Hello and welcome back to my blog!
Hopefully those interested in following What I Do have found me on Twitter, where I can do those low-rent, easy updates, but I promise you that this blog will always be my *real* home, even if it seems like I'm away traveling a lot of the time.
The truth is, when things are percolating and changing in my life, with a high degree of accompanying stress and confusion--as well as excitement and enthusiasm--it's harder for me to come here and get it all down on "paper." That is to say, I need things to settle down in my head a little before I can share and care. Ya dig?
So, yeah. I've been busy. And I've been in flux. My ongoing "Game Design is Hard" education has continued unabated, and it has continued to be both challenging and fun...and hard. If you ever feel like your life needs a strong dose of humility (and even humiliation!), try changing careers in mid-life. Learning how games really get made has been an endlessly fascinating experience. Certainly there is a great book to be written on the process. But I haven't been studying it as a reporter, I've been doing it as a team member, on a team that needs to actually finish the game in a relatively short period of time. And once a game gets to that point in the process, there really isn't a whole lot of collective time and energy to humor and educate the New Guy.
As a result, I've watched my role and responsibilities on the team get increasingly marginalized, as I basically had to get out of the way so that those who know what they're doing can finish the damn thing. It's understandable--but it's frustrating, especially to a guy used to being part of the upper-level brain trust in his former career. Certainly I've "paid my dues" in my 17 years in journalism--12 of them writing about the game industry--but the problem is that that's a different kind of dues. It doesn't directly translate, or mean a whole lot, in my current reality.
So, whatever I *used* to be, whatever my status might have been, at this point in the game, to my immediate co-workers, I may, in fact, just be, "the old dude who doesn't really know what he's doing and is going too slow and is breaking the build." Which sucks. For them as well as me. No one ever wants to feel like the Office Bonehead (at least I think they don't), and yet at times over the past few months it's been hard not to go there in my head.
So I began thinking. And talking to people. And seeking advice. Not all the answers are in place yet, and my exact, immediate future is not entirely decided, but I did at least come to one conclusion: Whether or not I was going to continue my dues paying with The Sims group, I also wanted to do more at EA *right now* that actually tapped into the things I can truly offer, that I know I'm good at.
The instant, immediate brainstorm, which I put into action as soon as it popped in my head, was an "official" EA podcast. As soon as I thought of it, I knew I had to do it. For a former games journalist to be in the middle of EA with all of this incredible access, it's a "kid in a candy store" thing. The possibilities for guests and topics is practically endless. The more you think about it, the more you realize how cool it can be. The thing is, it has to be real. It can't just be hype and marketing spiel. Even if, of course, it ultimately *is* a commercial for EA, you absolutely cannot just have it be a "we're awesome!" infomercial. Not only will no one listen, but, well, it would just be unbearable to actually make.
So, while, yes, from the perspective of my employers the goal, of course, is to "sell" EA, for me, the goal is to actually have a good show that I can be proud of and that you will want to listen to. I'm trying to liken it into my head to a Letterman/Conan talk show kind of thing--just in terms of the guests, I mean. We all know why a particular actor shows up on Letterman on the day a movie opens. He's just selling the product. But it's Letterman's job to actually make that be funny and interesting despite the "selling" that is the *true* purpose of the whole thing.
So, yes, of course, many weeks I imagine I will have people on plugging their new game or engaging in whatever kind of Up With EA talk, but if I can't actually engage in a good conversation, I'm gonna hate it and be as disappointed as you will.
Further, my hope is that plenty of weeks we won't be "selling" anything at all. Let's get some of the old guard on there, talking about old games. Let's have serious discussions about DRM and piracy and DLC and micropayments. Let's talk about PC gaming. Let's do entire shows dedicated to a retrospective of particularly cool franchises. Let's interview people from all over the EA campus whose jobs you aren't even aware of. Let's bring in some of my journalist pals to help with the interviewing, to open it up to some harder questions. And I haven't even begun to talk about all the possibilities if you throw in all the EA Partners: Bioware, id, Epic, Double Fine, etc etc. It just gets cooler and more exciting the more you think about it.
