Watching Simpsons

The Simpsons Game has met with largely mixed results. Fans of the show love or like the game’s humor, but serious gamers are largely unimpressed with the quality of game play, not seemingly impressed with the Neverquest or Grand Theft Scratchy gags. It would be easy to say that the expectations for the game were pretty high – the game got a lot of press, whether it stemmed from the jokes itself, or from the fact that one of the companies that got ribbed – Rockstar – took offense. The level of press and attention is actually quite informally easy to monitor, if one does a Google news search for “The Simpsons.” Most of the results, lately, are either about the game, or about Britney Spears. Other Simpsons related news, like the Testify CD, the mobile game, or just info about the show kind of gets drowned out.

At any rate, when one’s thinking about the Simpsons Game, or anything else about that show, for that matter, it’s always interesting to get Matt Groening’s take. After all, while the merchandising of The Simpsons seems vast and endless at times, he’s still the creator, so to speak. The following interview, while plucked off of YouTube was initially conducted by Robert Summa of Epileptic Gaming. The event is the actual premiere of the game, and yes, if you look closely, it has a yellow carpet, not a red one. It seems that most premieres regarding the Simpsons, like the one with the recent movie, always have that quirky touch.

The Simpsons, The Simpsons Game, Gaming, Matt Groening

While this clip is fairly long, it gives the viewer a sense of the game. I suggest turning the volume down, has the cell-phone-techno is a bit annoying. (I hope that’s not that actual game track, and if it is, it could be muted). It’s likely that the clip contains game spoilers, so be wary. While the clip was found on YouTube, it likely originates from Project Next.

The Simpsons, The Simpsons: Minutes to Meltdown, Mobile, Mobile Games, Games

Recently, when it comes to electronic gaming, The Simpsons Game has grabbed most of the headlines. This, in part may have to do with the deeply satirical nature of the game and it’s advertising. There’s been “Neverquest,” “Metal of Homer,” “Sitar Hero,” and a few others. Notably, “Grand Theft Scratchy” really got somebody at Rockstar Games mad, in terms of Grand Theft Auto. To be fair, The Simpsons Game is a larger product with a larger potential to make money. So, in that regard, one might completely understand how it had completely outshined and taken the spotlight away from another new Simpsons Game.

The Simpsons: Minutes to Meltdown is a new game for mobile phones. The concept is simple: Homer must avert catastrophe by keeping the nuclear power plant from going critical. In the process, he meets and interacts with Bart, Mr. Burns, and a few others. As for the quality of the game, it goes about as far as mobile technology can take it. The mobile technology, in a way, is a throwback to the console games of old, like SuperNintendo and Zombies Ate My Neighbors, where games where level or board based in a very two dimensional way.

Over at EA Sports, there is more information. There are some animated gifs that show game play in progress. Plus, one can also play demo level, so long as your computer is properly Java enhanced. You can also buy the game there, with a price listed “as low as” $2.15, and there are also directions on how to get the game onto your mobile device as well.

The Simpsons, Games, Mobile, Mobile Games

Comedian Al Franken once wrote a book called “Lies and The Lying Liars Who Tell Them.” The cover of the book featured Vice President Cheney, President Bush, Ann Coulter, and very splotchy looking Bill O’Reilly. Fox News’ legal department took grave offense, and they responded to Franken with a lawsuit, which was subsequently laughed out of court. Satire, you see, is a protected part of free speech. But, that doesn’t change one fundamental dynamic. People either laugh at the satire, or they get really, really mad. In this regard, the new Simpson’s Game has made some people in the gaming industry livid. The purpose of the game, while giving a player of their Springfield fix, is to poke fun at other successful games, like Everquest,Guitar Hero, and Medal of Honor.

According to Computerandvideogames.com, somebody at Rockstar Games took offense at an ad meant to hype one of the levels in the new game:

At this year’s Games Convention in Leipzig, someone took offence at a poster for ‘Grand Theft Scratchy’, one of the levels in the game, and asked that it be taken down.

To be fair to Rockstar, the article doesn’t mention who exactly got angry. But then again, sometimes satire is taken as flattery:

Although Rizzer admits it’s been a challenge parodying videogame properties, on the flip-side of the coin there are companies that have fully embraced it.

“I don’t know if you’ve seen Sitar Hero? We did Apu playing this 60-button controller and songs like Pour Some Curry On Me - we made this wonderful parody poster and the guys from Harmonix loved it and we sent them 20 copies of the poster. They just loved it so much.”

The man who’s quoted here is Greg Rizza, who worked as lead designer on The Simpson’s game. To him, parody and satire is not meant as something hurtful. The CVG article goes on to quote:

“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”…

Of course, all this has done, just like the Fox News Vs. Al Franken scrap, has given EA Sports and The Simpsons game a bit of free publicity. Nothing commands lots of attention like controversy does. But then again, it also shows how the medium of computer games has had it easy all of these years. There are not many other games out there poking fun at other games. The movie industry, for example, is a little different, as farce has become an institution from Mel Brooks to the Wayans family and their “Scary Movie” spoof.

