Me WANTS IT!!!!

...GOD I fucking want this!



This is the best Halloween display I've ever seen. So damn cool!

Totally one of those 'I wish I wuda thought of that' small businesses. Not sure how this guy is doing cash wise, but what fun!

Reminds me, I should download Atari's remake of Haunted House from Steam this weekend. Anyone played it yet?!?

David

Dear Max Console...

...please change your headline.

I never said EITHER thing you are saying I said. 

Come on ya'll. Show a little professionalism. 

David 

My Take On Medal Of Honor

I was home sick yesterday so in between bouts of sleeping I got to play a lot of Medal of Honor while crashing on the couch.


If you are interested, here's my take: 


I like it! 


The game has heart. The SP feels more immersive to me than a game like MW2. I think it's clear MW2 has MOH beat to hell and back in production value and sheer 'wow' factor, but MOH almost feels like I'm on an adventure with these three other soldiers...kind of more like playing a war story where as most other FPS war games feel more like I'm living in a war simulation. It's one of the reasons I'm really digging the SP of this game. I don't really know why that is as MW2 DOES have super cool scenario designs where it is just you and a buddy or two (ice pick climbing and such). But for some reason that game- while a fun ass ride- just doesn't feel as immersive. Is it that the scenarios are SO James Bond that it's hard to really feel immersed in the scenarios? Hell, maybe it just comes down to sound fx and music and MOH- I think-has really immersive sound and the music is just great. Makes me feel like I'm in a movie like SPY GAME or GREEN ZONE. 

That said, MOH is crazy repetitive in its enemy scenario design (to the point that- even as a short game- I'm reaching my threshold on how many times I can do the 'advance, hunker down and shoot dudes popping out, rinse repeat' thing). Also, I don't like how I went from being the Tier 1 guys to being Rangers. I was digging my ZZ TOP brethren and now- all of a sudden- I'm some clean cut army guy?!? WHY? 


Oh, also digging the little sub/mini game things like targeting tanks and trucks with the paint target binoculars thing. That's really fun! 


Also, I wish a lot of the non interactive story telling would have been interactive. How cool would it have been for ME to have solved the 'puzzle'- as a player- of kicking the dude in the chair ( with the bomb strapped to his chest) out the window?!? 


But still,all that said, really liking SP so far.

Digging the MP as well and not sure why. It still has the problem most FPS have (in my minority opinion) in that to ME it's not fun to respawn, run out and be alive for 5-30 seconds, then die and then you have this down time of respawning again, walking back to some sort of conflict area again before you are reengaged. I fucking HATE that pacing. But that's most FPS games, not just MOH. And most players seem ok with it.  

But the MP has me hooked for now. Maybe it's the quality of the matchmaking or just the fact that no one has played long enough to rank up to the point that they are fucking unstoppable monsters on the battlefield...or maybe it's the fact that the rank up rewards do a better job of keeping the balance fair while also rewarding players by letting them feel more powerful. Not really sure. But so far I've stuck with this MP longer than I stuck with MW2, KILLZONE 2, and BFBC2 MP. It just feels more 'fair' at the moment, like I have a good chance to get a decent number of kills, complete some objectives,etc. Versus just 'walk/die/walk/die' which tends to be my FPS online experience with other games. Is that only me? 



I also like the big, beefy medals that pop onto screen when you do something cool. Yeah, every online game has medals these days but the presentation of earning a medal in this game is a lot more rewarding to me for some reason than in other titles. That said, the presentation of achieving a rank up in this game is very lame. Just a little piece of text that says: YOU RANKED UP! ....meh :(


Anyway, I dig this game! I know the reviews have been mixed but for me it's a solid win.


David 

My Response to EA Louse...

If you have not read the EA LOUSE letter that is making some waves in the game biz today, I highly recommend it. It's good reading. Here ya go! 

And now, here's my response:

Knowing nothing about the company, game, or people, I'm in no position to comment on how true and valid all this is vs. how much it's just a tantrum from someone who felt they should have been listened to but was not.

I will comment on two things however:

#1- EALouse- no one gives a shit if you or the animators get to express yourselves IF in expressing yourself it breaks the fiction of/immersion into the world of the game. It's not a fucking art class where everyone gets a chance to 'show what's inside them!'...it's work. I don't know much about the Warhammer world but fuck man, seems a pretty spot on comment that if the whole fiction is about some horrid, down and dirty war then mechanics and animations that allow characters to fucking DANCE are probably not going to fit into that universe. And the fact that you feel removing the dancing- which was a good creative call in my mind- served to take away some of the team's ability to express themselves does nothing but paint you as someone with out of touch, unrealistic expectations of what your job is supposed to do for you. Games SHOULD allow for self expression by members of the team- that is FANTASTIC when that happens and something management should always try to offer up- but it's gotta be within context of and in service to the product.

#2- What the fuck is it about making games where it brings out the worst, most immature, most obnoxious sides of certain types of people on a team? Everyone thinks they always know better than the people in charge. On God of War 1 I still remember a small group of hard core gamers on the team that felt we were making the game 'wrong' because there was not all this deep, deep, Street Fighter 2/Tekken style depth to the combat system. "Jaffe's out of touch!" "Jaffe doesn't 'get it!'"...never did it occur to them that we were going for something else...even tho I explained this to them over and over! But still, every few weeks I could count on this little contingency being up in the studio head's office pitching 'their' version of the game, with the goal being to have the head step in- which he never did- and shove their ideas into the title.  Fuck it annoys me!  Am I the only one in games who has experienced this? 

David 


ps. the dancing part is not in the original post but in the Q/A-Comments section of the blog post where Louse goes on to answer reader questions. 

Fuckin' Ugh...

While I like this ad, think it's well made and funny, and think most of us can relate to it (as both the phone users and the people annoyed with the phone users), I really hate when tech companies take this angle. As I recall Prodigy or Compuserve did the same thing back in the dot com craze with some line like, "Log on, get your stuff, log off, and get on with your life".

To me it really shows a lack of understanding about how technology is changing our very wiring. To not only push against that change, but to present our obsession with tech and the ease with which so many of us get lost within it as a bad/wrong/weird thing just seems out of touch at best and intentionally dishonest at worst.

