My personal favorite is probably still Bart's Nightmare on the Super Nintendo — because it was the only game that I could beat that my big brother couldn't. His claim to fame is still the old NES game, Bart vs. The Space Mutants. But both of us will always remember The Simpsons Arcade game from Konami as the ultimate Simpsons video game. It was the only one we could get our parents to play with us, and they only one we never ever beat because we always ran out of quarters in the dream world.

What Is It?
The Simpsons Arcade for the iPhone is a beat 'em up, much like the Simpsons Arcade of yore — but other than that, it's a totally different game. Featuring six levels with a boss and mini-boss each, the game stars Homer Simpson at the center of a plot involving Mr. Burns' sinister plan to suck Springfield's resources dry. The control scheme uses a virtual joystick and two virtual buttons that give the appearance of playing the game in an arcade cabinet.

What We Saw
I played the Krustyland level and saw sections demoed at the beginning of the game, at the end of the game and at Channel 6 News where you fight Bumblebee Man as a mini-boss.

How Far Along Is It?
Near final. EA declined to give a specific release date, but all the levels and sounds were in place and everything looked pretty finished.

What Needs Improvement?
A Little Slow On The Combos: Homer can perform punch-kick combos as well as an area-affect shoulder-check or belly flop that you can follow up with a second attack. It's great when it works, but it takes some work to master the timing needed on the virtual buttons. Worse, since you're not getting that physical feedback of pressing a real button, you're not always sure if you messed up the combo because you were late on a button press or because the touch screen didn't pick up on it.

Can't Store Family Members: Bart, Lisa, Maggie and Marge show up in gameplay whenever Homer finds a pickup with a family member's face on it. This triggers a Family Frenzy attack where said family member will show up on screen for a short time and help Homer attack enemies. For tight spot situations, it's not a bad system — but I wonder if it would be more fun to hang on to those family icon pickups until you assemble the whole Simpsons clan for some kind of super attack. It'd definitely reinforce that family feeling I remember having while playing the old arcade game with my parents and brother.

What Should Stay The Same?
Authenticity: EA got a lot of the main cast of the Simpsons (Dan Castellaneta, Julie Kavner, Nancy Cartwright, Hank Azaria and Harry Shearer) and a Simpsons writer (Michael Price) to work on the game. The result is a product that not only looks, feels and sounds authentic — but one that can take as many risks as it wants with the story and dialogue. For example, when you're playing through the Channel 6 level, you can hear Kent Brockman making snide news reports on the loud speakers and every menu selection results in Homer yelling "D'oh!" or "Whoo-hoo!" That would get old if these were knock-off voices or the writing was a hollow imitation of a real Simpsons writer — but because it's the real deal, it's actually quite pleasing.

Homages Galore: There are a couple of mini-games in Simpsons Arcade iPhone — and one of them is a direct throwback to the inflatable heads bonus level in the old arcade game. Dedicated Simpsons fans will have a lot of fun picking out all the homages to other Simpsons exploits throughout the game. Also, Binky the Rabbit of Matt Groening's classic Life in Hell comic series appears on all the loading screen. Awesome!

A Complete Gaming Experience: It's nice to have a portable game that's actually paced for portable play. I can easily imagine picking up and putting down this game while waiting in line at the movies or during a long commute. I just might have to resort to using headphones because all the "D'oh!"s are sure to piss off other commuters who easily recognize the Simpsons but can't join in on my fun.

Final Thoughts
Sorry guys, Comic Book Guy isn't in the game. You'll find plenty of other character cameos, but EA felt that Comic Book Guy was way overused.

That near-accuracy may lead some to speculate that the grinding of one's digital undercarriage on the armored cadaver of a fallen foe is product placement. But the inaccuracies and, we assume, the corporate shying away from publicizing virtual ball-dropping online, would make me think this is just a silly reference.

And such a topical one! I guess we can move the trend marker for "Teabagging in Halo" on the downward trajectory of its lifespan, just to the right of the shark fin. Enjoy the brief clip snippet at Hulu.

The Simpsons "Waverly Hills 9021-D'oh" [Hulu - thanks, Sion!]

