Jeff Green (writer)

Last updated

Jeff Green
Jeff-Green-PAX.jpg
Green in 2009
Born (1961-10-12) October 12, 1961 (age 62) [1]
NationalityAmerican
EducationUniversity of California, Berkeley (BA)
Occupation(s)Writer, video game journalist, video game designer
Employer(s)Hit Detection, [2] formerly PopCap Games, Electronic Arts, Ziff Davis Media
Known forEditor-in-chief of Computer Gaming World and Games for Windows: The Official Magazine

Jeffrey Green (born October 12, 1961) [1] is an American writer and video game journalist, and the last editor-in-chief of Games for Windows: The Official Magazine. In November 2013, Jeff left PopCap Games, where he served as a director of editorial and social media. He was employed by the Sims division [ when? ] of developer Electronic Arts, where he served as a designer, producer, and writer. Green kept his job at Ziff Davis after the closing of GFW for several months before announcing his departure from the company. While an employee at Ziff Davis, Green hosted the weekly CGW Radio podcast (which later became GFW Radio) and hosted The Official EA Podcast. [3] [ when? ]

Contents

Early career

Green graduated from the University of California, Berkeley with a degree in English. [4] In 1991, he joined Ziff Davis Press, a subsidiary of Ziff Davis Media, which published computer books. Later, he moved to the weekly Macintosh trade journal MacWEEK as a reviews editor.

Computer Gaming World

In 2001, Green was named editor-in-chief of Computer Gaming World. [5] By 2004, all original staff at CGW when he first joined had left. [6] Green contributed writing to The Art of Warcraft, published in 2002 by BradyGames, a book detailing the art and design of the Warcraft series of real-time strategy games. [7] Looking back on the job as "essentially a shill job", Green procrastinated on his writing for Brady so long that the publisher reduced his pay for the work. [8] Green considers the late nineties to be the "peak years" of the Computer Gaming World. Issues were over 300 pages in length, and because the Internet was not as prevalent then, "magazines were all that there were. If gamers wanted gaming news, you read the magazines." [9]

Games for Windows: The Official Magazine

In August 2006, Ziff Davis announced that they would be partnering with Microsoft to rebrand Computer Gaming World as Games for Windows: The Official Magazine . The move was done in order to market the magazine to a wider audience. At the same time, Green insisted that the publication would remain a "hardcore PC gaming magazine", and that Microsoft would have no editorial influence on the magazine's content. [10] In a June 2007 interview, Green said that gaming magazines were in a "period of transition", as the increasing prevalence of the Internet meant that print was no longer the primary source of information for enthusiasts. "We're all trying to figure out what that means, then—how to stay relevant, vital or even necessary at all." Green believes the rise of the "Digital Age" has forced print outlets to rethink how they produce content. The GFW staff considered how to write for an audience that regularly visits gaming websites, and how to write articles that are "better, different or deeper than what everyone has already done online, weeks before us". [11]

Magazine closure

In April 2008, Ziff Davis announced that Games for Windows would be closing down. The magazine's seventeenth issue, the April/May 2008 issue featuring The Sims 3 on the cover, was its last. [12] While the magazine's art team, Michael Jennings and Rosemary Pinkham, were laid off, the editorial staff, which included Green, as well as Shawn Elliott, Sean Molloy, and Ryan Scott, were kept as editors of 1UP.com. Specifically, the staff aimed to improve 1UP's coverage of PC games. [13] Games for Windows relaunched in May 2008 as the "PC door" of 1UP.com, a section of the site dedicated to the coverage of computer games. It also served as an area to archive columns from CGW and GFW, such as Greenspeak and Tom vs. Bruce. Green became editor-in-chief of this part of the website. [14] However, as time passed, Green found that he was less interested in contributing to the website than he was in the magazine.

The Web job itself—my regular job—in the post-magazine world turned out to be something of a mixed bag for me. While I saw Shawn and Ryan every day at the office and on the podcast, they were spun off into different directions when GFW closed, and so that close, a creative bond that Sean, Shawn, Ryan, and I had formed to make the magazine did not persist unfettered on the Web. We were not an "online version of the magazine." We were four guys absorbed into the greater good of the website...What became increasingly clear to me over the last few months...is that the concerns of a website, the concerns of this website, are not really my concerns at this point in my life. [9]

Green announced in September 2008, that he would be leaving Ziff Davis and 1UP.com to pursue a career in game development at Electronic Arts. Specifically, Green would be working in the Sims department of EA, under the direction of designer Rod Humble. [15] The two met when Humble was a guest on GFW Radio, and when considering where to work and who to work with, Humble was "at the top of my list". Green described him as being "a totally brilliant, smart, funny guy, and those are the kinds of people we like to be around." [16]