The reality is many people- for whatever reason- DO want to look at their phones and text and get mail INSTEAD of interfacing with the outside world. Stop being such old fashioned snobs and just embrace that fact. Fuck, you want to do something innovative and cool, get to work on a product that lets us dive deeper into the matrix without running the risk of bodily harm as we are walking around the real world (heads up displays for glasses and contacts lenses...stuff like that....Apple should come out with the ieye :)...).

But this just reeks of one of those 'don't be a geek all lost in your phone and your tech but be cool instead' messages that I just hate.

David

It Begins...

My brother came down from LA to help me decorate my yard over the weekend. This year my kids wanted a more scary Halloween display instead of the cute, little kid one we usually have. So I splurged at the Spirit store Saturday and picked up some creepy stuff. There is still no gore- they are way too young for that- but it's a lot more spooky! I dig it!

This is my fave area of the house with my brand new Grave Digger! He is so damn cool that when the holiday is over I'm gonna stick him in my office. :)

Also, the kid's costumes have gotten scarier too. Instead of the usual Disney Princesses and barnyard animal style costumes that they've gravitated towards since birth, this year my oldest is going as a Werewolf and my youngest is going as a...hmm...I dunno what the hell she's going as...she just assembled her own little thing from stuff lying around the store and ended up with this:

Kind of like a cross between a vampire, Star Child from KISS, and something out of a Meatloaf video. I love it...so surreal and creepy!

My brother and I also hit San Diego's famous HAUNTED HOTEL this weekend! I was SOOOO excited but it was kinda 'meh'. The production design/execution/professionalism/crowd control was fantastic! One of the best haunted houses I've been in in those regards; just very well done all around. But the scares were pretty by the book, nothing all that creative or unique other than the 'dot room' (which I won't spoil for you if you don't know what it is). I think it's time for haunted houses to step up to the next level; there is just so much more you could do with them. Not sure if there is a biz model that could sustain a more ambitious, creative haunt but perhaps one day- I hope- I'll get to find out.

Ok, back to work. As you can probably tell by the lack of updates, work is all consuming these days as we try to get the game where it needs to be before we unleash it to the world! Hope all is well!

David

ps. So my brother and I were older than 99% of the other people at the haunted house- naturally. But I got to wondering: why?!? At what age do most people lose interest in haunted houses? To me- assuming it's a good one- haunted houses can still be a fucking blast. What is it do you think that- as people get older- makes them no longer care to head out to the haunts for Halloween?

Peep My Nasty Ass Desk

I've been slammed. Work has been nuts- which explains the lack of updates this week. The state of my life and soul can easily be discerned by the cleanliness of my office and car. And when I am crazy with work, the rest of my life goes to pot (no time to clean, or excercise, or eat well...it's all work). Good news is these come in fits and spurts so it's not like this the whole project...just a lot of design docs to get written this week.

 Anyway, just wanted to share and say hey! Been too long.

Picked up DEAD RISING 2 and FRONT MISSION today. Hope to find some time to play this coming weekend.

Hope you are all well!

David

Jaffe The Couch Potato

I had big plans this weekend.

I really did.

I was going to drive up to LA tomorrow, see a buddy of mine and eat some amazing Indian food for lunch. Then I was going to swing by a friend's surprise birthday party- which has not been a surprise to him for about a week now. Then I was going to go to a show that night and meet the person doing the show (can't say who but I'm a mega, mega fan of this person)! AND I was going to meet a new industry contact who is doing some pretty big work in the biz. And I was going to stay with my brother who lives in LA and who lives right around the corner from the amazing Canter's Deli on Fairfax! Breakfast at Canter's=amazing!

Packed, fun weekend for sure.

But I'm bailing on it. I just have to.

This week was a lot of late nights for work and last weekend was non stop with the kids at Disneyland. And I'm just so damn fried that I think if I don't take care of myself and just let myself veg, watch tv, play some games, hang with the family, get in some exercise, lay in bed and read magazines on my iPad, watch a movie or two, and just- in general- fuck around, then I really think I'll be hating it on Monday. And there really is nothing worse than rolling in to work in a job you LOVE and just not being able to motivate yourself to do great work because your creative, emotional tank is just flat empty.

So sometimes you gotta know when to just say, "Fuck it" and remove yourself from the rat race (fun as that race can be).

This weekend is one such time.

Hoping I can resked all the LA fun for the coming weeks.

In the meantime, I'll be on the couch :)...

Great weekend ya'll!

David

R.I.P. Blockbuster Video

Ok, that may be a little premature but you get the idea. And you never know, they could come out of this stronger than before but I doubt it. Plus shit, much as I have fond memories of going to the video store, most of those memories are from Mom and Pop video stores, NOT Blockbuster. So maybe it should not be R.I.P....hmmm...anyway, I'm slammed. Here's a video blog :)

Hope all is well!

David

I Am Ken Watanabe!!

Just woke from a dream in which I had cracked open the PS2 version of the new Twisted Metal game we are making. It was being created by a different, brand new, much smaller team of people. Brand new start up group. This was their first game.

Now there IS no PS2 version of the new Twisted Metal. THAT should have been a tip off that I was dreaming and my architect had overstepped.

But I stayed asleep.

After I opened the box I immediately grabbed and flipped thru the manual: it was filled with lots of super cool ideas for car combat games. Most of it was the stuff I wanted in the current PS3 TM that we just have not had the time to do (ex: laying oil slicks in the level and then if you drop napalm onto the oil or shoot missiles over the oil, the heat from the napalm ((or from your missile trail)) would ignite the oil slick and create giant protective walls of flame). Stuff like that. And this team- this small, scrappy, brand new 'never made a game before' team- HAD somehow managed to pull all that stuff off!

So all the ideas I wanted for the new TM that we did not have time to do were in someone ELSE'S game...but not in ours?!? Hmmm. Now THAT should have tipped me off I was dreaming...or in hell. But nope, I stayed asleep.

What woke me up was when I took another look at the game manual and realized it was more than 5 pages long and in color.  HA! A nice, slick, THICK, COLOR game manual!?! In 2010?!? PLEASE! Nice try Sidhe! You almost had me! MAYBE next time!

David

ps. It's 5am. I'm goin' back to bed.

Sweet Tooth Returns!

Get all the latest info on our new game in the latest issue of Playstation: The Official Magazine! 

I have not seen the piece yet so no idea if they dug the preview we gave them or they hated us or what. Gulp! Hope they dug what they saw last month! 

Either way- check it out- should be on new stands any day! Lemme know what you think!

