EA Games Campus Tour

The day started off early, and the group met up in the lobby of EA Games. The first thing you notice when you enter the building is large banners displaying various games hanging from the ceiling. (pic) A couple of consoles are setup in the lobby to entertain the guests while they wait. (pic) After checking in and getting our visitors tags, we are met shortly by Nathan Fahrenthold, Senior Community Manager, and taken to the cafeteria (pic) for breakfast.

Equipped with a made to order grill and chefs, a wide variety of both healthy and high-energy drinks and foods, the breakfast got the day off to a great start, and gave us a little insight to the high class of the EA Games facilities. Adjacent to the cafeteria was one of many "play rooms", setup with several arcade and table games.(pic) We were then led back to the gymnasium, featuring a full basketball court, with bleachers and scoreboard (pic) (pic), and a workout area with all types of fitness equipment. (pic)

Then we were off to a second building, the EA Games museum. The museum was filled with memorabilia of EA Games history from past to present, including a display case with awards, promotional materials and many of the different platforms that they have produced games for. (pic) Also notable was the Ducati 900 featured in the Road Rash games. (pic) This particular one had been damaged in an accident on the last day of filming for the game. Before leaving the museum, we visited the EA Experience store, which was packed with EA clothing and current games for all platforms. (pic)

The next stop on the tour was the building that housed all of the development studios. The lobby of this building was equipped with several large LCD screens and gaming consoles (pic) (pic), and one huge main plasma screen (pic) displaying trailers and cutscenes from EA game titles. We were first taken through the atrium (pic) to the library. Most of the time, I wouldn't get too excited about a trip to the library, but this library was very special. Housed in the library was a collection of nearly every game ever made, DVDs, CDs, magazines, white papers, and technical books. (pic) (pic) Following the library, we passed by another "play room", setup with several high-end PCs and consoles for playing games, and then we began touring the studios on the floors above.

We were shown the studios for the Sims, Lord of the Rings, and 007, Nascar Sim Racing is being developed at their Orlando studio. The studios were a maze of cubicles and computers, with concept artwork, photos, inspirational materials, murals, figurines, and game covers on display. Along with the studios was a mastering room, where the master builds, CDs and DVDs for the games are collected and produced, a media office where the artwork and marketing materials are created, a private game room for athletes and celebrities to chill out, and a sports bar (pic)(pic), which is where our tour concluded. We then sat down for a presentation of Nascar Sim Racing, by James Hawkins.

Next: Game Presentation
Discuss it on the forum

© 2004 ORCA Racing Series