Electronic Arts

September 22, 2008 was Green's first official day as an employee of Electronic Arts. [17] Green began contributing to an unannounced project, but within a month was transferred to another project. "I am seeing some of the volatility of the game biz." [18] In November 2008, Green said he was helping to research future games in the SimAnimals line. [19] Within six months of his employment at EA, Green had been moved to a new project three times. [20] Green wrote dialogue and other text for SimAnimals and MySims Agents [21] and helped promote MySims Agents at the 2009 Gamescom in Cologne, Germany. [22]

Green has said that the transition from writing about games to making games was difficult, but that the work is "incredibly rewarding…simply for the fact that it is challenging me". [20] The collaborative process of developing a game is what he has found most fascinating. "It becomes clearer and clearer to me just how complicated the business of making a game is, and the near miracle it is to get all the people involved aligned and understanding of what it is you're trying to do." [23]

EA.com

On October 23, 2009, Green announced via Twitter that he had been named editor-in-chief of EA.com. [24] Green further explained his new position at the company on his blog, saying that he would be producing new editorial content for Electronic Arts. At the same time, he wrote that this would not be a return to the games journalism field for him: "Let's not kid ourselves. I'm the EIC of a corporate website whose primary goal is to sell games." [25] Jeff wrote on Twitter that his new role at the company would be "not quite PR, and not quite editorial. Some kind of odd hybrid." [26]

EA departure

On August 14, 2010, Jeff Green updated his blog with the following:

I've left EA. The details of the hows and whys and wherefores are mostly better left unsaid, for all sorts of reasons. But to get the one thing out of the way that everyone wants to know—did he quit or was he fired—the answer is: Kind of neither. The folks who run the website wanted to change directions. That direction didn't include the creation of original content. So my job description was changed. And since what I do best (well, other than play games, eat pizza, and lay on the couch and do nothing) is create content, it clearly was no longer the best fit for me. So I'm out. [27]

Podcasting

Green has hosted and appeared on a number of podcasts. The first episode of CGW Radio was released on February 16, 2006, hosted by Green, and featured a cast of editors from Computer Gaming World. [28] The magazine's staff, made to produce a show along with other Ziff Davis publications, including Electronic Gaming Monthly and Official PlayStation Magazine , initially approached the idea with apprehension. "The podcast started out as something alien and unwanted to us, but then quickly morphed into something we loved, as we realized the opportunities it gave us to entertain folks and connect with our audience in an entirely different, and much more immediate way." [9] CGW Radio was renamed to GFW Radio with the rebranding of Computer Gaming World as Games for Windows: The Official Magazine. GFW Radio developed a "fiercely dedicated listener base" over the years. The show's last episode came after Green's departure from Ziff Davis, as well as that of GFW editor Shawn Elliott. [29]

At Electronic Arts, Green approached his employers with the prospect of creating an EA-centric podcast. Green believed hosting a podcast would allow him to utilize past talents developed at Ziff Davis while hosting CGW Radio and GFW Radio. On his blog, Green wrote that while such a podcast would promote Electronic Arts products, he would strive to create a well-produced show. "So, while, yes, from the perspective of my employers the goal, of course, is to "sell" EA, for me, the goal is to actually have a good show that I can be proud of and that you will want to listen to." [30] The first episode of the EA podcast was released on June 19, 2009. [31] Green is also a regular on Out of the Game, a podcast featuring current and former game journalists, including Green, Shawn Elliott, Robert Ashley, N'Gai Croal, and Luke Smith. [32]

Jeff Green has appeared as a special guest on Giant Bomb's Giant Bombcast (on Aug 17, 2010, [33] Dec 14, 2010, [34] and Nov 12, 2013 [35] ) and on Episode 87 of RebelFM.

Personal life

Green lives in Berkeley, California with his wife and daughter, [36] and has written game reviews for Games for Windows in the past. [37] Green is in the process of writing his first novel, The Cudgel of Xanthor. The book is based on a column he once wrote which was a parody of video game previews. In the book, a video game development company is working on the third installment of the Xanthor series of games – the first two being the Blade of Xanthor, and the Sword of Xanthor. Green has stated in podcasts that his inspiration for the book derived from his two years working for Electronic Arts where he saw, first-hand, how games are developed. The book cuts back and forth between the company and Xanthor himself, living in the world the developers are creating. Xanthor must deal in his own world with the myriad and arbitrary changes the developers make. Jeff stated in a recent interview that he ceased working on it. [38]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ziff Davis</span> American publisher and Internet company

Ziff Davis, Inc. is an American digital media and internet company. Founded in 1927 by William Bernard Ziff Sr. and Bernard George Davis, the company primarily owns technology- and health-oriented media websites, online shopping-related services, internet connectivity services, gaming and entertainment brands, and cybersecurity and martech tools. Previously, the company was predominantly a publisher of hobbyist magazines.

