PLAYING HOOKIE

So I skipped out on work, took a PTO day, and went to see a Padres game with my father-in-law. Padres lost to Baltimore 6 to 3. Not a huge sports fan but I like to watch a game from time to time and this was just a great summer day, perfect for heading out to the ballpark. So I dug it alot.

Watching this game got me thinking that it would be sweet if real life sports had some sort of way of applying the fudge factor of a game like Calling All Cars or NBA JAMS, where the game is designed to do some minor cheating in order to keep game scores closer. That would be cool cause every game would be a nail biter. But it would also be cheating.

I also thought it would be great if all umpires were hot women dressed in skimpy outfits. I mean, who is going to argue with a hot woman umpire dressed in a sexy costume? You'd feel like a total ass in the stands yelling: 'Hey Ump! Are you freaking blind! Open your god damned eyes!' Because somewhere in your primal mind- assuming you are a man or a woman lovin' woman- you'd be thinking- deep down: she may be going home with me if I play my cards right and no way in hell am I fucking up my chances!

Anyway...

Been doing alot of work the last few weeks, lots of design stuff that I'm real happy with but has required lots of concentration and focus...so I was just feeling a bit fried. That's probably why I'm blogging so much today; just can't get my head around the next big design task in front of me after having just completed my previous big design task. I think it's important to recharge between challenges; you just know when you need to step back and chill. So that's what I did today. And it was great! I thought I'd come home and be all ready to work again, but now I just want to take a nap. I'm tired.

I'll hit it hard tomorrow!

See ya!

David

TWO THINGS...

THING #1- What happens the DAY I post about how Nintendo does not like to let people peek behind the curtain of their game making magic? I pop open the latest copy of GAMES(TM) and see an article showing off the recently opened Nintendo museum in Japan. The exhbit chronicles the history of Nintendo, mainly their video games. And what is sitting there on page one of the article? Sketches from Miyamoto himself, behind the scenes, rare ass sketches of Mario and Donkey Kong from 1979, 1980. These are sketches that Miyamoto did showing how the characters should look and move in the game. So once again, just goes to show: I know nothing. But still, with the exception of that event, I stand by my point that Nintendo- by holding the behind the scenes stuff pretty close to the vest- manages to create stronger, more loved characters/franchises.


THING #2- I was 'dark' when Spidey 3 came out so I didn't get to post this. By the way, 'going dark' to me is a Vegas term for when a show is not playing on a certain day. As in: 'Cirque is going dark on tuesdays starting next month'. Lots of people assumed I was trying to sound like a spy or something when I wrote I was 'going dark'. But I wasn't. So I wanted to clear that up. Cause that would be stupid. But now that I've written this, I am wondering which is worse: trying to sound like a bad-ass spy when, clearly, I am not...or using Vegas show terms to describe my hiatus from blogging. :) Anyway, so I saw this and I loved it:



I mean, that's as close to a real world Spidey encounter as I will ever have. I was at the drive thru at Burger King and I look up and I see this. It's a little small for Spidey, not sure why they didn't go life size. But it was still very cool and I really sat there for a few minutes imagining what it would be like to glance up and there's the real Spidey, staring around, looking for bad guys and whatnot. "Toss me a fry, true believer!" he would say. But it struck me as how- if you saw Spidey in real life- how creepy he would actually be. In the comics, even tho it's an aspect of how others treat him, visually it never came across to me. But seeing him here, I was like, "man, now I know what JJ. Jamison means when he calls Spidey a menace!"