But let's not get ahead of ourselves. I've recorded one so far, and it was, for all intents and purposes, a "dry run" A test. I had no idea who'd even be in there with me even just an hour before we recorded. I didn't even know where or how we were recording. The result, I believe, is not even close to what I want this podcast to be, not even remotely. It's a very tentative, and not particularly exciting, first effort. It's at about 5 percent, at best, of what it's in my head. I'll need to work on the tone, both of the 'cast itself and even of my own moderating--seeing how far I can take it while still remaining employed. :)
But I do promise you this: I am committed to making this actually GOOD, in a way we all know is good. I have a low threshold for bullshit. I won't be able to tolerate it on our podcast. I'll give it up first, if we can't make a REAL show. I want this to be, ya know, one of those "win win" deals, for all of us.
So let me know what you think. Go here . Give me (and EA) real feedback. They'll see it, as will I. I tricked them into letting me do this--so now help me make it great!
53 comments:
Sweet! Going to listen to it now.
When I heard you had been hired there, I just figured it was specifically FOR making a podcast for them. I'm glad to hear it came true.
Glad to hear you're putting your previous skills to good use. Listening to the podcast now and I'm sure this will be a success. Make it work. YEAH! If other developers and publishers can manage a podcast then someone like you can definitely make this one shine above the others. Good luck!
So what's going to happen with Out Of The Game? Doing both or forsaking one for the other?
Sellout!
Oh, wait, this is actually a good thing ...
I just hope you don't give up your dream of being a kickass game producer. You need to get on one of those 2-3 year long EA game projects and off of the projects where you have no room to learn from your mistakes. I just hope the podcast doesn't become your main gig but rather a side project for you.
This won't affect Out of the Game at all!
And, yeah, no word at all yet on whether this would actually be my "job" or not. So far, I am still a game producer!
Does the podcast have an RSS feed?
Good to hear, just don't give up on being a producer yet. You haven't even been there a year. Your supposed to NOT know what your doing yet compared to other members of your veteran time-crunch comfortable team. I just don't want to you be pegged as the "podcasting guy".
Yes, downloading now!
Jeff, don't give up on game design. Hoping one day, I can buy a game with your name on it!
Being the "old guy in the corner" is a crappy way to feel, even if it's only true in your head. If you haven't shaken this feeling off yet, then a change is definitively a great step forward for you. I don't think this is an age matter, obviously the abilities required are different and you were surely placed in a responsibility that seems to stifle something in you.
EA can and will benefit through a more open and transparent showcase for it's internal artists and I cannot think of a better person to conduct this change. So CONGRATULATIONS on getting them on board for the official podcast! I know it won't be an artificial corporate shit with you in the helm.
Loosen up, trust your gut and give us some more of that no-bullshit and straight talk that we have come to expect from the glory CGW days. Screw your age perception, it only matters if you think it does. Now go forth and show them what an "old" bike ridin' Berkeley games lover can do!
I know this sounds offensive but I don't mean it that way
How come you got hired for a job you're saying you don't really know how to do? :S I'm guessing you're just exaggerating
EOT: Part of it is exaggeration, yes, but part of it is that I was not hired for a job I "don't really know how to do"--but was hired with the idea that we'd FIND something that made sense for me to do. I wanted to go to EA, and EA wanted me. Since then, it's been a matter of finding the right fit...
Jeff, I trust your voice as a journalist, and wish you the best in this new podcast venture. I know everyone here wants to hear your voice, whether figuratively, through a game, or actually, through a podcast.
I'm actually surprised this didn't happen earlier! I and am really excited to see how you expand the podcast going forward. Good start so far!
If you do this, is there any chance you can dedicate at least a little bit of the show to putting a face on EA's business side. I love games and am always interested in why a company does x y and z, and what better ways to find out then talking the monetary source.
As a blatant Jeff Green fanboy (be my dad?) I was destined to listen to the podcast no matter what, but I'm glad to see your attitude going into it is the same as mine - I don't want to be listening to an hour long advertisment.
Although the intial episode had some of that (the "is that running on an Xbox?" anecdote), overall I feel that you asked enough of the right questions to get an interesting interview going. The insight into the balance between game design/story writing was something I'd never really heard before.
Hopefully EA will have faith in you to take this ball and run with it, because most of your fans know that you're most definitely up to the task of making this a worthy addition to our podcast schedule.
PS: Greg Kasavin. He was amazing back in his Gamespot days. Just... do a five hour special with him or something. -_-
More Jeff to listen to? Cool.
