Visiting with old friends...

Out in Utah for the next few days, tuning and tweaking levels for Tm:Lost and Tm:Head On. Man, being with these characters, these cars, being in this world, it feels like visiting with old friends...again! I thought I was done with car combat after Black but I'm surprised at how much fun I am having! Lots of passion for this little port, I have to say. I really hope you guys/gals dig what we are doing! Here's some quick pics:


Hmmm...


That's the car ROADKILL racing thru the Hollywood level of TM:HEAD ON. The team is in the processes of resing up the textures so it will look much nicer on the PS2 that it did on PSP. They are off to a great start!


Every TM game has 30-40 pages of tweaks. Here's just one of the pages, car dynamics. Today I was working with Scott to tune the car speeds, turn radius, decide how much skid/slide the vehicles should have. I am starting to feel when we made Black, we made too chaotic of a game. The ability to focus on the action and play in a more strategic way got lost for many players. On the port we are toying with dialing it back a bit, exploring the idea of getting back to what made the earlier TM games so much more accessable.


Here is just one page of the main menu of tweaks. It encompasses things like car dynamic tuning; weapon tuning (hit points,speed of weapon, rate of pick up regeneration,etc), AI, and lighting effects. Out of all of these pages, I usually focus on only about 4-10 of them. The others I never touch...cause I don't have a clue what the hell they do!


Art for the shell. Don't let all the Bonus Features fool you. We WANT all that stuff...not sure if we'll be able to get it all in. But we're going to shoot for as much as we can!


Lots and lots of play tuning going on these days, trying to get it just right. Here is one of the levels being tuned and tweaked. One of the most fun parts of this game is sitting with the level builders and pushing and pulling the 3d geometry around, adding a road here, putting up a wall there (well it's fun for me, I just ask for stuff and someone else does all the hard work)! I am always surprised by how one little element (a ramp, a wall, a blockade) set down in just the right place can make a level a blast to play. After all these years I still don't know how to make a great TM level. We can pretty consistently make a good level; but the great ones you just close your eyes and prey because they just sort of come together and end up great, and you are never really sure how or why. The Rooftop level in TM1 is- to me- one of the best levels we've ever made. But rooftops on BLACK is a pretty poor level to me, and we worked HARDER on the Black rooftops than on any other rooftop level in the series! Go figure! Shows what the hell we know! :)


New snazzy reflective, warbly water going into the Egyptian level. Lots of nice spfx touches going in the game- besides the upresed graphics- to make this thing really pop!


Ok, so there's a photo tour of my day. Had to get up at 3:45am to catch a 6:15 flight to Utah so I am friend. Heading to bed. Night ya'll!

David

Full Circle Moment

How fucking cool is that?!?!?

Thanks to Adam- he of Sony game design and the many 'Herminie Loves David' pics- for the great mock up. This takes me back to riding with my dad in his truck, going to Sears to pick up Yar's Revenge at the Century Plaza mall. Ahh, the good ol' days! :)

So hey, make your own...go here:

http://www.labelmaker2600.com/

Ok, back to work. See ya'll!

David

Calling All Cars: The Postmortem (Part I)

It’s been almost 4 months since Calling All Cars! was released on the Playstation Network. As of this writing, it has garnered a decent-but-not-great review score of 77/100 on Metacritic.com. It has sold well, but not so well that it’s broken records or established the current ceiling for best selling downloadable titles. Overall, it’s performed solidly, respectably, and gathered up a loyal group of fans who really seemed to dig and enjoy what we were trying to do.

So now that some time has passed, I feel I’m at a place to look back and see what we did right and what we did wrong on the title. Some of these issues are game design related, others are PR related, while some deal with the philosophical aspects of what a game reviewer’s job is supposed to be and what customers should be expecting out of these new breed of ‘smaller games’.

Time being as limited as it is these days, I’ve only had a chance to write up the first part of this postmortem. The final part will follow in a few days.

All that said: here’s what I learned from working on Calling All Cars:

LESSON #1- GET EVERY ELEMENT RIGHT OR RIP IT OUT- We should have not included a single player mode in this game. From day one, CAC was designed to be a multiplayer title, an action/party game designed to make folks scream at the tv and trash-talk their buddies (online and in the same room). And because the only way people could purchase the game was off the internet, we knew there would be- usually!- at least a handful of people online to play with (so the idea of downloading the game and not being able to play it in multiplayer mode was never a concern). The logic behind putting singleplayer in the game was- I suppose- an unconscious, ingrained game design choice born out of the pre-internet days where every multiplayer-designed title still needed a singleplayer component, even if that mode was not all that great. The problem is, if it’s included, people will judge it. Unless you bury it in bonus features- where people are grateful to get anything extra, including elements that are not-quite-up-to-snuff- there is the expectation that everything on display should be great. And this is a fair expectation. I made an incorrect assumption that it was clear the game was multiplayer centric, an incorrect assumption that most people would play singleplayer to just warm up and learn the game (I mean, who plays games like NBA JAM, or Madden for that matter, for the singleplayer?) But there were people out there judging it mainly as a singleplayer title- as was their right to do since we included it in the core package/shell- and because of this, we got lower scores on some sites and some message boards. This is not the ONLY reason we got some bad scores, to be sure, but I did see a number of reviews (pro and amateur) where people were complaining that the singleplayer game was not very fulfilling. And they were right. But it was never designed to be. The team executed it well, but there was not much to it, design wise, to begin with. So now I know. In the future, if our game is really meant to be a multiplayer title, we will only provide that and not spend valuable time trying to make the singleplayer work. We had a very talented programmer focused on single player for months. I kick myself now when I think that his talents could have gone towards making the multiplayer game player even better.

