably a lot more sites out there that will be able to provide you with all the details of the events you'd want but I just wanted to share my own limited selection of photos from the event with you.

In addition to all this I was able to score a handshake from TNA's own Jeremy Borash (nice guy!), gave Bubba (Brother Ray) Dudley a loan of my marker pen (Bubba is THE BEST!) and fulfilled a ten-year ambition to meet wrestling legend Mick Foley (also a very nice guy... thank you, Mick!)

I wasn't able to get tickets to TNA's Fan Interaction event but after hanging around the arena after the show some of the wrestlers stopped by the see the fans. First up was Bubba Ray Dudley whom I've previously seen making an impromptu appearance at Insurrextion 2003 in Newcastle. You get the impression that Bubba really enjoys meeting the fans from the way he's always making time to speak to them (I mean... us... err... me!) but this was my first time meeting the guy. He first of all apologised in advance for not having the time to sign an autograph for everyone and then he realised that he didn't have a pen. "Has anyone got a marker?" he asked to which I shouted "I have! I have!" in a sort of overly excited fashion. I handed it to him and he began to sign away... Someone else collected the pen back from him and I said they could keep it until the wrestlers left.

The next few minutes were spent coming up with chants and booing people as they went onto the coach without coming to see us. Eventually a very familiar figure approached the bus and the chants began "Fo-ley! Fo-ley! Fo-ley!"

Mick Foley is a wrestling legend who I've been a huge fan of for the last ten years or so and I can't express how amazing it was to meet him. It was also a huge relief because it meant that carrying around his first autobiography "Have A Nice Day" all day wasn't a total waste of time. It had been very difficult to regain possession of the book in time for the event and after failing to make the fan show I thought that I'd missed my chance to get the book signed. I was happy to be wrong.

At first it wasn't clear whether or not Mick would be coming over to us. He put his bag on the bus and looked over towards where we were standing and almost put one foot on the bus-step. We began to boo and he turned around again. Then he started to move towards us and the cheers began to ring out in the chilly Winter air with the promise that the greatest hardcore icon in wrestling history had decided to take some time to see us. However, as soon as the cheers started they stopped as Foley turned around again... and then back... and then moved towards us again. I think he was trying to mess with us or something. It was cool.

When he arrived he took a minute to apologise to everyone, as Bubba did, because he wouldn't be able to sign everything and that's when I went a little crazy "Mick! Mick! Sign my book! Mick!" I began to shout in as restrained a fashion as I could. I blurted out "I've waited ten years, Mick!" which was probably just my excitement getting the better of me. It wasn't a big deal as most other fans were just as desperate to get the autograph of "Mrs Foley's Baby Boy" as badly as I was.

I didn't get the autograph right away though as my partner-in-crime for the evening Allan had brought along his Mick Foley DVD "The Legendary Japanese Tournament" which is basically the famous (or infamous) King Of The Deathmatch tournament from 1995, a very important match in Mick's career. The bearded brawler took a look at it and read "The Legendary Japanese Tournament, huh?" with a smile as he signed the cover with glee. Now it was my turn! I handed him the autobiography and his face lit up again upon recognising it "Ah, the book!" he remarked. Someone said something else to him and as he began to write (with a very cool white marker pen) he joked that this book was his personal favourite because it made him the most money.

So that was it! I had an amazing night which continued into the weekend with more wrestling action including the excellent film "The Wrestler" with Mickey Rourke, the not-so-excellent but still a lot of fun movie "Wrestlemaniac" (also known as "El Mascarado Massacre" in the US) and finally culminated in the 2009 Royal Rumble pay-per-view on Sunday night.

Okay, now for your viewing pleasure here is a picture of my copy of Mick Foley's first autobiography "Have A Nice Day" which is still the best wrestling-related book I've ever read. On the left you can see the cover (with the now banned "WWF" logo) while on the right you'll notice a hardcore legend's signature. And no, it's never going on eBay! Bang bang!

Click HERE to see the hardcore legend's signature in more detail!

And one more treat! Here's a video of the TNA stars at 4am in Glasgow after the show.

I had an awesome time on Thursday and it was better than any wrestling house show I've ever been to in terms of fan interaction and value for money. Honestly, it was a lot of fun! I can't think of a better way to describe it. TNA! TNA! TNA!