Life in Hell is a weekly comic strip by Groening created in 1977 and renamed Life in Swell in 2007. The strip stars anthropomorphic rabbit Binky and also includes Bink's ex and his illegitimate son. Akbar and Jeff also appear in a number of strips.

Since the strip's topics deal with love, angst, alienation and self-loathing, I can't imagine how or why anyone would turn it into a video game. Add to that the fact that Groening seems to have a habit of trademarking the strip for things he doesn't plan to do with it and I think that this may be a red herring.

But what if? Can you imagine a Life in Hell video game? The inevitable follow-up would have to be a Zippy The Pinhead game. The mind boggles.

Life in Hell Trademark [USPTO]

There is no way EA would let a licensed game near the chopping block — not if a little-known new IP like Dead Space could be canceled first to free up resources.

"Dead Space doesn't have much stuff in it compared to what we thought we were going to make," Art Director Ian Milham explained. "We thought, let's not get fancy with the art direction. Our risk tolerance was pretty maxed out from the start."

For his panel on "Creating Horror and Immersion with the Art of Dead Space (which could be canceled any minute)," Milham discussed the myriad things stolen inspirations that led to EA's only horror title ever created (at least until Dead Space 2 comes out).

A big one was David Fincher films. Milham explained that the colors in movies like Se7en and Fight Club "feel hopeless and decayed – while still varying up the color so you don't have the next-gen brown that everybody gets raked over the coals for."

Colors like Fincher's are consistent within one frame — but varied throughout the whole project, which is definitely what happens in Dead Space. Go back and play the Leviathan boss fight again and you'll see what Milham was talking about: it starts out blue and warms to red as the boss comes closer and closer toward Isaac.

Next up was Gothic architecture for the actual innards of the Planet Cracker ship, Ishimura. I won't bore you with specifics, but if you think to yourself "Gee, the inside of this place looks like a rib cage," there's a reason for that. Bonus if you can find circles with ribbing on them — Milham is fond of those.

Lastly, Dead Space drew from dentists offices to create the lighting concept for the game. The point of that, said Milham, was both to cut down on the troubles of deferred lighting and to make the player feel constantly uncomfortable. "You sort of feel interrogated," he said, showing a slide of a room dotted with dentist lights. "A lot of our lighting is on arms like that. We wanted no indirect light."

The result, along with a lot more borrowing from Sci-Fi Horror classics like Alien, was this:

Not everything in the game was cribbed, to be fair — sometimes the things that we saw are the direct result of the dev team applying some of Kojima's problem-solving skills. For example, the game was never meant to include heads-up displays, maps, or helpful terminals that tell you where to go. Everything has to be communicated visually — from Isaac's health bar to whether or not a door is open.

The art team rose to the challenge, coming up with the Japanese subway-style signs above doors and a landmark system using the lurid advertisement posters throughout the ship. The result is something that looks a like like other stuff, but still scares you just the same. Even anachronistic things like fire extinguishers (which you'd think would have evolved a little in a hundred years) were choices made by the art team that drew you into the world and made it truly scary when you finally saw an alien.

But you wanna know what's really scary? The they might have canceled Dead Space to make this.

The Machinima Comedy Lab pilots will air on Machinima.Com, but no date was announced for the first pilot.

"Machinima.com lets us put our work in front of an audience that already knows and loves our style of writing and is embracing new forms of digital entertainment," said Bill Oakley, an Emmy-winning writer and past showrunner of The Simpsons. "We get to do what we love the most—write and create fun content while Machinima.com handles all the production, marketing and distribution."

The Machinima Comedy Lab pilots will be created by top Hollywood writers, including:
— Chris Cluess: Mad TV, The Simpsons, Beggars and Choosers, Cheers, SCTV
— Bill Freiberger: Drawn Together, The Suite Life of Zack and Cody, The Simpsons
— Eric Horsted: Boondocks, Knights of Prosperity, Futurama, Home Improvement, Coach
— Ken Keeler: Futurama, The Simpsons, Wings, The Naked Truth, The Critic, The Late Show
— Stacie Lipp: King of Queens, Roseanne, Married With Children
— Christina Lynch: Wildfire, The Dead Zone, Unhappily Ever After
— Peggy Nicoll: WordGirl, Daria
— Bill Oakley: Mission Hill, The Simpsons, Futurama
— Max Pross & Tom Gammill: The Simpsons, Seinfeld, Monk, The Critic, Saturday Night Live, The Late Show
— Mike Rowe: Family Guy, Futurama, Comedy Central Roasts, The Jaime Kennedy Experiment
— Loren Segan: Wildfire, The Dead Zone, Spyder Games
— Patric M. Verrone: Futurama, Muppets Tonight!, The Simpsons, The Critic, Pinky and the Brain
— Maiya Williams: Mad TV, The PJs, The Wayans Bros., The Fresh Prince of Bel Air