<i>Electronic Gaming Monthly</i> American video game magazine

Electronic Gaming Monthly (EGM) is a monthly American video game magazine. It offers video game news, coverage of industry events, interviews with gaming figures, editorial content and product reviews.

<i>Computer Gaming World</i> American computer game magazine

Computer Gaming World (CGW) was an American computer game magazine published between 1981 and 2006. One of the few magazines of the era to survive the video game crash of 1983, it was sold to Ziff Davis in 1993. It expanded greatly through the 1990s and became one of the largest dedicated video game magazines, reaching around 500 pages by 1997.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">GameSpy</span> American video game company

GameSpy was an American provider of online multiplayer and matchmaking middleware for video games founded in 1999 by Mark Surfas. After the release of a multiplayer server browser for Quake, QSpy, Surfas licensed the software under the GameSpy brand to other video game publishers through a newly established company, GameSpy Industries, which also incorporated his Planet Network of video game news and information websites, and GameSpy.com.

<i>1Up Network</i> American entertainment network

1Up.com was an American entertainment website that focused on video games. Launched in 2003, 1Up.com provided its own original features, news stories, game reviews, and video interviews, and also featured comprehensive PC-focused content. Like a print magazine, 1Up.com also hosted special week-long online cover stories that presented each day a new in-depth feature story, interview with the developers, game screenshot gallery, game video footage, and video of the game studio and creators. On February 21, 2013, Ziff Davis announced it would be winding down the site, along with sister sites GameSpy and UGO.com.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jeff Gerstmann</span> American video game journalist

Jeff Gerstmann is an American video game journalist. Former editorial director of the gaming website GameSpot and the co-founder of the gaming website Giant Bomb, Gerstmann began working at GameSpot in the fall of 1996, around the launch of VideoGameSpot when GameSpot split PC and console games into separate areas. He shared his thoughts on a variety of other subjects every Monday on his GameSpot blog before his controversial dismissal from GameSpot in 2007 following a review of Kane & Lynch: Dead Men. In 2012, Complex magazine named Gerstmann in their top 25 biggest celebrities in the video game industry.

<i>Official U.S. PlayStation Magazine</i> Video game magazine

Official U.S. PlayStation Magazine was a monthly video game magazine, published by Ziff Davis Media. It was a sister publication of Electronic Gaming Monthly. The magazine focused exclusively on PlayStation hardware, software, and culture, covering the original PlayStation, PlayStation 2, PlayStation 3 and PlayStation Portable. Each issue included a disc that contained playable demos and videos of PlayStation games. The magazine had a nearly ten-year run. The first issue, cover dated October 1997, was published September 23, 1997, while the final issue was cover dated January 2007.

<i>Need for Speed III: Hot Pursuit</i> 1998 racing video game

Need for Speed III: Hot Pursuit is a 1998 racing video game developed for PlayStation by EA Canada and Microsoft Windows by EA Seattle, and published by Electronic Arts. It is the third major installment in the Need for Speed franchise, incorporating police pursuits as a major part of gameplay. Hot Pursuit remains focused on racing using exotic sports cars, but features races that primarily take place in locations within North America, including varied settings and climates. Police AI is improved over the first game, utilizing several tactics to stop both the player and opponent. The PlayStation version was released on March 25, 1998, while the Windows version was released on October 12 the same year. The game received critical success, with praise for its graphics and customization options. It received a direct sequel in 2002 and a reboot in 2010.

<i>Games for Windows: The Official Magazine</i> Former computer game magazine

Games for Windows: The Official Magazine was a monthly computer game magazine published by Ziff Davis Media, licensing the Games for Windows brand from Microsoft Corporation. It was the successor to Computer Gaming World. The first issue was released in November 2006. As of the April/May 2008 issue, the magazine is no longer offered in print and the editorial staff was integrated with 1UP.

<i>The Bigs</i> 2007 video game

The Bigs is an arcade-style baseball video game for the Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, PlayStation 2, Wii and PlayStation Portable. It was released in June 2007 in North America, and in October in the PAL region. A sequel, The Bigs 2, was released on July 7, 2009.

