Monday, April 27, 2009

Wherein I Get Hip...

Hey ya'll. This is a fairly long Skype interview I did the other night with the Hiphopgamershow.

The guys from the site had been posting in the comments about their site for a few months, wanting to get me on. After not being able to make a go of it for a bit, we finally had some time to connect last Tuesday night. It was a fun interview and it's clear that the HipHopGamer (I forget his actual name...I checked my Skype window where he's a contact of mine and it just says HHG, so I dunno his actual name :)....but it's clear he's passionate about games and a super, super nice guy to boot. I've seen on the net some people giving him shit about his energy level or the way he speaks but he just seemed like a real nice, passionate, and positive person to me. I had a great time, thought a lot of the questions were interesting, and was more than happy to work with HHG. So give it a watch/listen if you are so inclined!



Ok ya'll- off to the job- chat later!

David

52 comments:

lb003g0676 said...

Highly entertaining.

I mean I don't even think the academics would want to miss out on this extreme juxtaposition of characters.

Anyway, that's pretty classic.

pixelsword said...

I saw it yesterday. I was a really great interview. It's funny because we both noticed the little moth-like insects around some of the lights. Have you tried to shoot someone to get a blood spatter on the wall and then shoot the parts of the wall off to see the effect, or is that just me. At any rate, I also am glad to hear that the game is coming along fine. I personally can't wait because you seem to have a knack for making really well-done games.

To be honest though, it was after the first God of War that I knew that you were the one behind Twisted Metal; which was the only game that beat Rock 'N' Roll Racing in terms of fun in my mind when I was a kid.

P.S.

Hip-Hop Gamer's first name is Gerard I think, his last name starts with a "W"; I don't know what it is though.

Alex said...

It's obviosy Gerard Westonchesterfield. It has to be. Good interview jaffski, you looked very shaxy.

-rallyRAYS- said...

That was probably your best interview to date. The host's casual nature put you at ease. Well done!

Aclay said...

Yeah, I watched it last night Jaffe and really loved the interview. HipHopGamer gets a lot of hate, but I've been watching his shows since last early last year and really like listening to him.

It was pretty interesting what you said about Killzone 2, when you just stopped to just look at the little details in the game because I'm guilty of that myself!... actually I think that pretty much anyone that has Killzone 2 has done it.

I can't wait until E3 for all of the big game announcements and new game details... I wish your new game could be announced pretty soon, but I guess us fans will have to play the waiting game a little bit longer.

If you see a guy in the distance at E3 with a Wrestling Championship Belt... it's HipHopGamer, LOL.

Anonymous said...

HipHopGamer's real name is Gerad Williams.

Really enjoyed the interview! It was pretty 'fun', to say the least.

From what i've seen, most people actually admire his passion for the industry. But as a user from N4G pointed out, this is his problem (I'm also refering to his writers) - "It doesn't matter if you're writing about war, politics, or video games. If you're pushing opinion, it's not journalism. Period. There's nothing wrong with putting your thoughts out there, but mislabeling it as journalism is dishonest and misleading."

Haber said...

I agree that he's really passionate, and I do like reading his articles. Like I said in a previous comment last night, I cannot listen to him, sorry if you're(Gerald) reading this. Different strokes for different folks I guess, keep it up since that's what you love to do and people enjoy it. Don't let criticism hold you down. One more thing; I loved that your screen saver kept coming on, but it didn't seem to phase you.

Pao said...

That was awesome. Watched the whole thing during lunch before goin to work hehe. Props to HHG and Mr. Jaffe! Really looking forward to the new title.

Michael Jarvis said...

Wow, great interview, I wished it was longer, as you are a really good speaker (David).

Good job to you and the interviewer. I didn't mind him that much, as he wasn't stupid about his discussion, though he did seem somewhat fanboyish, but I suppose that is to be expected :)

TrevDogg said...

very cool that u would do the HHG show that is some down to earth shit jaffe. idk why ppl think his energy lvl is too high, hes a much better journalist than most cause he has a passion. most other game journalists seem to just do it for the money and the status u get.

bossman said...

