Archive: 32 posts

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CVG just published an article about our very beloved Johnee Link here (http://www.computerandvideogames.com/article.php?id=277793) Here's the interview for the lazy ones We've hired four people from the LBP community" reveals Alex Evans, co-founder of UK studio Media Molecule and creator of LittleBigPlanet. Including one lucky soul who dodged death to get a job on LBP2. Enter John Beech, or 'johnee' to his PSN friends. Two years ago John was a builder with absolutely no qualifications to speak of. But now? He's a full time designer at Media Molecule working on LittleBigPlanet 2, one of the most anticipated titles on PlayStation 3. This is his story. It's quite interesting really," begins John. "I used to be a builder, just a construction worker. And then LittleBigPlanet came out." John Beech is 27 years old. By his own admission he'll try everything once - including randomly asking Media Molecule for a job - just for the hell of it. Oh and he's got a talent for designing LittleBigPlanet levels. It would be this hobby that changed his life forever. "I've always been a gamer and I'd been really looking forward to LittleBigPlanet coming out. I managed to get a copy for myself and started making levels in my free time." LITTLE BIG ACCIDENTS John began creating levels. Things evolved quickly. He had a talent for it and a gift for manipulating LBP's tools in innovative ways - when and if he could find the time between a demanding job and a stubborn girlfriend. "My girlfriend wasn't a particularly big fan of LBP" says John, "I was only allowed to play it a couple of hours a day if I was lucky - and I had to put a quilt over my head and the TV so she could go to sleep!" John continued to create, but LittleBigPlanet remained a hobby project - until a life-changing incident at work inspired him to pursue something a little more, ahem, concrete. "So I created a few things, and that was fine but then I had a particularly bad day at work. I got trapped in a trench that collapsed on me - it nearly killed me!" John had been working on a factory extension. After noticing that a small area of a foundation had collapsed, he jumped down to fix it up. "We'd dug some fittings for the foundations. It's actually like two trenches that were two and a half metres deep, but barely wider than my shoulders, and when you're in them, you're in them - you can't reach the top. We were having the concrete delivered that morning to fill them up, and when we'd got there a tiny part of it had collapsed and fallen in, so I jumped in to get it out because the concrete was arriving in half an hour. "The guys that used to work with me were like 'don't do it John.' I was like, 'Nah it's alright. I'll be fine.' So I was digging it away and then suddenly one entire half of the trench instantly collapsed. I managed to jump as it happened, but it pinned me down and the concrete wall it was supporting slipped and hit me straight in the back. By all rights it would have chopped me in half, if it wasn't for a tiny alcove about the size of my waist that I somehow managed to slip into. Immediately everyone came running out of the factory and ten minutes later it took about 20 people to get me out, with everyone pushing pulling and straining. As I was being pulled out into the ambulance I still managed to scream, 'cancel the concrete.' So yeah, I was lucky. The paramedics were amazed I survived." Bizarrely enough, only a couple of nights before, John had mustered up the courage to start publishing some of his latest LittleBigPlanet creations. He came home from the hospital that day, after one of the most intense experiences of his life, to find that hundreds of people had been checking out his work. The verdict was unanimous: John's levels were more intricate, more innovative, more fun, than any other levels in the LBP universe. Almost overnight, 'johnee' had become one of the most popular creators in the game. "I'd gotten home and saw the comments on my levels and everyone was just saying how good my levels were, and that maybe Media Molecule should hire me. I remember thinking 'wow, that would be cool.' So I tried to contact them." LITTLE BIG MIXUPS "I didn't get a response at first and I thought they must have hired someone else from the community." But, having built up a sizeable following in the LittleBigPlanet community, the very second 'johnee' mentioned his intention to find a job at Media Molecule the response was immediate. When they didn't get back to me I ended up sending a really pensive, meek message to all my PSN friends, saying "Hey guys, it's johnee here, you don't have to help me." I was really polite, but I basically asked everyone on my friends list if they could post on blogs or forums, trying to spread the word that I wanted a job at Media Molecule. I thought a couple of people would respond, but the next morning I woke up to hundreds of messages saying 'No worries johnee. We'll help you!' They bombarded Media Molecule with messages telling them to give me a job. It was an incredible effort from a community looking out for one of their own - but it turned out to be an unnecessary gesture. Media Molecule had, in fact, actually tried to get in contact with John who - by his own admission - had never owned a PC and usually received roughly two emails a year if he was lucky. Somehow he didn't receive, let alone read, the first email Media Molecule had sent him. "What I hadn't realised was that someone at Media Molecule had actually tried to contact me, but for some reason the wires crossed and we didn't receive each other's emails. It was only a couple of weeks later, when they were going back through some stuff, that they came across it and thought, 'Oh, he did try and contact us.' So I got an email one day out of the blue saying 'Hi John, where are you based?' When I saw it I almost choked on my breakfast, emailed them back, and they invited me to come up and see them." LITTLE BIG OVATION Having worked as a builder from the day he left high school, John had literally no idea how to prepare. "The next day I drove up to Media Molecule. I actually brought my PlayStation with me, because I had never really used a computer. I didn't even have a memory stick. I arrived sweating my *** off in my suit, because my GPS had taken me to the wrong place and I nearly didn't arrive in time, but when I eventually got there they put me in a small room with Mark Healey and Kareem Ettouney, two of the company directors, and they started talking to me gently about what I did, and so on and so forth. I didn't even have a CV, and I hadn't done anything except be a builder my whole life, which they thought was hilarious. Then I loaded up my PlayStation and started showing them one of the things I had done. Two minutes in Kareem, the art director, told me to stop and said, 'Hold on a second.' He went and he brought half the company back in and then said, 'Okay John, you can carry on now.'" So John Beech, sweating up a storm in a full suit, minus a CV (and any clue what to expect) began to nervously show half of Media Molecule what he had been working on with a blanket on his head, while his girlfriend was snoring beside him. "I'm really sweating by this point and I started talking in a high pitched voice, playing LittleBigPlanet in front of the people who created it. It was nerve-wracking, but at the end of it I pretty much got a standing ovation. Mark Healy comes up to me and says, 'Well, you've got a job.' I started two weeks later. "They said I didn't have to come into work until 11 on my first day. I found it really odd, being a builder and having to start at 7 in the morning my entire life. I couldn't resist turning up earlier. Everyone was like, 'Oh, John you're not supposed to be in till later. We haven't set up your computer.' I was like: 'I'm so excited!' I was massively enthusiastic, so they let me just sit down and mess around with the tools for a little bit." LITTLE BIG RESPONSIBILITY After he'd managed to get familiar with the new toolset for LittleBigPlanet 2, John was invited to sit in on his first production meeting. They let me sit in on a meeting to discuss some stuff for the game. I remember them assigning jobs to all the designers who were there and Kengo, the lead designer, said 'Why haven't you assigned anything to John?' Mark, the Creative Director, said 'We're just going to give him a couple of weeks to get settled in.' But Kengo just said, 'Oh no, he doesn't need that! He's fine. I've been watching him this morning, right John?' And I just paused and said, 'Yeah... I guess so.' Then he gave me a job to do and I did it. I was in my element." So how did a man like John Beech get so good at LBP? "When I was a builder, I wouldn't say I was a stereotypical builder - I actually cared about what I did. I was really passionate and always made sure I did the best job I could. It's hard to explain - I did all the graft obviously, but I used to like making hand made kitchens, for example, where I had to use a bit of brain power instead of just building a brick wall. But apart from that I had no design experience. Nothing at all. In fact I actually left school with no qualifications, not because I was stupid, but because I used to get terrible migraines when I was younger and I wasn't allowed to sit exams, even though I was predicted to get Bs and As. On paper, I'm a complete dimwit!" So, a complete dimwit by personal admission and a man lucky to still be alive. Fortunate? Sure, but maybe you do make your own luck in life - even if its under the sheets, pad in hand, next to your snoring girlfriend. johnee's (http://www.lbpcentral.com/forums/member.php?4465-johnee)profile page, so everyone can post a VM to thank him