According to some, like Game Informer Magazine, the spirit of the simpsons has been lost on video games. Most times, it’s been superficial, in terms of adapting the surface while not indulging in the substance. Case in point: Bart likes to ride a skateboard, and so, there’s a game about him skateboarding. Sad thing is this: Tony Hawk’s franchise has pretty much cornered the market on skateboard games. It’s nearly impossible to make a better action sports game. So, the two are a mismatch, much the same way martial arts fight games and Star Wars are a mismatch, but it’s been done none-the-less.

Anyhow, it seems that the latest attempt at a Simpsons game is trying to get to the satirical heart of Matt Groening’s creation:

The story finds the Simpson family zapped into a video game. They are aware of their status as characters within a game, and the development team at EA is using this as an opportunity to lampoon the major icons of the industry. Marge uses her megaphone to crusade against the violence in “Grand Theft Scratchy,” and Kratos’ “God of Wharf” seafood products are a culinary sensation. Whenever you run into a tired gaming convention, like an obvious weak point on a rampaging Lard Lad, a screen appears with Comic Book Guy calling out the cliche.

Of all the ways to promote a movie, 7-11 has cashed in by turning some of their stores in real life versions of Apu’s Kwik E Mart. These remodeled 7-11’s among other tings, Squishees, instead of their trade-marked “Slurpees.” According to ABCnews.com, business has been brisk:

While the Simpsons might be a fictional family, the very real cereal, soda and doughnuts from their cartoon world are flying off real-world shelves.

For the past three weeks, 7-Eleven has transformed 12 of its convenience stores into caricatures of the Kwik-E-Mart widely recognized as a staple of the cartoon family’s fictional town, as part of a promotion for the soon-to-be-released “The Simpsons Movie.”

One item didn’t make the transition from animation to real life:

Though one key Simpsons beverage, Duff Beer, did not make it to the shelves, fans of the hit TV show seem to be jumping at the chance to buy the other once-fictional products. The number of customers to walk through the doors at these special stores has roughly doubled, as have have sales, according to the company.

On the Burlington Free Press’ website, there’s an article stating that Ben and Jerry’s will be taking part in the movie festivities, given that Springfield, Vermont was chosen to host the Simpsons Movie premiere:

Ben & Jerry’s Homer homage is called “Duff & D’oh-Nuts,” and according to a news release from the ice-cream maker is an “extremely limited, one-time and one-day-only flavor” that’s “a combination of chocolate and cream stout ice creams with glazed chocolate donuts.” Duff is the brand of beer featured in “The Simpsons” television series, and doughnuts are Homer’s culinary raison d’etre.

In another nod to Homer, Ben & Jerry’s will for one day rename its Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough flavor “Chocolate Chip Cookie D’oh!” in reference to Homer’s famous exclamation.

Coinciding with the start of 19th season of Simpsons, a new compact disc will hit the shelves. According to NME.com, the CD will feature music culled from the show over the years, including artists like:

Jackson Brown, Shawn Colvin and ‘Weird’ Al Yankovic also appear on ‘The Simpsons: Testify’ , which is due out in the US on September 18.

In addition, comedian Ricky Gervais features on two of the more than three-dozen songs on the album, reports Billboard .

The album release is set to coincide with the premiere of the 19th season of ‘The Simpsons’ in the US.

It’s important to note that this new release IS NOT the soundtrack to the movie.

Of the many Simpsons promotional campaigns to come, one of the more interesting comes from 7-11, who decided to remodel 11 or so of it’s stores and rename them “Kwick-E Mart.” Sure, each store cannot feature an Apu, but the products sold are all unique to Springfield, whether it’s Buzz Cola, Duff Beer, or Blue Berry Squishees, according to E! News.

The convenience chain has joined forces with 20th Century Fox to convert a dozen of its top-selling stores into Kwik-E-Marts as part of a massive marketing blitz for The Simpsons Movie, which unspools in theaters worldwide July 27.

The Kwik-E makeover, which officially began Monday, not only includes the temporary replacement of 7-Eleven marquees but extends to store shelves, which will now be stocked with everything from Krusty O’s cereal and Buzz Cola to WooHoo! Blue Vanilla Squishee Slurpees and pink frosted Sprinklicious doughnuts.

“The Krusty O’s are flying off the shelves,” laughs 7-Eleven spokeswoman Margaret Chabris. “It’s sort of reverse product placement. We’re bringing the products to the people.”

