Sims 3 Producers: biografie en Q&A

Sim Programs heeft op deze pagina de biografien neergezet van vier Sims 3 Producers, ook beantwoorden ze wat vragen:

Ben Bell: Executive Producer / Grant Rodiek: Associate Producer



MJ Chun: Associate Producer / Lyndsay Pearson: Associate Producer.

Je vindt alles in de 'lees meer'.


Ben Bell: Executive Producer

Ben Bell is the Executive Producer for The Sims 3, where his responsibilities are to oversee creation and development of all products in the The Sims 3 franchise.

Since he joined EA in 2005, Ben has also worked on titles, such as The Sims 2 Pets, The Sims 2 Castaway and The Sims Carnival.

Prior to joining Electronic Arts, Ben managed the development of games at Sony Online Entertainment and Activision’s Neversoft Studio. During the course of his career, he has produced hit games in a variety of genres including Action, Strategy, and MMORPG titles.

Ben has a BFA in Film Art from Syracuse University. In his spare time, he is a competitive cyclist and he also enjoys classic video games.

Ben Bell’s Q&A

What personality traits in The Sims 3 most closely match your own personality, in your opinion?

If I were a Sim, I would be a Friendly, Ambitious, Absent Minded, and Athletic Sim who Loves the Outdoors.

If you weren’t a game developer, what would you have ended up as?

I would want to max out my athletic skill so I could become a pro bicycle racer or my painting skill so I could become an artist.

What’s your favorite food? And why?

I absolutely love cannoli and hamentashen because I have a sweet tooth. Good cannoli are as rare as the rarest collectible in The Sims 3. These desserts have a special place in my childhood memories.

What’s your favorite game of all time, apart from The Sims, of course? And why?

This is a really hard question! Game makers just keep upping the ante. The best I can do is name three games that influenced me for very different reasons. I spent a lot of time in arcades when I was growing up so I have to mention Street Fighter 2. There was a group of us that always met at the same arcade to play, so that was my first experience with a game community. I think that Sonic the Hedgehog was the first game that made me think about making games. It was just so beautiful and funny. However, the game that influenced me the most was Dungeons and Dragons. When you play that game, you really switch your imagination on. You also have to engage directly with the rules of a simulation so it gets you thinking about game design.

What’s the most weird and wacky thing you’ve ever done in a Sims game? And have you ever done it in real life?

The craziest thing I’ve ever done in the game is to have 5 kids in two weeks. I’m sure it’s possible in real life but I don’t want to do it!

What’s your favourite line from a movie?

There’s a scene in The Seven Samurai…I can’t remember the exact quote but I remember the point well. One of the Samurai leaders, Gorobei, is recruiting samurai to help defend villagers from bandits. He meets a man named Heihachi, who is chopping wood. When Gorobei asks him about his skills with a sword, Heihachi says something like “I’m fencer of the Wood Cut School.”, which makes everyone laugh. They then go on to hire him for the job because of his spirit. I think that nobody is ever completely ready for the biggest challenges in life. People have to face those challenges to become ready. I also get to work with a fantastic group of people here. I love working with them because they are great at what they do, but also because they care about what they do and they take care of each other.

If you could walk out of your front door and see one thing across the road, what would you like it to be?

A smoothly paved, wide bike lane and a lot less traffic.

Who on the development team most resembles a Sim, and why?

We all resemble Sims

Grant Rodiek: Associate Producer

Grant Rodiek is an Assistant Producer for The Sims 3, where he focuses on creation and development of gameplay features.

Since he joined EA in 2005, Grant has worked on titles, such as The Sims 2 Open for Business, The Sims 2 Pets and The Sims 2 Seasons.

Grant graduated from the University of Oklahoma. In his spare time, he enjoys video games and thinks that he has the greatest job in the world.

Grant Rodiek’s Q&A

What is the one personality trait in The Sims 3 that most closely matches your own personality, in your opinion?