Personally I'd of thought that your ideal role at EA was from the perspective of a creative consultant (rather than necessarily as a creator tied to a singular product), as someone who people can explain their ideas/mechanics to and whom can give feedback on referencing your extensive knowledge of previous games. I'd have you sitting in creative meeting across the company as a whole listening to ideas and pitching in with your thoughts and experience (which is probably a lot deeper than most game designers).
All for getting to listen to more Jeff Green. Now in HD! :D
BTW. Holy hell you scared me when that interview started in the podcast. Suddenly it sounded as though Jeff appeared behind me to the right. :S
I'm downloading and I left a comment. Best luck. I'll definitely listen to the first few even if they aren't so great to see how its doing.
It's cool you're doing this, Jeff, not a bad first episode. The stuff about designing the story was really interesting, although it did feel a bit like we were getting the PR pitch just before that.
Trying in emulate Letterman and the like is the right path to take, but you have a big advantage over those guys - you get to interview actual intelligent people, not a bunch of airhead actors!
Nice to see a podcast, but a bit risky, no? EA have never been (in my experience or point of view) a very open company, so it would be interesting to see how far you can go with it. But then again it seems like you would be doing your 'old' job again which is why you left in the first place.
Listening to it now. Good first effort, hopefully chemistry with the other people will grow over time. This is a very good idea for EA, who needs to do more to court serious gamers.
Awesome, once I get home from work and onto a capable net connection I'll give this puppy a listen.
Hopefully you'll stick with the game design Jeff, it's tough to pick such things up late in life but they're really just the tools for you to express your creativity and quirky sense of humour.
With the Monkey Island remake coming up I hope one day to be able to play a fully voiced Brodeo point and click adventure game ;-)
I loved the GFW podcast... and I'll be brutally honest about this... chiefly because it was about my life.
I'm a gamer, and since I have no gamer friends in my circle, it was wonderful to listen to the GFW gang speaking passionately and articulately about my one and only hobby.
It was also very immediate: if a game had been released that week, then we'd hear all about that game on the podcast. If the game was great, then you guys would say it was great, and then say why, and if it sucked then we'd all get to hear Shawn Elliott rip it apart.
But quite frankly the episodes that didn't work for me were the ones in which some game designer had come in to talk about his game.
That guy from Crytek, for example, when he came on to talk about Crysis, I thought, was a total plonker. I sat there listening to that podcast thinking, this guy is a salesman, and he's trying to sell me something here - it was a huge turnoff. And indeed, I discovered much more about Crysis through the regular podcast, when you guys discussed it amongst yourselves, freely, after its release.
This new podcast of yours at E.A. is clearly going to be a different beast than what the GFW podcast was - and quite frankly I'm not quite sure how you're going to make me 'want' to listen it.
If gamers 'think' that they're just listening to propaganda (as I fear that many will) then you're not going to have an audience, plain and simple.
And I'd have to agree with you about that show being at about five percent. Again, to be brutal here (do you want honesty?) I didn't actually listen to the entire show. I turned it off mid-way through. I kind of did feel that it was sort of like propaganda, even though I realize that that wasn't your intent.
Honestly, I think you're going to be fighting an uphill battle here. I mean, this is E.A., and you know as well as I do how many gamers have a love/hate relationship with this company.
I echo most of what anonymous said above.
I liked the Wii / Deadspace wii vs xbox vs ps3 controller discussion. I liked your 'expectations' questioning.
Most of your questions would not be out of place on a GFW interview, they were intelligent questions but because of the context of the show I felt like we end up with a fairly PR'ish set of answers. This is the reason I largely stopped listening to Major Nelson podcast. It doesn't work for me as-is and it's not your fault. The 5% estimate is fair.
Rather than deadspace, I think if the game in question was a title from 12-24 months ago - perhaps in a 'EA Games Past' interview section then I could of swallowed the content happily. I'd love to hear the game designers review one of their first gen 360 titles and discuss 'lessons learned', 'How not to do things', 'how we've evolved'. I think this approach has real value. Having people talk frankly about product ideas, value and mistakes in older titles doesn't 'complicate' life at EA and shouldn't reflect badly on upcoming or new titles.
I'd suggest a regular co-host (or two), and if you can get regular access to a product tester then all the better. GFW worked because it had a very human element to it, with mildy personal tidbits and comedy stories.
