Electronic Arts is about the only game publisher that feels like it has its corporate head firmly on its corporate shoulders. It's blue chip; it's professional; it's Disney for gamers; it's brand after successful brand. But, it is still subject to the schizophrenia of the game industry.

On one side it is at the mercy of the game playing community. This means that every indiscretion, every tweak of a franchise title, and every nuance of creativity is subject to the slings and arrows of outraged Web pundits, of which there are hundreds, if not thousands, all operating on fanatical, enthusiastic energy, and little sleep. Then, there's the growing number of gaming magazines, each of which seems to be mired in the same parallel dimension: the one where unreleased titles and hardware are always going to revolutionize gaming, and where recently released titles and hardware don't seem to get that, "it's all about game-play". On a completely different tack, Electronic Arts has to perform for stock pundits and financial analysts who have steadfastly abandoned gaming companies in favor of more lucrative Internet and entertainment businesses, leaving the company as a lone standard bearer for the industry. Finally, there is the specter of the media companies getting back into gaming. Disney is getting Mickey on to N64, and George Lucas' has shown what can be done by moving your creative assets between screen, computer, and console, not to mention, toy box.