A couple of weeks back, Jon and I went to logger-heads over the issue of cutscenes. Of course, a topic like this needs to be returned to - and Jon did exactly that in his return email to me. Since I always need to have the last word, naturally I replied.

Jon,

I think, perhaps, we want video games to do different things. You want video games to tell a story. A cohesive story, that follows the rules of characterization and plot. When we read a book, we don’t expect silent and masked protagonists. When we watch a movie, we don’t expect to influence the dialogue on screen.

Video games are - I believe - currently evolving. They balance two different demands, and many times these two demands are completely opposed to each other. The first demand is that of interactive entertainment. Whether that’s racing a timer whilst organising oddly shaped building blocks to stop them building up to the top of the screen - or pitting your spiky-haired warrior against an array of peculiar monsters.

The second demand is narrative. This is the why, the where, the when. I can build stats for the sake of winning, or I can build stats so that I can be better able to take down the evil psychopath threatening to destroy the world. Either way I’m building stats, but with a story wrapped around it I can at least be motivated, or moved.
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Note: This is part II of my write-up of EA Sims Bloggers Day. You can read Part I here.

If you’ve played the original MySims, you will know the characters already. Family-friendly, cute voiced, and stylised - the MySims took the super popular Sims franchise and gave it a Nintendo spin.

MySims Kingdom takes the core gameplay from MySims - that of building things - and uses it within an RPG-styled storyline. Unlike the original game, you follow a series of quests, meeting up with many recognisable faces and unlocking various new lands as you go. These lands are themed - one is a wild west frontier, another is a mystical fantasy land. Tim LeTourneau, the Executive Producer, compared the design to that of Disneyland.
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It’s inevitable that in the future we’re going to see more Lego titles, because of the previous success that they’ve had. Just look at Lego Star Wars, and most recently, Lego Batman. They take what starts out as a mature, established concept and cute it up with enemies exploding into brick pieces, remove what could be extraneous dialogue and substitute it with adorable mumblings akin to Simlish, and some of the sweetest pantomime I’ve seen on characters since Final Fantasy VII.

I firmly believe that even if you didn’t like the game before, you’d probably find something to like about it now if it’s been turned into Lego, at least if it was a solid title and didn’t rely on the same old tired mechanics as the previous games. And how many movies out there would make awesome transitions? You’re not going to find conventional games on here like the obvious, boring, Mario, Zelda, Halo, Gears of War, and so on here. So, without further ado, I’ve got a sampling here of five games out of the hundreds I could think of that would make great Lego games.

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Multiplayer games are awesome and I love them dearly. Obviously, if you’ve read any of my Wrath of the Lich King previews, I’m quite fond of MMORPGs. I tend to sporadically pick up new ones like I’m at a cocktail party and they’re a plate of hors d’oeuvres. One thing that repels me from MMORPGs, however, is forced grouping. The thought of being forced to be in a party with people in order to get anywhere makes me scream.

Do I like to be in groups? Yes, when the mood strikes me or I find a leveling partner I like. Do I want to be in a group the entire time I’m playing? About as much as I want to write a twenty page paper on the chemical symbol for lead.

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My love of gaming and collecting has turned my room into that of a disaster area. Strewn across the floor all over are cases, discs, systems, the errant set of batteries, and gutted Wii remotes that I do not use. On the side of my room where I have a dresser, there are stacks of gaming magazines that I read four or five years ago. In the room adjacent to mine you can find a large duffel bag containing the original Game Boy, a Game Gear, and all the subsequent handhelds I don’t use at the moment.

It all takes up space, which I haven’t enough of. Why? I just can’t bring myself to get rid of any of it!

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EA is the ‘big guy’ when it comes to game development. They have a string of successful franchises across a range of platforms and genres, and I don’t just mean success in terms of dollar bills - though they have plenty of that. Many of their franchises are routinely held up as ‘great games’ - most notably for me is SimCity and Command & Conquer. I’ve played most incarnations of these two series, and I love them.

So I was delighted to receive an invitation to EA Redwood Shores, CA to attend a Sims Bloggers Day. I would get to see several upcoming Sims game, talk with some designers, meet some other bloggers, and see just what’s it like at the HQ for the biggest name in gaming. I’d also get to spend 22 hours sitting in a plane, but such is the lot of the dedicated blogger.

First impressions count for a lot, and EA makes a good one. The building is huge, modern, and the lobby decorated with arcade machines, and a giant TV screen. There are gardens, a labyrinth, a nearby lagoon, an on site gym, a creche complete with playground, big lounges, and (of course) game rooms. No expense has been spared, which is perhaps not surprising given the furor that arose in 2004 over the work-life balance of EA employees. The developers may still have to work long hours, but at least they can see their children and get some exercise. Certainly none of the people we spoke to seemed to be unhappy, and the passion for the games they were creating came through in their presentations.

Ah yes. The games. As a Sims day, all the games were shown were part of the Sims franchise, but there was quite a wide variety in what we saw. One developer compared the MySims characters to the muppets - able to be plunged into any storyline or genre, whilst still retaining their muppetness (or Simness).

I’ll start at the beginning, with the soon-to-be-released SimCity Creator. In my next few posts I’ll move on to MySims Kingdom, SimAnimals and finish up with MySims PC. Finally I’m going to talk a bit about what the Sims franchise represents for gamers, and explore EA’s corporate culture a bit further. So stay tuned - we’ve got a lot to talk about.
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