David

ps. A character/vehicle many folks have been asking about is revealed in this issue.

pps. Not only is this issue of P:TOM sweet cause it has OUR game in it :) BUT this is also the kick off issue of their brand new redesign! Eager to see what the new look/take has in store! 

Up With The Sun...

It's 5:30am, up since 5 to work. So much left to do on the game and most work days after around 5pm, I'm done, fried, kaput. I can do bizzy work after 5pm, but creative, analytical work is pretty much shot for me once the sun goes down. As I get older, I DO tend to be able to do creative work late at night but I can't always count on that (I never know when that energy surge is gonna hit). So I get up early to try and get as much work in before late afternoon as I can. Hard to tell if it's better to be more clear (i.e. less tired) for less hours (i.e. sleep till 7-7:30 instead of up at 5) OR if it's more productive to get up at 5 and have more hours to work but have less focus. We'll see! :)

Meanwhile...is it odd I'm really excited to see this?!?

I know it's a kids movie...or maybe FAMILY movie is more correct? Either way, I'm taking my kids this weekend. Has sort of a Dark Crystally feel, yes? PLUS it's from Snyder...how can you go wrong with a PG kids movie made by the 300 and Watchmen guy?!?! Anyway, let ya know how it is! 

Ok- gotta get cranking- later!

David 

Journalistic Assumptions

I'm really tired of journalists writing pieces about what they feel is lacking in games- be it deeper artistic sensibilities, deeper stories, meaningful mature views of the world, or more realistic portrayals of women- and framing the opinion as if it's a foregone conclusion that what they are asking for simply needs to happen and it's our lack of maturity as developers or our lack of ability or our fear of a lack of sales that are the things that prevent their desires from coming true.

It's like they never stop to consider that perhaps many of us game developers don't want what THEY want.

Maybe some of us LIKE games that don't want to be art.
Maybe some of us would rather be the Jerry Bruckheimer of games than gaming's Orson Wells.
Maybe some of us LIKE portraying women in a more comic booky way (the same way- by the way- that the vast majority of male game characters are portrayed).
Maybe some of us don't want to load our games down with political and philosophical discourse.

The point is not whether games can or should push at these boundaries. For some developers and gamers they absolutely should try to do so (and some games do try and at times somewhat succeed). For other gamers and developers, not so much.

But just because YOU- dear journalist- may want games to be a certain way (and you have every right and in some ways even an obligation to shout from the rooftops about what you don't like and what you want to see changed about the medium that you cover) don't assume that we all have the same desires that you do. And more importantly don't assume that the reason things are not the way you want them is because game makers are just not trying hard enough or we're all stunted or we're all too scared of not moving units.

And if you really want to write about this topic in a fresh, meaningful way- and since some of you are so clear on the fact that if we were just more grown up as developers we could be making video game versions of Citizen Kane (don't fucking get me started),  how about an article explaining exactly what you mean? Be specific. Explain first off what it is about Citizen Kane you want to see done interactively. Explain the psychology that drives a player to chase after feelings and emotions in a videogame that they can already get in other mediums. Talk about the collapse of the suspension of disbelief in the fiction- that is required to immerse someone in a film or book (and thus allows those mediums to be powerfully emotional and moving)- that occurs the moment you pick up a controller and are given a task to complete. Discuss the challenge - and is it even possible- to create emotion while a player is also- at the same time- busy dealing with a task. Instead of just being accusatory ('developers are stunted' 'developers are scared of real women and/or don't understand women'), and instead of being presumptuous ('games should be ABOUT something! They should tackle the tough subjects like marriage and death and politics and these game makers are just so worried about blockbusters that they avoid making the medium great!) actually dig into whether this thing you say you want is even possible in this medium, how it works, the brain science and psychology behind interactivity and how there may (or may not) be ways to merge play and emotion.

David

ps. before anyone comments about how games can be art and such, I get it. I want games that have deeper meaning and deal with tougher issues as well. I'm not opposed to that. And as much as I'd like some games I work on to allow me to proudly wear the 'Jerry Bruckheimer' label, there are times- and games I want to make- that would let me drape myself in the cloak of Sidney Pollack or Spielberg or Nolan. So I'm not hating on the idea of games being 'more' than just action/adventure and explosions and T&A. I'm bitching about some journalists that assume that the reason most games are not 'more' than this has everything to do with lazy, untalented, and/or scared developers.

2 Quick Thoughts

#1- POT CALLING THE KETTLE BLACK

Is amazed that so many ultra right wingers can- on one hand- claim to be anti Muslim but on the other hand endorse the very freedom killing beliefs that only the most extremist Muslim folks (who do not represent the vast majority of Muslims) support. 


#2- OLD JIMMY STEWART CREEPS ME OUT AND MAKES ME SAD

I'm watching The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance these days (taking me a few nights to get thru it) and I just don't like seeing Jimmy Stewart older than say 35. It's just not right, not natural, and it's downright creepy. He's only and always supposed to be young, full of life, energy, and good old fashioned can-do American spirit. Like this:

And this:

Now THAT'S Jimmy Stewart dammit!


Right wingers want to ban media and games and movies? Well start with this: Ban all Jimmy Stewart movies where he's older than 35. No matter if they are classics like Valance and Vertigo, just ban those fuckers. Ban them now! Old Jimmy Stewart is bad for America.


That's is all.


David 

Sweet! New Disney Animation!

Day one! With my kids of course! But hell, it looks so good I'd probably end up seeing it even if I didn't have little girls :)

I know I'm in the mega minority on this but I tend to like Disney animation more than Pixar movies. Princes and the Frog had some big issues but I enjoyed it much more than the latest Pixar flicks (which had tons of heart but mega story issues for me).

Anyway, this looks great!

Torn Between Two Dantes

So this dude above- based on all we know right now- is the new Dante from Devil May Cry.

Fans ain't happy. Well, at least if internet message boards are to be believed (but given how well Scott Pilgram and Snakes on A Plane performed at the box office, isn't it time we just accepted that all of the geeks posting on the net really only amount to like 1000 people or something??!)

I'm torn. As the guy who was very seriously considering turning Sweet Tooth into an inner city gang banger (big ass, super tough black man with fire tats on his bald head instead of flames), I get the need and desire to freshen up and re-imagine characters from time to time. Creative folks have got to have the freedom to play around, experiment, push boundaries. That's why they- we- are creative folks. It's what we do.