<i>Janes WWII Fighters</i> 1998 video game

Jane's World War II Fighters is the 1998 combat flight simulation video game. Set in the European theatre of operations during World War II, it is part of the Jane's Combat Simulations franchise. The game was considered a commercial failure, and contributed to the end of the Jane's Combat Simulations line.

<i>SimCity Societies</i> 2007 video game

SimCity Societies is a city-building simulation video game developed by Tilted Mill Entertainment and published by Electronic Arts, and is part of the SimCity series. The gameplay is significantly different from previous SimCity titles, with a greater focus on social development. SimCity Societies was released in 2007, and received mixed reviews, with praise for the game's improved accessibility and visuals, but criticism for being oversimplified and having poor performance.

<i>The Sims 2: Castaway</i> 2007 video game

The Sims 2: Castaway is the third console spin-off of the life simulation video game The Sims 2 for the Wii, Nintendo DS (NDS), PlayStation 2 (PS2) and PlayStation Portable (PSP). It is also available on mobile phones; Nokia offered Castaway on the Ovi Store. A roughly similar game, The Sims Castaway Stories, is available for personal computers, but is not a direct port of Castaway.

<i>MySims Kingdom</i> 2008 video game

MySims Kingdom is a video game developed by EA Redwood Shores and published by Electronic Arts as a spin-off to Maxis' The Sims franchise for the Nintendo DS and Wii in 2008. MySims Kingdom is a follow-up to MySims, which was released in 2007 and was followed by MySims Party, MySims Racing, MySims Agents and MySims SkyHeroes.

<i>Giant Bomb</i> American video game website

Giant Bomb is an American video game website and wiki that includes personality-driven gaming videos, commentary, news, and reviews, created by former GameSpot editors Jeff Gerstmann and Ryan Davis. The website was voted by Time magazine as one of the Top 50 websites of 2011. Originally part of Whiskey Media, the website was acquired by CBS Interactive in March 2012 before being sold to Red Ventures in 2020, then to Fandom in 2022.

<i>The Sims 2: Apartment Pets</i> 2008 video game

The Sims 2: Apartment Pets is a video game for the Nintendo DS. EA has described as a follow-up to the Nintendo DS version of The Sims 2: Pets. As in the original, it allows a diverse amount of customization, allowing pets to be created in a variety of colors and sizes.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Luke Smith (writer)</span> American journalist

Luke Michael Smith is an American writer. He is a staff member at the video game development company Bungie, and is a former video games journalist. Smith wrote for a college newspaper and weekly papers in Michigan before being hired as one of the first new freelance writers for Kotaku. At Kotaku, Smith developed his writing style but soon left the site for a staff position as 1Up.com's news editor. Smith made a name for himself at 1Up, particularly through an article he wrote focusing on problems with the game Halo 2.

<i>High Heat Baseball 2000</i> 1999 sports video game

High Heat Baseball 2000 is a video game released in 1999, and is the second game in the High Heat Major League Baseball video game series.