"This is the future of comedy in new media - a fast and low cost way for writers to create shows that attract an existing audience," said Patric M. Verrone, an Emmy-winning writer and president of WGA West. "We're thrilled to break ground and forge a relationship that empowers independent production and gives writers both creative freedom and financial participation."

"As an emerging entertainment network, we're dedicated to bringing aboard top creative talent," said Allen DeBevoise, Machinima.com chairman and chief executive officer. "Machinima.com provides these writers with a new, evolving medium in which to reach the highly desired 18 to 34 male audience, showcase creativity and develop episodic pilots for multiple platforms."

[via Boing-Boing]

LOS ANGELES—Electronic Arts, which has had a studio in LA for years now, has learned a thing or two about Hollywood premieres. The game publisher hosted a world premiere launch party at the Hard Rock Café at the Universal Studios City Walk, just across the way from EB Games, which remained open an extra three hours to sell the Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, Wii, PlayStation 2, PSP and Nintendo DS game to die hard Simpsons fans and gamers.

Simpsons creators Albert Brooks and Matt Groening were on hand for the launch, as were the show writers who also worked on the game. EA had a yellow carpet set up outside of the Hard Rock for celebrities like Zach Levi ("Chuck"), Zach Ward (Postal) and Ian Ziering ("Beverly Hills 90210") to pose for pictures and talk to TV reporters. There was a live DJ and a Tommy's Burger's truck outside giving away free hamburgers, fries and sodas to everyone. Break dancers wearing yellow The Simpsons Game t-shirts performed outside for the crowd who didn't have access to the VIP party inside.

I had just attended the Walt Disney Home Entertainment Blu-ray Disc launch party for Pixar's Cars over at Social Hollywood on Sunset Strip and EA actually attracted more star power and had a much better organized event than even that Hollywood studio. But not everyone was impressed with the celebration.

"I guess it's how far the art of publicity and bullshit hype has come," said Matt Selman, co-executive producer and writer of "The Simpsons" and lead writer for The Simpsons Game. "They feel like having these young kids from the Disney Channel who I don't even recognize will help sales of the game. Anything to get yourself on those gossip pages, I guess."

Fellow "Simpsons" TV and game writer Tim Long was more diplomatic with his thoughts on the party.

"It's exhausting," said Long. "I don't know how Matt Groening does it. Just to be a little bit famous for one night, for two hours, it's killing me. There are just so many attractive young people milling about for this thing that I would have to wake up at 6 am on Tuesday mornings to write for. It just is mind-blowing that we actually got it done. I would really enjoy tonight if I were the type of person who could experience joy, but because I'm a writer, I can't. My emotions right now are neutral."

Both writers brought the wit fans have seen in "The Simpsons" TV show, movie (which hits DVD and Blu-ray Disc December 13) and EA's new game to every answer they gave me, as we talked upstairs in the VIP section of the party.

"The game allowed us to do a crazier story," said Selman. "It's like the biggest, most insane Halloween episode of the show we've ever done. It's almost like you made a Simpsons movie that had the rules of a Halloween episode with more ideas and more parodies."

Long said the fantastic thing about the game was that it has this epic scale that allowed us to explore the nooks and crannies of the Simpsons universe.

"With the TV show and actually even more so with the movie, there's a real discipline to follow in telling a story," said Long. "With The Simpsons Game we were able to go in different directions and we were able to explore peripheral characters, even when they're not interacting with The Simpsons family. For instance, I wrote some little seamlets that you can happen upon where you see Apu's wife talking to Chief Wiggum about immigration reform and they're having this crazy conversation that has nothing to do with anything you've seen before, but it just lends this incredible richness to the experience."

