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About James Woodcock – Freelance Journalist

Welcome and thank you for taking the time to visit my personal website (blog).

On 2nd January 2006, I decided to create a website that started its life as a simple online diary, tracking the progress of my keyboard playing as well as sharing thoughts of other Internet websites and topics that I find of interest. Blogging has become extremely popular in recent years and hopefully my personal attempts to bring something of myself to the Internet will prove to be a fascinating resource for the masses on the web with the varied media and discussions that I create.

After just a few months, it became clear that the site was expanding into other areas such as podcasting both audio and even video. Now in co-operation with other sites, the content is becoming far more extensive, however still retaining my personal angle. I would like to thank everyone that has contributed content and indeed time on any of my websites and I look forward to the possibilities the future brings regarding my latest ventures.

A Little Personal Background

Born in Nottingham (England UK) in 1981. Currently living in Nottingham after going to school and college locally, until I decided to work on projects such as my websites. I am a Freelance Journalist by profession writing articles for gaming and Yamaha related sites and magazines. Working in this occupation gives me a lot of freedom to explore old and new interests while also meeting new people.

Freelance Journalism

I also write articles and reviews for online websites including Console Monster, MSXbox-World, B4HD, Xbox Solution and Brit Xbox.

Previous and Current Activities

Website: Yamaha Personal Keyboard Owner: Established 2004

I own and operate a website called Yamaha Personal Keyboard Owner, which offers information for enthusiasts regarding Yamaha keyboards and digital pianos. The site is lovingly nicknamed YPKO by the community for convenience.

In 2004 I purchased the Yamaha Tyros (1) and this fine instrument inspired me to create this online treasure trove where we could all share and discuss our love for Yamaha instruments and music in general. After two months of development, on December 21st 2004, Yamaha Personal Keyboard Owner officially opened and slowly began to gain pace as a new resource for keyboard and digital piano enthusiasts. Six months on I realised that there were some imperfections with my original design and there was a need to extend the content and features of the site to satisfy the ever increasing community.

In a meeting with Glyn Madden from the Yamaha Club Magazine, another independent resource based in the United Kingdom, we discussed our common goals and how best to achieve them together while remaining independent. This needed extensive changes to my site, so with this new arrangement and all the other extra features I wished to facilitate, the development lasted three months.

October 1st 2005, Yamaha Personal Keyboard Owner re-launched with a brand new logo and design, navigation system and the announcement of our new relationship with the Yamaha Club. I now host their discussion forum and all the members interact and exchange thoughts and ideas together in one place.

I own and operate Yamaha Personal Keyboard Owner in my own time as an independent venture with very little help. Yamaha Corporation do ‘not’ control content or own any share of this website, however I still enjoy a very rewarding co-operation with Yamaha UK and worldwide, helping obtain official information regarding their product catalogue, future update exclusives, access to early demonstration models, important news and interview features.

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Website: XboxRules.com: 2002 – 2005

xbr.jpgIn 2002 I launched XboxRules.com. A Microsoft Xbox dedicated website, which enjoyed great support from the industry and its own membership of 10,000 registered members. It was a pleasure to operate as it only initially started out as a hobby, evolving into a thriving community. With a group of dedicated hard working staff, voluntarily giving up their own free time to submit news, reviews and other media, this helped bring XboxRules.com to millions of visitors in the years it was online.

This is part of the statement that was released on the 10th February, 2005 to announce the closure:

With immediate effect, XboxRules.com has closed. This was a very tough decision, however after becoming so successful a demand for content comparable to industry leading commercial sites was impossible for a non-commercial, non profit independent site like XboxRules.com. I felt this was damaging the reputation of the site itself and the staff involved, so decided to call it a day.

XboxRules.com Admin and Staff would like to thank all who took part in making our Xbox site one of the most popular in the United Kingdom, with well over 9800 members which is an impressive statistic . It has been my personal pleasure and I am sure an equally rewarding venture for all our staff to which I am honoured to call my friends.

All that is left to say is again a big thank you to all who like us found the time to register and be a part of our community enriching our lives and our gaming adventures.

It was a very hard decision to close XboxRules.com down, but with so many factors working against myself and the staff, it was time to call it a day, so we could all move on and take with us a fantastic experience that we will never forget.

More information can be found here: XboxRules.com Items of Interest

Website: Gaming Attitude: 2000 – 2002

GALogo1_1.jpgMy first ever full functioning website that inspired and gave inspiration for future websites. It was very limited using horrid frames for much of the navigation, however it still featured news, reviews, previews and even a discussion forum.

A multi-platform website that covered various gaming platforms including PC, Sony PlayStation, SEGA Dreamcast and even handhelds of the time. It became clear that this ‘multi-platform’ approach was the wrong direction as it was very intense to cover every platform, so I then decided after purchasing the Microsoft Xbox, to create a dedicated website as I really loved the features the console brought to the gaming space.

Many thanks

James Woodcock