THING #3 (NOTE: I knew I had 3 things to say but I could not find a picture of thing #3, so deal with it)- Finally, Next-Gen.biz had an amazing write up yesterday on games needing to get more meaningful before they are given respect by anyone other than gamers. I thought it was great and thought provoking. I chimed in on the comments section in hopes of getting some other opinions and advice from other designers on the subject but I think I killed the thread (either that or simply no one posts on the next-gen comments section...heck I didn't even know they had one till yesterday). But I thought what I wrote about story in game and emotion in game really nailed my feelings and struggles on the issue. So I 'reprint' it here in hopes that maybe someone has some insight into what I feel is the biggest problem with story and games...oh, and here's where you can find the great next-gen story (I would link but the blogger link Icon is not appearing):

http://www.next-gen.biz/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=6066&Itemid=50

and here is my response to it:

+++++
Great article and as someone who has struggled with this issue before (as a designer with my own games and as a player: a game like Facade comes to mind as something I've played that has set its sights on the lofty goals you suggest we pursue), I can tell you that many designers have the intent and some of us lucky ones even have the freedom to puruse the goal of making games matter more than they currently do. The biggest issue I've come up against- besides my clear lack of talent- is the inability to convince players that the fiction matters. Unless you- as a player- make a clumsy self-conscience effort to force yourself to buy into the fiction, you are always aware that the game world is meaningless in any context other than the surface goals given (i.e. get thru the door; kill the enemies). So in Facade, instead of caring about the fate of this young couple's marriage, I just went around and either started messing with things to see what would happen (kissing the man's wife was the very first thing I did, ignoring the fiction of the scenario alltogether because I wanted to see what would happen), or I just focus on how to 'win'. It's not because I don't WANT to care about the story and scenario. I love character stories and political drama and all sorts of 'mature' subject matter when I see it in movies and read about it in books. It's just that- in a game- I simply don't care about anything other than my goals. Until we figure out how- if it's even possible in an interactive experience- to make players suspend disbelief and really buy into the wolrd fiction (while they are playing, not by watching a cut scene), then all of the effort that would go into making players care for characters and situations will be wasted on all those other than the few willing to force themselves into buying the fantasy...and I don't think that is close to even 5% of the folks who go into EB and buy the latest hit title.
Again, loved the write up. It was great and thought provoking. But I would love to see someone address what I feel is the real problem with this issue versus simply telling us designers that the solve is coming up with characters we care about and scenarios more involved than: kill the bad guys! We get that, and some of us have even done it. It's just not working.
David
+++++

Ok, gonna drop the kid off at pre-school then get to work. Talk to ya'll later!

David

BRING BACK THE SECRETS?

So Sony Playsation has their very own blog. If you have not dropped by, please do so at: http://blog.us.playstation.com/

Man,I just love it.

I think it's a fantastic idea to get voices from all areas of the company speaking directly to Playstation fans. One day it's a producer, the next day it's a junior tester, and then a few days later, you're leaving comments to the head of the freaking company! That's just cool, man. And I love how even though Playstation is this very large division within this very mega corporation, the blog just feels so intimate. To me, it makes your relationship with Sony Playstation alot more cozy and personal. I'm a big, big fan and am eager to see how the new site continues to grow.

But it's got me thinking about how much access we- as game creators- should allow to the players.

Not in terms of the kind of stuff Sony is doing with the blog, or even the kinds of stuff that I do here. I'm talking about concept art and behind the scenes videos showing how the titles get made.

Now I love that stuff; loved watching the 'making of' movie stuff as a kid and I am sure lots of players today love the 'how games are made' docs that are all over the place now.

But do you think it ruins some of the magic of the final product? And if so, how much?

Think about this: You NEVER see concept art or behind the scenes footage from first party Nintendo games. You never see wire frame models of what Princess Zelda's castle looks like, or voice recording footage of the actress playing Peach. Or if you do, it's very, very rare. And it's one of the reasons- I feel- that the Mario and Zelda characters almost feel real, alive, and magical. Granted, much of this comes from the fact that they are just amazing characters who inhabit amazing games. You can't deny that part, to be sure. But I think they are on to something when it comes to how they- as a company- protect those characters and worlds; like how you never get to see the actors changing out of the Mickey costume at Disneyland. It's an illusion that pays off big for them.

So while I think direct access to players and fans is the way to go and what is so much fun about life with the internet, I am starting to wonder how much access we should be giving players when it comes to revealing how we make the games. Shouldn't some tricks stay secret? And even if they are not secrets, aren't Kratos and Sweet Tooth and even the criminals in Calling All Cars (or the seals in SOCOM or the hero from UNCHARTED) stronger characters if you only ever see them when they have thier make up on, costumes fitted, and are lit just right?

