Allo mates! So, go ahead and ignore all the previous post's stuff about Guildford. It would appear that I am going to be nowhere near that town, nor any other town. In fact, my entire visit to "England" will be within the confines of the Four Seasons Hotel, which means that I really could just be in, say, Missouri, with a bunch of folks with cool accents. Actually, this is quite a nice hotel within a beautiful English countryside setting, so far be it from me to actually grumble. And let's keep things in perspective: It beats sitting in my cubicle.
So I am about one hour away from The Big Show, in which I along with other producers from around EA and its various partners will be demoing our games for "key UK retailers." I ran into the Valve dudes last night, and rumors abound that the Bioware doctors are here too, though I have yet to spot them. Tonight, apparently, is a big "battle of the bands" contest with Rock Band Beatles, and since I was probably the only one alive when the Beatles were still together, look for me to win the whole damn thing. Expect ladies to swoon during my heartbreaking rendition of "I Am the Walrus" (based on my recent experiences with EA Active).
Okay, so anyway: I should head to this thing. I was told to wear "developer chic", which frightened me at first until I received clarification that that just meant jeans and a nice shirt. Anyway, I'm an American. I could probably show up in bermuda shorts, flip flops, and a "BEER: IT'S WHAT'S FOR BREAKFAST" tshirt and no one would think twice.
And now for a commercial! The second EA Podcast is now available. You may grab it here from the RSS feed, or check the iTunes link in my previous post. Apologies in advance for the sound level on my mic--not sure what happened there. Everyone else sounds fine, though, and probably at least 2/3 of what I said was nonsense, so maybe humanity is better off this way. But please, if you're so inspired, leave feedback on iTunes, because The Man is paying attention.
Alright. Time to go do my thing on stage. Here's hoping for a minimum of flop sweating and projectile vomiting. That's all I ask.
Wednesday, July 1, 2009
Sunday, June 28, 2009
To Jollye Olde Englande I go!
Ande the whole time I'me there I wille be typinge like thise, juste toe annoye everyone! Yaye!
So anyway, yeah: I'm about 25 hours away from boarding a flight to London, England, en route to Guildford, where I will spend the following three days PIMPING PRODUCT FOR THE MAN. I'm excited!
Guildford circa 1893, the year I was born.
The last time I was in the U.K. was in 1984, back when I did the obligatory post-college (well, almost for me) backpack-through-Europe thang. I was young and stupid and fairly oblivious of the world around me until then, and, even all these years later, it ranks as one of The Best Things I Ever Did. I loved the freedom of it all, the ability do go anywhere and do anything (well, on a poor student's budget), and just let things happen, way far away from home and anything I was familiar with. Oh, the stories I could tell! Perhaps I should save it for another blog post. I will, say, however, that there was indeed a Swedish girl at one point, and her name was Wiveka. And I'm not implying that anything particular NC-17 happened (OR DID IT?), I'm just saying that at some point, every young American male should probably meet a Swedish girl named Wiveka.
So I have two work items on my agenda:
1) Be interviewed (in my role as producer) for a cover story on MySims Agents for a U.K. magazine. Should be beaucoup de fun to be on this side of the interview/magazine cover story process. I look forward to being as surly, condescending and uncooperative as I possibly can. (Note to my employers: THAT WAS A JOKE. I will totally not be surly.)
2) Represent MySims Agents and SimAnimals Africa at some kinda big UK retailer event that EA is hosting--meaning I will be up on a stage in front of an audience of (I think) 200ish retailers, doing a short demo on why these games are great and why they should fill their stores with them and put big banners up and stand out in the street yelling in those great accents of theirs why people should come in and buy them.
That's my work agenda. My non-work agenda includes:
1) Sampling as many fine English beers as I can without impairing my ability to take care of the work agenda.
2) Finishing World War Z (at last), and then plowing through any or all of Charlie Huston's Already Dead, Richard Morgan's Altered Carbon, and/or Naomi Novik's His Majesty's Dragon. I know, that's a lot of reading. But, hey I have 20 hours of flying, plus however long any delays might go. I totally won't read all that. I'm just saying that's what I'm bringing.
3)Play Drop7 on my iPhone and Pokemon Pearl (shuddup) on my Nintendo DSi. This is for when I can't sleep or read.
4)Trying to survive the 4-days with minimal jet lag hell. Fortunately, I get back right in time for a 3-day weekend, so I'll have time to sleep it off. It was actually suggested to me that I take some extra time and spend the July 4th weekend in England, for fun, which would have been tempting if I didn't have family and friends to get back to, but, also--what kind of crappy American spends 4th of July visiting THE COUNTRY WE BROKE AWAY FROM. I mean, really. Unless I were just to, say, go down to Big Ben in a full-on, red-white-and blue outfit and start yelling "USA #1!" over and over until one of those London Bobbies with the big goofy hats hauled me away. Then it'd be worth it.
So I'm going to Guildford. I don't know much about it, other than what some Twitterites have told me, as well as random facts dug up on Wikipedia, such as:
* It was the home of the Royal Mint starting in 978 A.D.