At the same time, when you are talking about classic characters- like Dante- how much consistency is owed to the fan base? How much consistency is needed for you to be allowed to drape your product in the name of an established franchise? And does that amount change if what is being delivered- new and fresh as it is- is crazy great? I would imagine if the dude above was all kinds of awesome visually, fans would be being more forgiving. It's not that he's bad at all. He's totally fine but he's kind of generic. Which may very well be the point. Maybe he BECOMES classic Dante with all his crazy quirks and flair as you play thru the game. Maybe he's generic so players can project their own personality on him (ala GTA). Maybe he's generic because they are going for an archetype (ala Nathan Drake). I got no way of knowing at this point. 

Fans should also keep in mind that the Devil May Cry games- at least since the first one- have not been mega sellers. Yes, DMC has its share of devoted fans (and I'm one of them). But it's not like we're talking Modern Warfare numbers here. Not even God of War numbers. So I can see a publisher and developer going, 'Shit, we gotta do something to take this amazing game series and make it more relevant to a lot more people'. So I can see how they ended up where they are now. This guy's design may not be the next Master Chief but I can see him being more commercial to more gamers compared to the very cool but also very effeminate classic Dante. 

So I'm willing to give them the benefit of the doubt. Let the team play, let them roam, let them try to entertain us. I'm sure this decision was not made lightly. I think sometimes the net jumps the gun and mocks and makes fun and tears creative types apart without giving them a chance to prove themselves. 

Once the game or movie or comic is out? It's fair game, for sure. Hell, I'll never forgive Crystal Skull for being a shit pile. But until the game is done, I'm all for supporting the creative process. Because when it works, we get amazing, amazing things.

David 

My thoughts on the recent used games court ruling...

Happy to see the the recent legal ruling over used game software. I'm excited about what it could mean to console game makers if game publishers step up- as a group- and make some demands of the retail giants (Gamestop, Best Buy, Toys R Us, Walmart,etc.).

Now don't misunderstand. I'm not opposed to used game sales. I NEVER have been (contrary to what some will tell you). I think used games help the market- to an extent- and I think gamers should always get the very best deal they can get when buying ANYTHING.

And I don't disagree with the doomsday scenario Jim Sterling of Destructoid paints of what could happen to the game business IF used games are no longer sold: fewer new games sold because customers could not use in store credit to buy new copies. Sure, that's a possibility. And a bad one.

But I'd like to think this legal precedent could/would be used instead to either:

a- motivate publishers to force big retail into sharing profits with publishers on used titles (i.e. 'hey, you want to keep breaking the law big retail store? Fine...then cut us in'). This is the ideal solve so publsihers win, big retail wins (a bit less than they win right now but they still get to make gobs of cash), and gamers themselves never have to feel ANY change to their game buying habits. Check it: everybody wins!

b- motivate publishers to force open a window where games can not be sold used OR rented for the fist X months of release. THEN once the window closes, the games can be sold used and rented and the publisher gets a cut. In this case, everyone wins but the gamer who buys used or rents and thus- annoyingly- has to wait a bit longer to play. But this is the movie model and it seems to work fine for those folks.

A common, obnoxious game fan insult thrown at any game maker who voices that they don't like the current used game market system is that game makers are greedy. I hear that a lot whenever game makers bitch about used games. I hear that AND I hear the stupid 'first semester on the debate team' quality analogy comparing used games to used cars which simply doesn't hold up if you think about it for 5 seconds. But on the greed insult, it goes something like this:

'You game makers are greedy fucks! You charge 60 bucks for your games- which is way too much- and they are never worth that much anyway. How much is enough for you? You just want all of our money!'

Now sure, some game makers are very greedy and would sell their mother to the Taliban if they could turn a profit (and we all know who I'm talking about here). But most are not. Yes, publishers want to make money and lots of it. But that's just business. That's not greed.

And the consistent decline in game sales shows that business is not so good. Some attribute it to longer games- ala RED DEAD and COD4:MW2- keeping players from buying more games (aka if a game can last you 100+ hours, you don't need to buy another game for a good long while). Some say it's the free stuff to play on the net (why pay for anything when I get just as much fun- for free- from AddictingGames.com?!?) . Some say it's iphone and ipad games (that are not tracked with the NPD). These are all valid- and in some cases wonderful- reasons the core console business is struggling.

But many suggest- myself included- that a good percentage of the issue is that used games are ruling the roost these days and gamers- especially in a tough economy- are opting to save cash by buying a used game versus ponying up for a brand new one. And since a new game is the only way publishers and developers make cash on their work, well it makes sense why the industry is suffering.

So for me this legal decision is a GREAT thing. But only if publishers use it to force big retailers who sell used games to cut them in on the deal.

THEN we all win.

Well actually- truth be told- THEN the fight will be developers struggling to get publishers to include used game sales in their contracts. But that's a fight for a different day :).

David

It's 12:11am...

...and I know what I'm doing for the next hour or so.

Halo, Abba Zaba, and diet Coke! What could possibly go wrong?!?

Sure, I gotta get up early for work and to take my kids to school but fuck it, I can play till 1 or so and still get around 6 hours of sleep...that should be enough,eh?!?

Thanks to the fantastic help from Jose and Kristen at my local Gamestop for helping me secure a copy at the last second. You guys rock tons!

David 

PICS OF THE DAY!

Hey ya'll! Wanted to share 2 things real quick:

#1-DIFFERENTIATION CATEGORIES FOR TWISTED METAL:

About to settle in and take a first pass whack at getting our vehicles to feel unique and special and make sure each vehicle is balanced. The first step in a long process of tuning and tweaking nobs begins with a spreadsheet.

#2-RESPECT...BUT STILL:

I'm just seeing this for the first time today. I have to imagine this has been going around the net for ages and I'm just now seeing it. It seems like perfect NEOGAF fodder altho I've never seen this image on GAF. But a buddy of mine just brought it to my attention this morning. Hard to not respect the length these gamers went to in order to create an online game experience with a split screen game, as goofy as this picture is. But two things:

#1- as a guy who loves split screen gaming, to me, I always design with the fact that the other guy CAN see your screen in mind. To me, it's part of the fun, part of the strategy. Doesn't mean these guys above are not having a blast doing it their way; I can see that working out really good. But I always assumed others were looking at my screen and planned around that fact (as a player and a designer) accordingly.