LESSON #2- SOME CRITICS GET IT, OTHERS DON’T- I got a lot of crap when I called out the Gamespot 6.7 review on this very blog. Most people didn’t like the fact that I- the designer of the reviewed title- was responding to a review, but I didn’t- and still don’t- care. I just don’t agree with those folks who have a problem with it. And today- 4 months out- I still think the Gamespot review was off base and I think I had/have every right to shout about it. And it’s not because of the review score. We got a lower score- a 6.0- from the European site Eurogamer.com, but not only did I not have a problem with this lower review, I thought it had some excellent points. Like this one:

========
More than that though is the fact that Calling All Cars! can swiftly descend into a series of multiple bumper car-style melees, with little reliance on skill required to emerge victorious from the scuffle. Too many journeys back to the clink are essentially one-note, repetitive ramming contests that effectively randomise who the eventual winner of the round will be. Short of an extremely well-timed nitro boost it's difficult to break out of this cycle once it has begun and you can't help but think that it wouldn't be happening with more balanced gameplay.
========

I love that! Well I hate it, cause they hit the nail on the head. But I love that a review understood the game- warts an all- well enough to be so eloquent about the mechanics under the hood. Their critique is so true and it’s the biggest weakness of the title, one we should have caught very early on but simply didn’t (more on why in Part II). But to the point: if you want to give us a 6 and you can back it up with good, solid analytical critiques like that? I not only can live with it, I support it and appreciate it (as a player and designer). I am a better designer for such a succinct analysis of the issue. So thank you, Eurogamer!


LESSON #3- 10 BUCKS IS WORTH DIFFERENT THINGS TO DIFFERENT PEOPLE- 10 dollars to me is an impulse buy. I’m 36, make a great living, and barely notice when 10 bucks gets spent. If 10 bucks flew out the window while I was zooming down the freeway, I’d wince but keep driving. 100 bucks, I’d turn around and go back for. Not for 10. But some- many- people think 10 bucks is a lot of cash. And that is fair. I have no issues with this. But it DOES affect the game design mindset and I am resetting my mindset for future PSN titles to make sure we pack in as much value as possible into our games. Not that we didn’t feel we were doing that with CAC, but we should have pushed harder, for extra levels and extras modes (I still hold that more weapons would have hurt the balance). At the same time though, it does get a bit frustrating to read comments from forum posters saying things like: it’s a great game but it gets old after about a week. To these sorts of responses, I usually shout the following at my monitor: ‘Dude! It’s 10 dollars! You can see a movie for that and after 2 hours (usually less) it’s over and you’ve got nothing to show for it. We entertained you for 7 days for the same amount of cash! Why are you complaining?!?!’

Yes I’ve seen the net response that you can buy a full used game for 10 dollars and get 60 hours of play from that used game! And to that I respond: I have no response. You are right. You can do that, and in doing so you can get better value for your money. And that applies to most downloadable titles, not just CAC. Hell, that applies to all titles, even upcoming 60 dollar monsters like HALO 3 and DRAKE’S FORTUNE. But isn’t the logic then being trotted out by this statement that: games should only ever be 20-100 hour beasts and they should only sell for 10 dollars and anything else is not worthy of my time/money?

It may very well be the logic on the part of the gamer but it’s hard to do the job of a game developer by going down that path. So the promise I can make is that we will work so hard to make you always feel you got your money’s worth. We don’t set the prices on these games (that’s the publisher) but we will pack in as much value as we can. It will never be enough for some, but for others, we hope you will play our games and always feel we gave you a great time for your money.


Ok, time to get back to work. Part II coming soon.

Oh, and let me leave you with this:




This is me and Lee Wilson, the creator of Sweet Tooth! We were shooting the Twisted Metal doc in Los Angeles last week and he flew down from Microsoft (where he is now a concept artist on Halo 3…and was on Halo 1 and 2 as well) to be part of the doc. He really was key to the series, creating the look of the world and the characters and the initial visual heartbeat of the whole thing. So thanks Lee! For coming to do the doc and for helping us bring the world of Twisted Metal to life!

Ok, gotta run…talk to ya’ll later!

David

TWISTED METAL DOC FILMING NOW...