Before anybody runs out the door, they should know that their local store is likely to NOT be one of the 11 coverted locations, one of which stands in Canada. A list of locations, from 7-11, is located here. Still that doesn’t mean that most of us have been excluded from the fun. Many of the products Bart and Homer would enjoy, will sit on 7-11’s shelves. This includes a special edition comic book from Bongo, the official, Groening-run publisher of Simpson’s books.

That’s right, now you can drape yourself in Simpson apparrel. The Canadian Trio groups has secured rights to use Simpson images on their new line of Simpson clothing.

The apparel line would comprise T-shirts, pants, mainly knitted wear. This lounge wear would be among the first of the products under the Simpsons line to be brought to India and plans were afoot to bring other products as well.

Obviously these kinds of things are all over the U.S, but this new clothing line might be very different from what is currently available and so we might see, especially with The Simpsons Movie coming out, a new run on the Simpsons merchandise market as fans flock to get the latest in Simpson products.

In other news, we all know that the numerous towns in the U.S named Springfield have been praying that The Simpsons Movie premiere comes to their town, but it seems two Scottish towns named Springfield are hoping for the same privledge where the UK premiere is concerned.

According to BBCnews.com…

Officials in the Fife and South of Scotland towns said if they were approached by 20th Century Fox to stage the event they would be happy to do so. Despite not having a cinema and a population of less than 1,000, officials at Fife Council said they would jump at the chance to play host to the UK event.
Local authority event co-ordinator Linda Thomson said: “We think the most obvious location to host the UK premiere of the new Simpsons film is Springfield, Cupar, Fife. “Of course, neither Springfield nor Cupar actually have a cinema, but this would just give us the opportunity to create an American drive-in experience, in either the beautiful Haugh Park or Duffus Park, using our new top of the range outdoor projector.”

Well, I don’t think it will happen, but good luck to all of our Simpsons fans in the UK.

The Simpsons, The Simpsons Movie, Springfield, Simpsons merchandise

-Anna

The fairly popular rock band Green Day will be performing on The Simpsons Movie according to TeenMusic.com.
But by doing so, Green Day will subject themselves to The Simpsons way of life, meaning that it is more than likely that the band will be the but of a few jokes or they be made fun of is some fashion.

“They’re really good sports and I think we both honour them and Simpson-ise them. You can take that however you want. They’re really nice guys,” says Matt Groening.

Hank Azaria, who voices numerous Simpsons characters including bar owner Moe Szyslak, adds, “I know that Moe yells out obnoxious stuff to Green Day while they’re performing. That I remember. He yells out stupid stuff to Green Day.”

“(They don’t play) at Moe’s Tavern. They perform elsewhere in the movie; they’re outside. And the whole crowd turns on them.”

I find it interesting that the movie is coming out in about 2 months and they are still announcing who will be in it.

In other news…
For all you gamers out there who were excited by the fact that a new Simpsons Game will be hitting shelves this fall might also be excited that you could play this new game on a limited edition Simpson style XBox 360. TechShout.com explains…

The Xbox 360 maker [Microsoft] has announced that they have entered into a partnership with FOX to offer fans a chance to win one of the 100 limited-edition ‘The Simpsons’ Xbox 360 Pro consoles.

The limited edition ‘The Simpsons’ consoles will be available through a series of special events and promotions. Do keep in mind that the ‘Simpsons’ consoles will NOT be sold in retail. So, you got to stay tuned if you wish to get your hands on one of these pleasantly yellow Xbox 360s.

Details about how exactly anyone wins these Simpsonized XBoxes have not been released yet, so if you’re hankering for one these things, you’ll have to pay special attention to gaming sites.

The Simpsons, The Simpsons Movie, Green Day, XBox 360, Microsoft, FOX

-Anna

According to GameGuru, EA is offically annoucing a new Simpsons Game to come out this fall.

The game will feature the full cast of voice actors from the TV show who will reprise their roles for the game, which sees Homer, Marge, Bart, and Lisa use thrilling, all-new powers to save the world from rising pandemonium. Gamers must journey through all of Springfield (as well as vast worlds beyond!), defeat an astonishing collection of villains, and fight their way through parodies of multiple popular games to help the Simpsons.

Scot Amos, Executive Producer, The Simpsons Game says, “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. 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.”

The game will be available on PS2, PSP, Nintendo DS, Wii, and the XBOX 360.

The Simpsons, EA Games, Simpsons game

-Anna

During the annual Groundwater Festival put on by the Central Platte NRD had the pleasure of showing an animated film produced by Matt Groening about the precious resource of groundwater. The Festival is centered around teaching school-aged children about groundwater and about how we can protect that natural resource. Matt Groening supplied the animated “Nobody Knows Where It Goes” where a talking walleye speaks about groundwater and the issues that surround it.