#2- Fuck, it must REEK under that sheet! A potent cocktail of nerdsweat, cheetos, and stale farts.

David

VMAS!

Sweet! Excited for the VMAS tonite!

It's odd: I'm almost 40 and I know more of today's bands and singers and songs than the acts that were hot 10 years ago. Why is that? itunes and youtube, man. itunes and youtube have totally kept me in the know and excited about today's popular music whereas 10 years ago I had stopped listening to radio- cause it was just an abysmal experience- and so I fell out of the loop in terms of which singers, bands, and songs were popular.

NOTE: I refuse to call them 'artists'. Entertainers, singers, acts? Sure- totally. But 99% of them don't deserve the title 'artist' and I just fucking laugh when they use it to define themselves. The writers and producers? Yes, some of them are artists for sure. And some of the musicians and singers are as well. But the vast majority of today's prepackaged acts? Not so much. Which is fine. I still dig Taylor Swift and Britney Spears, totally! But they ain't artists. Jay-Z, Kanye, Eminem, Mary J Blige, tho? Yeah, I would say they are artists for sure.

Anyway- artists or not- seems like it's gonna be a great show! Kanye doing an apology song to Taylor Swift? Live performance of AIRPLANES by B.o.B and Hayley Williams, live stuff from Eminem! What's not to love?!? And Chelsea Handler hosting? Should be a great fucking show! I'm jazzed!

David


++++++UPDATE+++++
Ok, I think I just had a cranky senior moment. But I'm only 39! Yeah, I know. But look:  the more I think about it, if you WRITE a song and it connects with people, then fuck it, in my book, you get to call yourself an artist. I mean, isn't that the whole point of art? So sure, while I like the pop bubble gum vibe of Taylor Swift's music (which she does write herself) and simply think it's fun, light, silly music to have on in the background, there are probably millions of teeny bopper girls who do see Taylor Swift as a genuine artist. And who am I to say different? To them, Swift's music is probably an anthem for their lives. For them, Taylor Swift's music touches them and makes them think and makes them feel. So fuck it, she gets to be an artist too :)

And hell, I guess even if you don't write the music, if you can sing it in such a way that your voice- or your guitar or your drums or your fuckin' flugal horn- touches and moves people, then shit yeah, you can be an artist too.

But if you DON'T write it and your voice is pretty much all computer processed out, then no, YOU do not get to be an artist. You get to be an 'act'. And there are LOTS of people out there making hit music who do fall into this category. So them? Those people? I laugh at them.

The rest are ok...in my book. No idea what's up with your book :)

Ok, now I'm done.

FUCK I'm getting old! :)

Community vs. Choice

My youngest daughter is having her birthday party tomorrow and the picture above is going to be scanned onto her cake.

That's right. We're in an age where kids- and people in general- are no longer limited to pre fab, licensed approved cake kits. When I was a kid- and up until not so long ago- you'd really only have a handful of choices for what would go on your cake. Into super heroes (like I was)? You'd have your Batman, Superman, Spidey, Hulk, and that was pretty much it. These days? FUCK THAT LIMITING SHIT! These days you can get NOVA or Namor or Alfred Pennyworth (Batman's Butler) on your super hero cake!

Just grab a pic from the net, shoot it to your grocery store, and BAM! You got yourself a one of a kind custom cake! And as of this writing, the grocery stores don't seem to care about using copyrighted materials. Which is why my kid is getting a Moshi Monsters cake tomorrow!  I made the image above using Photoshop and a handful of Moshi pics from the net. And I think my kid will flip when she sees this- versus some pre-fab cake kit from a Nickelodeon or Disney TV show-  given how much she loves Moshi Monsters. Yeah, she digs the Disney TV stuff for sure. But she LOVES Moshi Monsters.

Pretty amazing how the media we consume is becoming so personalized.

I kind of miss the days when the whole country had- for the most part- the same frame of pop culture reference. It tied everyone closer, there was a sense of community because of it, a sense of warmth and belonging. We all watched the same handful of tv shows, we all went to the same big movies, we all listened to the same 10-15 pop hit songs during any given month. But on the flip side, yes, it was pretty homogenized. But you never really felt that; at least I didn't. I just dug the sense of belonging that came from those shared references. So I wonder sometimes which cost is the worst one to pay: giving up community for choice or giving up choice and gaining the warmth and connection that comes when everyone is drinking from the same pop culture well?

David

ps.It does make you rethink the idea of yesterday's successes as well. So much stuff was mega successful not because it was amazingly great but because out of the limited choices we had. So yes, while most thinking people would still concede that the last episode of M*A*S*H (highest rated non sports television show ever) was amazing television, out of the 106 million people who watched, my guess is that at LEAST 30% of those people would have watched something else if they had the choices they have today. But until all the choices came along, it was just assumed that M*A*S*H- and all other successes- deserved every last 1 of those viewers based on quality alone.

Have Fun Storming The Castle!

As a parent, I feel a big part of my job is observing my kids and seeing when their eyes light up, taking note of what causes their imaginations to fire. And then- once I have a rough idea what excites them- I try my best to expose them to all sorts of opportunities to explore that thing.

With my oldest it's reading, stories, animals, gymnastics, physical sports.

With my youngest it's turning out to be video games and puzzles. Watching her navigate 3D space in a video game, master the many kid flash based MMOs she plays, or even if she's just solving a 2D puzzle you can tell her brain feels at home with this sort of thinking; like she is in her element when she's thinking in this specific puzzle solving way.

So with that in mind- and wanting to find some other outlets for her to explore her gifts- I got my youngest daughter a big Lego Kingdoms set for her birthday last week. I figured if she dug 2D puzzles, she'd love a 3D one. And boy was I right! She's taken to this like a pig in shit, as they say in the south. Actually, I don't know anyone who says that other than my parents. But they live in the south...so...there's that.

But yeah, what a joy to see your children get excited and turned on and connect with something that really speaks to them. Will this lead to her being an architect? A 3D modeler? Perhaps just someone with a life long love of Legos?!?! All- or none- would be fine with me. I'm just digging watching her connect with a part of herself that is clearly and naturally very strong. 

Here's what we've done so far. We just spent about an hour on it last night and she is only 5 but I'm pretty darn proud of her! 

This is the throne room about 70% complete. We're doing the roof and fine details tonite when she gets home from school. As you can see, we lost a few of the tiny bricks and had to pull the pink and orange ones- that stick out like a sore thumb- from some other Lego set we had. But again, for a little kid I think this is darn neat! 

