Jeff Green (writer)

Green graduated from the University of California, Berkeley with a degree in English.{{cite web |date=October 4, 2000 |title=Interview with Jeff Green |url=http://www.armchairempire.com/Interviews/jeff_green.htm |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080905065255/http://www.armchairempire.com/Interviews/jeff_green.htm |archive-date=September 5, 2008 |access-date=2009-10-19 |publisher=The Armchair Empire |df=mdy-all}} 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 review editor.

In 2001, Green was named editor-in-chief of Computer Gaming World.{{cite web |url=http://www.armchairempire.com/Interviews/jeff_greenII.htm |title=Jeff Green (CGW) Interview: Part II |publisher=The Armchair Empire |date=June 29, 2001 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20051127033021/http://www.armchairempire.com/Interviews/jeff_greenII.htm |archive-date=November 27, 2005 |df=mdy-all }} By 2004, all original staff at CGW when he first joined had left.{{cite web |url=http://www.armchairempire.com/Interviews/jeff-green-5.htm |title=Jeff Green (CGW) Interview: Part V |publisher=The Armchair Empire |date=October 1, 2004 |access-date=2009-10-19 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080704151301/http://www.armchairempire.com/Interviews/jeff-green-5.htm |archive-date=July 4, 2008 |df=mdy-all }} 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.{{cite book |title=The Art of Warcraft (Paperback) |isbn=0744000815 |last1=Green |first1=Jeff |last2=Farkas |first2=Bart |year=2002 |publisher=BradyGames }} 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.{{cite web |url=http://www.armchairempire.com/Interviews/jeff_greenIII.htm |title=Jeff Green (CGW) Interview: Part III |publisher=The Armchair Empire |date=June 20, 2002 |access-date=2009-10-19 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080828235454/http://www.armchairempire.com/Interviews/jeff_greenIII.htm |archive-date=August 28, 2008 |df=mdy-all }} 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".{{cite web |url=http://www.1up.com/do/blogEntry?publicUserId=5380367&bId=8865013 |title=Ripples |first=Jeff |last=Green |website=1UP.com |date=September 6, 2008 |access-date=2009-10-21 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090225212727/http://www.1up.com/do/blogEntry?bId=8865013&publicUserId=5380367 |archive-date=February 25, 2009 |df=mdy-all }}

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.{{cite web |url=http://www.firingsquad.com/news/newsarticle.asp?searchid=11488 |title=CGW's Editor Talks About Move To Games For Windows Mag |first=John |last=Callaham |date=June 2, 2008 |publisher=FiringSquad |access-date=2009-10-21 }} 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".{{cite magazine |url=http://www.escapistmagazine.com/articles/view/editorials/interviews/1216-Game-Magazines-Have-Sucked-for-Forever-GFWs-Jeff-Green-on-the-Future-of-Print-Media |title="Game Magazines Have Sucked for Forever": GFW's Jeff Green on the Future of Print Media |first=Sean |last=Sands |date=June 27, 2007 |magazine=The Escapist |access-date=2009-10-21 }}

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.{{cite web |url=http://www.1up.com/do/blogEntry?publicUserId=5380367&bId=8693249 |title=CGW/GFW 1981–2008 |first=Jeff |last=Green |date=April 8, 2008 |publisher=1up.com |access-date=2009-10-22 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080409025153/http://www.1up.com/do/blogEntry?bId=8693249&publicUserId=5380367 |archive-date=April 9, 2008 |df=mdy-all }} 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.{{cite web |url=http://www.1up.com/do/blogEntry?bId=8693243&publicUserId=1002446 |title=The end of an era? |first=Simon |last=Cox |date=April 8, 2008 |publisher=1up.com |access-date=2009-10-22 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110605042641/http://www.1up.com/do/blogEntry?bId=8693243&publicUserId=1002446 |archive-date=June 5, 2011 |df=mdy-all }} 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.{{cite web |url=http://www.1up.com/do/blogEntry?publicUserId=5380367&bId=8736150 |title=Hello and welcome! |first=Jeff |last=Green |date=May 15, 2008 |publisher=1up.com |access-date=2009-10-22 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110605042658/http://www.1up.com/do/blogEntry?publicUserId=5380367&bId=8736150 |archive-date=June 5, 2011 |df=mdy-all }} However, as time passed, Green found that he was less interested in contributing to the website than he was in the magazine.{{citation needed|date=May 2025}}

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.