Ain't video chat great? I'm doing all the interview questions from home in San Diego while the camera crew films the guys responding out in Utah! Sweet!



Here is Scott ready to go, out in Utah.




Kellan Hatch, creative and art director on many of the Incog/SingleTrac/Eat Sleep Play games...


Michael Jackson, art director on Twisted Metal and shell master supreme!


I'll be doing my bit in LA next week, along with the co-writer of the Twisted storyline, and one of the key concept artists for the series (who is now a concept designer for Halo 3 at Bungie!)....plus it seems like we're gonna get some great fan videos coming in, so that- along with tons of old concept art, toys, video, and other behind the scenes stuff we've uncovered- should make for a good package! I'm jazzed!

Ok, back to work! If I don't talk to ya'll before, have a great weekend!

David

BE A STAR!!!...well, sort of :)

Want to be IN the Twisted Metal documentary we are putting on the TWISTED METAL:HEAD ON port disc?

If you are interested, go here for all the info...we'd love to have ya!

http://www.tmalliance.com/tma/totallytwisted.shtml?postid=28247&replyid=28247

thanks ya'll!

David

PS. Here's some photos of the new space!


Here is the new building! It's a sweet ass space housed in what used to be an old hardware manufacturer...all the brick and wood inside- from what I understand- is original. Gives the space a nice, warm feeling. I love it! I hope it's haunted. It's so old, it just might be :)




Here is the water tower on the roof. Scott and I were up there taking pics for a profile on EAT SLEEP PLAY that will run in the Salt Lake Tribune next week. Scott climbed the tower. I did not. He is brave. I am not.


I know it's just our name on an office directory but hey, I still think it's pretty fucking cool!










Some pics inside...there's the team eating lunch on Friday...we're only about 20 or so big...nice that we can all fit in the same conference room! Hope we don't grow much more! Oh, and the pic above is us in a meeting trying to pick the company logo. Logos are tough! You don't want to look like you tried too hard, but you also don't want to be so obvious in trying to look like you don't care. My gut tells me tho, end of the day, logo is good or bad if the games we make are good or bad. That's how it gets remembered...not if it's a great logo or not.


For folks who played Twisted Metal:Black, Scott drove me by the school that was the concept art inspiration for Blakcfield Asylum! I never knew it was based on a real school...and man, it looks so close! Pretty eerie to me!

Ok, gotta run...see ya'll soon!

David

SATURDAY NIGHT AND YOU'RE STILL...HANGIN' AROUND....

As a married man, my Saturday afternoons and early Saturday nights tend to either be filled with doing something with the wife & kids (dinner at RED ROBIN/Buco DeBeppo style family-dining places; taking walks with the family; going to the park or a theme park like Lego Land) or going on dates with my wife (I am a firm believer in the whole 'date night' concept...I really like being married and it's done wonders for my relationship with the wife). So those sorts of activities represent about 95% of my Saturday nights. And I love it.

But every now and then, I just want to chill in front of the tv, watch movies and shows that I want, order in some food, and just veg my fat ass out in front of whatever Direct-Tv and/or Blockbuster Video can throw my way.

Tonight is such a night. And I am so excited. Small pleasures, right?

I think alot of it comes from the fact that I was in Utah the last few days (pics of the new space to come, soon as I can get my damn pics sent from my amazing new iphone-love it! love it! love it!)...but yeah, I was in Utah Wed-Friday and it was my first time at the new space, my first real week of work for Eat Sleep Play. And while the work was not crazy hours, it was just overwhelming. It's a new job, a new company (one that I am co-founder/owner of), and new challenges. And I had such a fucking blast. I love the vibe of the Eat Sleep Play offices, not just the space itself, but the energy of the team. We've got an amazing group of folks working at the company and there's such a nice, fun vibe in the air. And I love the fact that we ALL own a piece of the place...sure, me and Scott are the co-prezes of the endeavor, but we all own a slice...it really is OUR company and I love the way that the office feels because of that. As a guy who worked for Sony for 14 years- and loved 99% of it- I can tell you it gets tough working hard when- end of the day- none of it is yours. So I'm real happy Eat Sleep Play is able to offer us all a bit of ownership in the studio. So sweet stuff. But very,very overwhelming...as in, I think my brain was working overtime to process the emotions, the work, and the new challenges of being a biz owner and starting a new game company and even though I didn't realize it at the time, the last 3 days took a shit ton out of me.

Which brings me back to tonite.

Gonna chill, eat pizza, drink diet Coke, and watch whatever the fuck I want on my big, flat screen tv. One of the things I am gonna watch is this baby:



I get that ABC wants to let this thing die, even tho the reviews have been really, really great. That's just life these days on network tv. Play to the lowest common denom, or die. Fair enough. Biz is biz. But I hope that some cable channel picks this thing up (assuming it's as good as people say it is).

So I'll watch that, maybe pop in Monster House on Blu Ray (not seen it yet), geek out a bit in front of the tv. Oooh, I should try to watch some classic Star Trek too.