I'll keep listening because I'm a Jeff Green fan, but it certainly needs some work.
I'm cautiously optimistic about the EA podcast. I don't want to count the days until it becomes 100% infomercial. The first episode was okay. Obviously not as funny and offensive as CGW or OotG podcast, but still entertaining.
Would love to hear more group chat and less lengthy Q&A sessions with guys who sounds like they're reading from a script.
The insight of games developers should be substantially more interesting than the guesswork of games enthusiast, but it's just a matter of making them come out of their shell. I have faith (on the heart) in you, Jeff!
I'm pulling this down now, and can't wait to listen to it.
Maybe EA should consider using you in a more PR flac sort of capacity.
Sort of a community manager type, like Larry Hyrb (Major Nelson). I think you would be fantastic at this sort of thing
and that wouldn't mean you need to shill all EA products all the time, regardless of their quality. You can accentuate the positives, and just not talk about stuff that doesn't meet that Jeff Green seal of approval.
Hope this works out for you!
The "Is that running on a 360?" anecdote was cringeworthy - maybe in the future you can work out some subtle signal to the person you're interviewing that they're going too far.
There were moments when it was almost there though - the discussion about how they wound up deciding to just ignore the fact that there's a second person playing for the purposes of story was interesting, and there was a moment there where you almost got the guy to talk about some more personal stuff before some neuron misfired and we got the "I LOVE MY JOB, IT'S A GREAT JOB TO HAVE..." spiel instead.
Overall I'm optimistic though, there's the potential for an entertaining show here, and goodness knows EA has enough games to talk about.
this is the best news i have heard in a while. EA has totally come around full circle. giving new IP a chance and now giving themselves a voice (you) that will hopefully increase goodwill people will give to your company. great idea EA and good luck Black Dragon
you could fully justify your employment by doing this podcast alone however im sure its going to be one launcing pad into even bigger and brighter things (MC of the EA press conference! boo ya!!)
Did you talk too much about non-EA branded games? Because there is no podcast to be had in your linky:
"Oops!! The page you are trying to access is not available...
This is typically due to an incorrect URL, old content or Jedi mind tricks."
Hey, did you see his Twitter feed. The poor guy scratched his cornea.
How does one scratch a cornea?
Jesus, that doesn't sound good at all.
Good luck with the podcast project Jeff. It sounds like a great idea with a lot of potential.
This is awesome news! It's hard to stray away from corporate agenda, but I'm confident in you Jeff to bring transparency to the table.
But I have a question to you as a father and as an employee. Someone mentioned Charm Girls Club in the podcast, and I wonder how you feel about that particular branch of EA, both as an employee and as a father of a teenage daughter? I know your daughter is too old for Charm Girls Club, but you have the experience of being a father to a "tween".
Best of luck with your new adventures!
Listened to the podcast.
I agree with the others here that maybe you could talk less about upcoming EA games (where how the game is perceived is carefully stage-managed) and more about older EA franchises that people still love, but which are unlikely to cause the PR people's butts to tighten. That storytelling stuff was interesting - absolutely. I liked hearing how your interviewee had to negotiate with the level designer to close off certain options. I liked the bargaining. In a way, him talking was almost like a "developer's commentary" track. But I also think that at some points it was too much shilling. I mean, here's the thing - your audience right now is made up of people who loved your no-bullshit quality. You are constantly calling the king out when he's naked - the tough thing now is how to do it when you're working for him in his court, and where he can have your head cut off. But the king also always needs a fool. Not that you're a fool. But maybe the EA upper echelons need to start poking more fun at themselves. I do like that you might be seeking out the "hidden stories" of EA. I keep wondering what I would want to find out if I were an "embedded" reporter at a huge games company. One thing I am curious about would be - who decided that the EA logo would start to be modified to fit the game? Do you know what I'm talking about? Like, now instead of the standard EA logo, it's been animated to fit the mood of whatever game it appears at the beginning of. Was that a battle to get that approved? Or maybe that's not that interesting. Sorry this is rambling. I'll stop.
Great feedback, all. I'm reading it all and pretty much agree with the comments. Don't worry--it'll loosen up and be more what we are all collectively thinking it should be as I keep doing it....
Thanks kids!
About dam time, looking forward to it.