In other news, there is a lot of talk that a new Simpsons game will be released by EA Games. A countdown site was put up on the web yesterday (it has since been taken down) and most thought it was counting down to some announcement about the prospective Simpsons game. The countdown graphic had similiar font used by the Simpsons and the standard yellow and pink colors surrounding it. Thus, everyone suspected The Simpsons as being behind this. No word yet on the game, but folks over at Pro-G forcast more info to come out soon on The Simpson game.

Lastly, it has been announced that The Simpsons Season 10 DVD will be released to its adoring public on August 7th. The SimpsonChannel gives the details on the DVD…

In addition to the 23 episodes, the set will contain Deleted Scenes, Animation Showcases, Animatics, Simpsons Movie DVD Sneak Peek, Butterfinger, Intel and CC’s commercials, Crank Calls feature, and a bit from the animators.

The DVDs will look to sell at around $50 for the US and around $70 for Canada.

The Simpsons, FOX, Matt Groening, Simpsons game, Simpson Season 10 DVD

-Anna

First up..

We all know that The Simpsons are known for having celebrities guest star on the famous cartoon. Many have joined the ranks of the jawless forms we call The Simpsons such as Michael Jackson, Paul McCartney, and The Rolling Stones. Prince almost had the same coveted opportunity until his chauffeur got in the way.
PR-Inside explains…

PRINCE cancelled plans to appear in an episode of THE SIMPSONS, because creator Matt Groening wouldn’t agree to a script written by the pop star’s chauffeur. Groening tells the New York Daily News, “Prince wanted to do the show, so we wrote him a script. It didn’t work out, because his chauffeur had written a script too, and Prince wanted to use that one.”

Well, you can’t put a price on the sacred relationship between a pop star and his driver.

Next in the news, we have new The Simpsons Movie posters. Here are a few examples of the new posters. Thanks to CinemaBlend.com for the images.

And last but not least, TheSun.com came out with an article recently where experts claim that The Simpsons do a better job at educating kids about the danger of drugs than the schools do.

The TV cartoon gives a more accurate picture than “worthy” classroom lessons, according to Richard Ives.
And it holds children’s attention because it is funny, he said.
Mr Ives praised episodes where teenager Bart gets high on “an all-syrup Squishee”, mum Marge “drinks spiked water and trips” — and dad Homer takes dope.
And he added: “What characterises these drug references, apart from their humour, is their accuracy and level of detail.
“Any one of these would provide a fantastic starting point for class discussion about drugs.”

Mr. Ives also believed that lessons about drugs should be brought to those kids who are already using as well as those who have yet to experiment. He feels that while lessons on drugs don’t necessarily need to be spiced up, they do need to be approached from the same standpoint as The Simpsons, simply because kids will relate better and enjoy the lesson more.

Well, that is it for Simpsons news today. Don’t forget the new Simpsons episode on Sunday titled “Crook and Ladder.”

Here is the synopsis of that episode.

Maggie goes on a path of destruction in the Simpsons home after Marge follows advice in a parenting magazine and throws away her pacifier. Marge finally gives in and sends Homer to get Maggie a new pacifier, but when he cant find the right brand, Maggie comes up with her own substitute an especially squeaky dog toy. Homer cant sleep through the toys incessant squeaking and is driven to take sleeping pills, which turn him into a sleepwalker with a penchant for mischief. When one of Homers sleepwalking schemes leaves the entire Springfield Fire Department debilitated in the hospital, Homer and some of his fellow Springfieldians become volunteer firefighters. They extinguish several fires and are rewarded with gifts, but when the gifts stop coming, they seek other forms of compensation for their heroic acts.

The Simpsons, The Simpsons Movie, Prince, Crook and Ladder

-Anna

Bongo Comics have come out with 3 new Simpsons comics this month. Here’s a preview of each one.

Simpsons Comics #129: (Out Now!)
Homer is guilty of yet another Seven Deadly Sin when he purchases the latest in scooter technology - the Sloth-Around! How will the world react to a man who refuses to walk let alone stand up again?

Bart Simpson Comics #35: (Out Wednesday)
Otto and Bart find the once high and mighty Truckasaurus in a junkyard and share dreams of its resurrected glory; Bart and Milhouse imagine themselves in an Itchy & Scratchy cartoon; Professor Frink returns with another lesson in weird science; and Bart enlists the help of a certain someone to get the best of Principal Skinner!

Simpsons Classics #12: (Out Wednesday)
Springfield super-capitalist Mr. Burns gets his Squishee on, and drafts the town’s other savvy salesman Apu Nahasapeemapetilon to manage a new Mega-Kwik-E-Mart. Then, Bart returns to France and this time he’s bringing the clown and Milhouse.

Thanks to the SimpsonsChannel.com for the tip.

The Simpsons, The Simpsons comics, The Simpsons merchandise, FOX

-Anna