Although there have been many other Simpsons videogames over the years, dating back to the origins of the show, Selman said this is the first game that really originated from the show and then improved through the videogame company.

"All of the other games started at the videogame company and then the show did its best to make it good," said Selman. "That's why we call it The Simpsons Game. It's a blank slate. There's no clever subtitle like 'The Armageddon Agenda.' It's just they are in a game and realize it's hard to be in a game because there are alien invasions and all kinds of crazy things happening."

All four of the game's writers have grown up playing videogames, which helped when creating the concept for this game: The Simpsons become self-aware that they're in another bad videogame.

"The days I could spend all weekend playing Dig Dug on my Atari 2600 are sadly over," said Long, who's now married. "This game takes on videogames the same way 'The Simpsons' TV show takes on other aspects of pop culture. We would parody these games and they both make fun of and pay tribute to games. That's our way of saying don't sue us, we're actually paying homage to you."

Now that the game is out, the writers said they have plenty of fodder for additional games, and that "The Simpsons" TV series can easily go on to episode 500 or even 600. Next up for the writers is The Simpsons Ride at Universal Studios, which opens in 2008 (and replaces the Back to the Future ride).

In a comment to Kotaku on the subject, EA rep Tammy Schachter had this to say.

Thanks for giving me the opportunity to put these rumors to rest. There was absolutely no content removed from the game as a result of complaints or comments by another publisher.

The spoof content and parody storyline for The Simpsons Game has been in place since the early stages of the titles' development. In-game spoof content for Grand Theft Scratchy has not been removed.

Rockstar has remained typically tight-lipped on the whole situation but given all the trouble they've been having lately with certain Florida lawyers and the overblown hub-bub over Manhunt 2, who can blame them. The reasons for the removal of the posters from Leipzig is still a bit of a mystery, but who knows what goes on behind the mysterious walls of EA? In any case it seems that quite a few outlets and individuals owe a certain Rockstar Games a little apology. Strike that, a big apology.

Picking up where the apparently banned The Simpsons episode "Thirty Minutes Over Tokyo" leaves off, the above trailer lampoons all things Japanese. This time around, it's games like Katamari and Pokémon. Mr, Sparkle for added big super happy fun fun!

New Simpson Game Trailer [TV in Japan]

The Simpsons writers were talking some major smack during the weekend's Game Head. Smack talk specifically aimed at Rockstar. Here are the choice quotes, straight from the writers:

"The people who make Grand Theft Auto, they spazzed out like little babies. They're supposed to be Rockstars. That's not a big Rockstar move to be afraid of The Simpsons poking fun at their game."

"Their game is full of satire and lame attempts at parody. Basically putting the word 69 in wherever they can find it. That's their idea of a joke. But trust me... I'll be the first person in line to play Grand Theft Auto 4, in five years when it comes out."

I've been playing through the game and I'm really liking it. It's actually really funny. Hmm, maybe these guys should be writing for the show.

Check out one minute, 20 seconds or so in to see Will Wright deliver a message to the gamey versions of the Simpsons. In it he describes himself, as he tucks his glasses firmly up the bridge of his nose, as the "nerdiest nerd in the computerverse." And "Will Wright bitch!"

EA product placement in an EA game, the mind boggles.

Super Mario gameplay [gametrailers]

I was always under the impression that when you do parody, it's a sign of respect... If we make fun of Grand Theft Auto, we're not going to hurt the sales of Grand Theft Auto... But yeah, we've definitely had some reactions - we've had to pull stuff from the game.

Rizzer elaborated that it was probably a lawyer who's been the source of said conflicts, but that's no excuse in our book. Parody has long offered legal solace to those stretching the bounds of freedom of speech and social commentary, even in the light of potential profits—just imagine this classic SNL vid without such protection. EA's response to self-censor has very likely been the result of playing nice to save legal costs and headaches as opposed to actual IP infringement.

With as often as Rockstar (justifiably) whines about freedom of artistic expression, we're ashamed of their double standard. Seriously. We're shaking our finger and everything.

EA upsets games companies with The Simpsons [cvg] [image]

Did you see those gameplay videos? Brilliant stuff.

