The Simpsons go to 'E4'

by JC Fletcher on Nov 15th 2011 8:30AM

The opening scene of last night's Simpsons episode brought the family to the "Expensive Electronic Entertainment Expo" (or "E4," a joke that works even better if you realize the writers forgot about the existence of E For All).

You'll have to wait eight days or so to see the episode on Hulu if you missed it -- longer still if you're outside of the US -- but GameSetWatch has done us the favor of collecting some of the on-the-nose visual gags from the scene. In addition to the three screencaps presented in the post, GSW reports that parody games including Grand Theft Scratchy: Itchy City Stories, Shaun White: Time Snowboarder, and World of Krustcraft made appearances.

Perhaps the best thing about this sequence is that it suggests a Simpsons writer was present at E3 for the sole purpose of taking notes on the spectacle.

Source: GameSetWatch

Tags: e3, e3-expo, parody, the-simpsons

Reader Comments (44)

I remember when Simpsons was relevant...

@Timjoy

Halo didn't even exist back then.

@Timjoy

I remember when someone mentioned E for All in a post on Joystiq as if it were relevant.

@Timjoy
unfortunately i'm too young to have experienced such times, but i remember when fox had a decent sunday line-up

@Timjoy

Remember when The Simpsons referred to people and products by name, instead of just changing one letter?

@Timjoy

Do you remember a time when women couldn't vote and certain people weren't allowed on golf courses? Pepperidge Farm remembers.

@Jesta

You just made everyone's point with that reference from a far superior show.

Hmm. I'd like to see the E3 stuff but watching modern Simpsons makes me very sad. Decisions.

@Roto13

The video game goofs are only in the first four minutes or so, if that helps.

@Roto13

It was actually a pretty good episode as far as modern Simpsons goes. The Food Blog song was amazing.

I haven't watched in years, and this looks utterly pathetic. Perhaps they are working on the assumption 'if we can just get through this rough decade and a half, we're sure to hit out stride again!'

The Simpsons are still pretty good, the Family Guy generation and people tainted by nostalgia are the only things ruining it

@AntsPai You could apply that to games too. **Looks at Nintendo**

@Chris DPSN AggieCEO XBLThe Aggi

I don't know... *Looks at Super Mario Galaxy 2*

...

*Sheds a tear of greatness*

@Apsac D
And Skyward Sword. Since my copy turned up I haven't been back to Elder Scrolls V.

@AntsPai

Nostalgia doesn't explain why the only decent episodes of The Simpsons over the last four seasons have been the yearly Treehouse of Horror specials. I think the shitty writing also plays a part in ruining it.

Watch Futurama and Archer, leave The Simpsons to finally die.

@AntsPai I don't watch Family Guy and I still think the Simpsons are no good anymore.

All the creativity is gone.

@AntsPai
Pretty pathetic point of view. What you said doesn't work, no matter how I try to wrap my mind about it. How is it possible that nostalgia ruins modern Simpsons when nostalgia is pretty much fondness for the old, which, in turn were way superior on their on terms? I go as far as saying that up to season 9, everything was fine. When season 10 hit, there's where everything started to crumble. And I'm saying that as someone who since late last year, watched the whole series again up to the tenth and gave up on that one as there's a chasm of quality difference between those.

Pretty interesting, after writing my whole rant (as it is, unedited), I found this on wikipedia:
"By 2000, some long-term fans had become disillusioned with the show and pointed to its shift from character-driven plots to what they perceived as an overemphasis on zany antics. The BBC noted 'the common consensus is that The Simpsons' golden era ended after season nine'".
So yeah, I'm not alone on that.

BTW, season 22 have showed some of the old spirit (character-driven plots, as stated above), but it's a hit and miss experience.

I find it interesting that people slam the Simpsons who don't watch it. Honestly, it's not any worse now than it was then when it started. As a young teenager when it started I found it funny, I grew up and the humour remained pretty much the same. It's hayday was four or five years in and it's pretty much rehashing things since then. The problem is the world around it has changed. Honestly though if it was so bad it would not be generating so much money people just need to be less elitest about their entertainments. Honestly the saddest part about that episode is that I'd not be suprised to see any of that as a real product and I'm slightly shocked (and disapointed in the hobby that I love) that I'm suprised Human Centipede is not a game already.

@commonperson

How would such a game be played? It looks like a 5 player co-op using trackballs as controls. There's 2 buttons, but I'm guessing one is a start button so what's the other button for? Nourishment?

@Morisato13 that would make sense... oh god I'm going to be ill just thinking about it. ;-)

@commonperson There IS a game of Human Centipede. It's a flash game and I will not post the link here. You're on your own for that one. In all honesty this Sunday's episode was actually one of the best episodes of The Simpsons I've seen in years. It combined all the things I loved; video games, cultural food, and Breaking Bad. I like the little touches in the E4 segment like the developer lamenting over spending years of his life developing a game that took only a few hours to complete.

I like how all these haters bash The Simpsons and praise Family Guy when that show is going downhill as well. Even MacFarlane admitted the show should be over now.

Every time I see a new Simpsons episode... I die a little inside.

@drballsey Here's every episode of family guy now:

*Brian rants about politics and religion

*A gag goes on for 5 minutes

*Something violent happens and someone pukes up a brown liquid

I thought it was hilarious. I don't see why some people are acting so butthurt about it. Also don't see why some people that Like Family Guy don't like the Simpsons and vice versa....

@Chris DPSN AggieCEO XBLThe Aggi

For me, Simpsons, Family Guy, American Dad, none of them are worth watching anymore. And Cleveland Show was always just terrible. Or "turrible".