Guard Baby: Consideration of Hope

2009-01-20T17:39:00.001+00:00

Click HERE to view larger size on DeviantArt.com

2009 Portfolio Is Here... in HD!

2009-01-13T23:12:00.002+00:00

Yes, the moment you've all waited for is finally here:

I learned how to upload video onto Youtube.com in 720p high resolution! Whooo!!

Check it out:
Click here, Monkeys!

Oh, and don't forget to hit the "Watch in HD" button underneath the normal video otherwise that ain't HD. :P

Over 10,000 Views For Shenmue Campaign Fan Video!

2009-01-05T23:38:00.003+00:00

I know it's not exactly a HUGE number but it just goes to show you. I threw this video together from some old photoshops and stuck it on YouTube and I never thought it would be seen by so many people.

Thanks for the views, guys!

Guard Baby Render "The Guardfather"

2008-09-11T11:58:00.002+01:00

Click HERE to view larger size on DeviantArt.com

When I said I would update this blog every day except for weekends, I knew it would be hard. It takes time to create new art or to have interesting things happen to you that you can talk about on the internet without feeling like someone's gonna come and GET YA!

Nonetheless, here's today's update. A render of Guard Baby from the Collision Course movie.

I like this pose and I'm proud of the way this little movie turned out. Who knows... Maybe I'll make another one.

I sure hope I get the chance.

Watch this space.

TNA Art - Kurt Angle vs Sting

2008-09-09T18:57:00.006+01:00

Click HERE to view larger size on DeviantArt.com

My love/hate relationship with new wrestling company Total Non-Stop Action Wrestling (TNA) has taken me on an emotional journey where one week I want them to continue to prosper and succeed in making money and providing grap-fans with a new and different experience to the WWE's relatively stale offerings but the next week I just wish they'd... go away... or something.

Anyway, to "celebrate" the new videogame "TNA Impact! The Video Game" coming out this month I've added a sketch I did a while ago to my DeviantArt gallery. Here we see wrestling legends Sting and Kurt Angle in a bit of a struggle... Who will come out on top??? Who knows??? (or cares...)

If you haven't "Crossed The Line" yet then check out TNA's official website at TNAWrestling.com.

Edinburgh Interactive Festival - History Of Scottish Gaming 1988-2008

2008-09-08T11:26:00.007+01:00

Thanks to ScottishGames.Biz for this update. It seems that a site called Sanctuary4Gamers.com have posted some videos from the recent (last month) Edinburgh Interactive Festival and it's stuff I wasn't there for!

Always living by the motto "If I haven't seen it, it's new to me", I decided to post the videos here as a record for myself.

Well, anyway... Here are the two videos posted so far by Sanctuary4Gamers's YouTube Account

The History of Scottish Gaming 1988-2008 (part 1)

The History of Scottish Gaming 1988-2008 (part 2)

(Wii) Loop Machine at Edinburgh Interactive Festival 2008

There... Now all we need are videos with ME in them!

New Art - "Preanna - First Impressions"

2008-09-04T10:12:00.002+01:00

Click HERE to view larger size on DeviantArt.com

There's not much to say about this new pencil work I did the other day. It's basically more practise at developing my own style of character design. The detail is more than I am normally used to doing in a cartoon character and the face is slightly realistic but this is no portrait either.

A slightly unreal looking drawing but I'm quite happy with how it turned out, if for any other reason than I like the flowing-ness (word?) of the hair and the facial expression which is a mix of sultry intention and complete distain.

If nothing else... it's an interesting first impression. Hence the title.

Edinburgh Interactive Festival - Special Report!

2008-09-03T10:48:00.003+01:00

Click HERE to view the Flickr: Edinburgh Interactive Gallery

Last month was pretty special for me. I went to Edinburgh to see what all the fuss was about the gaming scene in Scotland. As it turned out, the event was packed with lavish demonstration displays, nervous looking reps and a "GameStation" stall where people could buy second-hand games for near retail price value.

I attended the seminars, asked questions and even got to speak to big games company people. The problem with the event was probably a lack of advertising because I certainly didn't have trouble getting a seat.

Other than that it was really cool to check out Little Big Planet and play it first-hand. My impressions? Maybe I shouldn't judge too quickly but it certainly seemed a little confusing at first. I'm sure that with more than 10 minutes play that I'll get more out of it.