References

  1. 1 2 Green, Jeff (October 12, 2011). "@Greenspeak: And thank you for all the ..." Twitter. Retrieved October 12, 2011.
  2. ↑ Jeff Green LinkedIn page
  3. ↑ "Interview: EA.com's Jeff Green on Corporate Podcasting, Lost Franchises, and More". VentureBeat. June 30, 2010. Retrieved May 6, 2017.
  4. ↑ "Interview with Jeff Green". The Armchair Empire. October 4, 2000. Archived from the original on September 5, 2008. Retrieved October 19, 2009.
  5. ↑ "Jeff Green (CGW) Interview: Part II". The Armchair Empire. June 29, 2001. Archived from the original on November 27, 2005.
  6. ↑ "Jeff Green (CGW) Interview: Part V". The Armchair Empire. October 1, 2004. Archived from the original on July 4, 2008. Retrieved October 19, 2009.
  7. ↑ Green, Jeff; Farkas, Bart (2002). The Art of Warcraft (Paperback). BradyGames. ISBN   0744000815.
  8. ↑ "Jeff Green (CGW) Interview: Part III". The Armchair Empire. June 20, 2002. Archived from the original on August 28, 2008. Retrieved October 19, 2009.
  9. 1 2 3 Green, Jeff (September 6, 2008). "Ripples". 1UP.com . Archived from the original on February 25, 2009. Retrieved October 21, 2009.
  10. ↑ Callaham, John (June 2, 2008). "CGW's Editor Talks About Move To Games For Windows Mag". FiringSquad. Retrieved October 21, 2009.
  11. ↑ Sands, Sean (June 27, 2007). ""Game Magazines Have Sucked for Forever": GFW's Jeff Green on the Future of Print Media". The Escapist . Retrieved October 21, 2009.
  12. ↑ Green, Jeff (April 8, 2008). "CGW/GFW 1981–2008". 1up.com. Archived from the original on April 9, 2008. Retrieved October 22, 2009.
  13. ↑ Cox, Simon (April 8, 2008). "The end of an era?". 1up.com. Archived from the original on June 5, 2011. Retrieved October 22, 2009.
  14. ↑ Green, Jeff (May 15, 2008). "Hello and welcome!". 1up.com. Archived from the original on June 5, 2011. Retrieved October 22, 2009.
  15. ↑ McElroy, Justin (September 5, 2008). "GFW's Jeff Green leaves 1UP for Sims team". Joystiq . Retrieved October 22, 2009.
  16. ↑ Ashley, Robert; Elliott, Shawn; Gallegos, Anthony; Green, Jeff; Scott, Ryan (September 10, 2008). GFW Radio weekly podcast – 9/10/2008 (mp3) (Podcast). 1up.com. Event occurs at 57:20. Retrieved October 22, 2009.[ permanent dead link ]
  17. ↑ Green, Jeff (September 22, 2008). "Wow, am I tired". Blogger . Retrieved October 23, 2009.
  18. ↑ Green, Jeff (October 22, 2008). "Oy vey". Blogger . Retrieved October 23, 2009.
  19. ↑ Green, Jeff (December 7, 2008). "Fun with animals". Blogger . Retrieved October 23, 2009.
  20. 1 2 Green, Jeff (March 22, 2009). "Game Design is Hard, Part III". Blogger . Retrieved October 23, 2009.
  21. ↑ Green, Jeff (May 13, 2009). "This morning". Blogger . Retrieved October 23, 2009.
  22. ↑ Green, Jeff (September 20, 2009). "Together through life". Blogger . Retrieved October 23, 2009.
  23. ↑ Green, Jeff (January 15, 2009). "Game design is hard". Blogger . Retrieved October 23, 2009.
  24. ↑ Green, Jeff (October 23, 2009). "Ok! It can finally be told…". Twitter. Retrieved October 23, 2009.
  25. ↑ Green, Jeff (October 30, 2009). "My New Gig, Part II: The New Gig". Blogger . Retrieved October 30, 2009.
  26. ↑ Green, Jeff (October 23, 2009). "It's not quite PR, and not…". Twitter. Retrieved October 23, 2009.
  27. ↑ "Greenspeak: Where I'm at". August 14, 2010.
  28. ↑ Elliott, Shawn; Gladstone, Darren; Green, Jeff; Lee, Garnett (February 16, 2006). CGW Radio weekly podcast – 02/16/2006 (mp3) (Podcast). 1up.com . Retrieved October 23, 2009.[ permanent dead link ]
  29. ↑ Pfister, Andrew (September 18, 2008). "The End of GFW Radio". 1up.com. Archived from the original on February 26, 2009. Retrieved October 23, 2009.
  30. ↑ Green, Jeff (June 20, 2009). "Me, My Life, and the Official EA Podcast". Blogger . Retrieved October 23, 2009.
  31. ↑ Samanthix (June 19, 2009). "Introducing the EA Podcast!". Electronic Arts. Archived from the original on September 10, 2009. Retrieved October 23, 2009.
  32. ↑ "Out of the Game". Liberated Syndication. Archived from the original on January 5, 2010. Retrieved October 23, 2009.
  33. ↑ "Giant Bombcast". Giantbomb.com . Retrieved August 18, 2010.
  34. ↑ "Giant Bombcast". Giantbomb.com . Retrieved December 14, 2010.
  35. ↑ "Giant Bombcast". Giantbomb.com . Retrieved November 13, 2013.
  36. ↑ Green, Jeff (September 28, 2009). "Hellmouth Confidential". Blogger . Retrieved October 23, 2009.
  37. ↑ Green, Sarah Jaisser (April–May 2008). " The Sims 2: FreeTime review". Games for Windows: The Official Magazine . No. 17. p. 72. ISSN   0744-6667.
  38. ↑ McDaniel, JP; Green, Jeff; Lee, Garnett (June 12, 2013). Real Talk w/ Jeff Green – The Younger Years (Part 1) – 12/06/2013 (avi) (Video). itmeJP. Archived from the original on December 12, 2021. Retrieved October 23, 2009.


This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.