[Guest post by James!]

It's happened! All of the hard work, organisation, painting and pizza eating has paid off. Mediatonic have officially moved offices and settled into central Soho.

Over a monumental weekend stint many a volunteer was on hand to help bring all of the computers and other equipment over to the new office. Thankfully our new building has a lift service that was more than willing to carry everything up to the first floor...all except the largest and most heavy items...they required manual lifting. Up stairs. TWICE.

BUT, strenuous physical activity aside, the move went smoothly and everyone is now set up and back to doing what they do best - making awesome games! The increased office size seems to have increased the awesome in just about every other way too. The large communal kitchen has become a favourite with a chance to sit together and catch up over copious amounts of Thai food. The new and improved games room looks set to receive some dedicated hours of console mayhem and the multitude of meeting rooms makes team catch-ups a delightfully varied experience.

There are still some decorating tasks to do, and we're no strangers to the smell of fresh paint, but all in all it's safe to say that life in our new Soho digs is treating us very well. Already we've had all sorts of interesting people drift past the office...and started a cross-street window game of noughts-and-crosses with the adjacent tenants.

Oh, and as a culinary aside, our new location appears to be situated at the central point of some kind of food-utopia - everywhere you look there are delicious, colourful temptations. Firm favourites have already been established and each lunchtime you can bet someone will be found popping out for a cheeky bite. This is either the greatest thing to have happened - ever - or the worst. Let's go with greatest.

We've got epic plans for the office and we're just at the start. More updates soon!

[Guest post by JAMES!]

Having proven ourselves to be undisputed masters of the paint brush continued refurbishment of the new office has been handed over to the professionals. Not that we COULDN'T have done it or anything.

Work is well under-way and each day brings more good news and exciting photos of men standing around pointing at things. It's getting to the stage where all the major, satisfying work is being done - walls knocked down, flooring ripped up; the kind of jobs that require a florescent jacket and a warning sign (yes, there is a sign).

It's also proven to be a great opportunity to get into good habits and the first on the agenda appears to have been labelling things. Keep an eye out over the coming weeks as we update the progress of the move and post up the finalised decor of the office. Pics or it didn't happen!

Today we were really pleased to join Mind Candy, Codemasters and other industry heavyweights at the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills in Westminster. The event, which was organised by UKIE, celebrates creative and technical talent in the games industry and the positive effect it has on the UK economy.

Mark Prisk, Business Minister and Ed Vaizey, Culture Minister both took time out of their schedules to play Monsters (Probably) Stole my Princess (on PSP Vita!) and to talk about the implications of this week's Budget -- which offered very welcome support to British Developers.

[Guest post by JAMES!]

Mediatonic are moving! There are exciting times ahead as we prepare to de-camp and move on to bigger and better places.

Such exciting times include the strenuous task of debating the preferred size and density of beanbags and whether or not a we should get an office pet. Oh, and finding time to paint the walls surrounding the 400 square metres of new space at our disposal.

That's right, the talented staff of Mediatonic have downed keyboards in favour of rollers and brushes for one night of sheer painting mayhem. Heading over to the new office last Tuesday evening we had but one task ? if it was white, make it whiter.

And so with this single goal in mind we set to. Paint pots were cracked open, brushes dipped and walls coated. Fuelled by a welcome mix of pizza and alcohol the whole thing was a remarkable success; I mean, it's not like some nameless employee spent a good half an hour of their time painting a wall that was soon to be demolished. That would be madness.

Never one to be beaten by the height of a ceiling, and certainly not above a casual bit of ingenuity, Kash found time to tape a brush onto a pole. Armed with this implement of unparalleled diversity he was near unstoppable.

Never let it be said that Jeff did not help. This. This is all the evidence you need.

Forgoing paint in favour of masking tape, Manuel taped up walls we intended to paint and those we didn't.

[Guest post by JAMES!]

It may come but once a year, but boy when it comes it doesn't half make the desks shiny... it's the Mediatonic annual decorate-your-desk competition!

December 2011 - time once again to crack out the awesome and wrap it in tinsel. The gauntlet laid down is the same as always: armed with ?20 worth of festive wares, each team must decorate the Christmas out of their desks. There was music, scissors, sellotape, tinsel and much frivolity (not necessarily in that order).

All that's left is for you to be blown away by the spectacle, bowled sideways by the sheer magnificence of it all, and ultimately vote for which desk you think is worthy of the highest praise and adoration.

The teams flaunting all that they have for judgement this year are...

Table 1 - Team Cat Bus

Team Cat Bus decided to bring the world of My Neighbour Totoro and the trappings of Christmas cheer together! They set up a collection of Totoros and other similarly Ghibli-inspired creations arranged festively among streamers and a pretty mighty Christmas Tree. It was all capped off with an animated Cat Bus on each desktop screen complete with team members in every window.

Table 2 - Team Superb

Team Superb took on the challenge of re-creating a Christmas town in miniature. There were mini houses, snow, lights, trees and even a drive in cinema showing the Grinch! The inclusion of candles may have increased the risk of fire but some things are just worth it. Burning down the office would have been a noble sacrifice in the search of decoration perfection.

Table 3 - Team Games of Christmas Past

Team Games of Christmas Past took it back to the old school and proved that apparently, everything is in a name. With a monumental Christmas Tree lording it over everyone in the centre of the table, the rest of their decoration really was games from the past. With classic consoles at each monitor displaying the likes of Alex Kidd, Secret of Mana and Super Smash Bros., the sheer wealth of childhood memories almost makes up for that mannequin.

Table 4 - Vodka and Red Yule

If you put about ?20 worth of assorted Christmas paraphernalia into a rocket-launcher and then fired it at some desks I imagine you'd get something close to team Vodka and Red Yule's offering. And that's no bad thing. With each desk covered in Christmas paper, things hanging from the ceiling, a tree and a Dalek, things don't get much more Christmassy. The leering face of what looks to be an evil Santa can only strengthen their cause.

Table 5 - Team Generrrrrrrrichristmas

Taking the motto 'good things come in small packages' and throwing it out the window, Team Generrrrrrrrichristmas went to town wrapping large parcels and arranging them on their desks. With each monitor displaying a log fire, and bubble wrap under foot simulating the crunch of snow, the whole thing was Christmas through and through. The inclusion of ceiling decorations made from polystyrene and torn up Pret a Manger napkins takes innovation to a whole new level.

So there you have it. All that's left is for you to vote for your favourite and for one team to emerge the victor.

To vote for the winner, simply Tweet the name of the team you would like to win @Mediatonic, in the comments or on Facebook: facebook.com/mediatonic