Can you tell
our readers a little about yourself?
I'm a 24 year old guy living in
Los Angeles, CA, though looking at
relocating to the San Francisco Bay area very soon. After an
atypically
angst-free high school run, I attended graphic design school and
specialized in online media. Professionally, I started as a
video game
tester at a large publisher then moved into the online marketing
department. Some big titles I've worked on include F.E.A.R. and
Scarface:
The World Is Yours. In my private life I tend to spend quite a
bit of time
working on various projects (yet completing very few as of this
interview). You could say I’m a “jack of all trades” who can’t
decide what
to focus on. I also spend a lot of time tweaking my ’98 Jeep
Wrangler and
going out to ridiculously overpriced L.A. restaurants with
buddies.
Which was the
first Simpsons video-game you played? Which is your favorite?
The very first memory I have of
playing a Simpsons video game is playing
The Simpsons Arcade, at about age 7 or 8, at an arcade in a
small town in
Mexico. It was a very typical Spanish-style town with a town
square
surrounded by picturesque old buildings and a stone church. This
arcade
was located right across from the town square, and was pretty
much a
miniature Spanish version of Chuck E. Cheese with various arcade
games and
a ball pit. You even had to pay a few pesos to get tokens for
all the
games (which was awesome because a peso goes a long way down
there!)
My favorite Simpsons video game of all time, for purely
nostalgic reasons,
is Bart vs. the World. The game is very much in the same vein as
Bart vs.
the Space Mutants (which came before it) and Bartman Meets
Radioactive Man
(the third in the NES Bart trilogy), however the overall design
and
gameplay is just so much more entertaining. The level designs
vary from
China, the Arctic, Egypt, and Hollywood, and aside from the
typical
platforming levels there are several mini-games that keep each
level
fresh. But the most rewarding part, and what always stood out
for me as a
simple yet interesting innovation, is the ending. I won’t spoil
it, but I
personally felt it was a great reward for playing the game and
collecting
all the items.
Which is your favorite episode this season (so far)?
Admittedly I haven’t watched them
all, but I would say “The Mook, the
Chef, the Wife, and Her Homer” is my favorite thus far. I’m into
films
such as “The Godfather”, “Goodfellas”, and “Casino”, and I think
they were
able to pull together some good Mafia schtick despite the fact
that Fat
Tony’s been around for quite a while now.
Is Al Jean a
good executive producer?
That call is dependent on the
episodes, and who you ask. Looking through
the list of official executive producers I would say he did a
fantastic
job as the executive producer in seasons 3 and 4 along with Mike
Reiss.
All of those episodes are classic. However, looking at seasons
13 and up,
one could conclude that he is not doing well as the executive
producer
from a creative standpoint. Granted not every episode is
horrible (“I am
Furious Yellow,” “Little Girl in the Big Ten,” and “'Scuse Me
While I Miss
the Sky” stand out as funny episodes with great narrative), but
nearly all
Simpsons fans agree that the last five seasons have been less
than
stellar. From a business standpoint, it seems the folks at FOX
think
enough of him (and the cash coming in from the continuously
popular show)
to keep him on as the EP. Personally, I think the show would be
in the
current rut regardless of the EP. It _has_ been almost twenty
years.
Do you have any
hobbies outside web-publishing?
I fancy myself as an idea man
without the skill to illustrate or write
those ideas. So, I spend quite a bit of time writing down tons
of notes
and elaborating on the ideas I feel are good. Movies, video game
concepts,
books. You name it and I’ve written down an idea for it.
Although I've slowed down in this, I am also quite fond of
writing video
game FAQs (game walkthroughs). In fact, I started CBG’s Video
Game
Collection as a means to host my various FAQs for Simpsons games
in a
single location. So in this case one hobby led to the other.
Beyond that I dig nature and hiking, cooking good food (mainly
to show off
for women), and working on my Jeep. All these hobbies are great
forms of
therapy after coming home from a high-stress job.
Which community
sites do you visit often? Which non-OFF sites?
The very first site that led me to
join a community was GameFAQs.com.
Originally I was what is called a “lurker,” someone who reads
the message
forums but never posts messages. In my senior year of high
school I became
web-savvy enough to start posting messages in forums for video
games I was
playing at the time, and I haven’t stopped visiting the site
since.
Nowadays I hang out at a GameFAQs forum dedicated for FAQ
writers.
Other than that I still visit NoHomers.net fairly regularly, and
as a
moderator on my company’s forums I’m there from Monday through
Friday, 9
AM to 6 PM.
What's some
advice for an aspiring Simpsons webmaster?