* It may or may not be the home of the oldest synagogue in Western Europe.
* Lewis Carroll lived there at some point, as did P.G. Wodehouse, Alan Turing and The
Stranglers!
* Ford Prefect CLAIMED to be from Guildford in Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, but we all know better.
None of this really matters a whole lot, as I will be pretty much going straight from the airport to work, and then have my agenda completely full for the next three days until I'm back on the plane. Still, I like to know where I am and even a little bit about the history, just out of curiosity.
Meanwhile, in terms of my communiques with you, The People, I offer these updates:
1. I plan on at least tweeting text and photos if I can't blog while there. (And to those UKers who have generously and graciously offered to hook up in Guilford, alas, I am really on too tight of a leash to get away, but I do very much appreciate the offered hospitality!)
2. A new Out of the Game podcast was recorded today with Shawn, N'Gai and I--so stay tuned for that to be posted.
3. Episode 2 of The EA Podcast was recorded this past Thursday, and SHOULD be going live on Monday. We don't have a dedicated home page quite yet, but try here, maybe. And it's also now on iTunes--woot! (Search for "The EA Podcast" once in the iTunes store.) I was *much* happier with this second episode than our debut. Along with Samantha LaPerre, my co-host and EA.com's managing editor, we are joined by the fabulous Dana Jongewaard, the editor-in-chief of Greenpixels.com, and special guest Glen Schofield, the GM of EA's Visceral Games, who was just a real hoot--the kind of guest that you just hope you'll get. Hope you have as much fun listening to him as I did.
By the way, here's the iTunes link to the EA Podcast. Woot!
Okay, kids. I must pack and plan and practice my demoing. Cheerio, pip pip, and all that rot, what what!
--Jeff
So anyway, yeah: I'm about 25 hours away from boarding a flight to London, England, en route to Guildford, where I will spend the following three days PIMPING PRODUCT FOR THE MAN. I'm excited!
Guildford circa 1893, the year I was born.
The last time I was in the U.K. was in 1984, back when I did the obligatory post-college (well, almost for me) backpack-through-Europe thang. I was young and stupid and fairly oblivious of the world around me until then, and, even all these years later, it ranks as one of The Best Things I Ever Did. I loved the freedom of it all, the ability do go anywhere and do anything (well, on a poor student's budget), and just let things happen, way far away from home and anything I was familiar with. Oh, the stories I could tell! Perhaps I should save it for another blog post. I will, say, however, that there was indeed a Swedish girl at one point, and her name was Wiveka. And I'm not implying that anything particular NC-17 happened (OR DID IT?), I'm just saying that at some point, every young American male should probably meet a Swedish girl named Wiveka.
So I have two work items on my agenda:
1) Be interviewed (in my role as producer) for a cover story on MySims Agents for a U.K. magazine. Should be beaucoup de fun to be on this side of the interview/magazine cover story process. I look forward to being as surly, condescending and uncooperative as I possibly can. (Note to my employers: THAT WAS A JOKE. I will totally not be surly.)
2) Represent MySims Agents and SimAnimals Africa at some kinda big UK retailer event that EA is hosting--meaning I will be up on a stage in front of an audience of (I think) 200ish retailers, doing a short demo on why these games are great and why they should fill their stores with them and put big banners up and stand out in the street yelling in those great accents of theirs why people should come in and buy them.
That's my work agenda. My non-work agenda includes:
1) Sampling as many fine English beers as I can without impairing my ability to take care of the work agenda.
2) Finishing World War Z (at last), and then plowing through any or all of Charlie Huston's Already Dead, Richard Morgan's Altered Carbon, and/or Naomi Novik's His Majesty's Dragon. I know, that's a lot of reading. But, hey I have 20 hours of flying, plus however long any delays might go. I totally won't read all that. I'm just saying that's what I'm bringing.
3)Play Drop7 on my iPhone and Pokemon Pearl (shuddup) on my Nintendo DSi. This is for when I can't sleep or read.
4)Trying to survive the 4-days with minimal jet lag hell. Fortunately, I get back right in time for a 3-day weekend, so I'll have time to sleep it off. It was actually suggested to me that I take some extra time and spend the July 4th weekend in England, for fun, which would have been tempting if I didn't have family and friends to get back to, but, also--what kind of crappy American spends 4th of July visiting THE COUNTRY WE BROKE AWAY FROM. I mean, really. Unless I were just to, say, go down to Big Ben in a full-on, red-white-and blue outfit and start yelling "USA #1!" over and over until one of those London Bobbies with the big goofy hats hauled me away. Then it'd be worth it.
So I'm going to Guildford. I don't know much about it, other than what some Twitterites have told me, as well as random facts dug up on Wikipedia, such as:
* It was the home of the Royal Mint starting in 978 A.D.
* It may or may not be the home of the oldest synagogue in Western Europe.
* Lewis Carroll lived there at some point, as did P.G. Wodehouse, Alan Turing and The
Stranglers!