On a tangent: This is the first time I've ever watched a real Lego set be built. I used to play with Legos as a kid but never did a real kit/set. I just took the pieces and made what I wanted and never followed the instructions.  But low and behold: doing the pre-made Lego sets is really cool! I should done this when I was a kid! :) Can anyone recommend a great, challening Lego set for adults...or are those called models??!

David 

Makin' Tha Game

I've spent most of the last 2 days working with Scott trying to figure out how we want to adjust some of our levels to create maps that support smaller numbers of players. We start our levels off thinking about NUKE and 16 player games, but since there will be times players will want to play with fewer people- as well as just wanting to give players a large variety of places in which to battle- we break our mega levels up into smaller chunks as well. So by the time we ship, each mega map will have 2-4 variations. Sometimes the variations simply are to accomodate different numbers of players. Other times the variations create totally new play experiences based on where we throw up our walls.

The image above shows one of our levels- high enough of a view that I can't be accused of giving much away other than pure layout- in the planning stages. The way it works is Scott, Kellan, and I send each other maps all marked up like this and then we pick the top 3 versions and those go in the game.

So I thought I'd share some of the process. Sorry I've been away as of late, between working on the game and getting my kids back to school, there's been very little time to breath let alone update the blog.

Ok, crazy busy around here. Talk soon!

David

Join Us This Week In Los Angeles!

Hope to see some of ya'll there! Should be a blast!

Goodbye Summer Movie Season 2010!

Ok, that's a wrap on summer movies 2010! And ya'll knows I luvs me the summer movie season! But this year was kinda meh. Granted, I didn't see as many as I usually do. Part of that is just me getting older and digging watching movies at home more. Part of it is I've been slammed busy with work. Part of it is there just wasn't tons that got me off my ass and to the theater.

BUT there were some things I really dug, some things I hated.

So- if you are curious- here are my top 3 movies of summer 2010 and my most disappointing 3 as well.


TOP 3 SUMMER 2010 MOVIES (in order of favorites):


PRINCE OF PERSIA- Fun, entertaining, some great action. A solid B movie that wanted to be nothing more. Sometimes good enough is much better than movies with a reach that exceed their grasp.

GROWN UPS- Yeah, yeah. I know. But look, as a guy nearing 40 who practically grew up with these actors AND as a guy nearing 40 who could relate to the character's mid life crisis plights, this was pure win for me. Funny, gross out, old school stupid Sandler humor along with a bit of heart. What's not to love?

INCEPTION- I had some issues with it but so what. Imaginative, creative as hell, and smart.


RUNNER UP: THE LAST EXORCISM


MOST DISAPPOINTING 2010 SUMMER MOVIES 
(in order of ones that bummed me out the most):


IRON MAN 2- Blech. Dull and overblown and missing the heart and soul and spirit that made the first such a blast.

TOY STORY 3- Yes I cried at the end. LOVED the ending. And I LOVED the Night/Day cartoon that kicked off the movie. The rest tho was typical Pixar: too long, too emotive, lacking a fresh narrative drive. Toy Story 2 was the last great Pixar movie. All the rest since then have had flashes of brilliance but they just don't hang together.

THE KARATE KID- Meh. LOVED the original. LOVED the casting of Smith and Chan. But this movie needed more heart, a few more script tweaks, and a director who can shoot fight scenes that the audience can follow.

RUNNER UP: THE A-TEAM 

To be fair, some stuff I have not seen yet: ROBIN HOOD/MACGRUBER/GET HIM TO THE GREEK/KNIGHT AND DAY/AIRBENDER/SORCERER'S APPRENTICE/SALT/SCHMUCKS/OTHER GUYS/EXPENDABLES/SCOTT PILGRIM/PIRAHNA/SWITCH

I'll be catching those on blu ray in the next few months. For now, bring on the Fall! Looking forward to The American!

Holy Cow! I needs me some!

Saw this over on Kotaku! Check out their story and video about a guy who made some custom GOW sneakers! WTF?!? How damn cool is that?!?

I mean, that's damn neat, yes? Now if the guy would just make some Twisted Metal sneaks, I'd be complete! Maybe he can make some Calling All Cars sandals or some such as well...since Calling All Cars was not a hit, maybe I can just convince him to do some Calling All Cars Crocs for that game :)

Where it all began...

Just got back from a nice weeklong trip to my hometown of Birmingham, Alabama. Took my daughters to visit with the fam and we had a blast. Great to be back in San Diego tho. I'm ready to work (not that I didn't work over the break, but it;s great to be back in my office, dev kit by my side, ready to crank). One thing I wanted to share first:

My dad and I took my kids to Brookwood Mall, the mall that was my hangout from probably 6-18 years old. Readers of the blog have heard me talk about the mall before, probably in very amateur but still loving poetic terms. But I can't help it: this mall was crucial to my creative development. It's where I spent thousands of my parent's quarters at Aladdin Castle, where I poured over game and movie magazines at Bookworld, where I fell in love with the imagery and vibe of heavy metal album covers at Musicland, where I practiced my basic programming and made little adventure games in the walled off area of the Radio Shack, where I stared longingly thru the glass case at Atari 2600 games at Circus World, where I fell in love with Chick-Fil-A waffle fries, and where I- at this little end of the mall that you see in the above picture- discovered my creative soul.

It doesn't look like much now (the big mall- which went thru a major renovation a few years back- is on the other side...this picture shows shows just a little side arm of the place. And it hasn't been touched. It looks pretty much just like it did 30 years ago!).

Yeah, it's just a little strip mall area but for me, this place is mythic. It's the shell of the movie theater where I saw Raiders of the Lost Ark, ET, Excalibur, and many more seminal geek movies. It's where I- as a 10 year old boy- discovered my passion for living a creative life. And it was good- just for a moment this week- to be back there.

I used to be a pretty nostalgic person. Not so much anymore. Having kids cured me of that. Now I like to  live for today, tomorrow. But it was still neat to go back, see the old place.

Ok, just wanted to share. Gotta get to work. Chat later in the week!