On a blog like this, I get lots of readers who want to be in the biz one day. So I can see those guys/gals wanting all the access they can get (just like I, as a wanna be filmmaker, used to love to watch how movies were made). But assuming your goal is not to work in the biz (or even if it is,put those thoughts aside for a moment), tell me this: if the end goal is a strong game and a much loved franchise, do you think it makes the product stronger or weaker to allow players even the tinniest peak behind the curtain?

David

ps. sorry I can't give any more info on those pictures I posted. I'll have some updates on that space very soon. But to answer a few of the comments:

a- those pics are from a space in Utah
b- thanks for the industry vet and his well wishes/luck wishes. I know it's a tough biz...let's hope we both get lucky, eh?


pps. I know Nintendo has given some press to Charles Martinet, the man who does the Mario voice. I see him at trade shows from time to time, doing the voices and doing the PR thing. I am not sure why Nintendo does this as it seems to fly in the face of all the other 'keep it secret' decisions that I am assuming are intentional. Maybe because it's trade shows, Nintendo doesn't feel the info gets out to the majority of the public so it doesn't affect 99% of the players. Same with the recent Zelda deconstruction that went on at GDC; I mean, most folks are not going to find information on that unless they really seek it out and that is a small % of the players. I don't know, just wondering.

Ok, gotta get some work done. Talk to ya'll later. Nice to be back blogging!

coming soon

THAT'S IT FOR NOW...SEE YOU SOON.

Well the last few posts have caused more of a stir than I had hoped. One day I will learn my lesson: that people don't read the whole post, hell people don't tend to read the post at all, but rather a truncated version of the post posted on another website with just the part of the post that is inflamitory enough to get the haters in a tizzy and get hits on the site(s) in question.

But that's ok; I mean, it's the net right? You take the good with the bad; and I've had a hell of a lot of good from it and for that- as well as for the bad- I am grateful.

But for the time being, I'm going to go dark. My stylings have upset some folks within the biz I care very much about and that I can not live with. For me, it's always been silly, stupid fun...you know, giving what I get, talking like alot of folks on geeky message boards do, trash talking,etc. But I guess some folks have taken it to heart and that's not cool for me. End of the day, even the folks who spew much venom my way, I probably would like very much in real life. As I've said before, we're all geeks and if you can't get along with a fellow geek, then what's the point.

Anyway, so CAC is coming out...soon? I dunno. It's done, so I'm just waiting now for the official word. I'm sure you'll see the press release when Sony lets it out. But I will be playing online for sure, so hope to see you guys in the game!

But you know, I gotta get off a final parting shot before I go:

TO THE LAME ASS WEBSITE THAT SHALL GO UNNAMED- Fuck you, guys. Go fuck yourselves. What other developer makes a fucking change to a game when a review (IGN's in this case) has a good, valid point and is willing to open the fucking code up at the risk of more bugs to make the game better? Amazing.But hey, you guys are great, you guys rock. I hope Kotaku fucking puts your ass out of business, wanna be fucktards. And if you were actual journalists you would have read the motherfucking quote I posted on NEOGAF where I said because of the two bugs we needed to fix (not because I was afraid of the bargin bin) we had a window of opp. to fix the magnet problem. Assholes...total fucking assholes.

Ok, that's it. I will be back soon with an announcement and the next stage of this blog (and my life!) I'll post the news- assuming it all happens as planed...you never know- sometime this summer. I'll keep ya'll posted as the blog will remain open. Nothing set in stone, but the hope is to let you guys know what is up sometime in July.

Take it easy, have a GREAT first part of the summer. I will miss you guys!

David

ps. oh and JUST to make it CLEAR since it doesn't seem to be: I like GAMESPOT, have respect for them, always have. Hell I pay for the damn thing every year. I don't agree with the review but I've always dug the folks over there and continue to do so. Hope they will like our next game alot more!