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.{{cite web |url=http://www.joystiq.com/2008/09/05/gfws-jeff-green-leaves-1up-for-sims-team/ |title=GFW's Jeff Green leaves 1UP for Sims team |first=Justin |last=McElroy |date=September 5, 2008 |publisher=Joystiq |access-date=2009-10-22 }} 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."{{cite video|people=Ashley, Robert; Elliott, Shawn; Gallegos, Anthony; Green, Jeff; Scott, Ryan |title=GFW Radio weekly podcast – 9/10/2008 |date=September 10, 2008 |publisher=1up.com |medium=Podcast |access-date=2009-10-22 |time=57:20 |url=http://download.gamevideos.com/Podcasts/CGW/GFWR091008.mp3 |format=mp3 }}{{dead link|date=April 2017 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}

September 22, 2008 was Green's first official day as an employee of Electronic Arts.{{cite web |url=http://jeff-greenspeak.blogspot.com/2008/09/wow-am-i-tired.html |title=Wow, am I tired. |first=Jeff |last=Green |date=September 22, 2008 |access-date=2009-10-23 |publisher=Blogger }} 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."{{cite web |url=http://jeff-greenspeak.blogspot.com/2008/10/oy-vey.html |title=Oy vey. |first=Jeff |last=Green |date=October 22, 2008 |access-date=2009-10-23 |publisher=Blogger }} In November 2008, Green said he was helping to research future games in the SimAnimals line.{{cite web |url=http://jeff-greenspeak.blogspot.com/2008/11/fun-with-animals.html |title=Fun with animals. |first=Jeff |last=Green |date=December 7, 2008 |access-date=2009-10-23 |publisher=Blogger }} Within six months of his employment at EA, Green had been moved to a new project three times.{{cite web |url=http://jeff-greenspeak.blogspot.com/2009/03/game-design-is-hard-part-iii.html |title=Game Design is Hard, Part III |first=Jeff |last=Green |date=March 22, 2009 |access-date=2009-10-23 |publisher=Blogger }} Green wrote dialogue and other text for SimAnimals and MySims Agents{{cite web |url=http://jeff-greenspeak.blogspot.com/2009/05/this-morning.html |title=This morning. |first=Jeff |last=Green |date=May 13, 2009 |access-date=2009-10-23 |publisher=Blogger }} and helped promote MySims Agents at the 2009 Gamescom in Cologne, Germany.{{cite web |url=http://jeff-greenspeak.blogspot.com/2009/09/together-through-life.html |title=Together through life. |first=Jeff |last=Green |date=September 20, 2009 |access-date=2009-10-23 |publisher=Blogger }}

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". 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".{{cite web |url=http://jeff-greenspeak.blogspot.com/2009/01/game-design-is-hard.html |title=Game design is hard. |first=Jeff |last=Green |date=January 15, 2009 |access-date=2009-10-23 |publisher=Blogger }}

On October 23, 2009, Green announced via Twitter that he had been named editor-in-chief of EA.com.{{cite web |url=https://twitter.com/Greenspeak/status/5106635075 |title=Ok! It can finally be told… |date=October 23, 2009 |access-date=2009-10-23 |first=Jeff |last=Green |publisher=Twitter }} 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."{{cite web |url=http://jeff-greenspeak.blogspot.com/2009/10/my-new-gig-part-ii-getting-new-gig.html |title=My New Gig, Part II: The New Gig |first=Jeff |last=Green |date=October 30, 2009 |access-date=2009-10-30 |publisher=Blogger }} 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".{{cite web |url=https://twitter.com/Greenspeak/status/5106873016 |title=It's not quite PR, and not… |date=October 23, 2009 |access-date=2009-10-23 |first=Jeff |last=Green |publisher=Twitter }}

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.{{Cite web|url=http://jeff-greenspeak.blogspot.com/2010/08/where-im-at.html|title=Greenspeak: Where I'm at|date=August 14, 2010}}