* Ford Prefect CLAIMED to be from Guildford in Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, but we all know better.
None of this really matters a whole lot, as I will be pretty much going straight from the airport to work, and then have my agenda completely full for the next three days until I'm back on the plane. Still, I like to know where I am and even a little bit about the history, just out of curiosity.
Meanwhile, in terms of my communiques with you, The People, I offer these updates:
1. I plan on at least tweeting text and photos if I can't blog while there. (And to those UKers who have generously and graciously offered to hook up in Guilford, alas, I am really on too tight of a leash to get away, but I do very much appreciate the offered hospitality!)
2. A new Out of the Game podcast was recorded today with Shawn, N'Gai and I--so stay tuned for that to be posted.
3. Episode 2 of The EA Podcast was recorded this past Thursday, and SHOULD be going live on Monday. We don't have a dedicated home page quite yet, but try here, maybe. And it's also now on iTunes--woot! (Search for "The EA Podcast" once in the iTunes store.) I was *much* happier with this second episode than our debut. Along with Samantha LaPerre, my co-host and EA.com's managing editor, we are joined by the fabulous Dana Jongewaard, the editor-in-chief of Greenpixels.com, and special guest Glen Schofield, the GM of EA's Visceral Games, who was just a real hoot--the kind of guest that you just hope you'll get. Hope you have as much fun listening to him as I did.
By the way, here's the iTunes link to the EA Podcast. Woot!
Okay, kids. I must pack and plan and practice my demoing. Cheerio, pip pip, and all that rot, what what!
--Jeff
Saturday, June 20, 2009
Me, My Life, and the Official EA Podcast.
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!
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!
Saturday, May 30, 2009
While my blog gently weeps...plus E3
Hi kids! So, yeah, another two weeks. Ah well. Would it help if I told you that it was two weeks of complete insanity? And that the net result of said insanity is going to be some cool stuff coming up for me, and, by extension, you? Yes, I have been scheming and planning and have some things in the works, none of which are quite official yet, which means I should shut up lest I jinx it all.
So, to get bidness out of the way first, the blog header refers to the fact that THIS blog is going to weep just a little bit longer for the next bunch of days, because the big E3 convention is coming up starting Monday, and I will be there with the proverbial bells on (and nothing else), and doing some blogging there, for employer, Electronic Arts, right here. I have an entry up there already for your infotainment, and, as you can see, I have to be a little better behaved there than I normally am. But only a little! We'll see how much nonsense I can inject into that page while still maintaining employment. Feel free to leave comments there, too! Show them that you're reading it!
I'm super excited about E3, I have to admit. For a good long while there, it looked like I wasn't going to attend. Most game developers, in fact, do NOT go to this show, because they far too busy--as my team is--doing the actual work of getting the games made. E3 is a humongous distraction and mostly irrelevant to the real work that actually matters. It's a media event, mostly, a way for the companies to get their games exposed and publicized before the upcoming holiday season. And while we did have that recent couple-year period of angst, where the usefulness of the convention itself--as well as the resource and cost--was put into question--everyone's finally back where we started: The acknowledgment that it's a "necessary evil," as well as just a spectacular, media-grabbing celebration of the industry as a whole.
So the work for a game company at E3 is that their new games need to be shown and demo'ed to the hordes of media and retailers and other attendees. I've been on the other side of that demo for a whopping 13 E3s in a row now--just crazy--but this year I'm going to be one of those booth monkeys myself, showing MySims Agents over and over again to anyone who comes up to talk to me, for three days in a row, with full knowledge of exactly what is going to be going on in the journalists' heads as I try to hold their attention. (Mostly: "Shit, if this dude hurries up with this fuckin demo, I'll have time to bolt early, grab a brownie in the press room, and then meet my pals for beers!")
But I am honestly looking forward to it, and think it's gonna be a blast. Life is just one long learning experience. My transition to EA has been anything but easy, but I'm still loving all of it because I am getting to experience all sorts of things I never have before--like seeing E3 from the other side of the fence. How many people get to see it from both sides?
So, I'll be blogging about that experience over at EA.com, and on Twitter, but do not worry: This blog remains active and there is hopefully more to come from me as soon as there are any actual beans to spill.
And about Sims 3: It comes out this coming Tuesday, and, yeah, we're all excited at the label. The extra time they took to polish the game was sooo damn important. I can tell you that I was an early critic of what I saw back in October/November, and all indications now are that the final result is fantastic. And I can also tell you, in all honesty, as brownnosing as it may sound given that they pay me, that were I not going to E3, I'd be home playing Sims 3 myself all next week.
Anyhoo: More to come. Meanwhile, while waiting to hear from me again, go buy yourself the new Grizzly Bear and Fever Ray CDs (or be like me and download them--LEGALLY I MEAN). Two of the best records I've heard in a long time.
kisses!