UGH! NO FUCKING MORE

Jesus, that last post generated a lot more shit than I had intented.

Appreciate all the kind words that came in; hell even the 'fuck you jaffe' posts were fine. Everyone is welcome, pull up a seat :)

Latest Reviews:

IGN: 8.5/10
GAMEZONE: 84/100
1UP: 8/10
GAMESRADAR: 70/100
GAMESPOT: 67/100

Overall, not too bad. Still pretty happy with where we are so far. Real eager to see what the buying public thinks of our game tho. As much as we care about official reviews, it's the reviews of the buying public that matter most to us.


So...

Not much to say tonight, just wanted to move that last post down a notch so we could talk about something else. As I've said before, I am ok with all the hate and shit that goes on here from the standpoint of: I'm not taking the time to delete it. I don't have the time or interest in being a moderator. But I do have to say, man, there are some angry, pissed off, sad motherfuckers out there, ain't there? And not just at me. Some real nice people post in the comments and man, some ass holes just come out of the woodwork to tear them apart. Makes me wish the last scene in JAY AND SILENT BOB STRIKE BACK could really happen in real life.

So...

I will say this tho, when I think about it. I am torn about reviews of these sorts of games. Getting the gamespot review really made me think. And before any of you cowards who don't post your real fucking names tell me that I should stop crying, here's a big, juicy: 'GO FUCK YOUR MOTHER UP HER JIGGLY ASS TWAT' for you. Go ahead: Take it; that's right, it's just for you! So take it and shove it up your ass there real good! :)

Cause jeeze man, what am I supposed to be? A fucking robot? I make games for a living, we care if people like what we do. We are not perfect, our games are not perfect (even the ones that score 10/10) and it sucks when people don't love our stuff as much as we had hoped. Why is that such a sign of weakness to some of you pricks? I swear I don't know. But either way, I can live with you asshats if you can live with me.

But onto the topic on my mind...and yes, it still has to do with reviews of small games. Not my own, just the idea in general:

Do you guys think every game needs to be:

a- reviewed on if it achieved its purpose and intent and provides what it sets out to do? Assuming what it sets out to do is at least semi-noble in some way (and hell, even then)? I mean, I love DUMB AND DUMBER and I love GOODFELLAS. Only a fool would say D&D is the 'better' movie...but when I want to laugh and cut loose and watch stupid shit, D&D is towards the top of the list. So do I rate that movie lower than GOODFELLAS or do I rate it amongst other movies like D&D (i.e. Something About Mary, for example).

b- Reviewed as a game, no matter the intent, or cost to the consumer? I think a good case can be made that games are games and they could all be lumped together as fun can be found anywhere, no matter the cost to the player or cost to the dev team/publisher. Uno to me on XBLA is more fun than 80% of the retail disc based games I've purchased this year.

This is what I wonder...I can see the point of both sides and I just don't know.

Someone else posted on the blog that they could get a 5 dollar bargin bin game that USED To be 60 bucks with more content than 99% of the XBLA/PSN titles so why should a game like CAC be 10 bucks? It's a good question I guess. I mean, by that logic tho, is the XBLA/PSN biz model broken? One guy a long time ago posted that it should be like arcades or porn token sites where you buy tokens and don't buy the games but just plunk in 25-50 cent tokens to get a single play. Maybe that would go down easier for some folks. I could support that model as a player.

Anyway, gotta go. Chat with you guys later.

David

MY RESPONSE TO GAMESPOT (and the reviews in general)

MY RESPONSE TO THE REVIEWS:

The nice thing about having a blog, is I can review the reviews! :)

So…

As of now, here’s what we’re looking at:

IGN: 8/5/10
1UP: 8/10
GAMESPOT: 6.7/10

The first two I can live with, they feel fair and make sense. I am very, very proud of those reviews. Although, I have to say, when I hear the 1up guys on the podcast saying the game is the best on PSN AND saying that it's closing in on being one of the top 3 download games out there, it does seem 8 is a bit low...but what the hell...8 is good in my book, so thank you guys!