2010-11-28 17:07:00 Author: OmegaSlayer Posts: 5112

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Really interesting. I know a few friends who are trying to get into games design. We can only hope to be so lucky.

2010-11-28 17:20:00 Author: SteveBigGuns Posts: 423

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That is the most amazing story ever!

2010-11-28 17:25:00 Author: Unknown User

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Great story! That's why we can't judge someone without knowing this person... we don't know their story Thanks for sharing Omega!

2010-11-28 17:27:00 Author: Chump Posts: 1712

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he is lucky indeed

2010-11-28 17:32:00 Author: Amigps Posts: 564

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Thanks a lot for this, it was a great read!

2010-11-28 17:34:00 Author: iBubek Posts: 682

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Oh, I just found it, thanks johnee for sharing! I will add in the first post a link to johnee profile, so everyone will thanks him for sharing the story.

2010-11-28 17:36:00 Author: OmegaSlayer Posts: 5112

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He probably got the best job in the world.

2010-11-28 17:46:00 Author: BasketSnake Posts: 2391

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love this story. Thanks for sharing.

2010-11-28 18:18:00 Author: Knucklerider Posts: 72

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Wow, thanks very much, that was an awsome story!

2010-11-28 18:21:00 Author: booXely Posts: 654

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I met Johnee! When I say met, I mean stare at him for hours and hours and lean into his conversations. Was still fun though. In my eyes, the luckiest games player in the world and also one of the most talented. I only hope to hear more stories like this! <3

2010-11-28 22:33:00 Author: Leather-Monkey Posts: 2266

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Just goes to show that natural talent comes... erhm... naturally. I had no idea that he actually asked some of his friends to help him get a job there, I always thought Mm were just impressed enough with his work to ask him. I guess it pays to ask after all. Thanks for the read!

2010-11-28 23:07:00 Author: Rustbukkit Posts: 1737

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man I'm excited to hear about Johnees actuall story of how he ended up being hired by MM. I wonder if we will get to see any of his mad creations put up when lbp2 actually comes. I've really been itching to see what he has progressed to since his last lvl. The community demands a lvl publishing John Beech! I know that you are checking this thread once in a while! We are begging for another level! Please?