So, to get bidness out of the way first, the blog header refers to the fact that THIS blog is going to weep just a little bit longer for the next bunch of days, because the big E3 convention is coming up starting Monday, and I will be there with the proverbial bells on (and nothing else), and doing some blogging there, for employer, Electronic Arts, right here. I have an entry up there already for your infotainment, and, as you can see, I have to be a little better behaved there than I normally am. But only a little! We'll see how much nonsense I can inject into that page while still maintaining employment. Feel free to leave comments there, too! Show them that you're reading it!
I'm super excited about E3, I have to admit. For a good long while there, it looked like I wasn't going to attend. Most game developers, in fact, do NOT go to this show, because they far too busy--as my team is--doing the actual work of getting the games made. E3 is a humongous distraction and mostly irrelevant to the real work that actually matters. It's a media event, mostly, a way for the companies to get their games exposed and publicized before the upcoming holiday season. And while we did have that recent couple-year period of angst, where the usefulness of the convention itself--as well as the resource and cost--was put into question--everyone's finally back where we started: The acknowledgment that it's a "necessary evil," as well as just a spectacular, media-grabbing celebration of the industry as a whole.
So the work for a game company at E3 is that their new games need to be shown and demo'ed to the hordes of media and retailers and other attendees. I've been on the other side of that demo for a whopping 13 E3s in a row now--just crazy--but this year I'm going to be one of those booth monkeys myself, showing MySims Agents over and over again to anyone who comes up to talk to me, for three days in a row, with full knowledge of exactly what is going to be going on in the journalists' heads as I try to hold their attention. (Mostly: "Shit, if this dude hurries up with this fuckin demo, I'll have time to bolt early, grab a brownie in the press room, and then meet my pals for beers!")
But I am honestly looking forward to it, and think it's gonna be a blast. Life is just one long learning experience. My transition to EA has been anything but easy, but I'm still loving all of it because I am getting to experience all sorts of things I never have before--like seeing E3 from the other side of the fence. How many people get to see it from both sides?
So, I'll be blogging about that experience over at EA.com, and on Twitter, but do not worry: This blog remains active and there is hopefully more to come from me as soon as there are any actual beans to spill.
And about Sims 3: It comes out this coming Tuesday, and, yeah, we're all excited at the label. The extra time they took to polish the game was sooo damn important. I can tell you that I was an early critic of what I saw back in October/November, and all indications now are that the final result is fantastic. And I can also tell you, in all honesty, as brownnosing as it may sound given that they pay me, that were I not going to E3, I'd be home playing Sims 3 myself all next week.
Anyhoo: More to come. Meanwhile, while waiting to hear from me again, go buy yourself the new Grizzly Bear and Fever Ray CDs (or be like me and download them--LEGALLY I MEAN). Two of the best records I've heard in a long time.
kisses!
Saturday, May 16, 2009
I just put out a fire.
Yeah, no, really. I just did. I'm hot, and there's still ashes on my palms, and I smell like smoke, and my nerves are still a bit frayed. However, since I may not ever get the chance to be a hero again in anything that's not a videogame, I feel like I should blog about it immediately and bask in the glory of my good deed. I won't brag about it either, because that would be immodest and unseemly. Even though I did kinda just kick ass!
Our story begins with our hero getting booted off the couch--where he had spent the bulk of the afternoon alternating between playing Pokemon on his DSi and napping--so that he could accompany his wife on a walk to the local market, along with the dog, Mila.
The walk to the market went fine, and so we can skip over the details there and jump right to the good part, on the way back, where I get to be awesome. So the wife, dog, and I are rounding the corner about three blocks from our house. As we make the turn, we see an abandoned couch just off the sidewalk...on fire. At this point, the fire is small. Just the very top of it has flames on it. There's no immediate evidence as to what caused it other than that it's scorching hot today. But, anyway, yeah, FIRE.
For one second, the wife and I are frozen. Like, uhhhh...is this our problem? What do we do? There is that microsecond that your brain has something maybe not unlike shock, or just stunned surprise, when you are still processing the event in progress and have yet to make a choice. But the choice usually happens before you even realize you've made it. And such was the case with us, as we both instantly leaped into "HOLY SHIT WE HAVE TO PUT THIS FIRE OUT NOW" mode.
The first thing that happened is that the wife tried covering the flame with a blanket that was sitting on the couch, which worked for about 5 seconds before that in turn went up in flames. And now we had a real fire, as the whole couch lit up. Black smoke began billowing, as both the wife and I immediately started banging on the closest doors to see if anyone had a hose. Meanwhile, another woman passing by on her bike dialed 911. I should mention that one foot away from this flaming couch is a parked car. And about two feet behind the flaming couch is the wooden fence of a home.
Now neighbors are coming out of their doorways, and the first thing I notice is that no one--not one person--comes over to help. As if this wasn't their problem---and that it was my problem, in fact. Even though, ya know, really, this wasn't "my" problem, technically, in that I neither started the fire, nor, in fact, lived on this street. But, okay. I'm here. They see some random couple dealing with it. They probably thought it was our dumb asses that got the couch on fire in the first place.
