Wednesday, June 27, 2007

1408



I was at the movies over the weekend, checking out 1408. Not a great movie, but a really damn good one, to be sure. So nice to see a well written, well made horror/ghost movie, versus more of this dark, serial killer, inches-away-from-being-a-snuff-film that passes for the horror genre these days (Hostel, Saw, Captivity,etc). Not that I'm opposed to those movies, but they lack the creativity of a great horror film, like Poltergeist or The Shining. And while 1408 is not in the league of those films, it's still a fun, creepy ride. I'm also really digging the various theories about the ending of the movie; it's open ended so we may never know but each time I hear a new one, I'm like: 'oh yeah! That must be what the ending is about!'

I was in LA for Monday night- meet with Scott and Kellan from Incog for some design meetings- and let me tell you: checking into my hotel and going up to my room freaked me out just a little bit. I mean, after about 2 minutes, I was over it, but damn if that movie didn't change the way I look at hotels.

Oh, and it's so great to see John Cusak back on the screen. He was great in this movie!

Anyway, not much to write about at the moment. Deep in design phase as we just decided the game we want to make next so I got a document to write. Also need to figure out the right concept art to commision for the title so the powers that be- when they see it- will get on board with what we want to do next. Hope it all goes well.

Hope you're doing well! Chat with ya'll later! Gotta get to work!

David

7 comments:

Anonymous said...

Hey! When are u planing on appearing on EGM Live!, the official podcast for Electronic Gaming Monthly? I cant wait to hear you man!

Anonymous said...

David thanks for the great games i am enjoying Calling All Cars. Looking forward to whatever you have coming up. Look for me online!

-Wreckheart

Anonymous said...

cant wait for your new game even though i know nothing about it.

Rob Zepeda said...

Dave,

When are you going to make a ghost game?

I get a sense that you have some personal interest in the paranormal (going back to your blog post about being down in Old Town).

We need a really great American horror game. The Japanese, bless them, are masters of the genre, but the States have such a rich history in that genre.

Joel said...

hey jaffe.

this is probably one of the most exciting times in the birth of a game.

you get to come up with so many ideas right now!

TOTALLY the best part.

i think later in a game its much less creative because you have to keep cutting out stuff, and trouble shooting.

anyways... my suggestion, if you dont mind.. INCLUDE us in some of the decisions..

you can mask them somehow if you must, but i would love to try to help you with certain things.. like i dunno, some idea you arent sure about.. or just pose really vague questions and let us try to help you (without you giving away too much information on your game, which im sure you arent allowed to do)

i personally am hoping for something with online cooperative gameplay. something about that just screams of awesomeness to me.

have you ever imagined playing god of war with your best friend? what if you and a buddy could storm the hydra level together... jumping on his shoulders to get to higher places, and then leaning down and grabbing his arm and pulling him up... or how about theres so many bad guys that you have to take turns twirling that elevator platform up (from gow2) while the skeletons keep regenerating and hitting you..

how about one guy on the other side of the place pulls a lever which opens a door up above and you platform up there and pull a lever which enables him to get through a timed area with another lever.


although levers are getting a little old.

but theres tons of fun stuff to do with coop!

i love the scenes in movies where theres a circle of bad guys, and the two main characters stand back to back... facing the hordes! and they have all these sweet combo moves, AGH! how great would that be to play that!

you and your friend would TOTALLY high five after that one.

SO much better than taking turns every time you or your friend dies.



the only problem i see is if your friend isnt good enough, it could get frustrating on your part watching him jump for the platform 10 times, before you guys can finally move on.

plus.. with co-op, there can still be SOME head-to-head elements.. like say you and your buddy are both trying to upgrade your armor by stealing it off of guys you kill. and so you could like.. compete to see who gets it the most.

or finding secret items.. you guys both explore as fast as you can, opening doors, and looking behind stuff looking for a gorgon eye to upgrade your health meter.


:p seems cool to me! especially if you can play it online with your friend.

he lives 4 hours away, but you can still play together every night!

JH said...

Oh, i wanted to see 1408. It looked really good.

I think I'm going to see Die Hard and then TRANSFORMERS!!!!! I can't wait for that movie. I hope it's not a let down.

Keep up the good work!

PSN ID: Beelzeboss

felman said...

http://www.ps3informer.com/playstation-3/games/calling-all-cars-006890.php
Thought you might like to read my review of your game. I thought it was great.