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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Cars are boring. What? They are. Brake, gas, honk. Brake, gas, honk. Turn left, turn right. Flip that guy off. Psh, so old. Video game characters have all the luck, really. They get totally amazing mounts to ride all over their pre-programmed world. Playing through some games got me to wondering which mounts I’d love to have in real life. Obviously, not all of them are practical. But still, beats the Hell out of the rising gas prices, eh? Yeah, I should stay away from the political commentary, sorry. On with my list!

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In the corner of my living room lives a sleek black box. A Playstation 3, in fact, that I bought after many months of head-scratching over the differences between the wii, the Xbox 360 and the PS3 itself. So I came to the console war game a little late.

Two months after my initial purchase, I can honestly say I’m glad I did it. The Playstation 3 is without doubt the more expensive of the three, but it’s also the most rock-solid. It’s quiet, fast and powerful - three things I love to say about any gadgetry I own.

It also took care of ever need I had. It plays movies, music, accesses the internet, sings, dances, and occasionally even cooks and cleans. (Well, okay, it lets me look up recipes when I’m in the middle of cooking and suddenly realise I have no idea what I’m doing.)

You can use your PSP to access your PS3 - from anywhere on the planet with a Wifi connection. This means that you can turn on the PS3 when your significant other is at home, scaring the bejesus out of them and convincing them that the PS3 is, in fact, possessed. It also lets you access the massive harddrive storage on the go, which means you can save up to 80gb of movies and music and then watch them remotely.
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MMORPGs seem to be the new ‘it’ game platform. It seems like almost every company is falling all over themselves to try and get a nice piece of that massively multiplayer cake. Subscribers come and go, each one looking for something a little bit different. What sets a certain MMO apart from others depends on the person playing it. For example: Some people hate PVP while others simply can’t get enough of it. With this in mind, most companies strive to make their game something special. Something people will want to play even if the game itself is slightly less than desirable in other areas. What sets an MMORPG apart?

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