Ok, anyway, gonna get to it...just had a moment before the kids go to bed and I phone the pizza place and wanted to say hey.

I'll chat with you guys next week and show you the photos of the new space. I'm so excited to share.

See ya!

David

ps. we started working out the maps for Twisted Metal: Lost this week, tuning and adjusting to make them as fun as can be. Man, it's fun to be working on Twisted Metal again. I'm loving it and hope you guys dig the new levels! Ok, gonna run. See ya!

I'M A TOON! I'M A TOON!!!!

Check out my cameo on CODE MONKEY's tomorrow (Wednesday night). It's on the cable channel G4.

I have no clue how it's going to come out but it was fun to do! It took like 15 minutes over at the Code Monkey offices in Los Angeles. It was neat to do tho, and I keep watching my mailbox for the image of me in toon form that the Code Monkey folks say they will send me! I so wanna frame that thing!

Anyway, give it a watch, lemme know how I did!

Gotta run, heading to Utah in the morning!

David

MY DAY AT THE CON (aka Geoff Keighly Teaches Me The Meaning Of Fandom)

So I went to the 2007 Comic-Con on Thursday and had an absolute blast. The con itself was way more crowded than usual (the thing just keeps attracting more and more people)! The crowds- along with the traffic jam that stretched out some 30 blocks in front of the convention center and saw me stuck in my car for over an hour- would have usually been enough to put me in a foul mood for the entire day. But I’ve really been into positive thinking lately (The Secret and all that…it really works)! So instead of focusing on the maddening crowds, I decided to shift my perception to the fact that I was- first off- simply walking around: alive, healthy, and semi-young. Considering the large amount of folks who needed wheel chairs and canes to move about the convention floor (not to mention those poor souls too sick to attend in the first place), I easily counted myself as lucky. Toss in the fact that I was walking around a massive room stuffed with all the things that inspire me and stir my soul-from sci-fi movies to long lost toys from my childhood to actual pieces of pop culture that I've had a hand in creating-and you’ve got the makings of a great fucking day.

And when I decided to view things from that perspective, I found myself so grateful; so excited that I could share the day with my fellow geeks; enjoying the things that all geeks love so much. I surprised myself and got a bit of a high from the whole thing. Even more surprising, it's a high that I am still on. I’m back at work now, fueled and inspired to work my ass off in order to do my part to make sure that all of the games out of EAT SLEEP PLAY are worthy of- one day- being included in the amazing cannon of geek culture.

Ok, so what did I do specifically at the con? Well, I’ll tell you (he’s going to tell, he’s going to tell):

#1- HUNG WITH MR. KEIGHLY- I did an interview with Geoff Keighly from GAMEHEAD (Spike TV). Geoff’s a great guy who has always been nice to me and good to the games we make. I really appreciated his interest in our new company and that he allowed me to go on-air to talk about EAT SLEEP PLAY. So we gabbed a bit about that kind of stuff, the con in general; and then started walking the floor together, talking some more while the camera crew followed us around. I imagine some of it will make it into the show (should be airing in a few weeks). Hope so anyway, as I had a fun time doing it! So while we were walking around, I spotted this college age kid who was dressed as PUCK, the stocky-ass, Canadian super hero from the Marvel comic ALPHA FLIGHT. Didn’t get a pic, but here’s what he looks like in the comic:


So imagine a very out of shape guy, very short guy dressed in this outfit and you’ll get the idea.

So I thought it would be funny to go up to this Puck-Kid, chat with him on camera, and- to be totally honest- make fun of him a bit. Sort of like the whole Triumph the Insult Comic Dog making fun of the Star Wars geeks in that classic clip…but much less funny considering I’m really not all that clever/funny of a guy. But what the hell, right? But God, when it was over, I just felt bad. Really bad. Like, who the fuck am I to make fun of someone? Especially someone who clearly is passionate about the same things I care about? I mean, sure, I thought the guy looked pretty silly but hell, he was happy, having a good time, and seemed to know the difference between reality and fantasy. It was a really mean spirited thing to do (although I was not that bad to him) and I really wish I had not even gone up to the kid. Afterwards, Keighly and I were talking about it and Keighly set me straight: he was like, ‘ah, the guy seems happy, he’s having fun, and hey, that’s some of the kind of people who like the stuff you and I do.’ And Geoff was right, 100% right. What an ass I was. I mean, I wasn’t really that bad to him but just the idea that I felt I had the right (and the desire) to poke fun at this kid…ughh, doesn’t sit well with me. Puck-Kid, if you are reading this, I’m really sorry man.


#2- MET UWE BOWL- So Geoff was going to interview infamous film director Uwe Boll and I asked to come along. I thought it’d be neat to meet someone who has to deal with his own internet slings and arrows; see how he deals with the abuse. He turned out to be a nice, nice guy.




