Electronic Entertainment Expo - E3 2009

Well, the annual Game Critics nominations are out for the Best of E3, and, as you can see in the post below,  EA did very well.  Go us! Of course, it doesn't hurt when you're like the biggest publisher in the universe and have all sorts of partners who help pad your nomination count.  It also doesn't hurt when you have a huge expense account that you can use to bribe the so-called "judges."    Just kidding!  Really!

So while I'm happy for all the deserving nominees, both from EA and (a little less) from elsewhere,  I do have one particular bone to pick.  Where is MySims Agents?  Look, I was one of those official Game Critics for many years, so I know from good games.  Never mind the fact that I work on the game every day and have a completely biased and vested interest in it.  Just ignore that part.  The truth is that I'd have totally voted for this game if one of MY fellow former game critics worked on it.   I thought we were like a club, guys!  What's the point of the secret handshakes,  the private underground nightclub, the chanting, if you don't support a brother in his time of need?

For next year's E3 voting, let me humbly suggest the addition of the following category:  Best Game That Jeff Green Worked On, which will totally prevent this kind of embarrassing oversight in the future.  Still, I'll be rooting for all my nominated co-workers before the votes are tallied next week.   To whoever wins, you're totally the one I was hoping should win!

Hi kids!

I am out of my annual post-E3 sleep coma and back amongst The Living again.  I've been to 13 of these things now, and it's been both great and exhausting every time, but this time---my first time on the developer side---may have been the greatest and most exhausting of them all.   I can tell you from over a decade of experience that E3 is not an easy time for the press.  They have WAY too many games to see in too little time, and then have to write articles as fast as they can that hopefully don't sound like everyone else's articles.  Trying to grasp the full breadth of the show while also drilling down and getting details on specific titles takes a lot of energy and talent.  Which is why most of the press is drunk all the time!  Just kidding!  Or am I?

Anyhoo,  this E3 was different from all other E3s for me because, rather than running around like a press monkey,  I spent the entire time, in my new role as Producer,  planted in front of the MySims Agents demo stations, demoing the game something like 8 billion times over the course of three days. I did get breaks, of course, because, if nothing else, putting a bucket by me so I could relieve myself not only would have been somewhat gross, but it might have discouraged at least a couple folks from stopping by.  And while I didn't get to wander as much as I normally do, I did get out to see some of the show highlights.

But in lieu of having to write any more actual paragraphs, I present you instead with a top 10 list, which is something else I learned to do in the exciting world of videogame journalism!

Here's the Top 10 Things I Learned at E3 This Year (in no particular order):

1.  Standing in a booth for 8 hours is just as tiring (if not more so) than running back and forth all day.

2. The best way to get a press person  to avoid you and your game is to make direct eye contact as he/she walks by.

3.  Scribblenauts is going to be freaking amazing.

4. "Kids' games"  and casual games may not appeal to all the hardcore press, but, boy, the retailers are all over 'em.

5.  Boy's Life magazine is still in print! I had no idear!  And the editor I talked to was totally cool.

6.  Everyone and their grandma now apparently has their own gaming website.  D.I.Y democracy...or unfiltered chaos?  YOU MAKE THE CALL.

7.  OMG I can't wait for Beatles Rock Band.

8.  However long your prepared demo/script is,  have a 1-minute version ready.   For some folks, that's literally all they'll give you.  "HAI IT'S MYSIMS AGENTS YOU'RE A SECRET AGENT YOU INVESTIGATE STUFF IT'S FOR THE WII IT COMES OUT IN FALL KTHXBYE!"

9.  "Booth babes" are a guaranteed way to attract a certain subsection of dweebs, as evidenced by the folks jammed in to see the Need for Speed game just a few feet away from us.  I mean, yeah, I'm sure the game is great, too.  I'm just sayin'.

10.  Every year I'm sick of it by the end and can't wait to leave, but man....it's a fun show.

To everyone who stopped by and said hi--thank you!  Kisses!

We talk with Jeff Green of MySims Agents at E3 2009.  What's this game all about and what makes it awesome? Those questions are answered!

Amazingly enough, this will be my 13th E3 in a row.  Yeah, that's right.  I've been attending E3 longer than some of you have been out of diapers.  Not counting the adult kind.

For the first 12 E3s, however, I was attending as a journalist, dutifully attending demo after demo in order to write articles for my magazine (in ye olden days) and then for the "World Wide Web"---whatever the heck that is.  E3 is exhausting for the press--believe me.  There is *way* too much to see (though, now, of course, I know that all the good stuff is right here, conveniently located at the EA booth) and not enough time to see it.  So you are bolting from one demo to the other, always late, always panicked and distracted, always kind of barely/sorta paying attention and trying to come up with good questions that the other journalists may forget to ask. (Like: "So how many weapons does your game have?")

Now that I'm on the development side, well, kids, it's a whole different house of wax.  Now I am spending part of the weekend frantically trying to practice and memorize the demo I'm going to have to do for all those journalists,  all the while knowing exactly what they are going to be thinking as I'm doing it.  Truthfully, I'm not really nervous.  For one, as I already mentioned on another post around here, the game is pretty much the greatest game of all time, so I know at least that I'm demoing a worthwhile product.  And second,  I look forward to the experience of seeing it all from the "other side" now.   If nothing else, we'll all laugh about it at the old folks' home when I'm there in a couple months.

Anyway, as a behind-the-scenes sneak peak, here is a photo of me, an actual, real-life game developer, practicing myE3 demo before a reporter who was kind enough to lend me her time today:

Of course, from being on the press side, I know very well the importance of keeping things interesting and active, or you are going to quickly lose your audience.   At the point at which the reporter begins....ahh...attending to personal matters, perhaps it's time to end the demo.

Here's hoping for a better response when I do this for real in a couple days!

--Jeff

Bam! How's that for a clever blog header?  That's what 6.5 years of college buys you!

Anyway, it's an exciting time for The Sims group at EA.  We have, of course, The Sims 3 launching on June 2, so all of you not going to E3 next week should get in line at your local game store right now and be the first to buy it!  Go ahead!  Skip work! Skip finals!  It's The Sims 3, dude!  No jury would convict you!

But those who are going to E3 can look forward to seeing MySims Agents, the next game in the MySims franchise for the Nintendo Wii, on display and playable on the show floor at the EA booth.  I may be one of the producers on the game, sure, but I think I can say with complete objectivity that this is probably the greatest game of all time. Especially the .00001 percent of the game that I am responsible for.

In all seriousness, we are thrilled to finally be able to show folks the game, as it's a fun, new direction for the MySims franchise, and one that we're hoping will please both a younger audience and, ahh, slightly-less-younger folks who just enjoy good games.

What's the game about? Well, look how well I can cut and paste:

In MySims Agents, players take on the role of a special agent hired to foil the sinister plans of Morcubus, the villain in the game.  From tracking footprints and using forensics to picking locks, hacking into computers, following leads and collecting clues, players must rely on their wits, skills and trusty gadgets to piece together the clues to solve the mystery.  Jump aboard the jet to reach an ancient temple, a spooky mansion or an icy mountaintop chalet in search of clues that lead players closer to the sinister Morcubus. Return from the adventure with cool treasures that players can use to construct and customize their headquarters and make it their own.

So if you're coming to E3, come see the game! And come say hi to me!  I'm going to be standing there all day,  playing this over and over,  and will want the company! Oh, and while you're at it, bring me a soda, too!   Diet Coke, please.  I'll, like, totally pay you back!

--jeff