David

Sittin' Up In My Room

Hey all- in Utah for a magazine feature a really great games mag is doing on TM. Also here for a coupla days o' design meetings. Not sure what our official agenda is but I think we're going to be hammering on online features (rankings, stats, flow), 1 player campaign mode, breaking out the smaller and alternate versions of the suburbs map we showed off at E3 (i.e. we're looking at making just the movie theater a tight, fight for your life style map for 16 players as well as a smaller 2-4 player split screen map), and messing around with some of the core pick up mechanics. But you never know the day will end up unfolding.

Above is my hotel desk with my grilled cheese, Sun chips, Perrier, and my MacBook (think it's a mac book...I get the names of Apple products mixed up with one another). Been checking out the GamesCon stuff and there's some great footage coming out of there. Loving what I'm seeing for Dead Space 2 and Halo: Reach. Bulletstorm is looking sweet too. As I've said before, much as I'm grateful and honored when a game we make is deemed worthy of being at a big game show, I still like 'attending' game cons virtually. So much more relaxing and fun. The people who run these shows- from E3 to GDC to Comic Con to Gamescon- really need to create an online pass where people can enjoy the show from the comfort of their own homes. I get that the social aspect is a big part of it but it's not the only part. Plus, if I could attend GDC from time to time from the comfort of my office, picking and choosing the individual panels that I want to watch in real time (even submitting questions to the panel for the q/a sessions) I would totally pay for that. Or the same for Comic Con...you'd have access to all the panels live (including Hall H) streaming in HD, as well as show floor cameras and events and even a comic con Ebay exclusive site (just for people with online passes) to purchase and bid on exclusive geek items! Ok, ok, I'm getting jazzed now. Someone make this shit happen!!! :)

Ok, gonna get to bed early. Gotta be up at 5:30 to type up a doc for the day's meeting.

Later ya'll- hope you're well!

David 

Message From An Old Friend

Man, I got a tweet from the Twisted Metal 2,3,4 Calypso Voice Over actor, the great Mel McMurrin!

He saw my previous video and saw how frazzled I was. I guess he decided to make me this as a tonic! Old school fans of Twisted Metal will get a kick outta this!



Man, it's great to hear that voice again!

As for fans of the series wondering if Mel will return: well as you know, we've shot live action videos for the new TM and so the role of Calypso is already cast. However, my mind is rolling over a number of cool ways we may be able to bring Mel back into the TM family. Nothing set in stone, it may or may not happen, and PLEASE do not send me ideas or suggestions on ways we could do it as we just are not allowed to see them.

But GOD he nails that 'THANK YOU FOR PLAYING TWISTED METAL!" ya know? Thanks Mel!

Jaffe and the Stresses and Joys of Making Games

Here's the Rocky Balboa speech I reference in my video above.


And here's Pachino's amazing Any Given Sunday speech. This one gets your ass out of bed every morning no matter how challenging the day ahead may seem.

ps. By the way, the Boy Scout Rejects? That idea is so mine! Don't rip it off- I think it'd make a super cool comic or game or movie or something! Kthx! :)

Rest in Peace Sweet Tooth!

I am so fried...

...just thought I'd share. Between full time on the end movies, full time on the game, being a dad, trying to work out 4-5 times a week, and just live life, I think I'm officially spent.

Plus I have little headaches these days cause I'm getting very little sleep AND I'm trying to cut back DRASTICALLY (again) on the diet Cokes (evil motherfucking brew). So yeah, I'm a mess.

Not to complain- I have an amazing life, an amazing job.

But FUCK! I need a break! When this game is over I'm taking 1-2 weeks off and going to Hawaii or NYC or some such.

Ok, just venting!

Gonna go pop some popcorn, watch some movies (Costner's Open Range, Demme's Manchurian Candidate) , and veg.

Talk soon ya'll! I promise I'll get back to mega regular blog updates. Just honestly have had little to talk about as of late cause all my life is is TM (which I can't talk too much about).

Ok- later!

David

SPAM FILTER UPDATED+NASTY ASS INTESTINAL WORMS!

Hey ya'll- just an fyi: I turned on comment moderation on posts older than 2 weeks. This should help a bit with the recent spam explosion in the comments section.

If ya'll have any other ideas on how to combat Spam on Blogger (other than having to go thru every comment before it hits, which I won't do), let me know.

Also- as a special treat for coming to visit me today, check this out:

So we thought my oldest kid had pinworms. Lots of little kids get them, I had them as a kid. They go away with a tablet and washing all the sheets in super hot water. Not a big deal.

But so how did I know she had pinworms? She said her butt itched. As I recall that's a pretty good sign that some animals have made themselves a home inside your body. But I didn't know for sure so I hit the internet to see what was up. One of my first stops? Youtube. And when I typed in PINWORMS one of the first things to come up was this hellish video.



I shit you not, this is scarrier and more distrubing than any horror movie I've ever seen. I LOVE it!!! :)

Now let's be clear: my kid didn't have THAT! That's not a pinworm. A pinworm is a microscopic or almost microscopic little strand that looks like a tiny piece of string when viewed under a scope. THIS? This is a motherfucking anaconda that has clearly crawled up someone's ass and made a nest. HOLY FUCK!

Ok, that's it. Had a great design meeting with Scott and Kellan this morning. Now I'm off to Sony to review edits for the end movies and look at how the post processing of the shots is coming along (i.e. adding in the cool CG visuals instead of the green screen background). Talk soon!

David

EXTENDED interview from Comic Con with Geoff Keighly

Here is the full on extended cut of my interview with Geoff Keighly of Gametrailers TV. I talk about Twisted, my original not used ending for GOD OF WAR 3, and other stuff. This was fun to do. I thought when it was over I had given Geoff a shit interview (which I hate doing) but people seem to dig this one. So here ya go!

Video Games | GTTV Extended Cuts | SDCC 10: David Jaffe Interview HD

XBox 360 | Playstation 3 | Nintendo Wii

More Proof That I Have No Artistic Bones In My Body

Pancakes for my kids- and me!- this past Saturday morning. My oldest asked for a Pegasus/Unicorn. The unholy terror on the right is the result. I dig the horn on the head- upper left circle that looks like broccoli- cause it looks more like a growth of some sort than a fucking unicorn horn.

I made my youngest a snowman and that came out a bit better!

And for me...a circle. I can do circles :) But hell, even that has this odd, weird little globule thingy coming off the top. What the hell, man?

Ok- back to work- crazy week! Hope all is well for ya!

David

Twisted Metal At San Diego Comic Con!