Still. The experience, with a few of the folks we encountered, was not too heartening. One house where I banged on the door, yelling, "there's a fire next door! Do you have a hose?" was met with silence even though I could see people right there through the window looking. The guy right next door to the house with the couch on fire just looked blankly at my wife, and then at the fire, as if he'd never seen either--a woman or a fire--in his life, and then proceeded to do nothing.
But, again, okay. Whatever. The next door I go to, a guy is coming out of his house just as I'm walking up to the door, and he gets it immediately. His two little boys are fascinated by the flaming couch, of course, but he waves them back as I yell "get your hose!" and he gets it and feeds it to me as I go across the street with it, hoping it will reach.
He turns the water on full blast, and yes, it does reach. Thank god. So, I have at it, going as fast as I can to douse this thing. And even though it's just a couch, it takes awhile to get it under control. It was scary that way. I'd think I had it, but flames would pop up somewhere else. Once at least the main blaze was contained, the guy helping me came over and helped me tip the couch over to get underneath, which was still blazing. The whole thing took probably 7-10 minutes, at which point the fire department arrived, basically just to deal with the aftermath.
They took my name and phone number, one of the firefighters joked "do you want my job?" and we were on our way with the dog back home.
Before this little detour, I had been looking forward to a cup of fresh coffee when we got home. After this, however, I opted for a beer.
Yowsa!
Our story begins with our hero getting booted off the couch--where he had spent the bulk of the afternoon alternating between playing Pokemon on his DSi and napping--so that he could accompany his wife on a walk to the local market, along with the dog, Mila.
The walk to the market went fine, and so we can skip over the details there and jump right to the good part, on the way back, where I get to be awesome. So the wife, dog, and I are rounding the corner about three blocks from our house. As we make the turn, we see an abandoned couch just off the sidewalk...on fire. At this point, the fire is small. Just the very top of it has flames on it. There's no immediate evidence as to what caused it other than that it's scorching hot today. But, anyway, yeah, FIRE.
For one second, the wife and I are frozen. Like, uhhhh...is this our problem? What do we do? There is that microsecond that your brain has something maybe not unlike shock, or just stunned surprise, when you are still processing the event in progress and have yet to make a choice. But the choice usually happens before you even realize you've made it. And such was the case with us, as we both instantly leaped into "HOLY SHIT WE HAVE TO PUT THIS FIRE OUT NOW" mode.
The first thing that happened is that the wife tried covering the flame with a blanket that was sitting on the couch, which worked for about 5 seconds before that in turn went up in flames. And now we had a real fire, as the whole couch lit up. Black smoke began billowing, as both the wife and I immediately started banging on the closest doors to see if anyone had a hose. Meanwhile, another woman passing by on her bike dialed 911. I should mention that one foot away from this flaming couch is a parked car. And about two feet behind the flaming couch is the wooden fence of a home.
Now neighbors are coming out of their doorways, and the first thing I notice is that no one--not one person--comes over to help. As if this wasn't their problem---and that it was my problem, in fact. Even though, ya know, really, this wasn't "my" problem, technically, in that I neither started the fire, nor, in fact, lived on this street. But, okay. I'm here. They see some random couple dealing with it. They probably thought it was our dumb asses that got the couch on fire in the first place.
Still. The experience, with a few of the folks we encountered, was not too heartening. One house where I banged on the door, yelling, "there's a fire next door! Do you have a hose?" was met with silence even though I could see people right there through the window looking. The guy right next door to the house with the couch on fire just looked blankly at my wife, and then at the fire, as if he'd never seen either--a woman or a fire--in his life, and then proceeded to do nothing.
But, again, okay. Whatever. The next door I go to, a guy is coming out of his house just as I'm walking up to the door, and he gets it immediately. His two little boys are fascinated by the flaming couch, of course, but he waves them back as I yell "get your hose!" and he gets it and feeds it to me as I go across the street with it, hoping it will reach.
He turns the water on full blast, and yes, it does reach. Thank god. So, I have at it, going as fast as I can to douse this thing. And even though it's just a couch, it takes awhile to get it under control. It was scary that way. I'd think I had it, but flames would pop up somewhere else. Once at least the main blaze was contained, the guy helping me came over and helped me tip the couch over to get underneath, which was still blazing. The whole thing took probably 7-10 minutes, at which point the fire department arrived, basically just to deal with the aftermath.
They took my name and phone number, one of the firefighters joked "do you want my job?" and we were on our way with the dog back home.
Before this little detour, I had been looking forward to a cup of fresh coffee when we got home. After this, however, I opted for a beer.
Yowsa!
Wednesday, May 13, 2009
This morning.
Hi! I've been up since 5:30 a.m., and have been meaning to blog this whole time, but instead did three things:
1) Finished this week's reading of The Brothers Karamazov for the Deathmarch I've been on the past few months. Only two more weeks, and then I can go back to easier books that don't require deathmarches to complete! Yay! Let it be said, however, that Brothers K has turned out to be awesome: A great murder mystery with existential angst/religious torment thrown in. So, really, even though it makes you look and feel good for reading it, it's just more pulp fiction in disguise! Okay, not really. Don't go and get all snooty with me now.
