...ok, maybe not. But my point is: wanted to post but don't have tons of energy to do so. I feel fine but me and my wife both have a tenacious cough that won't seem to go away. The incessant coughing and old man style wheezing keeps me up at night (it is 2:30 am now, and I've been up since 1:30am). So lack of sleep over the last 3-4 days is catching up to me. So I wanna blog, but it's gonna be real short handy. Here goes with the quick hits:
* Zach & Wiki rocks much. Love the structure, love the puzzles, love the design. Love how the whole puzzle is right in front of you and- for the most part- how the puzzle environments are these little self contained chunks. On God of War, there was this whole 'oooh, a 'guess what the designer is thinking' puzzle=a bad puzzle!' but this game makes it clear- to me- that sometimes those sorts of puzzles are the best kind! Sort of the puzzle equiv. of a quick time event, where you get to experience a more narrative, one-off scenario, versus being a slave to a handful of key mechanics the game uses over and over. This game kind of reminds me- core play wise- of the classic 16 bitter OUT OF THIS WORLD/ANOTHER WORLD.
* I love my job. I simply love doing my job. It is so much fun and so exciting. I am so lucky I get to do it with the team I get to do it with. What a blast.
* I am reading A NEW EARTH by Eckhart Tolle and it really is changing my life. One of the most amazing books I have ever read.
* Me and my wife went to see Eckhart Tolle speak in San Diego last week. Great content but not the world's most engaging speaker. In some ways this was the point. But still...reading his book is better than seeing him speak, for me.
* Taking the A NEW EARTH online class with Oprah and Eckhart. It rocks. I guess you could say that right now, we are Tolle junkies in my house. His book is one of the three key philosophical books that have really shaped my life over the last few years. The whole list is:
-When Things Fall Apart: Pema Chodron's Buddha/Shambala teachings aimed at a Western audience
- Any LAW OF ATTRACTION BOOK- Abraham/Hicks, The Secret, Think and Grow Rich,etc.
-A New Earth-the Eckhart Tolle book
* I get more and more excited for Indy Jones 4 as the days wear on. Even if what I am starting to suspect is true- that Lucas has had more influence on any movie, let alone a Spielberg movie, than he should- I am still excited. Even if the film is one of the worst Spielberg movies ever made, I don't care. It's Indy, it's summer. I'm so jazzed.
* Tier A Summer Flicks=Iron Man, Indy, Hulk, Speed Racer, Batman, Get Smart
Tier B Summer Flicks (anticipation wise)= WallE, Sex and the City, The Happening, Hancock, Wanted, Hellboy II, The Mumm* y 3
Even if only 1/3 rock, it's gonna be a hell of a summer movie season.
* I had typed a paragraph on game reviews being broken and then erased it. Does the gaming net need ANYMORE blogs/articles/debate on:
-game reviews/state of game journalism?
-games as art debate?
-violence in video games debate/ESRB ratings debate?
I think not. Game mags and web sites should not publish any story dealing with these issues for the next 18 months and see what happens. Will it force the mags/sites to come up with more interesting features? Will it force us to come to the conclusion that games are consumer products and beyond core reviews, there's not much to cover? Who knows...but man, I just can't read another story on those tired old subjects.
* My new movie star girlfriend is the Asian woman from Battlestar Galactica. I don't watch the show (I know I should, but there are only so many hours in a day...I have yet to see an episode of LOST, for crying out loud! Hell, I still have 3 discs to get thru on my first season of THE OC box set and I've had that for 2 years!)....but anyway, oh man, Grace Park- her name- is amazing.
* Kate Beckinsale recently said...well hell, if you know Kate like I know Kate, you KNOW what she said. God bless her!
* I miss the old E3.
* I have a BAFTA! For GOW OF WAR 2 story! I did the least amount of work on the story, compared to my fellow winners Cory and Marianne but hell, I'll take it! How amazing is it to have a damn BAFTA?!? That's pretty sweet and probably as close as I will ever get to an Oscar. How neat!
* Should I go to PAX? Should I go to GenCon? Never been to either.
* Should I go hear Wil Wheaton read from his newest book when he is in San Diego this month? I just re-read the amazing DANCING BAREFOOT in one setting the other night, and I think I will. But what if he's like (cause he's a gamer): 'Jaffe? Screw you man, I hate your games! I ain't signing shit for you!' I'm not really worried about him doing that, but what if he did? That'd be kind of cool, but sad.