He is passionate about his new movie (Postal) and seems really like a decent person. I’ve never seen any of his films however so I’m not sure if he deserves the shit he takes or not. I can tell you when Geoff- on camera!- asked me if I would let Uwe direct God Of War, I told him….err, wait. Maybe that will make it onto GameHead in a few weeks. So I’ll wait till it airs before I spill the beans! But he was cool!

Oh, and check it out! He gave me some plans of the set to his new movie, FARCRY, that he’s making right now!

I taped over his email cause I know that the worst thing the net needs right now is Uwe's private email floating around! Can you imagine the hell?!?

#3- HUNG WITH COLLEGE FRIENDS- Was really nice to hang around with Jeff Goldsmith (who hosts the wonderful CREATIVE SCREENWRITING podcast for Creative Screenwriting magazine…check it out here:

http://creativescreenwriting.com/podcasts/main.html

So I hung with Jeff and Scott Hyman (fellow geek, USC alum, and game industry veteran). I never used to like to bum around with folks at Comic Con cause I liked to just lose myself and explore. But for some reason, I really dug hanging with my fellow geeks this time around, and checking out the sites. Here’s an interview Jeff and I did with Gametrailers at the show. They just kind of found me standing on line for pizza and started shooting. I like interviews like this- very casual, very real. Much better- to me- than the PR bullshit we hear all the time. Check it out here:

http://www.gametrailers.com/player/22881.html

Oh and here's another one from the con with me, talking about the new company:

http://www.gametrailers.com/player/22861.html

Man, my forehead is shiny as shit. What's up with that?!?!

#4- SPENT SOME MONEY- Bought some stuff….check it:

Here's some of what I bought. I always wanted some original comic art. This page is from JLA 112 from Ron Garney. I like it but would have loved something with Spidey but those were going for mucho bucks.


Cool DVD I got from the Stan/Joe/Kevin gabfest at UCLA a few months back. It's good...not great, but decent.


I wore out my cassette of this back in high school, writing movie scripts while I blasted this on my boom box (yeah, we called them boom boxes back then, fuck off!). It doesn't hold up all that well, kinda cheese ball. But still, it brings back memories and there are some parts that are still pretty good.

Thing is, I thought this CD was long out of print. But you can find everything on the comic con floor. In this case, some dude was selling bootlegged soundtracks. Some were soundtracks long out of print/press/circulation/whatever…some were soundtracks that were never released (WarGames?!? With dialogue from the movie?!?! What the hell!!!) But it was great to buy these and the dude was super nice cause his credit card machine was down and I had no cash (the wife had take out our limit from the ATM earlier that morning so I was kinda living off credit cards for the day). But the guy- this was so nice- just gave me the cd’s and told me to mail him a check! Amazing huh?

Oh, and check out my Spidey! Suck it, Tallirico! No way you could have this one!!!! (note: just kidding! did anyone see Tommy's amazing Peter Parker/Spidey costume?!? That was great!)


Bought this cool spidey statue for my home office. It’s fun setting up the home space, the San Diego branch of Eat Sleep Play! I love working from home and figured I needed to surround myself with lots of geeky things to keep me happy! Maybe when I get the place all decked out, I’ll shoot a video tour of my home office. Why? Who knows…it’s late…just an idea ☺

#5- LOOKED AT COOL STUFF- Saw lots of cool stuff. Like this:



Fat Ronald! See, now this is how they should fucking promote McDonalds to kids. You ask me Ronald is as bad as Joe Cool was. They really should ban that fuck. He’s bad news.



KRATOS LIVES! How cool is that, to see a character I had a huge hand in creating on someone’s tee shirt! This is actually the second time I’ve seen a GOD OF WAR tee-shirt (first was on 3rd Street Promenade in Santa Monica a few weeks ago). It’s really a thrill to see something you worked on out there in the world, clearly an important enough character to someone that they put on a tee-shirt with the damn dude on it!




Isn’t that nice? Not sure if you can read the text, but it’s a girly looking R2D2 like action figure (called RT-K2) that seems to have been made for a kid at the Make A Wish Foundation. Warms the heart.





Here’s ROCK N ROLL from 1985…one of the first GI JOE action figures they made (from that time period). I remember buying Rock N Roll and his cool motorbike at my local Service Merchandise in Alabama…this was like 2-3 months before the cartoon and comic hit so I just thought they were cool toys. Didn’t know they would go on to be a mini cultural phenom.


Flash and Ming Bobbleheads! The day they hit, I’m buying them. Hell, I’m even going to give the new Flash Sci-Fi series a chance! Loves me some Flash G!






The Ark! What can I say?!? I wish I could have stolen it and taken it home. And OH MY GOD! Forget Marion being in Indy 4! What about those fucking rumors on the net about what Indy is looking for this time??!? HOW FUCKING COOL WILL THAT BE IF IT TURNS OUT TO BE TRUE?!?!!!!!



TURN YOUR KEY,SIR! I'M SORRY, I AM SO SORRY.....ahem, anyway....SO, what the hell is this? A sequel to WarGames?!?! Dude, I don't care if this is some low budget Sci-Fi Channel original series or straight-to-video movie: I wanna see it! WarGames is in my top 10 movies of all time! Was there any footage of this? Any news on plot? Stars? Someone give me some info!