People got opinions.

The Simpsons and Family Guy are both completely awful and are pretty much on life-support right now.

@ouenwoof
this

the family guy episode last week about domestic violence was just awful

Any reference to the Human Centepede always makes my anus quiver.

...ugh...there it is.

@CaptainProtonX

You should be more concerned for where your mouth "ends" up.

@CaptainProtonX I was wondering if it was also a reference towards the SP episode myself.

I loved seeing this. Especially the Nintendo zii with the controller and everything hahaha

The Simpsons is Awesome no question about it.

I think it's safe to say that everyone forgot about the existence of E For All.

Human Centipede The Arcade needs to be made.

@Lawfer

No. No it doesn't.

@Zoot Suit Jedi Grammar Hammer En
You need at least 3 players, and you run together through these obstacles avoiding the crazy man who whips you which messes up your controls, and you need to move simultaneously or risk getting blood infections, and there's a timer. Don't let the timer run out, whatever you do.

But in the end, the timer always runs out.

I see a handful of Simpson's haters... gotta say, these last few seasons have been stellar. This is a show that seems to be getting better with age.

It's also quite amazing to have a show that's this popular still, that's older than a large percentage of it's viewers!

A Human Centipede joke?

South Park did it!

Assassin's Creed: Summer of Love

a hippie assassin wanders 1960-1970's America

I actually saw and met Matt Groening at last year's E3. It was an incredible and defining moment of my life.

I thought this was to do with British TV for a second.

An Assassin's Creed game where hidden blade-ing filthy hippies is an option?

I HOPE YOU'RE PAYING ATTENTION, UBISOFT.

Wow, the simpsons managed to mangle itchy & scratchy AND krusty into 2006's hottest game titles, hey, so that's fresh, right? Someone should've put that bag of trash out by the curb seasons and seasons ago, along with fail-mly guy, amurican dad and all of those other horrid, brain deadening, unfunny, faux animated "comedies". None of those shows are clever or witty like they - and their self-deluded audiences - think they are. And it's funny because people bag on other people for watching south park instead of the simpsons or family guy or whatever, but really they're all just the same crap. The ONLY one I can even give a compliment to is south park, because at least its creators don't take the show seriously. Seth macfarlane's self-sucking hubris is evident in every episode of family guy, and all you need to do is look at the cast of the simpsons' cast to know what they think of themselves and how "relevant" they think they still are.

The Simpsons go to 'E4'

Reader Comments (44)

Posted: Nov 15th 2011 8:41AM Timjoy said

Posted: Nov 15th 2011 8:44AM baby sea tuna said

Posted: Nov 15th 2011 8:44AM Assmar said

Posted: Nov 15th 2011 8:50AM marklyndongarcia said

Posted: Nov 15th 2011 8:53AM Gibbeynator said

Posted: Nov 15th 2011 10:10AM Jesta said

Posted: Nov 15th 2011 10:51AM baby sea tuna said

Posted: Nov 15th 2011 8:41AM Roto13 said

Posted: Nov 15th 2011 11:17AM Colin said

Posted: Nov 15th 2011 2:20PM 343 Guilty Fart said

Posted: Nov 15th 2011 8:42AM Dick Socrates said

Posted: Nov 15th 2011 8:48AM AntsPai said

Posted: Nov 15th 2011 9:00AM Chris DPSN AggieCEO XBLThe Aggi said

Posted: Nov 15th 2011 9:17AM Apsac D said

Posted: Nov 15th 2011 10:20AM Undulation said

Posted: Nov 15th 2011 10:29AM The Joy of Painting w Bob Ross said

Posted: Nov 15th 2011 8:18PM Zolbrod said

Posted: Nov 16th 2011 7:11AM TheShaper said

Posted: Nov 15th 2011 8:56AM commonperson said

Posted: Nov 15th 2011 9:50AM Morisato13 said

Posted: Nov 15th 2011 10:44AM commonperson said

Posted: Nov 15th 2011 11:12AM bamb0ostick said

Posted: Nov 15th 2011 9:04AM drballsey said

Posted: Nov 15th 2011 3:17PM Danthaman said

Posted: Nov 15th 2011 9:16AM Chris DPSN AggieCEO XBLThe Aggi said

Posted: Nov 15th 2011 11:12AM freaparn said

Posted: Nov 15th 2011 9:33AM ouenwoof said

Posted: Nov 15th 2011 10:03AM marklyndongarcia said

Posted: Nov 15th 2011 10:13AM CaptainProtonX said

Posted: Nov 15th 2011 11:30AM Zoot Suit Jedi Grammar Hammer En said

Posted: Nov 15th 2011 5:44PM SpectaSpec said

Posted: Nov 15th 2011 10:44AM psnkillstrike said

Posted: Nov 15th 2011 10:48AM ZXREYES said

Posted: Nov 15th 2011 11:10AM r0bster78 said

Posted: Nov 15th 2011 11:15AM Lawfer said

Posted: Nov 15th 2011 11:31AM Zoot Suit Jedi Grammar Hammer En said

Posted: Nov 15th 2011 2:21PM chargen said

Posted: Nov 15th 2011 12:11PM Axcalibur said

Posted: Nov 15th 2011 12:16PM db2 said

Posted: Nov 15th 2011 12:58PM Greyfoxtypezero said

Posted: Nov 15th 2011 3:36PM markhill66 said

Posted: Nov 15th 2011 5:35PM MrAlex said

Posted: Nov 15th 2011 9:33PM Scnew said

Posted: Nov 20th 2011 2:07AM Yatagarasu said

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