2) Decided to give up on Mario & Luigi Superstar Saga. I'm near the end now, but I'm just getting too frustrated. There's a bit more twitch/action stuff than I was expecting in this game, and I'm afraid my timing is just not that great at this point in my life. BAH. It's been great until now though. Very charming and funny. Now I can't decide what to try next on my NEW NINTENDO DSi: Rhythm Heaven or Chrono Trigger? Or maybe both?
The reason I have the DSi, by the way, is that the EA Store did actually get a batch in. And one of the perks of working at EA is that within your first year (and only your first year, after which the offer expires), you get a $100 discount on a new console system. I have a 360 already, have no desire for a PS3, and use my PSP as a toilet brick. So the new DSi was the clear choice here, especially since I never upgraded to the DS Lite. I used $70 of the $250 gift card I had to pay the difference, so, basically, new DSi for free, and still $180 on the card to blow. Woot. Early verdict: It's ossum! I like the black matte finish on the thing, and the design in general is so much sleeker and less embarrassing then the old purple one, which I'm keeping for GBA games anyhoo.
3) Downloaded and started iMob on the iPhone. An MMO on the iPhone? Sounds fishy. And gimmicky. But, hmmmm, I'm a level 3 Hustler already, I've successfully performed a bunch of purse snatches and home invasions (ATTN FEDERAL AUTHORITIES AND CONCERNED FAMILY MEMBERS: I MEAN IN THE GAME. IT'S A GAME), bought myself a nice land fill, upgraded my weapons, and even retaliated and won a fight against some clown in my (real life) neighborhood who made the mistake of trying to take me out. In short: I think I'm in! At least for now. Will keep you posted on my progress as a burgeoning Mafia don.
Anyway, that's what I did this morning instead of blogging. Now it's time to go to work.
Oh yeah! A few more quick things:
1)I am appearing on the next episode of CO-OP with my old 1UP pals, talking about the awesomeness that is Plants Vs. Zombies, a game that you all should download now if you haven't already. The show will be available I don't know when at their site here.
2) Sometime soon I will be able to talk more about it, but you can at least officially know that the game I've been working on is MySims Agents. There's a few previews up now from your various gaming media sites, which adequately regurgitate the propaganda we threw at them and provide a few screenshots. My contribution, let it be said, has been minimal. I'm busy writing incidental dialog and text for the game, and hopefully it's funny. But I'm coming in at the late end of the project and get no credit for however good (or not!) it ultimately turns out. But I think it's gonna surprise people.
3) Finally, if you want to join my iMob, the handle is "doofaeus." Join me, or be my enemy, punks.
1) Finished this week's reading of The Brothers Karamazov for the Deathmarch I've been on the past few months. Only two more weeks, and then I can go back to easier books that don't require deathmarches to complete! Yay! Let it be said, however, that Brothers K has turned out to be awesome: A great murder mystery with existential angst/religious torment thrown in. So, really, even though it makes you look and feel good for reading it, it's just more pulp fiction in disguise! Okay, not really. Don't go and get all snooty with me now.
2) Decided to give up on Mario & Luigi Superstar Saga. I'm near the end now, but I'm just getting too frustrated. There's a bit more twitch/action stuff than I was expecting in this game, and I'm afraid my timing is just not that great at this point in my life. BAH. It's been great until now though. Very charming and funny. Now I can't decide what to try next on my NEW NINTENDO DSi: Rhythm Heaven or Chrono Trigger? Or maybe both?
The reason I have the DSi, by the way, is that the EA Store did actually get a batch in. And one of the perks of working at EA is that within your first year (and only your first year, after which the offer expires), you get a $100 discount on a new console system. I have a 360 already, have no desire for a PS3, and use my PSP as a toilet brick. So the new DSi was the clear choice here, especially since I never upgraded to the DS Lite. I used $70 of the $250 gift card I had to pay the difference, so, basically, new DSi for free, and still $180 on the card to blow. Woot. Early verdict: It's ossum! I like the black matte finish on the thing, and the design in general is so much sleeker and less embarrassing then the old purple one, which I'm keeping for GBA games anyhoo.
3) Downloaded and started iMob on the iPhone. An MMO on the iPhone? Sounds fishy. And gimmicky. But, hmmmm, I'm a level 3 Hustler already, I've successfully performed a bunch of purse snatches and home invasions (ATTN FEDERAL AUTHORITIES AND CONCERNED FAMILY MEMBERS: I MEAN IN THE GAME. IT'S A GAME), bought myself a nice land fill, upgraded my weapons, and even retaliated and won a fight against some clown in my (real life) neighborhood who made the mistake of trying to take me out. In short: I think I'm in! At least for now. Will keep you posted on my progress as a burgeoning Mafia don.
Anyway, that's what I did this morning instead of blogging. Now it's time to go to work.
Oh yeah! A few more quick things:
1)I am appearing on the next episode of CO-OP with my old 1UP pals, talking about the awesomeness that is Plants Vs. Zombies, a game that you all should download now if you haven't already. The show will be available I don't know when at their site here.