Sims get five traits so I should too! I’d pick Bookworm, Athletic, Excitable, Neat, and Good Sense of Humor. Sweet, that lets me pick the International Super Spy Lifetime Wish!

If you weren’t a game developer, what would you have ended up as?

I’d love to be a history teacher. I daydream about teaching a class about the Battle of Waterloo dressed as Napoleon with a video game booming in the background. Maybe a classroom cannon? I think that’d be awesome. Maybe when I stop making games?

What’s your favourite food? And why?

My girlfriend introduced me to sushi and it has quickly become my favorite thing. I can eat tons of the stuff. My favorite place at the moment is Tataki in San Francisco.

What’s your favourite game of all time, apart from The Sims, of course? And why?

I hate this question – I play too many games to pick just one. I’ve always loved strategy games. Company of Heroes was the last one that just blew me away. I also love Battlefield. There’s just so much to do and so many options that I never get tired of it. I also think Day of Defeat: Source is multiplayer perfection. I haven’t even gotten to RPGs yet! Oh, I also love the Ratchet and Clank series.

What’s the most weird and wacky thing you’ve ever done in a Sims game? And have you ever done it in real life?

I had a blast playing a Kleptomaniac Sim. I’d befriend all the neighbors in town and steal their things. Of course, they thought I was sweet and innocent.

What’s your favourite line from a movie?

My favourite show at the moment is Entourage. Pretty much everything Ari says is golden. Get it? Ari Gold? Oh man.

If you could walk out of your front door and see one thing across the road, what would you like it to be?

I’m going to have to stretch this to two things: a rock climbing gym and a ridiculously good sushi restaurant. Luckily I have the latter now and I’m only a short drive from the climbing wall.

Who on the development team most resembles a Sim, and why?

One of our engineers, Dan, looks exactly like a Sim. We have every piece to make him look exactly like he does in real life. I can honestly say that you can more or less make anybody in the Sims. It’s a bit eerie at times.

MJ Chun: Associate Producer

MJ Chun is an Associate Producer on The Sims 3 team, where she drives features such as Create-A-Sim.

MJ joined The Sims family in 2003 to work on The Sims 2. Her experience runs the gamut from Development Director to Feature Producer. One of her best professional experiences was working as a Feature Producer on the MySims franchise.

MJ is a graduate of Swarthmore College and she spends her free time thinking of, eating and experiencing great food. She also dreams of one day gallivanting around the world.

MJ Chun’s Q&A

What is the one personality trait in The Sims 3 that most closely matches your own personality, in your opinion?

Natural Cook
Bookworm
Excitable
Friendly

If you weren’t a game developer, what would you have ended up as? (choosing a career from The Sims 3 list would be cool)

I would LOVE to one day be a travel food writer so the Sims 3 Lifetime Wish of Culinary Librarian would be awesome especially if I got to travel to taste yummy recipes.

What’s your favourite food? And why?

This may be the hardest question anyone can ask me. My mom makes a homey Korean noodle-like soup that is simple and amazing. I pine for sujaebee because I haven’t been able to replicate perfectly and because it is something that I can’t just roll into a restaurant and order.

What’s your favourite game of all time, apart from The Sims, of course? And why?

It might have to be Snood because I had an epic rivalry with one of my college friends. We would skip class to try to beat each other’s score. It went on for years…. Maybe Soul Caliber on the Dreamcast? I ended up with blisters on my thumbs and was too embarrassed to tell people how I got them. There was also a time where I would dream about different strategies for playing SimCity 3000 and wake up compelled to try to sneak in some SimCity before starting each day.

What’s the most weird and wacky thing you’ve ever done in a Sims game? And have you ever done it in real life?

One of the things I love about Sims 3 is that the game pushes you to be creative and strategic. I was playing a Sim who had a Gold Digger Lifetime Wish and the wealthiest Sim in Sunset Valley was married. My Sim cozied up to Nancy his wife. After deliberately keeping my Sim’s cooking skill low, I had my Sim invite Nancy over for dinner and cancelled the meal I was cooking and trapped her in the subsequent inferno on my lot. I then moved in on the very wealthy and now grieving widow.