I was surprised by how few newer games were represented. A lot of space was given to titles that are already available like Wii Fit and Race Driver: GRID from Codemasters. The Nintendo DS cooking game "Cooking Guide" had it's own special stand which served fresh food all day... after a sales-pitch, naturally.

Overall I had a lot of fun at the show and it was nice to see some familiar faces around. The reason for the lateness of this update? I forgot to take my own camera but I found some pictures taken by someone else on the official Flickr page so you can check them out HERE and there's a couple of videos on YouTube I found for you to enjoy too.

Next time I'm at something like this I'll definitely take my camera... You people deserve it.

Dreamcast Controller Pad In 3D

2008-09-02T13:02:00.003+01:00

Another piece of classic Joe art...

I made this back in 2002 as one of my first 3D models. All the other images were destroyed unfortunately because of my stupid iomega zip-drive *sigh* but this isn't too bad. It's a render that's been processed in Photoshop to look cel-shaded.

Created in Stratavision 3D (yeah, I'd never heard of it either!)

Viva Dreamcast!

Shenmue for Wii Rumour: Thoughts

2008-05-16T12:30:00.008+01:00

Here is a little bit of "rykten" or "rumour" from the games magazine GameReactor regarding the possibility of Sega bringing back the legendary Sega games series "Shenmue" on Nintendo's most fun home console yet,

In Swedish:

"Shenmue är tillbaka!"

"Sega har den senaste tiden återlanserat klassiker som Nights,Bass Fishing och House of the Dead. Nu sägs Shenmue stå på tur. Men tro inte att det handlar om ett nytt spel, nej istället är det de båda ursprungliga Shenmue-spelen som försetts med Wiimote-minispel och som nu ska komma till Wii."

Oh wait... it's in Swedish... Let's translate that sucker!

Translation:

"Shenmue is back!"

"Sega has rereleased classics like Nights,Bass Fishing and House of the Dead lately. Now it's said that Shenmue is next. But don't think that it's about a new game, instead, they're bringing back the two original Shenmue games with extra Wiimote-minigames which will be released for the Wii."

(Thanks to Shenmue Dojo Forum members SSJ2 Dark for the translation and Matsue for the scan)

It's still not been announced but the source is pretty credible I hear. If this changes then you can find out more by checking out what the experts think at this link: Go to Shenmue Dojo Forums discussion on this topic

Could the legendary Shenmue series appear on the Nintendo wonder console? I wrote down some of my thoughts about the game that Sega forgot:

I have no objections to Shenmue appearing on the Nintendo Wii...

I can't imagine any Shenmue fan NOT wanting it to reach a new and more appreciating audience but it would need to be advertised well in order to sell.

But let's look at the pro's and cons:

PRO's

The game would be very cheap to develop since the architecture of the two consoles (Wii and Dreamcast) are close.

The addition of motion controls could provide a more refined control system that appeals to casual players and provides a new experience for dedicated fans.

The two games together are incredible value so it justifies a price point that is slightly above the normal budget title level.

The graphical level of the Wii is much lower than 360 or PS3 so the graphics of Shenmue will still look very impressive to most Wii owners.

It's a great game! It would most likely receive good review scores and gamers press recommendations.

The Wii is an unstoppable force. The install base is insanely large so finally Shenmue will have the potential audience it always deserved.

CON's

Sega would pretty much HAVE to develop Shenmue 3 after releasing this game (unless they changed Shenmue II's ending or something). New fan demand for a conclusion would reach unheard of proportions.

The game would propbably need to be altered to fit the standard 16:9 widescreen view which DOES mean work would have to be done on the original game. Not desirable for Sega... (hey, does anyone know if HotD 2+3 is in widescreen?)

The translation errors and weirdness (Yuan the man, Zhu Yuanda/Yuanda Zhu) would need to be addressed if they were all part of the same game. I would prefer to see a new translation of both titles but... money...

The game is showing it's age now. Shenmue has gone from being the most impressive game around to being something slightly laughable by today's standards. Would it really hold it's own compared to other titles out there?

--

Well there you have it... just my thoughts.

Of course I think it's totally worth it and I would love for people who've never played Shenmue before to get in to the game.

If the Dreamcast, which sold only a moderate amount of consoles, can create a game which has become bigger than legend then what would a fresh run do on the Wii?

Exactly!!!!!!

*drives his fork lift with tilt controls*

Hey... this is actually FUN! Whhhaaayy-haaaaayyyy!!!!

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