2) Sometime soon I will be able to talk more about it, but you can at least officially know that the game I've been working on is MySims Agents. There's a few previews up now from your various gaming media sites, which adequately regurgitate the propaganda we threw at them and provide a few screenshots. My contribution, let it be said, has been minimal. I'm busy writing incidental dialog and text for the game, and hopefully it's funny. But I'm coming in at the late end of the project and get no credit for however good (or not!) it ultimately turns out. But I think it's gonna surprise people.
3) Finally, if you want to join my iMob, the handle is "doofaeus." Join me, or be my enemy, punks.
Monday, May 4, 2009
I lose things.
Sometimes I really hate being me.
Most of the time, I'm okay with it. I feel like I probably could have done worse, in the grand scheme of things, than being me. But one thing I really can't stand is that I am just horrendously absent-minded. No need to blame "old age" here, either--I've been this way for as long as I can remember, even though my memory is kind of crappy from being so absent-minded.
The way my absent-mindedness manifests itself most, and worst, is in my constant losing of things, or forgetting where I put things. Over the years, after much drama and angst, I have devised (mostly) fail-safe systems for certain crucial items, like my keys, which hang on a special key-holder thing by our front door. (This did not stop me, however, from losing the keys to my brand-new motorcycle awhile back.) My wallet, too, is now mostly safe from my dunderheadedness, though the fact that I'm typing this now is probably not a really good idea.
But as my wife and kid can tell you, I am the worst, by far, when it comes to glasses. I don't know what it is. It's like some kind of gypsy curse, or maybe a deep-rooted psychological desire to be blind. My inability to hold on to sunglasses is beyond laughable. At this point in my life, I just go to the 99 cent store, and buy multiple pairs at once, with the full knowledge and acceptance that if I can make four pairs last a month, I'm doing well. That's no exaggeration. I'm just terrible. I can't even tell you where they all are. Probably where all those stranded socks are. In Narnia! I set them down everywhere---apparently. Or maybe there's just some guy following me around all the time with 400 pairs of sunglasses to his name thanks to me. If so, and if you're reading this: You're welcome!
It's less funny, though, by far, when it comes to my prescription glasses.
My eyes, to put it in scientific terms, blow chunks. I'm not just nearsighted like your garden variety nerd. Oh, no. That'd be too easy. Instead, I have some kind of weird, unclassifiable issue that manifests itself in a form of double-vision, and which can at times make me look cross-eyed or lazy-eyed or just kind of stupid-looking. (The drool and coloring books probably don't help.) For better or worse, this is only a problem with my up-close vision: talking to people, reading, using the computer. For distance, I'm your standard near-blind guy with the coke-bottle lenses--always a hit with the ladies.
So here's how I have to deal with things. For distance, I wear regular contact lenses. I used to lose these all the time, too, and drop them and rip them (remind me to tell y'all the story of being lost in the middle of nowhere in Germany in 1984 with only one contact lens, which I then ripped, had to take out of my eye, and then keep wet by carrying in my mouth while walking nearly blind for five miles. Actually I guess I just told you.) But with the advent of disposable lenses, that's not really a problem anymore.
So I wear contacts all day long. But in order to read or use the PC or talk to people without looking like a crosseyed dimwit, I need to wear my "reading glasses", which have big-ass prisms built in to help correct the problem. They are awesome. They are also horrifically expensive. You see where this story is going?
So, yeah. I need to carry around my reading glasses all the time when I'm awake, to put on and take off whenever I need to read something or interact up close with anyone. And for an absent-minded guy like me, this is just a logistical nightmare. For awhile, I was doing the lanyard/braid over my head thing, even though it made me feel and look even older than I already am. And truthfully I should probably go back to that method. But that has its own problems, too, and gets annoying if it's a situation where they need to be off for long periods and I'm out in public and they're kinda flailing around. I don't carry a man-purse or murse or whatever they're called, which might help, but, then, I'd just lose that too. I *do* carry a backpack around a lot of the time, but, then that's not quite convenient enough access when I need to do a quick read of something.
So more often than not, I default to the easiest way out: I stick them in my shirt pocket. Those wondering why I usually wear button-down shirts over t-shirts, this is why. So I have a glasses pocket. Most of the time, this works just fine. It may not be the best for the lenses, but, for the most part, it makes me feel the most secure: they're right there, and I am constantly, semi-consciously patting my pocket all day to make sure they're there. The downside, though, is that they are prone to fall out, if I bend over, or take my sweater off in a haphazard manner....or any other number of scenarios.
And one of these scenarios, or maybe something entirely different--I don't really know-- happened on Friday night, and I am now without my reading glasses once again, glasses that cost $400 and that I just got three weeks ago, replacing the last pair (which I wrecked, but didn't lose.) I've done all the requisite quadruple-checking in every likely place, and these things are apparently gone, gone, gone, baby. Who knows? Maybe they flew out of my pocket on the motorcycle Friday night. Maybe I set them down while grabbing a handful of chips at the Sims TGIF. Maybe they're in Narnia. All I know is, I am without those glasses and am utterly frustrated with myself, again. Seriously, Jeff--again??