And no, I have never done this in real life.

What’s your favourite line from a movie (name the movie obviously and the context of the line)?

I’m going to have to opt for a song as well :0) I love “Ask” by The Smiths. This was a bit of advice from my brother years ago and it helped me break out of my shell (I was a very shy introvert).

Shyness is nice, and
Shyness can stop you
From doing all the things in life
You’d like to

So, if there’s something you’d like to try
If there’s something you’d like to try
Ask me – I won’t say no – how could I?

If you could walk out of your front door and see one thing across the road, what would you like it to be?

I would love to see across my street an amazing and reasonably priced 24-hour grocery store that stocked everything from local artichokes to zinfandel wine.

Who on the development team most resembles a Sim, and why?

There is an engineer named Tim who is in the SimBin and it is so awesome to have such a larger than life person be a larger than life Sim

Lyndsay Pearson: Associate Producer

Lyndsay Pearson is the Associate Producer for The Sims Label, responsible for system and content production while supporting the game vision and design. Lyndsay has been with The Sims since 2003.

During her time at The Sims Label, Lyndsay has worked on The Sims, The Sims 2 and numerous expansion and stuff packs.

Lyndsay studied at Cogswell Polytechnical College, where she received a B.A. in Computer Video Imaging with a focus in modeling and animation. She is originally from Reno, Nevada and currently resides in Hayward, California.

Lyndsay Pearson’s Q&A

What personality traits in The Sims 3 most closely matches your own personality, in your opinion?

If I recreated myself as a Sim I think I’d pick: Workaholic, Friendly, Neurotic, Excitable and Bookworm. I definitely work more than I should, I love to visit and chat with people, I worry about ridiculous things all the time (I’m pretty sure I left my garage door open today…), I get excited about the silliest stuff (googly eyes I can stick all over the place! YAY!) and I really love to spend hours absorbed in a good book.

If you weren’t a game developer, what would you have ended up as?

I originally planned to make movies! I went to school to become a special fx artist so I suppose I might be doing that. I always thought I’d end up doing something art related. Luckily, even as a producer, sometimes they let me make icons or walls and floors

What’s your favorite food? And why?

I enjoy a really good steak more than pretty much anything else. MMMMM….

What’s your favorite game of all time, apart from The Sims, of course? And why?

I think I’ve played more Animal Crossing than just about anything else. I’m not sure it’s my all-time favorite, but its way up there. I’m also a huge MySims fan… its super cool that they work right across the floor so I can spy on their game all the time.

What’s the most weird and wacky thing you’ve ever done in a Sims game? And have you ever done it in real life?

I think one of the funniest things that ever happened was when my Sim took his date to a restaurant (this was in nightlife). While they were there he flirted with somebody else. All of a sudden everybody in the restaurant was furious with him! He has to rush home and lock the doors. For days the neighbours would come over and steal his gnomes, kick over his trash and take his paper. It was hilarious! I, however, am not that kind of Sim.

What’s your favorite line from a movie?

Does an entire song count? The Impossible Dream from The Man of La Mancha is one of my favorite messages in a movie. The song is about continuing to try no matter the odds to do what you know is right. It’s sort of cheesy but it’s always meant a lot to me.

If you could walk out of your front door and see one thing across the road, what would you like it to be?

I wish I lived near a lake. I would love to live in a quiet, forested area just outside the bustle of town where I could walk out my door and be able to hang out by a lake all day. It would be fantastic. I don’t need to be in the middle of nowhere, but I really enjoy being away from the rush sometimes.

Who on the development team most resembles a Sim, and why?

That’s a tough one. Lots of people act like Sims sometimes, it’s funny to see actually. We recreated a number of team members as Sims and I think one of the most believable is Tim Wilson. It’s hilarious to see his Sim in game acting like he does!