Hey- in case you missed it- the press was very kind to us at this year's San Diego Comic Con! We got a great deal of press from the show. Here's some of the stuff you may have missed. If you are interested in our new game, please give it a watch! Thanks!



This is an interview Scott and I did with the Playstation Blog. This was actually from E3 but they launched the vid during Comic Con so it still applies! :)


This is the full on panel we did at the con. Me, Scott, and Kellan gabbing about the game. Lot of behind the scenes end movie stuff in here, as well as us showing off our very early rooftops and desert chase levels.

And here is a little one on one with super nice Ryan MacDonald of Gamespot fame.



This is an interview I did at the Sony cocktail party. So I was well on my 2nd or 3rd shot of Patron. I actually sound a bit more focused in this interview than most. Perhaps it's cause I knew I was already tipsy and really had to concentrate on what I was saying. Hmmmm....maybe I should drink before all my interviews! :)




Here's the GameTrailers TV episode with Geoff Keighly from the con. I'm in there somewhere, along with other lots of cool comic con stuff. It's a great episode!

JAFFE AT COMIC CON (aka GEEK CHRISTMAS!)

Readers o' tha blog know that I loves me the San Diego Comic Con. I eagerly anticipate those 4 days in July each and every year, sometimes getting jazzed for the Con as early as December the year before! It's a great, great show for people- like me- who obsess over geeky pop culture. And this year was no exception. It was a fantastic Comic Con.

My super bad ass assistant managed to get me into the Hard Rock hotel this year which- it turns out- is really THE hotel to be at during the con. Tons of stuff/parties/events always going on plus it's right across the street from the convention center (at 6am I'd look out my window to peep the already GARGANTUAN line waiting to get into Hall H).  It's also a great place for wall to wall geek celeb sightings. Dignitaries from movies, comics, and gaming were swarming the place the entire four days! Harry Knowels of AINT IT COOL NEWS fame, movie director Guillermo Del Toto, and little Scotty Evil (aka Seth Green) were all eating breakfast in the same joint as me! I almost ran over Marvel Comics editor in chief Joe Quesada while trying to get my car to the valet stand. I ran into game designer Cliff Blezenski as he was heading in and I was heading out of the lobby. And Scott Campbell and I had dinner sitting right next to Data, Jordi, and Troy from Star Trek: The Next Generation! Jordi even came over and professed his love for God of War!!! What's not to love?!?

I will say this year there was a lot more working involved during the con than ever before (meetings, press, interviews, design sessions) but it's hard to complain about that. I love doing that stuff and it's a great feeling to have a game coming out that people care about. That said, I still coulda used a non-work/no obligations day to just walk the floor and hit more panels. Perhaps next year! 

Ok, so here's some shots of stuff I found cool/neat/interesting from the show:

Two of my faves: Freddy and Jason! 

Hyper Violent, Super Bloody Star Wars! What a fantastic combo! Lucas should let the God of War team take a crack at a Star Wars game! It would fucking sell thru the mother fucking roof! Dunno if he wants his property all M rated but M rated Star Wars would kick all kinds of ass! 

Mary Marvel! Circa 1940s! Love the old school/Golden Age look...even her hair was all 1940s'd out!

This was my in-the-back-of-the-room view,watching the Ready At Dawn team talk all things God of War. Good panel overall and the King Midas drag sequence is fucking FANTASTIC! I gotta say: really interesting experience to watch other people talking about a franchise and character that I had such a hand in. Not that I ever had any doubt- or any issues- that the franchise had moved on from me and was in super great hands, but this panel made that all the more clear. 

Don't look at it Marion! Keep your eyes SHUT! And no, I didn't buy it. Not much of a prop/toys guy. I love that stuff, like to look at it, but I don't have an office full of it. 

Speaking of cool props and toys: here's the amazing Sideshow Collectables Kratos statue! Isn't it great!?!? Man, I hope we can find someone to do statues for us for Twisted Metal! But this one, this one is just great! 

Thought these Chrono Trigger little figures/action scenes were fantastic. I woulda bought those but they are not out yet. Man there is so much cool stuff at the con! 

The extended Comic Con trailer for the new Nic Cage flick- Drive Angry- looks like a shit ton of fun! LOVE movies like this! 

This was a GIANT mural of Marvel characters posted on the back wall of their booth. You can kinda see the two out of focus people walking by next to Hawkeye's bow. So you can see it's big! And there's more of it too! My camera would not capture it all. It's about 2x the size of this. So one day- when I'm crazy rich and living in a super cool penthouse apartment in New York City, I want this on one of my walls.

I was incredibly unimpressed by the stuff I saw for the new Thor movie. Looks like a SyFy channel original flick or something. And this is coming from someone who actually liked Wolverine Origins. But the Thor stuff just looks...dull? Cheap? But the CAPTAIN AMERICA flick- little I've seen- seems like it's going to hit the spot. Great director, great setting, great costume, great promo poster/art. Just the whole thing feels like it could really work. Fingers are crossed! But so...here's cap's shield. In some ice. :)

Get inside a box, make it look like the chicks are killing you. That's what this display was. Kind of cool. Ya'll know I loves me the horror. But I hate this shit is in full display to little kids, especially on the Comic Con advertised/promoted KIDS DAY. Either make the show adults only (which I am totally opposed to) or put the gore stuff in its own adults only section. Don't take the gore out- the gore rocks! But come on Comic Con, be a little responsible; ya'll should know better. 

Saw this really cool book called MOVIES ARE FUN. It's designed like a kid's board book but each page depicts very non-kid appropriate scenes from famous drama/horror movies. Here's THE SHINING and SILENCE OF THE LAMBS! Loved this! 

 
Man, I love old pulp sci fi! The concepts were just so imaginative and clever!  I mean, this image alone- what a cool ass set up for a story! Anyone who digs the end movies for the Twisted Metal games- especially TM2- can see an attempt at this sort of storytelling reflected in the stuff we do. Granted, our stuff is not as good as the classic stuff from pulp mags like this (duh) but I think with some of the TM2/TM:BLACK stories (as well as- perhaps- some of the news ones we are doing for the new TM) we are clearly taking inspiration from this sort of pulpy vibe. 


Ok ya'll- that's a wrap on the con! Hope your weekend is going well! Gonna play some more Splinter Cell: Conviction (loving it!), type up notes from our Twisted Metal play test on Friday, take a walk with the kids, and get a work out in! Talk soon!

David