Great interview and i gotta admit i love your style of games..I mean from twisted metal to god of war your are to me one of the best developers out there..Im not trying to flatter you either keep up the good work..Also plz keep up with your blog its inspiring and interesting to follow

Grogmonkey said...

I thought it was a very refreshing and entertaining interview. Lots of nice questions, with lots of detailed answers. Pretty much all you're looking for in an interview, really. Even if Mr. HHG was a little too... sycophantic at times.

I did come to a personal realisation while listening to it, though. It was regarding the question on whether Sony should have included the Blu-Ray drive with the PS3.

I came to realise just how much of a convert to Blu-Ray I was. Not in terms of gaming (as Mr. Jaffe pointed out in the interview, it's questionable what bonus it is to games in terms of what can and can't be done technically), but as a movie player. Now I have the ability to watch movies in high definition, I don't think I'll ever buy a DVD again (unless the movie I want isn't out on Blu-Ray; i.e. it's very old).

Had the PS3 not come with the Blu-Ray player, I doubt I would have bought a seperate player and jumped on to the high def train quite so eagerly.

So, on the one hand, as a consumer the price of the PS3 was certainly a barrier to entry (considering I only ever bought it as a games machine). But, by the same token, after taking the plunge with the 'expensive' console, having the ability to watch amazing-looking high def movies is a really significant bonus. And one which, retrospectively, was more than worth the price.

Sony still have an uphill struggle convincing people they need high def, and I'm sure a price drop will make the console fly off the shelves, but I'm glad they didn't opt for either a) a cheaper PS3 with a normal DVD drive, or b) the multi-sku mess that the 360 inevitably ended up as.

Anyway, just something that came to mind whilst enjoying a different 'flavour' of interview. Good job to all involved.

Agent-X said...

I'm a writer at hiphopgamershow and I have to say this was one of the best interviews I've have ever watched. I'm not saying it because I write for hiphopgamer It's just that the questions he asked where amazing and where well balanced questions and another thing is that David it was an honor having you on our site, so the crew and gerard williams aka hiphopgamer would like to thank you for taking a time of just to be on our show so thank you very much and hopefully we will meet again.

Agent-X - Hiphopgamershow :)

SonyJunkie said...

Really good interview. Jaffe is the man!!! The 60 minutes was not enough.

Your game might not be revealed to at least the end of this year, beginning of next year. OMG!!! You are killing us even though you really have no say in it.

Anonymous said...

As much as I loved Kinetica it was not the first game to have the save boost mechanic. Hydro Thunder had it before Kinetica.

Hellhound30 said...

Mr. Jaffe, that was probably the best interview I've seen in a while. It was raw, it touched on subject matter that I've been curious to know about. Over all the whole "tone" was very light hearted, and very real. Great stuff. I saw the entire interview from beginning to end.
That whole thing with "kinetica", and the siphon mechanic, was very interesting. Thats the kind of stuff, that me as a "fan" enjoy hearing about.
I'm glad you have a blog, and I'm glad that you take time out of your busy schedule to take the time to post on it on an almost daily basis. Its just like Hip hop gamer said, You are the "gamers, gamer." I just wanted to thank you for doing this.

Anonymous said...

That was a great interview. I just have to say that this whole blog is just plain awesome, keep up the good work. Great interview once again.

PezQ said...

Waiter: " So, what can i get you?"

HHG: " YEAH MAN! I knew you'se is gonna aks me that YEAAH!"

Waiter "..."

HHG; " No listen..SAY: THAT'S GANSTA!"

Waiter: " Wait..uh..no thank you sir"

HHG: " WOOOOH OKAY OKAY, HAHAHA thats cooool. "

*HGH claps his hands loudly*

HGH " Woooooooh okay, i feel you! i gots you, no problems son, ill have em pancakes for surely! "

* Waiter kills himself*

The End.

PezQ said...

Apparently his name changes from HHG to HGH...






..yes i know, Fail.

Unknown said...

well done jaffe for putting up with that! although i watched it all, and enjoyed your answers, i cant help but feel that the hiphop gamer cant even form his own opinion let alone string a sentence together. who let him into the journalist's world?

he reminded me of a little school girl, talking to a boy she liked.