Look at these things! Day one purchase! So fucking cool! I gotta get Freddy, Jason, and Michael Meyers! They are scary…but cute at the same time! Who knew it was possible! Same company had some cooler, more realistic toys from the classic 70’s/80’s horror flicks- like a little play set where Jason as a boy- from F13th- was leaping up from the water, like he did at the end of the movie! Man, that scene scared me to death as a kid! Speaking of Jason, anyone see Jason X and that scene where he had the chick in the sleeping bag and picked it up with her inside and started slamming the bag against the tree?!?! OH MY GOD! That was the best kill ever!.....well, that or the hammer in the bald guy’s head in Halloween II.

Ok, it’s getting real late and I gotta get to bed. I really need to make more time to write better blog entries in the future. I used to put more time into making sure they read well, were meaty,etc…but these days I’m so busy I feel like I’d rather post more often and just more brain dump than really write a nice entry. Ah well, something for me to think about…

Goodnite ya’ll!


David

One Door Closes...

++++++++++++++++++++
EDIT#1- Just to be clear, the port of TM:HEAD ON does NOT count as our first title in the Sony 3 game deal...it's a port we are doing and THEN we start full time work on game #1. But unless the powers that be shoot us down mid-pro, we know what game #1 will be, the concept art is fucking amazing, and I am crazy in love with game #1 already. Hope ya'll like it when you see it in a bit...


Edit #2- Ok, so my comic-con post is coming soon but I can't contain my excitement so:



How fucking cool is that?!?!

Ok, back to the original post:

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

So, as some of you may have heard, today is my last day at Sony.

After 14 years, I’m leaving the mothership that has protected me, nurtured me, sustained me, taught me, and- in the early days when I was an insecure kid who didn’t know any better-defined me.

Scott Campbell and I are starting a new games company called EAT SLEEP PLAY. We're teaming up with a host of the key folks from the Twisted Metal games (not to mention many of the other great Incognito/Singletrac games) and trying to give this indy game thing a shot! I’ve worked with these folks- on and off- for about 13 years and we figured it was high time to pull back the sheets and jump into bed together all permanent like.

We have a 3 game console/handheld exclusive deal with Sony and hope to have our first original game out sometime in 2008. In the meantime, we’ll be putting out a port of TWISTED METAL: HEAD ON this Xmas season. The port- going from PSP to PS2- is pretty cool for a port because:

- It has the original HEAD ON title but it’s now running at 60fps and has resed up textures as well as some gameplay tweaks.
- It has 5-7 levels from the never released TWISTED METAL BLACK: PART II.
- It has a documentary on the history of the series.

So for a port, we think it’s a pretty sweet package and a pretty good deal. We're also trying to get the powers that be to throw in an art book that ships with the game (nothing fancy,just something packed in with the disc).

So the new company will be based out of Utah, but I’ll remain here in San Diego, working from my home office. No real difference between the way I’ve worked with SingleTrac/Incog over the years, so we don’t expect much to change, other than the fact that all of us now own a piece of the company.

Again, we are working with Sony and that just feels great. We met with some other interested parties but at the end of the day, Sony is our home, our family, and we’re really thrilled and honored they wanted to work with us and continue the relationship we’ve spent almost 15 years cultivating. So in many ways, it’s like very little has changed, other than the pay cut ☺.

But it’s what we wanted: to go independent and see where we could steer our very own ship. Granted, our new ship is no longer the grand, unstoppable beast that is Sony. Instead, it’s a smaller vessel, scrappy even, manned with a crew of experienced sailors who felt the need to venture out into the unknown seas and and see what we could see. And the cool thing is, a small as our ship is, it’s not the least bit scary. It’s exciting as hell. It feels right; like the time is right, the crew is ready, and the grand voyage is just beginning.

As always, I hope you guys/gals will join us on our journey (ok, enough with the shitty metaphor). As soon as I can reveal more about our new titles, I will share all. Maybe in the next 8-12 months, I would imagine, but who knows.

Anyway, so there’s my big news. As I said, it’s really big news for us, we’re real excited, and we hope our new company name- Eat Sleep Play- becomes synonymous with some of the most fun games of the future.

Ok, my oldest kid is awake. Gotta get her dressed for the day, then head upstairs to report for my first official day of work ☺. Oh, and stay tuned for my ‘report’ from Comic Con. I had a BLAST yesterday. I wish I could go back today for day #2, but hell, I got games to design! ☺

Talk to ya’ll later!

David

BIG ANNOUNCEMENT COMING FRIDAY

...well big announcement for ME. It's not like I'll be revealing what game we've been working on, stuff like that. Well actually, I will be able to talk a little bit about ONE of the games for the first time...