An official EA podcast has so much potential as a marketing tool. Yet, it also has the advantage of promoting content for a big company with a long history. There's nothing worse than a podcast for a company that only makes one game a year. EA has so many different games to talk about. A podcast could be a great way to connect with community, let them know what's coming up and get their feedback.
Try some Weetabix when you're in the UK.
It's a cereal.
Good episode! You have a great personality for radio, Jeff, and I really like it when you're the host.
(Please don't leave Out of The Game though! :)
The interview with that screenwriter for Dead Space: Extraction was really interesting, and I can't wait to try the game out. I really loved Dead Space, so I'm sold on the IP already. I just hope the game-play mechanics on the Wii turn out to be fun for me, even though I've never been that much into light gun shooters. Well, at least not since that Terminator 2 rail-shooter on the Sega Mega Drive.
While you're finding your groove at EA, one thing you can do for sure is give good feedback on what ideas will not be well received by the game playing public. I don't understand the developement process, but it seems like the development teams are put into isolation like Vault 101, cut off from the world, and told to make a game. Sometimes good stuff comes out; most of the time crap comes out.
I don't think it's a surprise to anyone that you're manning the helm of an official EA podcast.
As a long-time reader and listener, I don't really have any suggestions for you, especially after getting a glimpse into your plans here. I trust you enough to know that even if the show doesn't reach all the goals you laid out in this post, you probably tried your damndest to get there.
The only thing I'd say is that I hope you get to have regular developers on as guests, and not just the Executive Producers or Directors of Communications and all that (you know, the PR guys in sheep's clothing). Show us some of the nitty gritty of game development!
Jeff Green you are a fantastic gaming journalist. I have no desire to hear you speak for the Evil Empire with all due respect. I will continue to read the blog but will have to pass on the EA cast. Sorry if that takes me out of the JG fanboy club.
I absolutely understand where you are coming from, Anonymous! I am forcing no one to listen. :) Glad you're hanging around the blog though!
Hey, I think this is a great idea. I agree with a lot of the other comments to the effect that because all PR is so fake, I immediately tune it out; making these discussions seem more like real discussions than scripted PR bullet points is a big challenge but would make me a lot more likely to listen.
I think the farther you stay away from products that are just about to come out, the better the podcast will be. Products early in development can be hyped in normal preview fashion without you sounding like shills. Older games and classics you can talk about without worrying too much about how you'll affect other PR efforts. But games about to come out have to be hyped as though they're great even if they suck out loud. And the more of that you do, the sooner my hand is going to stray to the "stop" button.
Of the show, I have to say that the deadspace interview was the low point, but only because I felt like the person you were interviewing had memorized his PR a little too well and was rolling through it without really conversing. However, I can also hear you trying to drag him out of that mode with your questions, so hopefully that will keep happening. The opening banter was entertaining, similar in many ways to the old GFW radio days.
One last point: stereo separation between you and the other people definitely helps when it comes to keeping track of who's talking.
Keep at it man.
The link is broken Jeff.. The power of BLACK DRAGON crashes the INTERNET!
Hey, in the Edge Christmas 08 issue there was an interview with Matthew Jeffery where he mentioned that "some of our most recent hires were from the Ministry of Defence in missle programming. Their knowledge of AI programming is superb!" Get those guys on! Now, they might be all tech-speak geeks and it might not make for a great interview, but I would be more interested in the odd people at EA. I don't need you to get me excited for upcoming EA games - I'm excited enough by them. I've already got my gamer boner. I'd be curious about an interview with someone in QA. Rumour has it that after the game ships, if you were part of the team, you get a copy of the game. Do the people in QA ever actually open these up? Or do they give them to their cousins? I'd be curious about EA's decision to go for new IP. Why did that happen? Who spearheaded that? Did that happen just because it's a new console cycle and they wanted to be able to do a good few games with that engine before they would have to make a new one?
The eventual Jeff Green + Tim Schafer podcast will be almost as epic as the game he's sure to be shilling.
Does Rod Humble still work there? He was a great guest on GFW that one time. So natural and British.
Hello, Jeff my name is Josh and I am from Ohio. I remember listening tot he last "Brodeo" and I think you mentioned that you were currently reading and enjoying a series of books by Steven Erikson...The Mazalan books or something. Anyway I was considering purchasing and reading the series and was wondering what about them really set them apart from other typical fantasy novels. Thx.
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