Unknown said...

props for doing that interview. sure, Hip Hop Gamer is def not a journalist but as he says he's a "huge fan". and for you to interact directly with people who love your work is why I am a huge fan. keep it coming, David!

Unknown said...

its cool that you're so open to do interviews with so many people

Anonymous said...

He kinda annoyed me at first but after a while it didn't bother me, I honestly thought it was better than the lagtv interview

Vitter said...

Hey david, i was looking if there was any reply to my comment but now im seeing my post is no longer in here? what happened?

Chissock said...

That was a heck of a great interview, nice pacing and good questions, loved it!

Anonymous said...

Im not going to lie, but I cant stand that guy (and Ive been to his site before and tried to watch his shows (in which after about 5 minutes I had to turn it off)). And Im not racist or anything either, but he just seems very unprofessional (especially by the way he talks) as well as the fact that he seems like a fanboy and the way he likes to make highly unlikely clams seem like they will come true (if you watch some of his shows you will know what I mean). He doesnt really seem like a true journalist to me.

Overall he just doesnt fit in in my opinion. He's obviously in the gangster type group (not saying that he's in a gang), but normally you dont see people like that being hardcore gamers let alone cover them like this guys tries to do.

I will say though that based on your answers, that was an interesting interview. I watched the whole thing and actually enjoyed it.

Anonymous said...

Pretty cool and very nice questions indeed. I'm personally no longer fan of HHG though (used to be). There's just too much speculation on the show, in fact pretty much it's all speculation. Sometimes it gets really wild too. Like I remember they stated something like "Capcom going PSN exclusive" and stuff like that. Also something like Ninja Blade being better than Ninja Gaiden.

I don't know but to me their (or his) opinions and speculations just don't match up with me. And when none of these "wild" speculations go through you just start to kinda get annoyed for having wasted your time. Or at least I do. If they did more stuff like these interviews or even the ones that were with Aaron Greenberg (which I dislike btw), I'd be way more interested to watch/listen to.

For now it's just too much stuff that I feel is a waste of my time.

Anonymous said...

No one gives HHG hate because of his "passion or energy level", go check his site or watch the bullshit they post on N4G.com and you will know quickly why so many people trash his stuff. He seems like a great person but uses flame bait tactics to pull in traffic and blatantly lies about his numbers to get attention (I saw once he said he gets 4.5 million pageviews a month LOL), anyhow I'm sure your superfans think its cool but HHG is a plague and needs to either get his shit together or get lost.....

Robert said...

HipHopGamer Show is great. But every article on that blog is terrible, and made purely to flame bait and drive traffic. They're not written by the host. Seriously, the show is cool, but the writing is just below amateurish.

CleanNJerk101 said...

Wow at the haters..., is it a crime to have fun? The interview was great & raw.

Btw Jaffe, I speak for many when I say we got the most info from this interview, from you, from any other discussion you've partaken in. :)

& that the HHG's ridiculous!!!!!!!!!

Harlequiine said...

Phew, long interview but I enjoyed that.
I was surprised that you mentioned that the new game might be on a BD, I thought it was always going to PSN - guess I missed a blog entry or something!

I didn't mind HHG, he's certainly different and adds something different to the normal journalist and he did ask some pretty interesting questions, although they were still simple.

Nice interview though mate.

HipHopGamer said...

David Once Again It was a honor working with you on this interview man your one of the greats in the industry and for anyone out there that has never spoken to david jaffe personally you have too man. He's like the best friend you didn't know you had until you speak to him. God bless you david and your family man and your daughter is a princess man lol she had a few seconds of fame on during the interview too. I want to make a challenge to all the people out there that say i'm not a journalist, or i'm too gangsta to be into videogames, I'm gonna put this out there. If you don't like me for whatever reason PLEASE be a guest on my show my skype contact name is HIPHOPGAMER let's do a interview and we can get down and dirty for a good 10 to 12 minutes for gamers in the street ok this is a open opportunity for anyone. 1luv and God Bless
P.S. David Jaffe is the best

Talfin said...