...anyway, the points are these:

a- sorry I've been out of touch this last week; was in Bama for a great wedding and great visit with the family. I actually took some cool pics from Cracker Barrel (love the biscuits!) that I may post...not sure why....I just love eating at that place. And they don't have them out here in So Cal.



EDIT#1: Here's the pic....I ordered a side biscuit and assumed it would be a single biscuit. But damn if it wasn't a PLATE of biscuits and cornbread...mmmm....good!

b- Thursday is comiccon day 1! I will only get to go for a day this year as I am swamped but I will prob post something from there if I see cool stuff...always do. I really wanna try to make it to the Kevin Smith panel.

c- Friday-at 9am (PR wants to send the press release out before I post...so no 12:01 update)...but at 9am, I will post news of my future. Again, it's a big deal for me personally and it does deal with my work. So this week I'll be able to spill SOME of the beans...and I'll prob. spew about how I'm dealing with this very, very big change in my work life.

Hope to see ya'll soon!

David

ps. Just FYI, the game alot of you guys seems to think we are working on, we are not. Sorry to dissapoint :(

MIYAMOTO PART II

Usually when stuff I say pisses off my net brothers and sisters, I usually chalk it up to:

a- I just rub certain people the wrong way. Fair enough, I know people in my life as well who- from the instant I met them- I just did not like. I can see myself generating that kind of response in some folks, especially given how outspoken and opinionated I can be and how some folks feel we should all instead just be respectful and quiet at all times. Fair enough- different strokes and all that.

b- People still want to say I am arrogant even tho I'm a very, very smart person and very intuative as well- more so than most people would ever be- and because I am so smart and bright and do alot of introspective thinking, I think it's pretty safe to say I am not arrogant. Hmmm...do I put a smiley here or just leave it as is so more folks miss the 'joke'...I think I will just leave it.

c-Sony haters. It's like sports I guess. Some hardcore Nintendo Fan Boys and Xbots hate me cause I am a Sony game maker. Fair enough I suppose, even though I have expressed my love for work both of those companies have done many, many times.

So there you go, right? Can't please the world and I am cool with that. So somewhere along the line, I gave up trying.

BUT when the Miyamoto write up hit and people started saying I was thinking I was BETTER than Miyamoto or I was DISRESPECTING the man or I felt his games post Mario64 were lame....I mean, that really, really bothered me alot because that is not what I said at all. Now sure, some would argue: well, why did you even THINK those things?!? Why did you SHARE those things?!? You are both professionals and should never talk bad about one another in public.

Well I was not talking BAD about Miyamoto or his games, I was simply waxing philisophical on the fact that these days, the man's genius- and I use that term with uttmost seriousness- is not meant for me.

This post I made the next day on NEO GAF expresses how I feel about the whole thing pretty well:

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

If I may, just to be clear:

1- LOVE LOVE LOVE Mario64...one of the best games ever made. And for those who are scared of the F word: FUCKING FUCKING FUCKING FINGER LICKING FUCKING LOVE that game.

2- I NEVER said the stuff Miyamoto did AFTER Mario64 was crap or bad. I just said that those products did not float my boat. I DID give him the proper respect and awe the man deserves not ONLY for his older games but made it clear that he and his POST Mario64 work were responsible for creating the amazing biz we are all a part of. There is no ounce in my body that has anything but the uttmost awe and admiration and respect for the man.

3- Does that mean I am not allowed to say that games like NINTENDOGS and Wii Sports and Brain Age are not my cup of tea? Shit yea. I respect those games and am so in awe of how amazing Miyamoto is at reading what a huge slice of the market wants. But those games are not for me and were not designed to be for me.

Please- if you don't mind too much- stop trying to turn this into a 'JAFFE DISSES MIYAMOTO' deal because there could be nothing farther from the truth. I hope to achieve 1/50th of the success that that man has gained. He is the father of the modern game industry and I was proud and honored he posed for a picture with me.

David

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

So there you go. And for those who have asked, I LOVE LOVE LOVE the 2d Zelda games. I have fond memories of staying home from school senior year and finishing Zelda 2 and then right when I finished it, the mail came and there was my college acceptance letter! It was a great day! But the 3D Zelda games have never been my cup of tea...they are too overwhealming for me, too big and too easy for me to get lost and lose the pace of the game as I fall off the tracks and get lost just wandering around. But I know many LOVE those games and I respect the brilliance that went into making them. Also, for the record, I have not played MM and I heard that is the best 3d Zelda yet.

Take it easy ya'll,

David

I usually think writing to elected representatives is a waste of time. There is no way even a million of us will affect the folks in the Senate and House more than the massive checks from big corps. That said, short of taking up a gun and joining a revolution, what else can a constitution loving liberal like myself do in times like these? So- in the interest of not being an apathetic person- I just shot this off to Babs Boxer, a great senator from California. Sure it won't do a hill of beans, but at least I tried. Thought I'd share:



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

I would like to know your views on impeachment hearings for Dick Cheney and George W. Bush.