This limited edition Simpsons Xbox 360 makes the announcement that much sweeter. Only 100 of these Homer-yellow consoles are going to be manufactured and the only way you'll be able to score one is through a "series of special events and promotions." And, of course, the inevitable eBay auctions that follow.

Stay tuned for more. Michael McWhertor

I wrote a bit ago about what I thought of the upcoming Simpsons' game. Here's a bit of video from last night's event. What do you think? Was I right or wrong? Brian Crecente

The biggest news at last night's Electronic Arts gathering was about their new Simpson's game, unfortunately, the company's press release had, for the most part, already stolen their thunder.

But their were some interesting tidbits, and we also got a chance to check out some gameplay, overall I was impressed, very impressed.

The first thing you need to know is that this particular Simpsons games, or at least the plot for it, was driven by the writers behind the popular prime-time cartoon. The EA folks showing off some early levels say the team had been thinking about this particular idea for years.

And their interest shows. The game will feature an original story with 8,000 lines of dialog written by the show's writers. All told, the game has about an hour's worth of full motion video. That story will be told over 16 episodes that are divided into four chapters.

The game's general concept is that the Simpson's discover they have been turned into a video game and play with their characters. This video game within a video game theme allowed EA to have some fun satirizing the industry, the company said last night.

I had a chance to see some short Bart, Homer, Lisa and Marge play and what I saw impressed me.

In the Marge level, the matriarch of the Simpson family is upset about the violence in video games and go about trying to destroy all of the video game advertising in town as well as subduing the kids turned violent by playing games too much.

In the level Marge used a megaphone to make people do her bidding, attacking signs for Grand Theft Scratchy: Blood Island or the local video game store.

In another level, Homer ran around a food court binging on delectables until he turned into a giant ball of fat. Once transformed he rolled around the screen, his head lolling side-to-side on his neck, his arms weakly flailing and his feet barely visible, as he crushed opponents and the scenery. To remain in ball form, Homer has to keep his calorie meter up by eating food. At one point he gobbles up an insanity pepper and turns molten red, destroying everything he touches.

The third level the developers showed off was Tree Hugger, Lisa's training level. In it Lisa uses her newly realized video-game super powers to take down a logging company hired by Mr. Burns to convert Springfield's majestic forests into a whole bunch of luxury toothpicks.

Lisa's power is the ability to summon the Hand of Buddha by meditating at special locations in the level. While in the meditative state, the game shifts point of view to one floating above the level and the gamer controls a disembodied, etheral arm and hand, using it to pick things up and move then around in real-time. For instance, at one point, Lisa uses her ability to pick up some giant boulders and drop them on the heads of unsuspecting enemies The hand was also used to help with puzzles blocking the way to the next level.

The developers pointed out that all of the levels are built to use two of the characters at a time, and that the game supports drop-in, drop-out cooperative play. If a second player isn't around, the AI controls the second character. Many of the levels are designed to force a player to leap frog back and fourth between characters.

While the game is still in development, all of the original cast of the TV show have already signed on to do the voice work.

The game is set for release on six platforms (PS3, Xbox 360, Wii, PS2, DS and PSP) and EA folks said that all of the games will be designed to utilize the unique functions of the different consoles. In particular, the DS version will support some unique stylus gameplay and the Wii will support motion controls. None of the games will support online play, though side-by-side, of course, is available.

Even though the game is relatively early on in the development stage, I was impressed at how much like the cartoon the game looked. The devs managed to figure out a way to make the characters look 3D without loosing any of the show's look o feel. It's almost as if they look both 3D and flat.

I think this is a game that could certainly live up to the standards set by Hit and Run, which I personally loved. Brian Crecente

Today, a big ol' surprise announcement was expected at EA's San Francisco event. Turns out it was to show off some gameplay for the upcoming Simpsons' game. Our pirate man on the ground Brian Crecente will be posting about it later. He might even get some time with the game, so be sure to check back. Later, even! Brian Ashcraft

Simpsons Game Announced [Kotaku]

Sort of. The game chronicles the adventures of the Simpsons family through a series of parodies of popular videogames (Grand Theft Auto, EverQuest, Medal of Honor) and pop culture-prodding scenarios in a 16 episode arc. Unsurprisingly, the game is coming to every platform under the sun, with releases planned for PLAYSTATION 3, PlayStation 2, PSP, Xbox 360, Nintendo Wii and Nintendo DS.

