So, EA invited some press folks recently to show off some games. The game I'm working on, Sims 2 Console, has been getting really good reviews (with good reason, honestly - it's going to be a very good game, imo!). Now that some screenshots and reviews are public I can point to some public URLs.

Sims 2 Console Preview from 1up
Gamespot preview
Screenshots (All of the latest ones show what I've been working on in some ways - rendering the Sims themselves!)
Sims in the hot tub (One of my many tasks was the costume-changing code =) )

Obviously, I'm not the only person who's had a hand in rendering the Sims - all the artists, modelers, animators, etc have done a fantastic job and the sheer amount and quality of content is amazing. In addition, I'm only part of a small team of programmers responsible for Create-a-Sim, Sim rendering, etc. I just happen to have spent a lot of my time here doing the texture compositing, costume-changes, and general rendering of the Sims.

Anyway, just thought I should share since we're getting lots of good reviews so far and that makes me all glowy-happy.

In other news, I spent over $500 this week getting my brakes fixed on my car. Ug. I got locked out of my house when I left the car (and my keys) in the shop overnight, so work sprung for a hotel so I could get some sleep. Awful nice of them, actually. Karen and Nicky are arriving tomorrow for the weekend, so I'm taking the weekend off (mostly) and will be relaxing and enjoying the time off. Maybe I'll actually do some laundry and get the furniture we bought last time Karen visited (a month ago) unpacked from the boxes and put together so I have more than a bed in my apartment. Maybe =)

Hope everyone is doing well - I've been in crunch mode for a while now and haven't been paying close attention to outside life. That should end very soon, though, and I'm looking forward to slowing the pace a bit.