I think it is time for our elected representatives to get to the bottom of what many of us feel are the current administration's lies to the people and disrespect for our constitution. If the hearings do not bear this out, then so be it. Good for us as a nation.

If the hearings do prove what many of us feel- that it is time for the corrupt administration in the White House to go- then good for us as a nation. It will mean our elected officials have put the fear of not being elected again aside and protected our constitution with the same bravery and courage shown by our troops who are dying daily in Iraq.

Please search your heart and look into this matter. Like any job that you love, it must be scary to risk losing it. I can appreciate this. But please do not let your love for your job come before the love for your country.

Thanks for all you've done for our state,

David Jaffe

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

NOW we'll start seeing some fucking changers around here!!!

...errr.....yeah.


:)

David

Sweet!

But God I'm getting fat again! Amazing, 10 pounds in like 2 months...stress and me dude, they just don't mix.

E3 was so lame this year. It was cool to walk around some of the company hotel suites and actually be able to get on AAA games with NO ONE waiting to play. But it sucked to not get into the hanger (no badge). But I hear the hanger was lame. And it was kind of cool to watch the conferences on G4. That was great but man, you'd think two things:

a- they could have worked with the folks holding the keynotes to space commercial breaks. So lame they had to cut away during key stuff.

b- Uhm, whoever is directing the damn shows, could you FUCKING PUSH IN TO THE FUCKING GAME FOOTAGE and not sit on a MOTHER FUCKING SHOT of the stage and 4 video screens and be so FUCKING PULLED BACK you can't see the motherfucking footage?!?! I mean, were you taking a shit and just left the fucking shot on a single camera with no direction to the fucking cameraman? Yeah man, that pissed me off so much.

But as for the rest of it, it was really cool. I dug the 'on the floor' stuff from the G4 gang as well. It was a much, much better E3 broadcast this year. Great job, G4!


And hey- I bumped into Miyamoto, so that's cool. Not that I introduced myself or anything. He was rushing to his car and what am I gonna say to the man?!? I mean, hell, I really don't know what I should have said.

Maybe I should have gone: 'You have made some of the best games- hell, the best pieces of entertainment EVER but since MARIO 64, I have not loved anything you have done? I have respected all you have brought to the industry and world, especially in the last POST-Mario 64 years but for me personally, none of it floated my boat? But still dude, thanks so so so much for pretty much creating the modern incarnaton of this industry?"

And then he would have just looked at me and said: 'You are fat. Use Wii Fit for 2 months and call me back. Bye fatso'


Who knows.

Still, it was cool to see/semi-meet him and get a pic. Now I got pics with Miyamoto, Kojima, Stan Lee, and Steven Spielberg. Oh, and the guy who played Carmine from Laverne and Shirley (I got that one when I was like 4 years old).

Ok, tired from driving to and from LA in one day, so going to bed. See ya'll soon.

David

HEY, NEW E3...GO FUCK YOURSELF

So I just found out that the new E3 badges have pictures of the attendees on them. Which means my original plan to use my boss' badge to get into the main show area of E3 is shot to hell. And no, I did NOT get an invite, thanks for asking. After hitting all of the E3's in the past, I guess I will be sitting this one out. Since I am not showing any games this year, I won't be on the show floor to do the dog and pony stuff so Sony could not get me a badge.

Fuck man, now I gotta go to LA anyway for E3 meetings and Sony stuff, but I can't get into the main event.

Sucks to be me.

Ah well, looks like I'll be hitting refresh like the rest of ya'll to see the big news. Well fuck them, I didn't want to go to their stupid ass show anyway :)

Actually, I kinda did.

fuck!

David

ps. Now I know how Jason Rubin felt when he could not get into the Sony party but Tara Reid did. Well I mean now I know how Rubin feels if you take away the millions of dollars, super fast sports cars, and model good looks. But besides those things, I feel just like him!

HAPPY 4TH OF JULY

To all of us American's out there: Happy 4th!

To those serving in the armed forces, I may despise your commander in chief with every fiber I got, but I respect and am in awe of you guys. Thank you very much for your service.

And to those fuckers who live in a state where they can still go and buy this kind of stuff...



...let me just say that I am CRAZY ASS JEALOUS of you right now! 'Personal' fireworks are illegal in California and oh man I so want to share the joy of bottle rockets and roman candles (hell, even sparklers!) with my kids! But no! Here's all we are allowed to have:



Well whopdie-fuckin-mother-fuckin-do: stupid ass party poppers! Fuckin-wee.

Ah well, hard to complain considering we live in a country that- in less that 2 years- will be released from the oppresion of King George II. Then we can start- I hope- turning America BACK into a beacon of hope for many other countries around the world. Republican, Democrat, or otherwise, whoever gets in in 08 has GOT to be better than this guy...right? I mean, NO jail time for Libby?!?! Come the fuck on! What's it take to run this guy out of town already?!?! Sheesh!

But seriously ya'll: whatever your political views, have a safe and fun holiday! I'm sure we all deserve it! See ya'll after the break!