I’m not so keen on the GAMESPOT review, and who would be? It simply feels unfair and simply wrong. Granted, why would I not say that? I am the director of the game they are saying is simply ‘fair’. So take my opinion with a grain of salt.

I think tho, much of it has to do with expectations for titles such as this, as well as maybe me not really understanding the review process.

So my thoughts in general on aspects of the reviews:

MAGNET ISSUE- Here was a nice, simple, clean PROBLEM with the game that the reviewer hit on that was pretty black and white. Hard to argue with this one. IGN hit this spot on and we’ve fixed it already! Nice thing about download games is you can see a review and then rush back to the code and do some tweaks :) So while we don’t know if we’ve solved IGN’s issue where the AI seemed to be able to dominate with the magnet weapon, we’ve at least toned it down and increased the amount of time a player needs to be in the magnet ‘cone’ before the criminal is sucked away. We did not touch the multiplayer aspect of this, just the single player where IGN had what we felt was a great point about how the single player was feeling. So thanks IGN!

LACK OF CONTENT: This one just makes no sense to me but I can live with the fact that I may in the minority here. I can also live with the fact that my take on what something should cost (as a guy who gets games for free mostly) is different from the take of a reviewer as to what a game should cost (as people who get paid to play games they usually get for free…but to be fair, the reviewers ARE paid to take the consumer mindset into mind….but then again, so am I…so anyway…). But look, it’s a 10 dollar game. And for that you get: the core game (which in multiplayer- which is the point- EVERYONE says is at least fun, and many say is really, really fucking fun). 4 maps, split screen, internet with voice, and 10 cars to unlock. I fail to see how this is a bad deal, especially since if you like the multiplay- and all of the reviewers have- you can play the game for hours (over time) before you burn out. How is this a bad deal for 10 bucks? I just don’t see it. The gamespot review- I think- didn’t seem to like that you could finish the single player game in 20 minutes. And maybe this is a fault of the game’s presentation but it’s not an adventure game…it’s like a fighting game in that sense: you work thru the single player to learn the game and unlock stuff. And when you get thru one level if you want to get better, up the difficulty. I get thru Tekken and Mortal Kombat single player in 5-15 minutes on default setting. Again, maybe our presentation did not make this clear and it's a fair call that Gamespot would want more from the single player experience. But it's not like I go out and buy Madden or NBA JAM or NBA HOMECOURT cause I'm going to be playing it by myself. But that could just be me and it's Gamespot's job- I assume- to take all gamer's desires into account and I can appreciate that.

But again, this may be the problem. Gamespot was not saying it’s a shit game. They seemed to like aspects of it. So I’m not bashing them or the score so much as just being confused a bit. We set out to make a balls to the wall, trash talking, fun ass multiplayer/party game. From all reviews we did that and from a few of the reviews (IGN and 1up) we did that really, really well. And so really, that’s all I care about. And I can see reviewers are not going to JUST review the game portions I care about. Hell, I guess I could have just taken out the single player so it would have never been an issue. But somehow that would have just felt wrong.

SCORES IN GENERAL: And maybe therein lies the problem. With the exception of the GAMESPOT score- which I really just feel is simply unfair- these scores are good scores and I am happy with them. I am proud of those scores; happy with them and grateful for them. So thanks IGN and 1up! But the issue may be that our goal was to provide a trash talking fun ass time with your buddies. And I feel we did that really well…between an 8 and a 10 depending on all the factors that determine fun that go into any individual game (who is playing; skill level;etc). So to me, I’m like: grade us on THAT because that was what we wanted to do.

But I guess that’s like asking a movie reviewer to grade a horror movie 10/10 that wanted to do nothing more but provide a visceral thrill ride (and did that) while at the same time there may be other movies out there that provide the thrills AND drama and story too? You guys know my shitty analogies....not sure if that makes sense. And I'm rush typing this as I gotta head out for some shit to do today.

