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[Agent Icebeezy]

I was doing some Googling and I came across this


http://www.donhopkins.com/2004/02/12.html#a83

"I recall that one of our most difficult accomplishments was convincing EA not to cancel the project, because some of the EA old guard didnt trust nor respect Wills vision, didnt get the idea of Dollhouse, didnt think it would sell, wanted to inject it full of their old tried and trusted formula, and wanted to gut out the most interesting parts of the game (like the architecture tools). I think its a lucky fluke that The Sims ever shipped, and I hope EA has learned enough from their experience to trust the projects that Will is directly involved in, listen to what hes been saying eloquently and consistently for years, and let something like The Sims happen again."

Is there more to this story, or is this the jist of it.

This series has no value to me but I just find it incredible that they almost missed the boat on the highest selling PC game of all time.

 

[Kifimbo]

This series has no value to me but I just find it incredible that they almost missed the boat on the highest selling PC game of all time.

The scary thing is that they probably axed many other projects because it didn't follow "their old tried and trusted formula". If EA can't even trust Will Wright, then imagine a talented young group of developers who want to create something new.

Reason to hate EA: +1 (Even if I do not like The Sims)

 

[ToyMachine228]

Whenever I hear the name EA now...I shiver.

 

[fennec fox]

C'mon, like the bureaucracy at any other game company would've been different!

 

[Agent Icebeezy]

C'mon, like the bureaucracy at any other game company would've been different!

I could see Nintendo or Sega putting out a game like this

 

[Azih]

C'mon, like the bureaucracy at any other game company would've been different!

Yeah, but two differences

1. EA has more power

More importantly
2. EA *buys* small developers and subjects their creativity to EA beureaucracy. They actively go out assimilate and crush creative talent.

 

[gofreak]

I could see Nintendo or Sega putting out a game like this

True, Nintendo at least tends to put a lot of trust in its designers to let them get on with the job (Sega probably too, though I'm not as familiar with their workings).

 

[soundwave05]

Will Wright I believe has worked with Nintendo in the past, when Nintendo brought Sim City to the SNES waaay back in 1991.

He and Miyamoto have a good relationship. Sim City is one of the few non-Nintendo games that Mr. Miyamoto will praise.

 

[jarrod]

Sim City is one of the few non-Nintendo games that Mr. Miyamoto will praise.

Has he ever actually praised anything else not by Nintendo actually? Samba de Amigo I remember.... anything else?

 

[Azih]

Tamagotchi.

 

[suikodan]

Maybe the business men saw no profits from The Sims because they couldn't see where the EA Trax would fit in there :lol

 

[Agent Icebeezy]

I believe he liked the Dreamcast

 

[The End]

Miyamoto loved Parappa, and is said to be fond of Katamari Damacy.

 

[MassiveAttack]

C'mon, like the bureaucracy at any other game company would've been different!

This is true. Activision is actually worse than EA when it comes to greenlighting new projects and ideas.

 

[UltimateMarioMan]

Wasn't Miyamoto seen playing Crash once?

 

[Agent Icebeezy]

This is true. Activision is actually worse than EA when it comes to greenlighting new projects and ideas.

Come to think of it, that's true. That is why Tony Hawk is signed up to like 2015, JFK files will be released before Tony Hawk is

 

[MassiveAttack]

Wasn't Miyamoto seen playing Crash once?

Yes, I think Jason Rubin once bragged about how Miyamoto had complimented him on the game. Of course Miyamoto spoke to him in Japanese so what Rubin heard was coming from his translator... ;-)

 

[Agent Icebeezy]

Yes, I think Jason Rubin once bragged about how Miyamoto had complimented him on the game. Of course Miyamoto spoke to him in Japanese so what Rubin heard was coming from his translator... ;-)

Miyamoto in Japanese: This shit is trash
Translator: Miyamoto-san really likes your game
Jason Rubin: [Homer]WOOHOO![/Homer] *Proceeds to breakdance and do the running man*

 

[WordAssassin]

Miyamoto also really liked Seaman on the Dreamcast, I think. Isn't that where "Hey you! Pikachu!" came from?

 

[CrimsonSkies]

I'm still puzzled that people actually liked the Sims. I've never understood it.

 

[Agent Icebeezy]

I'm still puzzled that people actually liked the Sims. I've never understood it.

I have such a love for Sim City that I bought this the day it came out. I remember it vividly because I bought Crazy Taxi that same day. I spent all day playing Crazy Taxi, then the next day. I spent like 1 hour playing The Sims. I basically sat there like

the whole time. Ironically, my girlfriend at the time, now my wife, fell in love with it. She cruises the IGN boards under my name for info. She was so bitchy when Sims 2 was delayed.

 

[Musashi Wins!]

Will there be a story linking EA to the Holocaust soon? I think yes.

 

[FitzOfRage]

Miyamoto also really liked Seaman on the Dreamcast, I think. Isn't that where "Hey you! Pikachu!" came from?

No, they demonstrated Hey You Pikachu in Japan back in 1997.

 

[monkeyrun]

I'm still puzzled that people actually liked the Sims. I've never understood it.

imagine a world where you could screw your neighbor's wife without any consequences.... what's not to love :lol

 

[silver]

Miyamoto in Japanese: This shit is trash
Translator: Miyamoto-san really likes your game
Jason Rubin: [Homer]WOOHOO![/Homer] *Proceeds to breakdance and do the running man*

:lol

Miyamoto also loved the first Virtua Fighter because he'd been having ideas about that as well, but was also sad about it because Sega beat him to it.