I will replace them. And I have cheapo backups that will get me by. And life will go on. And in the grand scheme of things, I guess I do mostly well at this whole "living" thing. But good grief do I get tired of being me sometimes. This is one of those times.
Most of the time, I'm okay with it. I feel like I probably could have done worse, in the grand scheme of things, than being me. But one thing I really can't stand is that I am just horrendously absent-minded. No need to blame "old age" here, either--I've been this way for as long as I can remember, even though my memory is kind of crappy from being so absent-minded.
The way my absent-mindedness manifests itself most, and worst, is in my constant losing of things, or forgetting where I put things. Over the years, after much drama and angst, I have devised (mostly) fail-safe systems for certain crucial items, like my keys, which hang on a special key-holder thing by our front door. (This did not stop me, however, from losing the keys to my brand-new motorcycle awhile back.) My wallet, too, is now mostly safe from my dunderheadedness, though the fact that I'm typing this now is probably not a really good idea.
But as my wife and kid can tell you, I am the worst, by far, when it comes to glasses. I don't know what it is. It's like some kind of gypsy curse, or maybe a deep-rooted psychological desire to be blind. My inability to hold on to sunglasses is beyond laughable. At this point in my life, I just go to the 99 cent store, and buy multiple pairs at once, with the full knowledge and acceptance that if I can make four pairs last a month, I'm doing well. That's no exaggeration. I'm just terrible. I can't even tell you where they all are. Probably where all those stranded socks are. In Narnia! I set them down everywhere---apparently. Or maybe there's just some guy following me around all the time with 400 pairs of sunglasses to his name thanks to me. If so, and if you're reading this: You're welcome!
It's less funny, though, by far, when it comes to my prescription glasses.
My eyes, to put it in scientific terms, blow chunks. I'm not just nearsighted like your garden variety nerd. Oh, no. That'd be too easy. Instead, I have some kind of weird, unclassifiable issue that manifests itself in a form of double-vision, and which can at times make me look cross-eyed or lazy-eyed or just kind of stupid-looking. (The drool and coloring books probably don't help.) For better or worse, this is only a problem with my up-close vision: talking to people, reading, using the computer. For distance, I'm your standard near-blind guy with the coke-bottle lenses--always a hit with the ladies.
So here's how I have to deal with things. For distance, I wear regular contact lenses. I used to lose these all the time, too, and drop them and rip them (remind me to tell y'all the story of being lost in the middle of nowhere in Germany in 1984 with only one contact lens, which I then ripped, had to take out of my eye, and then keep wet by carrying in my mouth while walking nearly blind for five miles. Actually I guess I just told you.) But with the advent of disposable lenses, that's not really a problem anymore.
So I wear contacts all day long. But in order to read or use the PC or talk to people without looking like a crosseyed dimwit, I need to wear my "reading glasses", which have big-ass prisms built in to help correct the problem. They are awesome. They are also horrifically expensive. You see where this story is going?
So, yeah. I need to carry around my reading glasses all the time when I'm awake, to put on and take off whenever I need to read something or interact up close with anyone. And for an absent-minded guy like me, this is just a logistical nightmare. For awhile, I was doing the lanyard/braid over my head thing, even though it made me feel and look even older than I already am. And truthfully I should probably go back to that method. But that has its own problems, too, and gets annoying if it's a situation where they need to be off for long periods and I'm out in public and they're kinda flailing around. I don't carry a man-purse or murse or whatever they're called, which might help, but, then, I'd just lose that too. I *do* carry a backpack around a lot of the time, but, then that's not quite convenient enough access when I need to do a quick read of something.
So more often than not, I default to the easiest way out: I stick them in my shirt pocket. Those wondering why I usually wear button-down shirts over t-shirts, this is why. So I have a glasses pocket. Most of the time, this works just fine. It may not be the best for the lenses, but, for the most part, it makes me feel the most secure: they're right there, and I am constantly, semi-consciously patting my pocket all day to make sure they're there. The downside, though, is that they are prone to fall out, if I bend over, or take my sweater off in a haphazard manner....or any other number of scenarios.
And one of these scenarios, or maybe something entirely different--I don't really know-- happened on Friday night, and I am now without my reading glasses once again, glasses that cost $400 and that I just got three weeks ago, replacing the last pair (which I wrecked, but didn't lose.) I've done all the requisite quadruple-checking in every likely place, and these things are apparently gone, gone, gone, baby. Who knows? Maybe they flew out of my pocket on the motorcycle Friday night. Maybe I set them down while grabbing a handful of chips at the Sims TGIF. Maybe they're in Narnia. All I know is, I am without those glasses and am utterly frustrated with myself, again. Seriously, Jeff--again??
I will replace them. And I have cheapo backups that will get me by. And life will go on. And in the grand scheme of things, I guess I do mostly well at this whole "living" thing. But good grief do I get tired of being me sometimes. This is one of those times.
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