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.{{cite video|url=http://download.gamevideos.com/Podcasts/CGW/021606.mp3 |title=CGW Radio weekly podcast – 02/16/2006 |medium=Podcast |format=mp3 |date=February 16, 2006 |publisher=1up.com |people=Elliott, Shawn; Gladstone, Darren; Green, Jeff; Lee, Garnett |access-date=2009-10-23 }}{{dead link|date=April 2017 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }} 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." 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.{{cite web |url=http://www.1up.com/do/blogEntry?publicUserId=4549029&bId=8877748 |title=The End of GFW Radio |first=Andrew |last=Pfister |date=September 18, 2008 |publisher=1up.com |access-date=2009-10-23 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090226035754/http://www.1up.com/do/blogEntry?bId=8877748&publicUserId=4549029 |archive-date=February 26, 2009 |df=mdy-all }}

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."{{cite web |url=http://jeff-greenspeak.blogspot.com/2009/06/me-my-life-and-official-ea-podcast.html |title=Me, My Life, and the Official EA Podcast. |first=Jeff |last=Green |date=June 20, 2009 |access-date=2009-10-23 |publisher=Blogger }} The first episode of the EA podcast was released on June 19, 2009.{{cite web|url=http://www.ea.com/blogs/ea-underground/introducing-ea-podcast |title=Introducing the EA Podcast! |author=Samanthix |date=June 19, 2009 |publisher=Electronic Arts |access-date=2009-10-23 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090910053626/http://www.ea.com/blogs/ea-underground/introducing-ea-podcast |archive-date=September 10, 2009 }} 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.{{cite web|url=http://mexicutedbyhepitacos.libsyn.com/ |title=Out of the Game |publisher=Liberated Syndication |access-date=2009-10-23 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100105032650/http://mexicutedbyhepitacos.libsyn.com/ |archive-date=January 5, 2010 }}

Jeff Green has appeared as a special guest on Giant Bomb's Giant Bombcast (on Aug 17, 2010,{{cite web |url=http://www.giantbomb.com/podcast/?podcast_id=174 |publisher=Giantbomb.com |title=Giant Bombcast |access-date=2010-08-18 }} Dec 14, 2010,{{cite web |url=http://www.giantbomb.com/podcast/?podcast_id=194 |publisher=Giantbomb.com |title=Giant Bombcast |access-date=2010-12-14 }} and Nov 12, 2013{{cite web |url=http://www.giantbomb.com/podcasts/giant-bombcast-11-12-2013/1600-671/ |publisher=Giantbomb.com |title=Giant Bombcast |access-date=2013-11-13 }}) and on Episode 87 of RebelFM.{{citation needed|date=May 2025}}

{{Expand section|date=December 2009}}

Green lives in Berkeley, California with his wife and daughter,{{cite web |url=http://jeff-greenspeak.blogspot.com/2009/09/hellmouth-confidential.html |title=Hellmouth Confidential |first=Jeff |last=Green |date=September 28, 2009 |access-date=2009-10-23 |publisher=Blogger }} and has written game reviews for Games for Windows in the past.{{cite magazine |magazine=Games for Windows: The Official Magazine |title=The Sims 2: FreeTime review |first=Sarah Jaisser |last=Green |date=April–May 2008 |issue=17 |page=72 |issn=0744-6667 }} 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.{{cite video |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0lHQLNN9K8w |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211212/0lHQLNN9K8w| archive-date=2021-12-12 |url-status=live|title=Real Talk w/ Jeff Green – The Younger Years (Part 1) – 12/06/2013 |medium=Video |format=avi |date=June 12, 2013 |publisher=itmeJP |people=McDaniel, JP; Green, Jeff; Lee, Garnett |access-date=2009-10-23 }}{{cbignore}}

{{reflist}}

• [http://jeff-greenspeak.blogspot.com/ Jeff Green's blog]
• [https://twitter.com/greenspeak Jeff Green] on Twitter

{{Electronic Arts}}

{{Authority control}}

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Category:1961 births

Category:American media critics

Category:American magazine editors

Category:Electronic Arts employees

Category:Living people

Category:Video game critics

Category:Writers from Berkeley, California