CASUAL: Diner Dash got like a 3/10 on a game site the other day. And that game is considered a watershed/masterpiece in the casual space. It may also be that as I get away from hardcore games, some of the reviewers (that have no interest in those sorts of games) that used to love the kind of stuff I did, will simply not find as much in the stuff we do nowadays to love? Could be…and I can understand that.

Or it could be that the game really is a 7/10 and I just WANTED it to be more. I can live with that as an option if that's how- once the game ships and people play it and pass judgement and time passes- that is how it all comes down. Hope that's not the case, but what can you do?

I don’t know…I wanted to get a response to the scores up fast. I will prob. think on this some more and hit you guys back.

But overall, I am so proud of this game and think in many aspects it’s the most fun game I’ve ever worked on. If you want a fun party game, then I think we’ve got something for you. I hope you read the reviews from folks who are into these sorts of titles and THEN make your decision to buy or pass.

Ok gotta run...thanks for indulging me. A more mature designer would say: 'my game is my response' and shut up about it. But come on, this is me :)

David

CALLING ALL CARS- FIRST REVIEW IS UP!

Here's a link:

http://ps3.ign.com/articles/783/783536p1.html

But here's the gist:

8.5/10!

Very happy with this first review.

Swamped right now but will wright more about what it's like to get reviews, wait on reviews, get stressed and elated about reviews in a few days, when the other site reviews hit on Friday. But for know, three things:

1- Yah! 8.5 for a game that took 11 months and cost very little AND let us do the work we LOVE but still- for the MOST part- live normal lives (although some members of the team gave up SOOOO much time to get some aspects of the game working, so to them: THANK YOU! THANK YOU! THANK YOU!)....and the best part is, 9.99 for what IGN- at least- says is fun. How can you beat that? We're very happy!

2- Game is NOT OUT TOMORROW. It is out May 3rd. I am very sorry about this but we're still in format, chasing a few bugs and we don't want the game out until it's bug free. But it WILL be out 5/3! I will let you guys know when it clears format.

Ok guys, heading out to dinner with the family. Will talk to you guys soon. 8.5! Sweet!

David

ps. Please don't feed the fucking animals on the comment board. I am 1000% fine with them post the stuff they do (the insults and the bullshit,etc)...it's the net, what are you going to do. I sure as hell am not taking the comments off. And I know what it's like to want to get attention and be willing to say ANYTHING to get it (ya think?!?) but please unless you really feel compelled, just let them be. I like that they are here, I'm ok with them being here but I'd rather the comment section not turn into a battle. Let them do what they want and we can get back to just talking about games,the biz,etc. Thanks!

David

DISNEYLAND AND IGN

In a more rambling mode than usual, ya'll...hope you don't mind too much :)

So....

Hey guys, took Wednesday off as sort of a 'sweet! We finished Calling All Cars' celebration. Unlike GOD OF WAR where I needed 3 months of comp time to recoop, I'm thinking of taking like 3 days of PTO, and even then spreading those few days across a few weeks. Making these games is hard and challenging but since it does not drain your soul like the epic titles, you don't need as much down time before you dive back into the trenches. In fact, hell, Scott and Kellan (Creative Director/Art Director at Incognito) are flying down to San Diego Monday for a double day marathon session of game design for game #2! I can't wait!

So what did I do on my day off? I took my wife and oldest daughter to Disneyland! Man, what a blast. My kid is almost 4 now and it was her first time there. She loved it and we did as well, mostly cause we got such a blast watching her enjoy the park! Hell, she even got to ride Space Mountain and The Matterhorn! A fucking 3 year old kid on SPACE MOUNTAIN!?!? I was stunned they let her on but they did!

Man, that is still a great ride and may very well be my fave coaster of all time. Especially now when they are blasting a version of HIGHER GROUND by THE RED HOT CHILLI PEPPERS thru the headset speakers as you whip thru those corkscrews! So much fun!