Perhaps this is just the marketing
side of my brain talking, but a website
has to have a “hook,” something a site visitor can’t find at
twenty other
sites. A profile for each of the main characters is fine, but we
all know
the characters already. A webmaster/site creator has to ask him-
or
herself, “What haven’t I seen before? What niche in the fandom
hasn’t been
filled yet?” Whether this content is created by the webmaster,
contributed
by site visitors, or is merely an archive of stuff from various
places,
unique content is the best way to build a great and ultimately
interesting
website.
Once that is figured out, studying HTML, Photoshop, and reading
some
tutorials on web design would also be of great benefit and will
help the
webmaster create a great container for all that kick-ass
content.
Did any sites
influence you in your early community career?
The site that influenced me from
the beginning was Noiseland Arcade, a
website run by Simon Lau who also ran the New Springfield
website. This
was the first and only website I found that was dedicated to
video games
based on the Simpsons license, and as a hardcore gamer I found
it very
insightful. I contributed quite a bit of content to the site in
the form
of FAQs before it closed down.
Shortly after finding Simon’s site I was led to
maggied.com, a once
thriving community that helped me develop my interest in web
design.
I don't know
much about the current video-game scene. Which of the three
new systems is king?
Ah, a tough question! In terms of
sales and market reach the Xbox 360 had
a year’s head-start, so for the next two or three quarters I’ll
give it to
the 360. After that I feel the Wii has a good chance of
following in
little brother DS’s steps by taking the lead and surpassing the
PS3 and
Xbox 360. The PS3 in particular is simply too high-priced and
developed a
lot of bad publicity in the wake of Sony’s arrogance about their
market
dominance. If they don’t wake up and recall what happened to
Sega, they
could very well take a second or third place spot.
Purely as a gamer, I feel the Wii is too weak in the processing
department
which will limit a game’s scope until the end of the life cycle
when
developers have a full understanding of the advantages and
restrictions.
Wii Sports is fun, but I also like playing huge games such as
Shadow of
the Collossus and Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas. The Wii simply
won’t be
able to deliver those huge experiences, at least not for a few
years.
Do you like the
other cartoons (King of the Hill, American Dad, Family
Guy, Futurama)?
Ah yes, the big four. King of the
Hill has grown stale and is probably at
the end as it is, although I dig the early seasons. American Dad
is able
to pull out some good non-PC gags and one-liners but it’s not a
laugh out
loud comedy. Family Guy continues to be loud and boisterous
which simply
works for the kind of show that it is (plus Stewie’s the man!).
And
Futurama, the show that couldn’t hold on, remains a classic
series that
perhaps died when it should have.
As a fan of big animated action flicks such as Ninja Scroll I’ve
become a
fan of Samurai Champloo, and another animated comedy that I
think hits
gold with every episode is The Grim Adventures of Billy and
Mandy.
Support or
refute: Scorsese is a better director than Coppola.
Arrggh… a really tough one! While
Coppola has a great body of work
(Godfathers I and II, Apocalypse Now, Bram Stoker’s Dracula), I
have to
agree that Scorsese is the better director. His good sense in
casting
great actors (and not just the flavor of the month pretty boy),
his raw
and awesomely violent storytelling, and frankly the sheer volume
of great
films all support that statement
In three easy
steps how can The Simpsons return to its former glory?
Dear FOX and all Simpsons staff,
1. Set an end date for the series, and set it now.
2. You know the smaller salaries you’re paying the newer
writers? Take
those salaries, combine them, and do what it takes to persuade
John
Swartzelder to write as many episodes as possible before that
end date.
Oh, and don’t run his scripts through any other writers or
suits.
3. Matt and Jim, would you guys mind taking over again? I mean
seriously,
the show’s nearly at the end and everyone knows it. Why not kiss
your
wives on the cheek, give your children a hardy handshake, and
return to
the studio to run the show. Use some of that clout to clear out
offices
with bathrooms and live in them. Eat, breathe, and dream nothing
but the
Simpsons for another year or two. Go out with a bang, man!
Beards or mustaches?
I can’t help but look at bearded millionaires such as George
Lucas, Steven
Spielberg, and Matt Groening, who made a living out of being
creative
geniuses, and think, “Me too!” The only mustachioed millionaires
I can
think of are Ted Turner and Weird Al, and who would want to be
like them?
Do you dislike
any of the current community trends?
I’d say the _lack_ of community is
a disturbing trend. I blame it on the
return of web culture after the boom in the late 90s, and web
2.0 in
general. There are just too many places out there to find
information,
making the once central communities much less central. If there
are other
any other trends I haven’t noticed them due to the small number
of folks
who meet to discuss.
The curtain
falls. Closing words?
Remember, kids: you _can_ make a
living as a fanboy or fangirl. I’m living
proof.
Good night!