Ok, need to go to sleep. Coughing has died down, maybe I will make it this time, thru the rest of the nite.
Goodnite ya'll!
David
ps. tired, sleepy so ain't no typo or spell checking going down here....usually I do a little of that but hell, not tonite....later!
Sex and the City? Really? Not that I know you, but from what I have seen/read of you, you don't seem like a Sex and the City type of guy.
ReplyDeleteThat and guys really shouldn't watch that show. ;)
Cheers...
>* I miss the old E3.
ReplyDeleteI "pour a little out for my dead hommies" in memory of the old E3... :)
At least we got to enjoy E3 in it's prime!
-rallyRays-
Hmm...yes. Kate Beckinsale has a point. At least if we're thinking about the same thing. Of course, the Sushi vs. "something warm" comment...well, I'm sure most of us would pick the "something warm". Hell, I would, and I like sushi.
ReplyDeleteYou seem to be ill every other week. Wow. See a doctor, man. =P
Urgh...I officially dislike Lucas. Although after the crap that was "Star Wars Episode 1-3" (they actually made it hard to watch 4-6), I just can't take him seriously. And when people like him are revered like gods when REAL creative geniuses (Joss Whedon and the like) are all but unheard of, still, by many people. How are there people out there who still haven't seen Firefly? There's only 14 episodes, and they're some of the best TV that's ever been. Of course, everyone's seen Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith, which is one of the worst films I've seen in the past...ever.
Anyway. Congrats on the Bafta. Seriously. Although, to be honest, I thought God of War 1's story was better.
ya i cant wate for thos movie as well but ill pas on Sex and the City,
ReplyDeleteo and i meet Grace Park twice she is very nice so is Aya Ueto know what i like to see a Asian girl in Twisted Metal that be so freaking cool :). "私は私の願いのカリュプソーがほしいと思う"
"나는 나의 소원 칼립소를 원한다".
well get well son jaffe.
David,
ReplyDeleteI work in Public Affairs. I manage the IT and data at my firm. What is the best way for me to make a transition to the development side of video games (2-4 years of school is one way), but i would like to be involved in the creative aspects. Where should I start? Do i need to write a script and story with game play elements as an example. If you were bringing someone new to your team, what do you look for? Maybe you have somewhere i can start.
David, to get rid of the cough, start taking Zinc. You can get a bottle of it for super cheap. I tried everything, had that cough for about a month and then was told to try it. It works man!
ReplyDeleteI can't believe you put Speed Racer on tier A...and right next to Batman! I'm just going to assume thats the lack of sleep talking and its a typo :) After seeing that trailer it would take quite a bit to get me in that theater.
ReplyDeleteseriously dave, you gotta watch Lost! The pilot episode is amazing and the whole show in general is well written .
ReplyDelete-Z
http://crispygamer.com/GroupSummary.aspx?GroupID=109
Short post... I found that one pretty long and pretty damn awesome. I look forward to the summer movies as well and I was wondering how big the team was at eat, sleep, play? Sounds like an amazing place to work. I am also lucky to be working with a great group of people but probably not as nearly as awesome as the guys over there. Any new updates on the new title? I sat down about two weeks ago with my 360 controller planning out the controls for my new story/idea. Good luck on kicking that colds ass. hate when that stuff tries to bring you down!
ReplyDelete-Josh
Kate Beckinsale is amazing. I use to imagine that I had a shot with her...but then I realize that she has a 9 year old kid...9! She's too old for me. She gave birth to a kid before I even hit puberty(or somewhere close to it). Still, Kate, if you're reading this, cause I'm sure you're a big fan of reading Jaffe blog (ha! yeah right...I'm barely a fan), I believe we can still work it out.
ReplyDeleteAnd what's the deal with Wall•E not being an A list movie...there is just no hope for you.
And as for scifi chicks, Gigi Edgley is and will always be the hottest. But maybe I just have a fetish with the color blue..
Go to PAX. Atleast just check it out once. From what I understand it's similar to what E3 use to be.
Also, yes, we need lots of new video game reviewers/previewers. As many as it takes to get the word out that 50 Cent was a terrible game and that it does not need a sequal!