When it was over, I looked behind me (kid was riding with the wife in the seat behind me) and my daughter was just sort of starting into space, overwhelmed by the sensations and blasting music and flashing lights. I was like: oh shit, we've just scarred this kid for life! But within a few seconds of it all coming to an end, she was telling us how much she loved it! When she got home she was jumping around and using her arms to mimic the curves and turns of the coaster she liked the most and telling us all about how much fun it was! And I was just like: sweet! I got a coaster buddy for life now!!!

But yeah, when you go with a kid, it's just more fun I think. I like going as an adult but taking my kid, I got to enjoy her enjoying it. And about 2 years ago, I had a realization that I assume most parents eventually have- or should have- where you stop TRYING TO MAKE THE FUN for your kid and just let your kid pretty much be (from a standpoint of entertainment). For a while I kept trying to make sure the stuff we were doing was fun, come hell or high water. And then I realized after about 6 months of this that it didn't feel genuine to me, it felt all manufactured and I HATED that feeling. So I just relaxed and assumed: hell, she's a kid...If anyone can find the fun, it's a kid. So I just allowed myself to be along for the ride as she found fun and- when she decided to- shared it with her dad. And it's been so much more...well, FUN since then! I guess as a game designer I am always feeling responsible for people having a good time...and with kids I really had to curb that desire. So there's a, whatever, a Jaffe parenting tip for you, if you ever wanted one!


Pic I grabbed as we were leaving the park...Ahh, Magic Way! Glad I live only 50 minutes from the park as now I wanna go back with my kids alot more often. Pretty amazing that I can just make it a spur of the moment Saturday trip if I want to! Ahh, the joys of Southern California!

Makes me wonder tho: thru my career I've know lots of Disney obsessed folks in the game biz. They grew up with it, love it to death, want to be part of it. I can see that, I can appreciate that. I'm more of a Spielberg/Lucas nut, but I can see the allure of the Disney Magic. But then almost all of the folks I know who end up working for Disney always tell me they don't enjoy working for the company as much as they had hoped. Not the admin types or producers; and I actually hear it's a pretty good company to work for in terms of benefits and what not. But it's like, Disney fired so many imaginations around the world and within the game biz, that the work of that company really turned people into professional creative types themselves! But now, as those creative types head to work for the company that inspired them to be creative, they find that they can't really be the creative juggernauts that Disney created because to work for Disney means you gotta do it the DISNEY WAY. There's only one way to draw Mickey Mouse and it ain't yours! So to work for Disney means you gotta suck it up and be a cog in the machine I guess. I've never worked for Disney so this is all secondhand....but I can see how that could be a challenge for the very folks Disney inspired in the first place! Interesting...at least to me :)

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

So hey, I played multiplayer with the IGN crew last night. Since the game is not out yet, we go online with the reviewers so they can test out the online portion of the game (otherwise there would be no one for them to play with over the net). It was lots of fun and, being ultra protective of all the games I work on, I was like begging for the review score from them because I really do care about reviews...as I said, I feel compelled that people have fun! :) But they were like: dude we can't tell you the score now, sorry. And I got that, and I appreciate that. But they assured me they dug it so that made me feel good. And then last night I saw this on the IGN message board:


It's from Jeremy Dunham who is the Editor in Chief of the Playstation site on the board (I don't think he's EIC of the whole site, but I could be wrong).

So that's always nice to see. Score aside, it's nice to know that we've given people some good fun! That is what you work for. And it's even better to know that you've given folks fun who are in a great position to let many others know about the fun that they've had!

So thanks for giving us a shot IGN!

+++++

Finally, CALLING ALL CARS will be out either next week or the NEXT week. It's not May 18th in USA...that seems to be the date for Europe (I am not sure on this, I'm just getting that date from the net like alot of your guys). We are shooting to have the game out next week but it's not us at this point as the game has been done for about a week now. There's just some format stuff we gotta clear and as soon as we do-and thus get the street date- I will let ya'll know. So thanks for being patient!

And nice talking to those I've talked with in the chat box! Chat with ya'll soon!

Take care ya'll, have a great weekend!

David

LIVE CHAT COMES TO THE BLOG!