Greetings Dave, I know this is a blog and i shouldn´t be this formal, but I believe you deserve respect a developer and human being. Kudos to all your games. Great Interview, I´m from Caracas - Venezuela working my way to be a game developer and I must say I really appreciate your work, and don´t worry I know videogames are still not a way of Art appreciated in the same way as movies, but I believe it´s gotta do with effort, what kind of effort do you have to do to get the most out of a movie, you just sit down and relax listen and watch, in games it another story. I´m aware that what you can get out of a game in terms of entertainment in the end surpases that of a movie, say games like GOW or MGS or even Calling all cars or Puzzle quest. In the end you get a lot more fun than just a story but still it demmands more effort from the consumer, I believe in time this will change and perhaps other form of entertainment will start to grow.
By the way the triangular console is the coleco telstar arcade, which I played once jejej and it really rocked jejejje. Thanks for the opportunity to get in touch with you, here from Caracas-Venezuela

Talfin
PSN:talfin
XboxLive:the_talfin

Dave said...

~I'm not typically one to post comments whether it be on the here, N4G (fuck no, wasting time), Kotaku, etc. When the occasional topic pulls at me enough however, I end up giving my bi-monthly post.

The world of "journalism"; what a virtuous and reputable source of information, right? Well...not really. Take your CNN, Fox News, all the way down to the specialized journalists in the video game industry. What do you have? A group of people who put their own opinions into something but do it in such a way that makes it seem factual (i.e the Geoff Keighley/Fox News Mass Effect "Sex Scene" debacle). Now from what I understand news/journalism has ALWAYS been about taking what they give you and formulating your OWN opinion. It's really easy to listen like a robot to any source of news and take their words as stone. It just so happens, whether it be the above mentioned sites or what, at times, seems like the holy grail- Reuters, you end up walking away with a 50/50. News/opinion with the guise of news.

Let's take Dave "The Man" Jaffe's latest post about the Swine Flu and see what I'm getting at.

Go to any "reputable" news source and look at the headlines on this particular topic that inspire shock and awe. I'll tell ya, I'm more inclined to trust Dr. Jay and his down to Earth approach than these over-hype crazy news sites. News in ANY form NEEDS HITS.

Now that it's been established that journalism isn't always Doris fuckin' Day...let's take a look at HHG

I can EASILY tell when he's dropping opinion or fact. Far less nefarious than most other sites I know of that blur those lines. I can't believe the amount of negative publicity some people give him. IF YOU DON'T LIKE WHAT THE GUY SAYS THEN DON'T LOOK, sure as shit don't waste your time posting hate. Crawl back into your your Fox News/CNN or Gamespot infested cave and soak up all that "knowledge".

I think, like Dave said, it's clear he's passionate about games............... he just seemed like a real nice, passionate, and positive person to me."

Also, how many people in the industry would give you a chance to come on a show and ask him questions or straight up tell him you think he's wrong? I'm guessing next to none. Not to say that all journalism should go this route but I think what he's doing is less of a hindrance and more of a help to the video game news community in general.

Journalism shouldn't be put up on this holy pedestal, it is what it is. If I had my way I'd make it a little less harsh, a little more fun, and a lot more REAL.

HHG- Thanks for the great interview, keep it up.

DJ- Genius, been with you since TM (highlight of my video game youth) to CAC. I'm not kissing your ass because I can tell you don't like that haha...but you gotta give yourself some credit. Your one of a kind man.

Dave said...

Wow. Didn't think it was quite that long. Sorry about the rant. Oh yea..

PSN: Aegis1337

GrYnder McDuff! said...

So, anyone know what the hell triangle console David was talking about here? it sounds sweet! :D

Unknown said...

Catering to the fans is a bad idea. Just make the game Jaffe, like it was the first twisted metal you ever made. (if your making a new TM)

Its like playing ping pong. You have to treat every ping like its your first ping otherwise ya get too nervous.

Dave said...

Yea I gotta agree with that Kombi. I was thinking the same thing but instead chose to write a novel about the state of journalism...

I pop it in from time to time and still have fun. I'm too caught up rippin through Cyburbia with Mr. Grimm to worry about getting out of the car and beating someone with a baseball bat. That is, when I'm not spending hours online finding fake codes to play as Calypso (like I did in 95'). Sheeet

Dave said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Anonymous said...

Man, he so tight! He axed you some good quetions! Fo Real!

Unknown said...

this was an amazing interview.
Does DJ charge for interviews? I'd love to interview my idol.
HHG, you're awesome btw.

Anonymous said...

David, what is your GamerTag on Xbox LIVE, or PSN name?

Déjà D'être said...

WHAT AN AMAZING FUCKING INTERVIEW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! SO MUCH BETTER THAN ANY OTHER SHIT!!!!!! IT WAS SO PASSIONATE AND REALLY FROM A TRUE GAMER'S STANDPOINT. I NEVER HEARD OF HIPHOPGAMER BUT DAMN I'M GOING TO BE THERE...HE JUST SOUNDS LIKE SUCH A SICK GUY. Sorry for my all caps, but wow...that 1 hour 2 minutes were so fucking worth my time. Just so interesting and amazing.

Anonymous said...

hey david im a mod/writer for the hip hop gamer show :),thanks for taking time out of your busy schedule,hip hop gamer and all the staff would like to thank you for all your support,the interview was one of the best i have seen,and im not saying that because im part of the site,it was really informative and entertaining all the way through,keep up the great work you have all of our support

GLOBAL UNBORN-MOD/WRITER

Anonymous said...

I never really got into the rap/gangsta style, I'm still kickin it old school. But I've seen the HHGS a few times and like the presentation. He speaks to gamers. The dude is genuine, and passionate about games, asks questions gamers want to hear and is entertaining to say the least. Great interview and I don't blame you for not giving into the Gangsta soundbite...you gotta be who you are.

Peace

Sherban said...

HHG interviewing David Jaffe is like Manny from GTA4 interviewing Nas:

"Ooooo, shit, David's killing it!"
"Oh no! Oh shit, yeah man!"
"Hahaha, oh man, this is crazy!"
"Yeah, yeah, I'm feelin' you!"

If you're going to fake enthusiasm, at least wait until the person whom you're interviewing finishes his thought.

If you do want to share your opinions and have a conversation, why not grow some balls and have some thoughts of your own, instead of regurgitating ones that were said two seconds ago by your interviewee?

I liked the interview because, overall, Jaffe gave some great responses and was not as put off by the brown-nosing as I was.

HHG, unfortunately I cannot ask you to put away the fake ghetto accent, because that's now your persona. But please, have some respect for yourself, and stop being a fanboy.

David Sarkisjan said...

David, that was one awesome interview!

I enjoyed hearing your opinions and your talk about everything you experienced from your long time experience in the industry. I was really entertained, partly because it was so "freestyle" interview from both you and HHG.

He is passionate (but kinda crazy passionate, isn't he?) and you are passionate, so that came in together and you two had a great chat I enjoyed.

Continue in your unique and legendary connection with audience. Gamers hear you! I personally love your sincere style.

I want to play your games so much, but hell, I don't have a PS3. Waiting for price drop. I think everybody does expect something from Sony at E3. Even a small price drop would definitely help them to boost sales.

Again, thanks for your support,

David

NOTE: If anybody from here wants to play online with me, I will definitely go. Kind of new in space of consoles.

Add me :)

XBL: gtvdave
STEAM: gtv-dave

Mithun D said...

Hey David,
That was an awesome interview. I always been a fan of YOU. It's weird but I've always enjoyed hearing you talk - be it your opinion on random shit or just gaming. Plus you make cussing sound really cool :-)

HHG, you did a good job. I'm not really into the whole ghetto talk and it did sound a bit overdone to me, but if that's how you really talk, so be it. I'm just glad David Jaffe stayed true to himself and didn't try to pretend he was black 'cos some people do that - and it's hella embarrassing to watch.

HHG asked some good questions and I'm really looking forward to this year's E3. Looking forward to more interviews like this.

- From India (yes, India)

Anonymous said...

awesome interviw

u should do more

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tobz1000 said...

Ahh I love that guy. What I've seen, at least of video news on that site, is the same info as any other site is giving but with five times the energy - makes everything seem more... exciting?

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