2010-11-29 17:45:00 Author: damaz10 Posts: 771

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johnee nearly died! I did not know that! His levels are brilliant and I'm glad the community got behind him like they did. Well done johnee. I bet you could put this on a CV!

2010-11-29 17:51:00 Author: Jedi_1993 Posts: 1518

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I wonder if we will get to see any of his mad creations put up when lbp2 actually comes. I've really been itching to see what he has progressed to since his last lvl. The community demands a lvl publishing John Beech! I know that you are checking this thread once in a while! We are begging for another level! Please? I heard he has been making levels. They're on some game called LBP2. Hence why he was hired.

2010-11-29 17:51:00 Author: Nuclearfish Posts: 927

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Holy snaps! That's quite awesome!, quite a nice hidden talent he had! and what a way to get advantage of it, (even if I can sometimes disagree with his mech design or mechanics) he made awesome levels back in the day which kind of inspired a lot of people in lbp (seriously, I can tell of many people who had made warzone inspired levels or trying to do what johnee did). Good Job Johnee and keep it up! I'm sure you helped a lot on lbp2 and hope to see your touch in it

2010-11-29 18:08:00 Author: Ragnarok Posts: 898

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inspirational story...altough I hope other's don't read this and go jumping into trenches

2010-11-30 06:55:00 Author: Shadowcrazy Posts: 3365

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Finally we get your story! I've always been curious about your story and it's even better than I thought it would be. Congratulations on all your success.

2010-12-01 07:51:00 Author: Reef1978 Posts: 527

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That was a really impressive/surprising/luckiest-man-alive story! Congratulations on your success, johnee, and thanks for sharing.

2010-12-01 08:14:00 Author: TheZimInvader Posts: 3149

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This story is a dream for many creators on here, you are so lucky johnee

2010-12-01 09:56:00 Author: I-Snow-I Posts: 18

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Thanks guys for all your support we have such an amazing community, I really have put my heart and soul into all that I worked on in lbp2 and hope that I have done our community proud

2010-12-03 23:31:00 Author: johnee Posts: 78

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inspirational story...altough I hope other's don't read this and go jumping into trenches I've been hanging out in a trench since I read this story five days ago Mm hasn't hired me yet so I must be missing a few steps. 1. Jump in trench 2. ????? 3. Profit Cool story but I still kinda' wish they'd hired him after he finished "Future Warzone II" (if you haven't seen his trailer for it, check it out: it's pretty darn cool).

2010-12-04 01:08:00 Author: Sehven Posts: 2188

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'cancel the concrete.' That is so awesome!! What a trooper!!

2010-12-04 03:10:00 Author: VelcroJonze Posts: 1305

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I would say Johnee was so lucky but i know he got the skills come out of his ears, I told him what i was trying to do at the jam and he come up with like lot's of ways to do it. alot of it i didnt get back then and only now i got it all lol. he like a fish in water on LBP i think

2010-12-04 07:29:00 Author: jump_button Posts: 1014

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Cool story but I still kinda' wish they'd hired him after he finished "Future Warzone II" (if you haven't seen his trailer for it, check it out: it's pretty darn cool). dont worry i will finish it, in fact iv built a few levels to release on day one for you guys

2010-12-13 10:22:00 Author: johnee Posts: 78

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Just now noticed this =/ Oh well... Great read nonetheless. Johnee, you are one awesome dude!

2010-12-13 11:55:00 Author: AbstractFlesh Posts: 837

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I love this story!

2010-12-13 14:51:00 Author: mrsupercomputer Posts: 1335

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"dont worry i will finish it, in fact iv built a few levels to release on day one for you guys" Hmmm... This really weights the ol' scales on whether or not to purchase 2. Don't get me wrong, there are a ton of improvements in the beta over the original... I just philosophically disagree with the sequel, and the whole backwards-compatability-thing! Still, I've gotta say-- John Beech your story is the stuff of LEGEND brimming with the fluff of every gamer's DREAMS. I could not wish you any fonder glad tidings. Thank You Johnee! Continued success both personally and proffesionally.

2010-12-13 16:51:00 Author: Gravel Posts: 1308

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dont worry i will finish it, in fact iv built a few levels to release on day one for you guys !!!!! Awesome! Can't wait to see it and anything else you build. I always meant to try to build a "powered armor" modeled after yours, but every time I started, I'd end up just making another big mech... partly cuz my goofy control wheel wouldn't fit inside such a small cockpit. Can't wait to see what you can do with it or any of your other vehicles with controllinators.

2010-12-14 20:11:00 Author: Sehven Posts: 2188

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We were having the concrete delivered that morning to fill them up, and when we'd got there a tiny part of it had collapsed and fallen in, so I jumped in to get it out because the concrete was arriving in half an hour. This is where a popit and tools bag saves lives.

2010-12-14 21:09:00 Author: KQuinn94Z Posts: 1758

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that's awesome. Grats johnee

2010-12-14 22:09:00 Author: Unknown User

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hmmm... ignore safepass... get dream job! No better man for it though!!

2010-12-15 20:36:00 Author: croissantbuncake Posts: 572

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