Gamespot has the first look at the EA Redwood developed title with more details. Press release? It's post jump. Michael McWhertor

The Simpsons First Look [Gamespot]

EA Announces The Simpsons Game

The World's Favorite Animated Family Comes To Consoles and Handhelds This Fall!

Redwood Shores, Calif., - May 9, 2007 - Electronic Arts Inc., (NASDAQ:ERTS) today announced the upcoming release of THE SIMPSONS GAME (working title). Created in partnership with Gracie Films and Twentieth Century Fox Television and Twentieth Century Fox Licensing and Merchandising, THE SIMPSONS GAME features a hilarious, sprawling, and mind-busting storyline crafted by the TV show's Emmy Award-winning writers. The action-comedy will also feature the full cast of voice actors from the TV show who will reprise their roles for the game.

In THE SIMPSONS GAME, Homer, Marge, Bart, and Lisa use exciting, all-new powers to save the world from rising chaos. To help the Simpsons, gamers at home must journey through all of Springfield (as well as vast worlds beyond!), vanquish an amazing array of villains, and fight their way through parodies of multiple popular games.

"Our goal in developing THE SIMPSONS GAME is to create the most original game ever, which is a lofty goal and only possible given the close collaboration with

'The Simpsons' creative team," said Scot Amos, Executive Producer of the project. "We're also especially proud of the game's warm visual feel, which captures - for the first time ever in a game - the look of the TV show." Added Amos, "As Comic Book Guy says, 'Best. Simpsons Game. Ever!'"

"The EA group was so enormously talented and beyond belief energetic that I am thinking of suing for second hand exhaustion," said James L. Brooks, Executive Producer of "The Simpsons."

Under development by EA's Redwood Shores Studio, THE SIMPSONS GAME is scheduled for release in Fall 2007 for the PLAYSTATION 3, PlayStation 2, PSP (PlayStation Portable), Xbox 360 , Nintendo Wii and Nintendo DS .

###

About Electronic Arts

Electronic Arts Inc. (EA), headquartered in Redwood City, California, is the world's leading interactive entertainment software company. Founded in 1982, the company develops, publishes, and distributes interactive software worldwide for videogame systems, personal computers, cellular handsets and the Internet. Electronic Arts markets its products under four brand names: EA SPORTSTM, EATM, EA SPORTS BIGTM and POGOTM. In fiscal 2006, EA posted revenue of $2.95 billion and had 27 titles that sold more than one million copies. EA's homepage and online game site is www.ea.com. More information about EA's products and full text of press releases can be found on the Internet at http://info.ea.com.

About The Simpsons

Homer, Marge, Bart, Lisa and Maggie take traditional comedy and family life and turn them upside down in FOX's critically acclaimed series, THE SIMPSONS. Exploding into a cultural phenomenon in 1990, THE SIMPSONS remains one of the most visible and marketable properties both domestically and internationally. This Emmy Award -winning series is now in the history books as the longest-running sitcom currently on television and the longest-running animated show in television history. THE SIMPSONS is currently airing their 18th Season and in production on their 19th season.

THE SIMPSONS is a Gracie Films Production in association with 20th Century Fox Television.

About Twentieth Century Fox Licensing & Merchandising

A recognized industry leader, Twentieth Century Fox Licensing and Merchandising licenses and markets properties worldwide on behalf of Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation, Twentieth Television and Fox Broadcasting Company, as well as third party lines. The division is aligned with Twentieth Century Fox Television, one of the top suppliers of primetime entertainment programming to the broadcast networks.

Electronic Arts, EA, EA SPORTS, EA SPORTS BIG, and POGO are trademarks or registered trademarks of Electronic Arts Inc. in the U.S. and/or other countries. Microsoft, Xbox 360 and Xbox Live are either registered trademarks or trademarks of Microsoft Corporation in the United States and/or other countries. PLAYSTATION and the PSP are registered trademarks of Sony Computer Entertainment Inc. , , Nintendo and Wii are trademarks of Nintendo. All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners.