To the fucking idiot Kotaku commenters who clearly can not read:

...seems some of the commenters over on Kotaku- who just ran a story about how I said FUCK OFF to someone asking about a PS3 version of Twisted Metal- thought I was a dick in speaking to folks that way.

Let me make three things clear. Or at least try to. I will be using TEXT (aka WORDS) to make my points and it's obvious many of you Kotaku commenters seem to have a hard time grasping this new fangled communication device but I will do my best...so here goes:

#1- if you actually read Kotaku you would see- in referring to my FUCK OFF comment- they said this:

"When one typed question asked Jaffe "Are you developing Twisted Metal for PS3 David — YES OR NO", the Twisted Metal light heartily replied:

We haven't announced anything yet... now FUCK OFF."

See those words LIGHT HEARTILY...? Do they MEAN anything to you?

#2- If you click on the link from the Kotaku site (that covers the Eurogamer story about this event) you will find this text:


"Relaying a question from a member of the audience, festival director Iain Simons typed: "Are you developing Twisted Metal for PS3 David - YES OR NO."

Jaffe responded with a stock "We haven't announced anything yet," before adding, "now F*** OFF."

The audience took the comment in the good humour it was intended, and the session was drawn to an appropriate close."


#3- And finally: While I am brash and obnoxious at times (mainly because I find the ultra PC environment we live in toxic to the spirits of all humans and thus feel this ultra PC environment needs to have its teeth kicked in from time to time...oh hell, all the fucking time), I have never and WILL never insult ANY ONE who goes out of their way to take interest in our work and ask me a question (unless they are being a prick to me). I mean, here is a guy who got off his ass and went to a place that I was not even really there, I was VIRTUALLY there. You think I'm really going to be a dick to him?!? And I will CERTAINLY NEVER insult ANYONE who cares enough about a game series we have worked on (in this case, Twisted Metal) to ask a question about said series. We are all grateful the series has fans who care enough to ask us over and over what the future holds for Sweet Tooth and the gang. And as I've said before, I am contractually bound by Sony to NOT announce our new game. That is Sony's job and Sony will announce when they are ready. I would LOVE to tell you guys what we are doing but I'm not going to jeopardize our company's contract and/or reputation and so I remain mum on the whole thing. I am sure you understand.

Ok, hope that clears up some stuff.

Back tomorrow with a fresh video blog.

Talk then! Hope you are all doing well!

David

Love it...

Probably the best political ad I've seen this season...

DIE E3 HATERS!

Still on break for a bit more but I had to pipe in real fast:

Lord have mercy- E3 has JUST announced that it's going back to old school format (THANK GOD!!!! GAMING GODS, YOU ARE REAL AND YOU HAVE ANSWERED MY PRAYERS!!!) and already...fucking ALREADY...there are asshats bitching about it...as in: well, if E3 was fine back in the 1995-2006 years, it never would have needed to change.....to that I say: GO FUCKYOURSELF!!! Just don't come if you don't like it! Stay the fuck home!!!

It's a God Damned circus is what it is and I for one am SOOOOOO thrilled to have it back. I'm not gonna sit here and pretend, "Oh I am so serious, I have business to do there and all the sweaty fanboys and Gamestop workers and booth babes are in my way of doing serious business...brr! brr! Mr. Potter's the name! Brrr!"


....it's like, 'ultra serious dude who has probably never actually shipped a game that anyone gave a shit about' ? Uhm would you please just go and FUCK OFF!!!! Sounds to me like a bunch of elitist bullshit where wannabes who have somehow managed to get a toe hold in the biz now get the chance to act all high and mighty towards the 'little people' who are not where they are yet. It's like: 'waaaahhh! waahhhh! This is MY special club and I don't want anyone below me to come in it so I get to feel like a big shot....wahhhh!'

Well fuck that.


I do 'business' at E3 as well. We all do. And yeah our feet get sore and our voices run out and we are tired as shit at the end...and yeah, SOMETIMES the booth babe thing makes our industry look immature...but so the hell what....sometimes the booth babes are just damn fine to look at and what the hell is wrong with that? I mean really.. so-the-fuck- what? Why can't E3 be loud and obnoxious and the fucking geek party of the year as well as a place to do the biz? Oh and damn, you get to catch up with all your industry friends too. AND the mainstream media covers our biz all over the place?!?!

What the SHIT (tired of writing FUCK) are you complaining about?!?! As for who is complaining, I ain't naming names but it's on a major game site...that's all I will say.


....and I am SOOOOO glad it's back. GOD this rocks! Thanks to all those who made it happen...and to bring back a quote from the 60's and to mangle it a bit....to all those who don't like these new developments: if it's too loud/too big/too spectacular...then ya'll are just too damn old!

Later ya'll!

Happy David

ps. I guess the public is not going to be let in via tickets and such but it sounds like it's not going to be that big of a deal to get in if you really have your heart set on it? FANTASTIC! Now maybe next year they will sell some tickets and let the public in...

Teeny Tiny Hiatus

...I have nothing interesting to say right now and I can not stand to do another video blog with my fucking green fishing hat and me ranting about this, that, or something else...

...need to go off and get much work done, find some balance, and recharge. Mushrooms in the desert sounds good...Philip? U up for it?

Will be back to blogging in a week- talk soon! Have a great week ya'll!

David

LITTLE BIG PLANET + UNCHARTED LOVE

COME SEE ME...SORT OF :)

I will be in the UK at Gamecity over in Nottingham end of this month...well, sort of!

Check it out!

It's the inaugural 'episode' of FROM THE DESK, a new feature of the show where they have guests video conference into the show from all over the world. My understanding is they are going to project my ichat signal up onto a giant screen and I'll get to interface with the audience, take questions, talk games,etc.

Should be fun and it's just the way I like to travel! I always wish I could BE in cool places but the trouble of prepping for a flight, the flight itself, customs, jetlag, then doing it all over to get back home....yuch man. Can't stand it. And with small kids, I also hate being away from home any more than I absolutely have to as I don't want to miss a day of them growing up.

Perhaps someone in Nottingham will grab the computer and take me for a laptop stroll around town so I can see the sites...hell, this is where Robin Hood is supposedly from, yes? That would be great!

Ok, chat with you guys in a bit.

David

ps. back to playing Metal Gear! Oh MAN this game is good!!!! Kinda bummed I'm playing now cause it seems like the PERFECT holiday game to get lost in, staying up till 3am battling bosses, playing on New Year's Eve day,etc...every year there is a game like that that becomes my holiday game...wonder what it will be this year. Prince of Persia? Dead Space? Resistance 2, perhaps? Shit, now I'm all excited for Uncharted 2!!! Oh, ya know I never played Mass Effect...maybe I'll get that for the holidays...anyway, gotta run...stop by and see me in Nottingham if you guys hit Gamecity this year!

pps. I am also doing a similar video conference convention appearance in Philly in November. Check it out. ...so if you are going, come in and see me! I wonder how these virtual 'tours' are gonna work out...cause people who wanna see me virtually can always just come here! :) But hell, I'm up for giving it a try!

MORE POLITICS!

Do NOT watch this if you are:

a- an easily angered conservative as it's very liberal
b- only here for game info...this is all politics

Thanks-great weekend ya'll!

David





ps. the mess we are in- that I refer to above- is about America's reputation in the world and wars we are fighting...I am fully aware and ashamed that folks in the Democratic party (not that I am a Democrat but I am more Dem than Repub) had such a large hand in ASPECTS of the financial crisis. BUT if you think it's all Barney and his boyz and no Republicans or not the sheer greed of consumers then you are wrong, I feel.

THE NEXT GREAT DEPRESSION WILL BE FUN!!!

NOTE: Rambling...AGAIN! Sorry guys- not a lot of time to think these days when I post as I do it in between downloading builds of the game..

SECOND NOTE: I post comments under da criminal...not JAFFE. Anyone posting as anything else claiming to be me is not really me. And to make sure it's me, click on my name and it should take you to this blog...so that way you will know it's really me.

David

Life, The Universe, And Everything

Posted this on another board (a super secret one that I can not talk about) during a discussion of the new Bill Maher film, Religilous. Decent movie, not a lot of new info if you watch REAL TIME WITH BILL MAHER, but it's a solid flick and it does- as intended- generate some discussion.

So I thought this post I made on that subject summed up my views on religion and God pretty darn good. Not that anyone was asking, but hey, I like discussing religion as much as politics, so...here ya go :)

The more I hear atheists talk, the more they seem as diluted as the folks who simply believe in God without any proof.

Given how much has changed in regards to our knowledge of our own planet, let alone the universe and the laws that- we think- govern the majority of that universe, how any atheist can claim that what we've learned through science is enough to know the truth about much of anything is, to me, ignorant. Given how much we know- which is still very little considering the size of the universe and the numerous mysteries we have yet to solve, let alone the mysteries that we have yet to even discover- how atheists can use science as their proof is- to me- as ignorant as a religious person using a religious text as theirs. And it's not ignorant because-clearly- we can see the effects of gravity but we don't- at least most people on a conscious level anyway- see the effects of a God sanctioned miracle. But ignorant because both of these roads to the truth (science and religion) have some massive pot holes. Hell, both roads are mostly made up of potholes and it's rare to even see the road.

Given how little we know about anything in regards to life, the universe, and everything, it seems the height of arrogance on ALL sides to plant a flag and stake ANY sort of claim to ANY sort of truth.

Now a lot of folks bag on us agnostics because we don't 'pick a side'. But when both sides are clearly missing so many pieces of the puzzle, isn't the only logical response to sit back, watch the show, and simply admit, "beats the fuck out of me as to what is going on'?

RAMBLIN' MAN + THE HAT OF FUN!!!

*****UPDATE*****:


Last 3 weeks have been totally dedicated- on my part- to level design. It's been fun and the levels are coming along great. But now it's time to shift gears to game play, game mechanics, and balance/detail issues. This is where the game really comes alive. The goal should be- at the end of this 'gameplay fitness' regime (as Scott calls it)- that we can put the controller in the hands of people and they realize it's very, very rough and they may need some explanations about some of the game play- but
once all that is taken into account- they are having a decent-to-really fun time.

Over the last month, as I've played the game and seen things I don't like, things I want to change/adjust, or just had brainstorms or issues, I'd write them on a post it note and stick it on my desk. Well today- now that level design is done for a few weeks- it's time to take those notes and get bizzy working with the team to deal with my gameplay issues, as well as the issues the rest of the team has.

So I've taken all my issues and put them in a hat and now I'm about to start going thru them all, one by one, and making notes of things I'd like to see the team take on in hopes of getting the game to a really fun state.

Wish us luck! Thought I'd share!

Later!

ps. not my place to say anything about the GOW III game director. Do I know who it is? Yes. Do I like the person. Totally. Do I think this person is very talented and hope this person will bring the talent I've seen from him before into the role of game director? Hells yeah. But it's not my place to drop names on a game I am not involved with. Keep an eye out from Sony in regards to this issue.

Later!
****END UPDATE*******


Hey- rammbly post today- just saying hey:



ps. MAN look at me pounding the caffeine...

OK...I said I'd fuck her...and I still would...

*****UPDATE:

Ok, gotta admit, she did MUCH MUCH better in the debate than I ever dreamed she would. Was it rope-a-dope? Doubt it. I mean, to me, she came nowhere close to winning and man, I always liked Biden but shucks, he was just great for a liberal like me to hear. I know there's this contingency of the country that loves this idea of electing people who are 'just like them' or with whom they would like to have a beer. But me...and alot of other folks? Man, give us someone smart, well spoken, and wise to run the country ANY day, And that is what I saw in Biden last nite. But all that said, you gotta hand it to Palin- while she did not win and she did not say anything really all that valuable- she more than made up for her horrific interviews over the last two weeks. But THAT said, someone needed to call her on her shit of, "Oh, well golly gatcha jeeze, I don't wanna answer THAT question, but how about I pick this little critter right here instead and talk about that?' ...it's like, lady, it's a DEBATE not a fucking buffet...

Ok, up early to head to "Dad's Day" at my kid's school this morning (I have NO clue what this is...they said to show up for some hour long assembly and so, hey, I'm showing up...) and then driving to LA to meet with the Sony folks. Chat with you guys this weekend or next week. Have a great weekend!

David

END UPDATE ***************





...but DEAR GOD don't make me talk to her afterwards...

God, I can't wait for tonite...even if she doesn't crash and burn, it should be an interesting night of tee-vee :)

David

ps. is this left wing propaganda? Yup, yup. You betcha! And could you pretty much edit a video with selected clips and make ANYONE look ANY way you wanted? Sure, no doubt. BUT come on, even you die hard McCain supporters- and I respect you, I do- but you guys/gals can NOT be feeling good about this woman...can you? Really? Come on....

What the hell, G4?

This is the SECOND time G4's website has totally LIED about me and my positions.

As I've said before, I dig some of the stuff on G4 and they've always been good to me to my face.

But guys, this is just bullshit.

Please adjust your story to reflect reality, k?

Check out what this guy John Manalang writes:


Jaffe Speaks On 'God Of War' Film
Posted by John Manalang - Wednesday, October 01, 2008 11:17 AM
According to God of War designer David Jaffe, whether the Ratner-helmed film will be a "massive hit or a massive flop" in terms of profits, Mr. Jaffe wouldn't really care. Why? He'll get a big fat ZERO off it anyhow. But he's open to the idea of Ratner, especially the producer on the film project (S words are involved kiddies):

Wow-where in the world did I ever say I wouldn't really care if the film financially flops or hits?!? I think my video post and update made it clear I am a fan of the GOD OF WAR universe and the folks making the movie and I have high hopes for it. Yes, I will make no MONEY off of it, but that does not mean I don't care if it's a financial hit and I have no fucking clue why you would assume such a thing. In fact the whole point of my update was that money- or lack of money- is NOT the reason I am positive about the movie. I don't think I ever stated if I cared if the film was a hit or not. But my actions- saying I think the film is in good hands and I wish it well- should indicate which side my toast is buttered on. But to spell it out for you: yes, I would very much like the GOD OF WAR movie to be a hit.

Man, do you guys have like editors or fact checkers or ANYTHING over there? I mean, this is the SECOND fucking time you guys have just made shit up about me and my views. Who is running the place over there, Steve Schmidt?!? What the hell?

David

GOD OF WAR DIRECTOR ANNOUNCED...

+++++++UPDATE:
To all the cynical asshats on the net who have been posting that the reason I am so positive about the movie is because I have a financial stake in the flick, let me make it clear: I don't get SHIT for this movie, money wise. I think Sony negotiated me an associate producer credit and I am grateful for that. But there is no money with that credit, and there is no back end. I was a Sony employee when I creatively lead a team of 100+ people to bring God of War to life and don't own .1% of the property in any way. Which means, no money EVER came to me- or will come to me- off the film, be it a massive hit or a massive flop. And no money has come to me from the game since I left Sony. You guys who think I've for some financial stake in this property are simply wrong.

I love the GOD OF WAR universe and have much faith in the folks Mosaic have assembled to turn the game into a movie...and I am a lover of all good movies, especially big popcorn action flicks, which the GOD OF WAR film is shaping up to be....but no, I ain't making diddly off the movie...but thanks for acting like you're an expert...must suck to not be knowledgeable about ANYTHING...
END UPDATE++++++++++++++++

...well not officially, but here ya go:


And here's my response:

Am I a total dork if I wear these?

I know....God, I know. What a fucking idiot I would be...and what a sheep I am to care. But MAN, I think these are cool...and MAN I know the chances of me having sex if I own a pair of these drops to like .2%....and the .2% is only because during Comic Con there ARE really drunk geek girls....but they are so drunk they will prob. puke all over you during the act...so hell, that's out.......but man, they are cool!

CALL ME CLIFFY B!!!!...and some politics and game design thrown in :)

ps. IRON MAN B-RAY HITS TODAY! SWEET!

LOOKING IN A MIRROR

My oldest daughter- she's 5- is running around the house, screaming and kicking and wailing about not wanting to eat breakfast, not wanting to brush her teeth, not wanting to get dressed. In essence, she doesn't want to go to school.

She wants to stay home and groom her toy horses and then set up a pretend horse corral (animals are her passion right now... she wants to be an animal rescuer like Diego- from the kid's tv show-when she grows up).

And here I sit, listening to the ET soundtrack, working on an amazing creative project with an amazing creative team, and doing exactly what I love to do. There is nothing else I want to be doing other than what I am doing right now. This work is my passion.

And it occurs to me: When I was a kid, I was JUST like my daughter.

Sitting here typing this, I am having vivid recollections of my own childhood, of me reading a behind- the- scenes/making of magazine for INDIANA JONES AND THE TEMPLE OF DOOM before school one morning. I so did not want to go to class. I can see the magazine in my mind so clearly, see myself, sitting at the kitchen table and looking at those pictures, the pictures of the people who got to wake up and - instead of going to school- got to go and MAKE the movies I loved. And I remember LONGING, FANTASIZING about getting to wake up and go do those sorts of amazing,creative jobs, instead of going to school, where I had to study stuff I had no interest in at all.

And now, my youngest- at only 5- is doing the exact same thing!

Granted, she likes school more than I ever did. She gets that from her mom, thank God. And hopefully- because she's she's a good mix of me and her mom- she'll be a lot more balanced than I ever was/am :)

And she'll also have parents like I had: parents who totally allowed me and supported me and encouraged me to follow my passions.

But man...right now? Right now I so feel her pain. I so know- to this day- exactly what she is feeling.

And at the same time, I am so lucky and so happy and so grateful to be doing what I do, doing what I love.

And if I could- and perhaps somehow in writing this, I am- I would love to reach back through the years and whisper in the ear of that kid pouring over the Indiana Jones magazine: 'hang in there kid...you'll get to where you want to be...I promise....'

WORK IS NUTS!

Sorry for the lack of posts this week- will hit you guys up in the next day or two. Work is super busy right now, so just not a lot of time.

Quick hits:

LEGO BATMAN=More of the same? Only 1 level in but without the Lucas licenses, I'm kind of bored. Really well made; like some of the ideas so far (Batman bomb suit is fun, like some of the puzzles). But the formula may be wearing thin for me and plus: It IS a kid's game and the power of the license was enough to see me thru in the past. Not a rabid Batman fan, so that must play a part. Now Lego Spidey? Fuck it, Lego MARVEL! Hells yeah, I'm playing that day one!

FORCE UNLEASHED- Got it, installed it, have not pressed start cause no time to play right now. Loved the demo tho. Weekend play maybe?

WIPEOUT HD- Out today! Sweet! Saw on GAF it's crashing tho? Is that happening all over? Anyone played it? Good stuff?

MCCAIN BAILS OUT OF DEBATE- Come the fuck on people. The man- who has admitted he knows little about economics- has to rush off and 'play' hero and 'save the country'? He can't take 3 hours out of his 'saving the country' schedule (which no one has said they need him to do) to, you know, FUCKING DEBATE so the country- which he claims to want to put first- can hear the differences between him and his opponent for the most powerful job in the world? And now he wants to suspend the VP debates as well? Come on...I know some Republicans/McCain supporters read this blog...are you guys/gals really buying this? It's a DEBATE! It's not a tour of duty! It's 3 hours out of this time. The economy will COLLAPSE if he takes 3 hours off to give the country a conversation it needs and deserves??!? And fuck, why can't Palin debate as scheduled? What, SHE is needed now too to save the country? You guys CAN NOT be buying this. You don't have to like or vote for Obama....you can still vote for McCain and be passionate about that choice...but you can't really think this is not bullshit...can you?!?!

REVENGE OF THE SITH- Jake Campbell- Scott's Son (my biz partner/co-owner of Eat Sleep Play and supremo game maker in general)- is always telling me the Star Wars prequels are good, better than the originals,etc. I always chalked up that insane, "you must consume copious amounts of crack' statement to the fact that Jake was a kid when the new trilogy came out and Lucas always says the new movies (and the old ones?!?!) are made for kids,etc. BUT the other nite I popped in REVENGE OF THE SITH and somehow was able- for the first time since it hit DVD- to get past 2-3 of the gut wrenchingly bad scenes that in the past had always had me ripping the movie out of my player and tossing it back on the shelf (the 'Padme combing her hair and talking about love being blind' scene is particularly difficult to stomach). But somehow- not sure why- I chose to endure and get past those scenes. And once I made it thru those horrific moments (and they are all toward the start), I was surprised and happy to find that- for me- it's a really good Star Wars movie. Like, one of the best. Like it goes: EMPIRE, STAR WARS, SITH.

As a directed film, it can't hold up to most film school festival entries...I mean, the prequels are really poorly directed movies. No drama to the visual storytelling AT all. That scene where Anakin, Obi-Wan, and Palpatene get caught by the force field/beam of light? You'd think that would shot in a dramatic way, using a number of tense, close shots edited together in some sort of emotionally evocative way. But nah: Lucas just sets the camera down and we get a long shot of some people running and then stopping because they are now surrounded by some light. The movie is filled with missed opportunities to tell the story in a visual way. And it hurts the film tremendously.

But as a STORY, it's pretty darn good I think. Need to go back and re-watch Ep 1 and Ep 2 and see if my mind has changed on those. But on Revenge, I'm like: 'hey, this is actually pretty good...Jake is right!' ...now I'm watching all the docs on the Revenge disc and really digging those.

Ok, back to work- later ya'll!

David

EYE OF THE TIGER

Couldn't sleep last nite, so I browsed the PSN movie store. I really like the movie store on Playstation and have downloaded a surprisingly semi-decent amount of content from the service. I never thought I would use it, but there's something really nice about renting movies from the comfort of your couch.

There are two things that really bug me about the store, however.

- the rates are too high on television episodes. 2 bucks for an individual episode of a tv show? That's a bit nuts when you can get 3-6 episodes for 3.99 if you rent a disc containing 1/3 of a television season at Blockbuster or from Netflix.

-why are so many of the newest releases for purchase only? I've passed on the PSN movie store on at least 5 occasions- and updated my Netflix cue instead- because the PSN store only gave me a purchase option for a movie that I wanted to rent.

Just last week- geeky and lame as it is (and it IS)- I really wanted to watch the new Avengers animated movie that recently launched on the service. But my ONLY option via PSN was to pony up 15 bucks to OWN a digital copy of a movie that I will probably only watch for 30 minutes (cause I imagine it's not a very engaging movie if you are over the age of 10). So I just added the movie to my Netflix cue and the PSN store lost a sale.

To that point, does anyone want to own a digital copy of a movie, anyway? I suppose if you watch the flick a lot of times it makes sense. But given that digital movies take up valuable hard drive space, wouldn't those frequently watched films be the ones you choose to own on Blu Ray or DVD?

And on a tangent: I can understand, support, and actually enjoy downloading games (whatever the size of the title). And I'm not sure why, as you'd think I'd have the same reservations with downloading games as I do movies...but I don't. Why is that? Sure, some are ONLY downloadable titles, so you have no choice. But what about games like BURNOUT:PARADISE and WARHAWK that you can get on disc or digitally? Or what about the games I own on Steam? For some reason, I LIKE owning digital games but not digital movies. Is this just because I work in the business and see a financial value to selling games digitally and bypassing brick and mortar? Or is there another reason? Not too sure.

But anyway:

So why would the PSN movie store NOT offer the options to buy AND rent? Are they trying to get as much cash as possible by selling digital copies first and then opening up the rental channel once they've milked the sales channel? That seems kind of short sighted and a bad way to generate good faith among users (especially with a fledgling system). And ESPECIALLY since anyone can easily counter that tactic by running down the road to Blockbuster and/or updating their Netflix cue (and in doing so, saving 11 bucks by renting the movie and not buying it). So why are they doing it? They clearly have a rental service in place and working, so I don't imagine it's a technical issue. But whatever the reason, it sucks much ass and they need to stop.

I have not shopped on the Xbox Live video store in over a year so I'm not sure if it's the same 'over there'. Do you guys know if they have the same set up? I know about the Netflix subscription thing, but that aside, can you rent AND/OR buy ANY movie on that service or do they have a lot of the movies that are purchase only as well? And if they do, they need to knock that shit off as well.

So, there's that.

Ok, but even with those issues, I really like the PSN movie store. Nice layout, good selection. Oh, and it rocks for the kids- they like browsing the family section with me and discovering movies they've never heard of but end up really liking.

So I was up late using it last night.

And I rented ROCKY III as it's my fave Rocky and I've been wanting to watch it for awhile. Love ALL the Rockys, save for number 5, but I've been wanting to see Rocky and Mr. 'T' go at it for the last few months. So I picked #3.

And so I rent it (yes!), and start watching. And what do I see in the first 20 minutes? Right as the 'Clubber is hungry and Rocky is getting lazy' montage? Well check it out:



How cool is that? Mr. 'T' kicked my ass! Sweet!

I saw this movie first as a kid with my mom during the summer of 82. It was playing at the Brookwood Mall theater and my brother was away at summer camp, my dad was at work. This was a magic theater, by the way. SAME theater where I saw Raiders, ET, Clash of the Titans, and Excalibur. But anyway, saw it with my mom and you would have thought she would have noticed our last name appearing in the flick. But she never said anything and for some reason it never caught my eye till last nite. Hey, maybe this is one of those living advertisement things, where they alter the movie and put the last name of the person who is paying for the account into the flick? Nah....

I guess I could have just posted that pic and not gone into my whole love/dislike thing with the PSN store but like I said- I was up late...and so I'm tired now. And my brain is not working so well on such little sleep. I think I got about 4 hours of sleep last nite (late to bed, up early as my youngest crawled into bed with me at 5am and I've been up since...but hell, I don't mind...would rather have Rocky III and my kids hanging in bed with me than 8 hours of sleep, anyday!)

Ok, time to eat some breakfast and hit some gameplay tuning!

Later ya'll! Good weekend!

David

THE PRESSURE OF A NAME...CINDERFUCKINRELLA!

Join me, won't you, as I stress a bit :)

POLITICAL BAN? + MAP DESIGN + RACING GAMES + INDY + BEV HILLS 90210

+++++++++UPDATE:

Regarding the recently reported GOD OF WAR lawsuit:

I am not able to discuss any aspect of the lawsuit. Press can direct questions to Sony PR.

I'm sure you guys/gals understand.

David

END UPDATE

++++++++++++++

Kinda long and rambly...sorry bout that, mind is focused on map design right now :)

Fucking Idiots...

Yes, I am pissed...

But don't fret...it'll pass! :)

LIVE WEBCAST TEST- one more time :)

+++++SECOND UPDATE:

SWEET! Worked great!!!

All I gotta do now is figure out how to get another vid signal in from someone else's web cam so I can do chats with someone else and we're in biz....will post in the next few days about the first official webcast! Thanks for the help ya'll!

David

+++++++++++
++++UPDATE

Need to hook up a mic- gonna be 9pm pacific time, fyi

+++++++


Bear with me, this may be another clusterfuck but I think this time it's gonna work a hell of a lot better than last time :)

Will be on live in about 10 minutes to test (it's 8:15pm pacific time on Saturday nite right now):

Watch live video from davidjaffe's channel on Justin.tv

HEY 19!

One of my buddies from college- hey Susan!- just uploaded this pic from 1993/94 to facebook!

Oh MAN! Look at those glasses! That hair!!! Wow! Please, when you are guys are done with the time machine please let me take it for a spin. I need to go back to that night and beat some sense into that clueless motherfucker! :)

One thing that has not changed however is my never ending love for The Olive Garden- that is where we were when that pic was taken. You can tell by the very classy mural displaying an Itallian country side that has been painted on the wall. :)

Yep, there we are, at the Olive Garden in Westwood (all the SC' kids took the tram to Westwood on weekends...what were we gonna do, hang out in South Central?!?!). So that's us, hanging on the stairs leading up to the 'main dining room' of that fine institution of Italian cuisine! Oh man, I can taste the breadsticks now!

Ok, swamped with work (documents and maps)...gotta run!

Shit, are there any movies to see this weekend?

Later!

David

SEPT 11 + SLEAZY POLITICS + NEW GAMES!+ DOORKNOB+ SHIT, I'M GETTING FAT!!!!

and ps: even the educational quotes BEFORE the smear are taken out of context and newer quotes from the SAME sources say Obama has done more for education in the last year while McCain has done nothing! Amazing...

BEHIND THE SCENES...

++++UPDATE:
Here she is, as requested!


+++++END UPDATE:

Took the family to Disneyland last week for my youngest's 3 year old bday! What a total blast- I love that place; love taking my kids. We did the whole shebang: stayed over, did the character breakfast at Goofy's Kitchen (Oh my GOD the woman playing Princess Jasmine is so hot!), rode EVERYTHING at least once at Dland, stayed for the parade, and got to California Adventure for the first time! Heck, even bought a couple of season passes as I plan on going back at least a couple of times this year with my kids.

Two quick things about it:

1- We went in the off season in the middle of the week and let me just tell you- if you can swing it- THAT is the way to go to Disneyland. On Wednesday there NO lines! And I mean NO lines. The amount of time it took to get on space mountain was LITERALLY the amount of time it took to walk the distance from the entrance of the ride (outside in tomorrow land) to the place where you actually sit your ass down on the coaster. I rode that thing three times in the span of an hour! So great! But I will say the experience of WAITING and ANTICIPATING to get on a ride DOES add a lot to the experience. Without it, the ride actually feels a bit less special. But it was still great. And I don't know if anyone out there knows but on Wednesday Space Mountain felt so damn fast that I think it was the fastest coaster I've ever been on. Road it again Thursday and it felt slower, more normal. Do they change the speeds on any given day?!?!

2- California Adventure was even less crowded and I really dug it. Tower of Terror?!? Oh my GOD! Talk about AMAZING presentation! SUCH a wonderful experience. I took my 5 year old without realizing how scary it was gonna be (me being an idiot, I guess I ignored the word TERROR in the fucking title of the ride)! But still, it is so fun! Anyway, caught this pic:



I just thought this was pretty funny as Disney does such a great job at keeping a lot of the behind the scenes stuff hidden. But me and my oldest are on the ferris wheel type thing that really is quite scary if you are afraid of heights and as we are about to start the ride, they send this woman out to clean the puke from the car in front of us. See that trash bag she's holding? Full of paper towels that have sopped up quite a bit of vomit.

Not sure why, but I enjoyed that/found it interesting.

Magic Kingdom huh??! How about the Kingdom Where You Puke and Vomit and Stuff and Get Reall Sick And.......errr....ahem...yeah...anyway....

And man, I was really, really scared being way up there. I never understood how people got scared going to theme parks because I'm always aware that- for the most part- everything is ultra safe. But being up so high really pressed some primal buttons in me. And being aware we were/are in earthquake country pushed even more buttons. And I really had to force myself to joke and chat with my kid just so she could see her dad was not afriad...but dude, I totally was. It was kinda fun to be scared like that...rides NEVER scare me.

Ok, back to it. Just saying hi- chat later!

David

BATH TIME FUN!!!

I used to bring my super hero action figures into the tub with me when I was a kid. I have fond memories of massive battles between Superman, Spidey, The Penguin, and the rest of the legion of doom, battling it out amid giant fortresses constructed out of Mr. Bubble.

Here's a a pic from our tub tonite, right after my two girls got out...my how times have changed:




Have they no respect for their dad's work?!?!

Ah well, at least they ain't playing with action figures from some damn Xbox game :)

David

Politics...ONE MORE TIME!!!! :)

While this blog will always deal with my passions (games, movies, comics, kids, politics, spirituality, religion,etc) I have to admit, it’s been a bit lopsided last week with all the political talk. It’s tough cause there are only 50something more days till a pretty important election and if you are a political junkie like me, it tends to stay on your brain.

BUT I’m gonna get some other posts going this week- one on game saves inspired by the great gamasutra article that ran the other day. Also gonna post a cool pic- I think- of some Disneyland employee cleaning puke out of a ferris wheel car. I took it when me and my oldest kid were at the park last week...never actually seen that before at a theme park :)

So we’ll get back to some more fun and game making stuff in a day or two, promise! ☺

BUT I did want to post a few last words about the political stuff, at least for now, just to get some stuff off my chest. Here we go:

#1- THANK YOU guys, haters and supporters alike, who posted well thought out, well researched comments on the previous posts. I have always said I am open to changing my mind on all kinds of things (from God to politics to Dc Vs. Marvel…although truth be told- much as I love DC- you got a much better chance of getting me to vote for Bush again before I take DC over Marvel…)…but you guys really made me think and made me do some more research and really open my mind more to both sides. Heck, BECAUSE of some of you more conservative folks, I even went out to get the TIME issue with McCain on the cover so I could learn more about the man. Check it:


And yes, I dig Mercs 2 alot....graphics need some love and there are bugs galore...but a 5/10?!? Come on Gamespot...what the hell?!?

But back to McCain:

So to the conservatives and/or pro-McCainers, thanks for that. I hope at least a few other readers got as much out of it as I did.

#2- What have I learned? Well, the reality is, you NEVER know the whole truth. Even when the damn candidate HIMSELF stands in front of 40 plus million people and tells you something, it don’t mean it’s true. And this goes for Obama as well as McCain. Here’s just two examples of things I found totally depressing and disheartening on both sides:

OBAMA SAID THIS A FEW WEEKS AGO:

"The fact is that although we have had a president who is opposed to abortion over the last eight years, abortions have not gone down.''

Turns out- best as I can tell- that is not true. Click on this...

So that sucks right? Lying sack of shit, yes?

But

McCAIN SAID THIS A FEW DAYS AGO:

"Obama says Iran is a 'tiny' country, 'doesn't pose a serious threat.'"

Turns out- again, best as I can figure- not true. Click me!


And it goes on and on and on. The whole Palin opposed the BRIDGE TO NOWHERE bit? Sort of true but not really…turns out she was for it for long enough for a lot of the financial and political damage to be done. But you’d never know that from listening to Sean Hannity or reading much of the news. As for Biden saying that McCain has changed his position on invading Iraq, well from what I’ve found, it turns out he really has not.

And so while I know it's obvious and should come as no surprise that politicians lie, I guess for some reason, it’s just so damn easy to get caught up in the my team/your team bullshit because they are telling you SO MUCH of what you want to hear. And some of them are so damn good at pitching and spinning that you just get caught up in it. At least I do/did. Cause look, when Obama hits the stage and talks about a better life for ALL of us and making the country respectable in the eyes of the world again and he does it so well, you just WANT to believe him. Or at least I do. When Palin talks about fuck the media, she is here for the people, well for folks who feel they are not represented in the media they see every night on tv, well hell, I can see how you would WANT to believe her as well.

And so all these lies, just to get my vote....well, it just sickens me.

But I won’t become apathetic. I’m just going to work harder to find out what is true and what is not before I make up my mind. And while I am pretty sure I will vote for Obama, it’s the first time I’ve considered McCain in a serious light. He probably won’t get my vote if some of the more extreme stuff I’ve heard about Palin turns out to be true, but thanks to a lot of you readers, I’ve opened my mind to the possibility of at least considering him. And so for that, I say thank you.

By the way, here’s a great site I found that does not seem to swing left or right that has journalists go thru speeches and interviews with the candidates and determine what is true, half true, or a fat out lie.

Politifact.com

Ain't the net grand?!?!

#3- SHE’S A MILF, DEAL WITH IT- I don’t and won’t take this back. There are PRO Palin supporters saying the same damn thing. Perhaps you live somewhere where calling someone a MILF is the equivalent of calling someone a bitch or a ho’ or a prick or something. Where I am from- and I live in the burbs and am surrounded by moms all day, many of them very hot- being thought of as a MILF is a compliment. Is it crass? Sure, but come on, look at the address in your address bar. You know where YOU chose to come visit, yes? So sure, it’s crass. But it’s not some big deal to me. She’s a total MILF and I’d be happy to fuck the shit out her, even if she loses the election. ☺

#4-FOR THE RECORD- People have attacked me for saying, "I am a liberal so that makes me intelligent". The video in question is a few inches down, so please watch it again if you are so inclined. Anyone WATCHING it and listening to what I was rambling about would clearly take from it what I intended...which was: 'being a liberal, of COURSE I think the ideas I am spouting are intelligent and if you are a conservative, you will think my ideas are stupid.' I think I was pretty clear on that but some of you reading this blog- no offense- are stupid fucking idiots who have little to no reading comprehension skills and clearly you don't have any video watching skills either.

#5- THE PROMISE- Here is my promise to you, in writing. In interviews with me about our games and on our website and when promoting the game, you will ONLY get Jaffe the game designer. I respect the fact that if you click on an interview with me that is suppose to be about T-...err, the GAME we are making- or a game we HAVE made- you don't want or need to hear my ramblings about politics or movies or being a dad. I appreciate that and respect that. If you come HERE you're gonna get all of that stuff and more- and for FREE no less!!! :)- but I will not force it on folks who simply want to enjoy our games. There are SO MANY people who make the games I work on and many of them do not share my views, not by a longshot. But the games we make are as much theirs as they are mine and as they- ultimately- are yours. It is not fair to ANY of us for my views to taint the games we make. So that is my promise to you. Come here for the personal; Jaffe stuff. But I won't talk personal stuff anymore with the press...only games...unless it's a specific interview that is supposed to be about JUST ME and I am not promoting a specific game.

What I CAN NOT control is if a game site picks something up that is not game related from my blog and posts it. But please- if you see that- know that that is not my doing.

Ok, sick today but trying to do a map for the guys in Utah thru this foggy head…real slow going. Gotta run- chat soon and more game posts on the way!

David

DO I EVEN WANT TO VOTE ANY MORE?!?

SECOND UPDATE:

Real fast:

a- I've seen some comments where people assumed I was stoned when I made these videos. Just to be clear. I do think weed is fine FOR ADULTS to use SOMETIMES. I have used it in my adult life a small number of times, but not many. But I have nothing against it. BUT I never show up to work- or in this case, when I'm about to start work in the morning- stoned or having had a drink (which I also rarely do). I was really, really tired yesterday cause I had spent 2 days walking 2 little around Disneyland and I was wiped. That is why I seem so fried.

b- I never said that I was intelligent because I was liberal. I said that the views I had just expressed in that part of the video to me- because I am liberal- were intelligent TO ME. And then said, if you are a conservative, you would think the views I had just expressed in the video were STUPID. Some of you people need to learn to read and watch shit better, but hey, what's new.

END SECOND UPDATE:

UPDATE:

Note to Kotaku: Come on guys, you really think this is worth putting on your blog? I LOVE Kotaku but this is nuts...when we talk about our games- which yes, you smarmy Kotaku journalist asshole, we ARE making a new one :) - we would LOVE for you to cover it and hell, if you gotta cover this in order to cover that, then go ahead. But please, the people who give a shit what I say know to come here....no reason to put this totally non game related rant on your site, is there?

And this is not me saying: JUST LEAVE ME ALONE!!! If you think your readers care, put it up. I'm cool with that. It's just odd that you would think they actually care. By reading the comments, they sure don't seem to.

And yes, calling you an ass is a joke- I love your site!

END UPDATE

+++++++++++++++

Sorry about the double videos- accidentily hit the stop button when recording the first one.

Have a great weekend ya'll!

David






ps. I think it's cool how it looks like Jeanne D'arc is looking up at me over there on a bit to the bottom right...

Bugging the Fuck Out...

**********FINAL UPDATE:

Well folks- thanks for the lively debate today. I really enjoy debating, discussing, and learning about politics and ya'll sure did not disappoint, on any side of the argument :)

I am out for the next 2 days- we're taking our kids to Disneyland to celebrate my youngest daughter's 3rd birthday! So I'll chat with ya'll- about something NON political- when I return.

But in closing, I gotta point this out, cause it's something I learned/realized today during chatting with some of ya'll.

So I posted this in the comments early tonite:

Wouldn't it be nice if we could all step back - myself included0 and see we are ALL little fucking drones, spewing the bullshit talking points of our respective parties? We are doing what they want us to do to keep making them money. They don't care about us, they care about getting elected and making more cash.

And then some anon commenter posted this in response:


Spoken like someone who truly knows they have lost the debate.

You can't just pull out the everyone does it arguement. It doesn't wash.

Not totally sure about what his last sentence means but I get the gist I think.

But I was serious because I think it was this anon poster- hard to keep them all straight- that was countering all of my issues with Palin with rebuttals.

And that is why I started thinking: well wait a second, who DOES have the monopoly on the truth. Here, check out where I got my news/research on some Palin's dealings:

HUFFINGTON POST PALIN

Now I'm not fool. I know Huff Post is left leaning. But I still read it. Just like I read Drudge- which tends to lean to the right. And CNN that I feel is balanced mostly but leans a bit left. I stay away from FOX as I do think it's a joke.

But this got me thinking: with all of the spin doctors out there, why do ANY of us think we have the right to say we KNOW what the truth is. It seems like for every fact, there is someone out there who would benefit from that fact being incorrect that is allowed to tell you- under the guise of authority- that their counter fact is the true statement.

I mean, somebody wrote in telling me how wrong I was about the GORE/BUSH electoral recount but you know, I've seen a number of reports that say Bush and his team were the ones trying to manipulate the system so they came out the winners. And I've seen reports that say the press did recounts and by those recounts- that if the court would have allowed them to occur- Gore would have won.

So newsflash anon: I'm not walking away from the debate because I feel I lost.

I'm walking away from it because:
a- I've changed my mind a bit about MY news sources. I mean, they are preaching to my liberal mindset and so I think it's smart for me to always be wary about that, even tho I get all warm and fuzzy reading what I want to hear because it's what I already believe so it feels nice to have something line up- true or not- with the beliefs I already have. And it's my responsibility to be smart and not get suckered into that and call that the truth, just because it makes me feel better. But doesn't the same go for the right wingers? Unless some of you get your news sources from some ultra pure place that is not corrupt and influenced by business and spin doctors, what makes you think your info is more reliable? And so I just kind of say: well, I'm not going to read 20 news stories on the same issue and then filter out the 'truth'. I just don't have that much time or that much interest. And I guess that makes me feel it's kind of a stalemate and it makes me feel that we all do miss out as citizens because we are just pawns being pushed around the board by the powers that be. And if you think that is me walking away because I lost a debate, you are wrong. It's me walking away because I don't have the tools to debate anymore since I don't know where to go to get the truth.

b- Some issues- as one of you said- are moral issues where facts are irrelevant. I guess those are the only things you can vote on and know for sure. And in that case, I am pro-second amendment assuming MANY restrictions are put on that amendment (i.e. why the FUCK it's legal to buy assault rifles, I have no clue) and McCain is not....I am pro-choice and McCain is not...and the idea of teaching anything other than science in the science classroom makes me ill...and it makes McCain and Palin happy. So for me, those are the only issues I can really know about so that is why McCain does not have my vote.

Ok, well I'm off to try to get Darth Vader thru hard mode of Soul Caliber before I hit the hay and get up early to drive to Wally World. Chat you all a bit later in the week- and thanks again for the cool discussion!

David

++++END FINAL UPDATE:


****UPDATE:

Looking at some of the comments on this post, I want to clear a few things up here, in the post itself, so it doesn't get lost:

a- if you come here looking for JUST game news- and not news about my passions (movies, comics, AND politics) or my family/personal life- you've come to the wrong blog. I like writing and reading blogs from folks who make stuff I dig that are more personal and give me not just insight but even- to an extent- a real connection with the person whose blog I am visiting. This is not a PR site. It's my personal blog. When we launch the EAT SLEEP PLAY blog soon, you can expect a more professional, game only writing style from me on that blog. But here, it's just me, the real me without the need for a professional front. If that's not working for you, I understand and respect that totally. But it's not going to change. And it's about to get worse so if you don't like this sort of stuff, come back in a few days and I'll have some gamey stuff up, I promise! :)

b- this election is more heated than most and especially amongst a lot of Democrats and liberals like myself (I am a liberal, but an independent). You folks have to understand that alot of us were told to 'get over it' when Gore 'lost' the election in 2000. it's not so much that he lost. It's that a lot of us feel the vote counting should have continued to allow at least the illusion of democracy to continue. The fact that it did not- and that who we got as president because of the Supreme Court's decision- still stings and will for a long time. It's the political equivalent of telling the country to get over Pearl Harbor or even 9/11. A massive injustice, a massive attack was perpetrated on our very democracy when the Supreme Court put an end to the recount and it will take a long time to heal. The fact that the last 8 years had George Bush and company rubbing more salt in the wound by pretty much pissing all over our constitution doesn't help the pain go away faster. The fact that us folks who yelled about it then and yell about it now are/were told to shut up and just deal with it created alot of anger and desire to put an end to the current administration's way of doing things. For a long time, McCain seemed like a man who didn't drink from the same well as the current administration. That in the last few years- since he's wanted to be president again- has changed. And so many of us see McCain as another 4 years of Bush. And that's something that is not going to go down easily.

c- After 9/11 when folks were united over going after Bin Laden and the Taliban and then Bush pulled Iraq out of his ass and those of us who called him on it were told we were unpatriotic and should leave the country, well that sucked. And now- after many of us who opposed the war have been proven right (i.e. 9/11 and Iraq had nothing to do with each other, we've been stuck in Iraq way longer than plan/promised, there seems to be no exit strategy, this war is creating more terrorists not protecting us), we're now told, 'Well, get over it, we're there now, gotta finish the job'. No one seems to be holding Bush and company accountable and us in the opposition party are once again being told to just roll over and take it. And that's something that is not going down all that easily.

d- Bush should be impeached and you can't even bring that up, even tho he prob. deserves it more than any other president in our history. So when you've got McCain hugging and kissing the guy and voting with him the majority of the time, it makes you question if you really want that guy in the office for the next four years.

So there is much anger among left thinkers in this country. And you know what alot of us see in Obama? We see a guy who- experienced in key realms or no- is actually punching back and saying, "No more'. And we like that. We deserve that. And we want to see him elected in many ways BECAUSE of that.

And ALL THAT SAID, I still respect the Republicans and right wing,conservative thinking. They have some darn good points and I am glad we can all debate them and discuss them.

But for you guys who come here for just game news, I love politics man. It's important stuff AND entertaining stuff and it's not gonna go away from this blog. It's not a political blog, but it IS part of my life. So I hope even if it's not your cup of tea, you stick around for the kinds of posts I put up that you DO like.

Thanks for reading and visiting the blog- gotta go take my kid to school! L8!

David

++++END UPDATE


Couldn't have said it better myself :)

Go Diddy!

SWEET TOOTH COSPLAY!

Hey- check it!




Seen a semi-decent number of Kratos coplayers over the last few years, which is always exciting. Heck, I heard there were a few at this year's comic con but I missed them :(

But this is the first time I've ever seen TM cosplay! How cool! Love these!

I'm totally in a Sweet Tooth state of mind these days, so it make this even more exciting!

Ok, outta here- taking the kids to see FLY ME TO THE MOON, that 3d kids cartoon!

Later!

David

Intention of Games + Vice President MILF + White Board Insanity!

10 DOLLARS?!? I CAN GET BLOWN FOR 10 DOLLARS!

Shit- where is that quote from?!? Eddie Murphy, I think...but what movie?!?

Anyway:

Sorry for the lack of posts this week- things have been very, very hectic. Tons of design needs + lots going on at home (trip to LA, my oldest going to Kindergarden for the first time and trying to come up with a good, functional schedule with that in mind, reading legal documents that put me to sleep, trying to get a level of the ultra fantastic Bangai*O spirits made for the contest but missed the deadline,etc,etc,etc...)...So I've been bizzy. Will try to get a video update today or tomorrow.

Meantime, saw on Neo-Gaf that Snowblind Studios was making this XBLA game called DEATH TANK and went to the SBS webpage to see if there were screens. There were not but there was this:



Not sure what it's from- concept art from a new game? From an old game? I dunno.

I have appreciated alot/all of the Snowblind games in the past, respected the top down 'Gauntlet meets D&D rule set' titles they did (I get the whole SOE/Snowblind Norrath/Chapions thing all confused...are they the same?!?)...and wait, didn't they do the Balduer's Gate action game too?!?! So confused.

Either way, I appreciated them, but never got into them all that much. Perhaps I should give them a second chance, but I got bored real fast walking into Inns and being told to go kill some rats in a basement. I get that that is the genre and D&D folks are used to starting slow and building up, but for me, that is just too dull.

But again, I thought they seemed like very, very well made games and I know they have their legion of fans.

But so I saw this image and, like I said, I don't know if it's from a new or old game. But MAN I see this and go: I SO WANNA PLAY THAT GAME!!! I so wanna play a D&D flavored multiplayer game with 4-8 people in my party and be sent on intricately designed quests that call for platforming, puzzle solving, and combat.

Not a big WOW guy cause- hell, I dunno why...but I'm not so much about the level grind. The whole fascination with/addiction of leveling up a character is missing from my DNA. Never got swept up in Diablo fever or WOW fever for that very reason. And it seems so many RPGs are about that kind of stuff. But I want an RPG that puts most of the focus on living the fantasy promised in the amazing concept art: the traps and puzzles and monsters and amazing locations to explore. To me, that = RPG...not spending 10 hours trying to find the purple cloak of doom to show off to my friends. I mean, that has its place, but it's not the stuff that gets me jazzed about D&D style worlds.

Anyway, so there is one more useless tidbit you get to know about me. :)

Oh, and I played THE LAST GUY demo last nite- that's pretty darn cool. Not sure if the full game will keep me interested that long but I do like it. I'll wait for more reviews (I saw the 9.0 IGN one!) and see if it's my cup of tea. It's actually kind of useful being an independent developer making a lot less money now than I did at Sony. I ain't eating mac and cheese and ramen every nite (not that I would mind, I LOVE those things!) BUT money is MUCH tighter now that I ain't a Sony man anymore. No complaints, and it's actually kind of cool because suddenly I look at 10 bucks for a game in a new light. To me it used to be: ah,10 bucks, whatever...10 bucks for 45 min of fun=good deal.

But now? I mean, yeah, I got SOME cash to burn, and it's not like us Eat Sleep Play folks are little Dicken's characters pressed up against the window of the inn and begging for scraps. But these days I am more aware of what I spend and 10 bucks for that game- at the moment- seems kind of high. Not that I don't like the demo- thought it was great! But seems like it'll get kind of samey after about 20 minutes. Am I wrong?

But isn't that amazing? Back when we put out Calling All Cars I had a totally different take on it. So I am very appreciative of this new perspective. Maybe it will make me a better designer!

Ok, so I really gotta get back to level design. So lemme update a bit later today or tomorrow, catch up with ya'll, cool?

Hope all is well with everyone!

David

MEESA GANNA DESIGN A SHOOTER?!?

+++++++++++
UPDATE: OH MY GOD! The level editor in this thing is sooooo fun!!!!
++++++++++++++++






ps. been brought to my attention this was a game on Dreamcast and, among shooter fans and Treasure lovers (dug Gunstar, but have not really played a Treasure game in a while) this game is kind of creme of the crop. So wow- no pressure or anything!!! :)

XRAY? XMAS? XECELLENT!!!

++++++++++
UPDATE: WOOO-HOOOO! Ratchet on PSN is out tonite!!!! Sweet!!! I'm gonna try to finish the whole dang thing in one sitting! :)
+++++++++++++++++++


Dude...that title is sooo stupid.... :)

What else can I say? Perfection...

++++++++++
UPDATE: While I'm in the mood to post political pics that I had nothing to do with- but think are great, here's another one I came across at the great left leaning website, Huffington Post:



It's Obama's short list for his VP pick.

Man, I hope he picks Hillary. I don't like her public persona but I think she'd make a great VP and eventually a great pres. If they can swallow their pride, I bet they'd make a great team and MAN, I bet they would clean up in November...I would be happier with Wes Clark but dunno if he is as strong from a pure 'get out the Democratic vote' standpoint. I like Biden as well, but feel he has the same lack of 'kick' that Clark does. Sad that that is what it comes down to but, it kinda does in this day and age. It's what happens when we put most of our tax dollars into stupid shit like bullshit wars and ignore public education.

++++++++++++++++++++++



Got this from Wil Wheaton's great blog. I mean, I don't know how I can add anything else so I'll just say: good night! :)

Flower Power!

********************
UPDATE: Seen a few posts on other sites (that have linked to this post) where people are assuming the reason Flower works on an emotional level is the graphics and the music. Let me just say- without giving anything away- that Flower's music and art- great as it is...and it IS great- is NOT the core thing I am responding to. That is why I think Flower is so special. And so rare in games.

I am not one of these guys who can be so easily manipulated...there are classic games- some of my faves of all times- that people call 'art' just because you hear the wind blowing and the colors are kind of washed out/blown out and there's not alot of killing going on and it's all kind of echoy and stuff....love the game I am thinking of, btw (in my top 5 of all time) but it does not- in my book- get to be called art just cause it has this layer of 'arty farty' over the gameplay...and hell, I think flOw got some of it's love because of this same sort of 'arty farty' presentation....just like GOD OF WAR got some of it's love because of its brutal presentation....and that was- design wise for GOW- intentional....so I get the technique, I understand it and like using it. It's a short cut technique to making the player feel, and it works by taking techniques that the player has already been trained to respond to- usually by the movies-and simply applying them to games. But let's be honest about it: it's cheating. In these cases, the games never really earn the emotion they ellicit (and you'd think critics would call us on it, but they don't. I mean, man,Twisted Black got MUCH better reviews than the core play deserved because of the dark theme that was simply us ripping off movies like Seven....not that TMB is not a good game, I think it is a really good game, but it was NOT as good as TM2, but you would have never known it from the over blown review scores.)....either way, that technique is not why I am responding so strongly to Flower. The cheating technique is there- by the way- in Flower,in spades. TCG does it better than most companies these days. But that's not the magic in the sauce...at least not for me...

END UPDATE
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Hey guys- sorry for the lack of updates last few days. Just been swamped.

A coupla quick hits:

#1- Got a great demo of That Game Company's newest game FLOWER when I was in Santa Monica last week. Holy Shit! Now I had played the first level before and really liked it. I had liked it alot more than flOw which- as I always say- I APPRECIATED but never really enjoyed as a game experience. But this new game? Shit, man. It's on the road to being a classic, no doubt. And I don't say that lightly cause while the core game mechanics are fun, it- in my mind- lives or dies by the emotions it creates while you play. And you guys know I'm a disappointed cynic when it comes to video games evoking subtle emotions in players. But I'll tell you what- from what I saw on Friday- these guys/gals at TGC are well on their way to having made one of the most emotional games of all time. I love what I saw. And if the whole game feels like the stuff I saw last week...well wow! Just wow! And the coolest thing to me is, hell, now I'm inspired to step up to the plate and try to do something a bit more meaningful as well. Maybe not with our current title, but one day soon. Thanks TGC!

#2- I was having a hard time coming up with some ideas today so I figured I'd take my mind off work by sticking my Mighty Muggs Indy that I got from Comic Con into my fake bamboo plant and pretending he was in the jungle.

Yep, I am a total loser :) I am not sure if this is one of the benefits or one of the pitfalls of working at home, alone, where there is no one around to judge you :) Except little kids...who happen to think stuff like this is cool. Still, 5 minutes after I did it, I took Indy out of the plant and put him back on the shelf. I just felt too lame.

#3- Saw Tropic Thunder- a few great lines, Cruise rocked, Downey rocked. Rest of the movie=rental, and better still: cable flick.

#4- Not plaid Braid yet. Probably will, people seem to like it alot. Anyone on here played yet?

Ok, gonna try to get a little more work done. Talk later!

David

CHECK IT OUT! I'M PATHETIC!

Hey, you wanna know what's lame? This movie:


Wanna know what's even lamer?

The fact that I am CRAZY EXCITED TO BUY IT when it comes out on the just announced date of OCT 14th!!!

Lord help me!

David

ps. yes, yes...I know there are a few really great moments in the thing but overall, as I've said many times, it is pretty shit. But I so don't care! God, I'm such an Indy freak.

MY NAME IN LIGHTS!!!

There is an interesting and- for me- thought provoking write up over at the MTV Multiplayer Blog today about should game devs get names on boxes.

Check out Mr. Totilo's latest right here! Then come on back to read the rest of my take on the whole thing...

Back when we did Twisted Metal 1, the first printing of that game had my name on the box, on the back under a small little designed by credit. I think it said- DESIGNED BY: DAVID JAFFE & SINGLETRAC...here, check it out:


Sorry it's a bit blurry...

My desire for this came directly from seeing Sierra Online do something similar with their PC adventure games. Heck, those folks got names AND their pictures on the box!!! My desire also came form the fact that I wanted to make a name for myself as a game designer and hell, at the time, Sony didn't even think about it and just said:sure. But then they changed their minds! Some of it was the complaints from the rest of the team...some of it- I assume- came from them going: 'wait, why are we helping this guy become his own brand?!? A brand that we financed but don't own? Hell no!!!'

...well that is what I assumed happened in SOMEONE'S mind. Or not...maybe it was just the team complaining :)

But in the case of Twisted, the team- rightly so- did indeed scoff and so upon second printings, my name was removed.

Now I am not saying my name should NOT have been on the box. It should have. But so should perhaps 5 other folks from Singletrac who did key design and/or creation work and really birthed that franchise. And that is not to take away from all the work the rest of the team did or all the work the publisher did. And hell, if we were a logical business and shared a handful of game engines across all games versus all of this 'let's make our own fucking engine so our graphics can be 2% better than our competition even tho most of the public could really give a rat's ass when you are talking about that level of a difference', then a few of those 5 would not be on the box either because they would be being given credit for having written an amazing engine that LOTS of games used, not just TWISTED METAL (and WARHAWK)....are we getting there with stuff like the success of UNREAL ENGINE? And with the success of Wii where it's been made clear that a vast number of gamers do not think graphics have to make your eyes bleed for a game to be worth buying? We'll see...

So two more things on the NAME ABOVE THE TITLES issue:

#1- The idea of ASKING a publisher what they think about this issue and expecting an answer that is actually balanced is absurd. Trust me, if movie studios didn't HAVE to give credit, they would not. Why would they- or why would game publishers? It's bad business. The pubs and studios put up the cash- usually- and they take the biggest risk. Why would they EVER want the success of a movie or game associated with anyone other than them? I get that. But in movies, they do it cause it's contractual and they do it because they are forced to do it or those above the line talents will go work somewhere else. And in DOING so, the above the line names become valuable brands which do benefit the studios on a movie by movie basis, but benefit the individual actors/directors for the duration of their career- no matter what studio they choose to work with.

In games, it's not the case because so far, game developers (either as teams or as individual 'stars' on a team), have yet to prove that they can bring in cash on a consistent basis. What brings in real cash in games are brand names of franchises: GTA, HALO, CALL OF DUTY. Yes, those names become brands because talented teams make amazing products BUT all one needs to do is look at the mega success of Twisted Metal 3 and Twisted Metal 4 (games that many folks did not think were as good as the originals) to see that the majority of the buying public is as fine with a 70% metacritic rated game as they are with a 95% metacritic rated title. As long as they get the core fantasy delivered and it's marketed well, they'll show up.

And so until developers- be them individual stars or the core members on the team- can really prove- on a consistent basis- that they can make hit after hit after hit IN DIFFERENT FRANCHISES (without NEEDING to attach an expensive comic or movie license to their games in order to do so), game makers have little room to negotiate. Even the guys who make CALL OF DUTY, HALO, and GTA are not in a perfect position, as amazingly genius as they are. Because All of those games- even if given to C+ level developers- can still make crazy cash for at least 2-4 more iterations before the public catches on and stops buying the series. I am almost certain that if those developers walked away because their money demands were not met, the folks who own the rights to those series would keep pumping them out- regardless of quality- and keep raking in the cash.

Maybe the problem is game makers have been assuming quality=value. But it does not. Hell, GOD OF WAR- which many folks felt was a quality game- got it's ASS KICKED ALL OVER THE PLACE in sales by the FANTASTIC FOUR movie video game (which many folks felt was not a very high quality product...and I know some of the folks who made it and they worked their asses off, but look, let's call it like it is...it was not a great game by many people's standards). But I'll tell you what, it sold like crazy cakes dude.

So the reality is, sales=value; ability to create sales=ability to negotiate. So if a developer out there is able to create consistent hit franchises, then you will see the name(s) of those folks above the titles because then they will have the leverage to demand such treatment.

Reality is, I can't think of anyone in the biz who has done that other than perhaps Miyamoto (if you look at ALL the stuff he's made). And for whatever reason, he seems content to stay at the big N and not demand his due. And you guys who like to go all hater on me and call me arrogant can talk all you want about company loyalty and that Miyamoto is a class act who would never demand such things. What-the-fuck-ever, dude. He may very well be a saint. Good on him. I got nothing but love for Miyamoto. But business is business and if you are a key player in making someone a shit ton of money over and over and over, in my book, you damn well better be getting your due (be it mega bucks or name above the title or whatever the hell you want). And Miyamoto may very well feel that he is very well compensated. I am aware there is a vast cultural difference between East and West on this subject. I have no way of knowing the details of his situation. All I am saying is, he's the only one I can think of who has been key in making mega hits in various franchises. Can you think of anyone else?

#2- Alot of the net posters commenting on this story are assuming game devs who want this treatment are ego maniacs. They then go on to say that movie stars and movie directors are ok to ask for it because that's just how it is, but game makers are assholes if they as for such treatment. To these folks I say: go fuck yourself. The movie folks negotiated for those credits and fought tooth and nail for them. They were not just given them by the movie gods or the kind folks who run the movie studios or the movie going public. So don't accuse us of being arrogant just because some of us would like to be treated with as much re$pect (be it money or credit, and preferably both) as we can get away with. Plus, granted Miyamoto and Wright are not as big of names as Spielberg. BUT THAT IS BECAUSE MIYAMOTO AND WRIGHT DON'T HAVE NAMES ABOVE PRODUCTS and they don't have ability to negotiate for the sort of press treatment and PR perks that movie folks get (which, in turn, turns them into brand names). The only way they will become mainstream is if they MAKE THEMSELVES mainstream. It is not magic, it's a calculated process. But that ain't really gonna happen unless there is a big shift in the way games are financed. I just saw some of the ex Midway guys are starting a console game co. with VC money...so maybe when the money comes from VC versus publishers, the VC will be more willing to let the game makers have their very valuable time in the sun.


Ok, gotta get back to work- talk to ya'll soon- David

There Goes My Life...

As most parents with small kids do, I am always ‘almost tripping’ over all sorts of toys that have been scattered about the house. Stuffed animal on the stairs, Littlest Pet Shop figures on the bathroom floor, stray Baby Einstein DVDS- their cases having gone missing months ago- strewn all over the living room, waiting for me to crack them in half with one poorly placed step.

This morning I almost tripped and fell on the way into the bathroom. My kneejerk was to scream out, “MOTHERFUCKER!!!!”…then I thought better of it (much as I am cool with cussing, I try not to do it in front of the girls) and so instead I decided to yell, “AAALLLLVIN!!!!” But that was only because we had just seen the movie version of Alvin and the Chipmunks a few weeks ago. The girls would have thought I was just goofing on the movie so I decided not to, as I didn’t want them to think leaving their stuff all around was ok.

But amid the annoyance and anger, it occurred to me how amazingly lucky I am. How amazingly lucky to even be in a situation where I could have almost tripped over some toys that would not even be in my house had I not had kids.

I have kids.

And I’m one of those people who WANTED to have kids. And- by the grace of whatever it is that you think is out there- I actually got them. And it really is the best thing that has ever happened to me.

And so tripping over toys, or waking up at 3am to take care of my youngest who has the croup (which I did last nite), or taking my oldest to the circus when I’m really not in the mood to go (which I did today) are all things that- when I stop to think- are things that I am so grateful I get to experience. These experiences, these memories are some of the greatest treasures of my life and to be aware that these things are indeed treasures WHILE I are in the midst of raising my kids- versus years later when, in some ways, it's sort of too late- well, for that, I am blessed and I am grateful.

I was taking the trash out the other day and both my girls were ‘helping’ me wheel the cans to the curb. I ran into a neighbor who was packing up his car and he looked a little shell shocked. I don’t know him all that well, but he’s always friendly. I waved, he waved. Then he pointed at my girls and said something to the effect of, “Enjoy it man, goes by so fast…”

And he would know.

Because on that very morning he was in the process of loading up his car with luggage for his 18 year old daughter (he has two girls as well) who would be- a little later that day- heading off to her first year of college.

And I was so grateful for that moment, because it was like God/The Universe/The Angels/a Random Firing In My Brain That Has No Spiritual Aspect To It At All was tapping me on the shoulder and reminding me that I have been given a gift. And even though it’s so incredibly easy to forget- when all the day to day chores of being a parent are crashing down around you- the reality is: it is a gift.

Those gifts are- finally!-sleeping in the room next to me as I type this. And I am grateful for the silence in the house.

But a small part of me is hoping they will wake me up again at 3am just so I can hang out with my girls a little bit more :)

Chat later!

David