 

[ToyMachine228]

Miyamoto also really liked Seaman on the Dreamcast, I think. Isn't that where "Hey you! Pikachu!" came from?

Nintendo is actually working with the Creators of Seaman right now. They are working on Odama for the GameCube together.

 

[soundwave05]

Its actually interesting to hear what Miyamoto likes because often times that can lead to other things.

He mentioned when Resident Evil came out that he had a similar idea to that (a haunted house game).

Lo and behold a few years later, Resident Evil is GameCube exclusive (well timed exclusive anyway).

Will Wright was also on stage during the Nintendo E3 press event a few years ago to demo Sims on the GBA.

 

[Lionheart]

Miyamoto liked Eyetoy as well, didn't he? Or was that someone else at Nintendo? So what's the chance we'll still see one for GC?

 

[Deg]

The Sims is one of the few EA franchises that dont use a liscence anywhere. Command and Conquer is another.

 

[GDJustin]

Miyamoto liked Eyetoy as well, didn't he? Or was that someone else at Nintendo? So what's the chance we'll still see one for GC?

Miyamoto said that he thought the Eyetoy was a good idea, yeah.

 

[mj1108]

Its actually interesting to hear what Miyamoto likes because often times that can lead to other things.

He mentioned when Resident Evil came out that he had a similar idea to that (a haunted house game).

Lo and behold a few years later, Resident Evil is GameCube exclusive (well timed exclusive anyway).

....and then there's Luigi's Mansion (haunted house game).

 

[FitzOfRage]

The Sims is one of the few EA franchises that dont use a liscence anywhere. Command and Conquer is another.

Well not counting Intel and McDonald's product placement..

But actually I think they have an ok mix under the EA games brand.

 

[B E N K E]

Actually EA takes some gambles sometimes. Their internal studios might not, but they pick up some interesting stuff from the outside from time to time. Certainly more so than Activision as someone pointed out. I think they are very aware of how being the first with something that expands the market like GTA or The Sims is necessary for them to maintain their current market share throughout the next generation.

 

[Nerevar]

The Sims is one of the few EA franchises that dont use a liscence anywhere. Command and Conquer is another.

wasn't Westwood an independent developer when they made the first C&C games though? It doesn't really count if it was an established franchise before EA began publishing them.

 

[Azih]

Yeah Westwood was an independant publisher. Got gobbled up by EA and are pretty much non existant now. Notice a pattern?

 

[Unison]

wasn't Westwood an independent developer when they made the first C&C games though? It doesn't really count if it was an established franchise before EA began publishing them.

Same thing w/ Maxim, really... The Sims is part of The Sim-Whatever franchise, really, and that existed long before Maxim was purchased by EA.

 

[pilonv1]

Will Wright in Edge #143:

WW:...I was struggling, I'd taken over a small group in Maxis - used to be our tool guys - and made them the Sims group. They really liked the idea, but we were kind of struggling until EA bought Maxis. They were really, really into it, and for the first time I got resources on the project.

...

E: It's quite paradoxial isn't it? That people see Electronic Arts as this big, terryfying comglomerate, but it's EA's financial support that pushed your individual creativity though.

WW: Yeah. Not to disrespect the press, but the press is always looking for the easy story to tell. It's easy to tell the story of the giant corporation that's churning, y'know, whatever. A lot of people come up to me and say: "Oh y'know I heard that EA tried to cancel The Sims!" and somehow this story got twisted over retellings, but actually they were the ones who rescued it...

EA haters owned!

 

[Raistlin]

Will there be a story linking EA to the Holocaust soon? I think yes.

:lol


... and to the last post, all I can say is haterz pwned!1!!

 

[Fantasmo]

Maxis

Fixed. It's not a gentleman's magazine!

 

[MetatronM]

Has he ever actually praised anything else not by Nintendo actually? Samba de Amigo I remember.... anything else?

NiGHTS into dreams...

 

[Agent Icebeezy]

Will Wright in Edge #143:



EA haters owned!

That sounds quite contrived, considering we all know EA's history when it comes to them when they take over dev teams. They turned the Ultima series into crap. Reason enough for me not to believe his word in this matter. He likes staying employed

 

[Acosta]

Will Wright only says good things about EA if you ask him, at least to the press. However, the idea of launching 7 add-on it´s pure EA.

 

[Koshiro]

This news is old, as in years old. Even with Wright's successful history, the guys with moneyhats were still afraid of new ideas, even from him.

 

[SonicMegaDrive]

It sure sounds like Mr. Miyamoto has good taste in games.

 

[teiresias]

They turned the Ultima series into crap.

I don't know how much EA had to do with the abortion that was Ultima VIII, but UltimaIX honestly sounded like it could have ended up the Duke Nukem Forever of RPG's for a while there, so I think EA's ultimatum at that point was probably somewhat justified from a financial point of view. I still think the game was OK for what it was, and the world was nice and coherent and fun to walk around in (gotta love the flying avatar cheat too in order to see some places that were built but not actually used in the game).

 

[Azih]

Will Wright probably signed a agreement larger than the average sized novel huge parts of which emphasise the horrible things EA would do to his family if he publicy badmouthed them.

 

[Odnetnin]

Will Wright in Edge #143:



EA haters owned!

you're right of course. I was at the free internet booth at the airport checking out GAF when this thread surfaced - didn't bother to reply cause I thought someone who have pointed out what you just quoted sooner - seriously. EA saved the SIMS... it was more Maxis' internal team that didn't want to move forward with it. So yeah...haters are wrong in this instance. I found his candor in that interview to be quite interesting.