Later
-tapion440
How did "When Things Fall Apart" shape your life. That book was horible (opinion). The author's main point of the book was to basicaly prove that the tribe of Africans weren't savages and the main charactor beats his wife for not making dinner, he kills his own son, shoots at his wife if she trys to leave. I know that the "white people" in the book did too act like savages too, but they fell because of a messed up leader (reminds me much os Stalin).
ReplyDeletegreekdude...I have no idea what you are talking about.
ReplyDeleteThis is the book I am talking about...sheesh :)
http://www.amazon.com/When-Things-Fall-Apart-Difficult/dp/1590302265/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1206656878&sr=8-1
David :)
lol. WOW. My bad.. I thought you were talking about this book
ReplyDeletehttp://www.amazon.com/Things-Fall-Apart-Chinua-Achebe/dp/0141023384/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1206657359&sr=8-1
I was thinking of "Things Fall Apart" lol... whoops.. sorry.
ok that was wired i was playing that Star Castal game on here and then it just dissapered
ReplyDeleteI know what you mean about Tolle he is a tough guy to look at, not a tough guy to listen to or read lol
ReplyDeleteMy opinion on him is a little bit undecided the power of now is powerful you cant fault where he's coming from but from personal experience if you want to bend the scope of your reality and the governing powers of your perception never listen to anyone else for even half the ammount of time you allocate to yourself...
But i just came across your blog to say.....
Just bought a PS3 and been checking all the demo's Heavenly Sword.......pretty game umm its god of war with a girl....
Then i read that ninja theory is gonna focus on making CGI movies or something to that effect and am in no doubt they can still taste the venom left over from dealing with being a major PS3 exclusive developer......
I dont know your current situation with sony, i know they own the IP of heavenly sword but i know the development consisted of it looking amazing as a priority.....
Then i started thinking its still a strong name the presentation was spot on am rarely that impressed by a games photography direction what a waste of money that it could possibly be dropped. But who could save it? You could, seriously the genre is a little bit full at the mo but bring in krytos two player coop a little bit dynasty warriors a little bit Little big planet i know it sounds a little cheesy but heavenly sword 2: goddess of war with some sharp multiplayer ideas and some unlockables lol and a playthrough of 8-10 hrs just hate seeing these unused assets.....
Hope you feel better :)
I also miss the old E3.
ReplyDeleteI was thinking about going to PAX this year too, never been. I wonder if the Mariners are in town during that time?
later,
-OScar
I miss the old E3 as well. They really need to fix up the new one cause it wasn't that great.
ReplyDeleteBatman is going to be awesome. I'm so psyched about it.
Hey, nice to see some fellow Hulk love. Heavily looking forward to the movie.
ReplyDeleteI'm sorry but the new Hulk movie I think is gonna blow. They shouldn't of switched actors. I really hated how they did that with batman. And Edward Norton doesn't fit the Bruce Banner part for me. Eric Bana wasn't bad at the last Hulk movie. They should've kept him.
ReplyDeleteSummer Flicks=Iron Man, Indy, Speed Racer, WallE, (kids will want this one) Hancock,
ReplyDeleteI think Speed Racer is going to be a real cheezball flick, but deep inside, my inner child tells me I must see this. I remeber watching that cartoon and Kimba the White Lion when I was like 5 years old.
Go to PAX, and go see Wil. You know if you were around here and doing a public talk on the gaming biz I would try to see you as well. You'ld probly want to duck and run, but that wouldn't stop me from trying to shake your hand and say hey.
I'm sure he would treat you with the same respect as anyone would expect.
Game designer´s got BAFTA? Wooow. Congratulations so much!!!
ReplyDeleteI regularly buy Louboutin Shoes , so I have many shoes in my Christian Louboutin Boots box for two seasons, although they are my best good. Christian Louboutin Sandals can be more and more girls and sexy good girl must keep intact all the time flat, charming and attractive. Buy cheap shoes, many Christian Louboutin Pumps ?
ReplyDeleteWhen buying portable HOPE AND FAITH , make sure you carefully examine basic features such as display resolution and battery of life for maximum efficiency. You can expect newer models of HOPE AND FAITH DVD player to arise in the coming years as this technology continues to improve its quality and offer more innovation. These newer HOPE AND FAITH DVD COLLECTION models will also introduce more advanced features that will enable you to enjoy more functionality and entertainment however you like it
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