Hey all....put a widget on the right side of the blog that will let us chat together in real time. Not sure how much use it will get, but it seemed like a fun thing to do. Plus, if there's ever a time we wanna hook and and do Q/A about the games and stuff, I could get some of the key members of the team in- from whatever game we are working on- to answer questions and give insight into the process, if that would be of interest to any of ya'll.

As of now, it doesn't look like there is a way for me to lock names, which means ANYONE can sign in and say they are someone they are not. I hope to see if I can change that in the future but for now, I guess it's the honor system...shyeah, right! But I'll leave this up for a bit and see if anyone likes to use it!

Ok, back to work. Today begins focused design on small game project #2! Wish us luck!

David


+++++++++++++++++++++++++++
EDIT:
My brother just sent me this....from the Sony Picture lot in Culver City, California. He's shooting the show CLOSE TO HOME there and he knows I'm a big Spidey fan! Some great reviews coming in for the flic on AINT IT COOL NEWS! Man, I am getting excited!!!



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

That's it...I'm calling this bitch!

Calling All Cars is done.

Incognito sent the code off to first party QA a few hours ago for weekend test. If they find no serious bugs, it goes to Format and will be up on the network soon!

If there are bugs, the Incog guys will tackle them over the weekend.

But 99.9% sure, those bugs will not be design related. This late in the game, they never really are.

Because of that, I think it's safe to say that the designers on the game- and probably the rest of the team- are done with this thing!

What was that? Like 11 months total? Ahh....and it's still light outside!

And it's my fucking birthday today to boot! Nice ass present, if I do say so myself! Thanks Incognito!

So to all the CALLING ALL CARS folks who worked on the game and who are reading this, congrats to us all! It was a blast to work on with you guys.

Now we just gotta see if players enjoy playing it at all! Focus tests have been going real well last week and EGM gave us a nice blurb/review in the latest issue, putting us in the 'buy' category for Download games (not sure where they were able to review it as I was not aware we've sent anyone code yet, but hey, we'll take all the good press we can!!!)....maybe they were basing it off playtime at GDC?!? Hope so as the game has gotten better since then! :)

But I feel we've made a game we can all be proud of and I really, really hope players give it a shot and enjoy themselves with it!

I am sure you guys will let us know either way!

David

ps. just to be clear, the game is done for the MOST part. It's not 'gold' yet (not that there are gold masters with DL games) cause it needs to clear all the proper channels. I will let ya'll know when we've cleared those last vew hurdles!

pps. Virtual cake for us all...birthday cake AND 'Celebration for finishing the game' cake!


Man, the graphics in the actual PAC MAN game for the 2600 were WAY WORSE than this fucking cake decoration!!! Amazing!!!

STEVEN SPIELBERG! HOW DO I GET OUT OF THIS ONE?!?!

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EDIT: To the cocksucking comment poster who says I should stop thinking about the past, I offer this:

http://youtube.com/watch?v=uQVLFn2PTzY
http://youtube.com/watch?v=Qe_zbyn1hQE

suck it, bitch!

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++=



Swamped with final days of CALLING ALL CARS (final focus test in LA tomorrow to make sure we got the default difficulty setting tuned right). But I had to share:



Richard Donner (director of Goonies flic as well as many, many other huge, great movies like SUPERMAN, THE OMEN, and LETHAL WEAPON) is co-writing along with Geoff Johns (who writes the best DC comics around these days). Word on the street is the live action sequel will never happen :(



Ahhh, what could have been!

Man if there's a game license besides Indy that would get me back into big epic game making, this would be it!

...but hell at least we get a comic...and maybe they can turn that into an animated DVD movie or something? Sweet! Now we just need comics for BACK TO THE FUTURE!

Ok, back to tuning!

David

ps. anyone ever find out why Cory Feldman just up and left in the middle of recording the DVD commentary track?!?! If you know, you gotta tell me!!!

SUMMER MOVIES

Harry and the boys at AINT IT COOL NEWS have posted a series of articles about the genre films that hit theaters in the summer of 1982. They relate their personal experiences with the movies of that year, talk about how magical a summer it was to be an 'almost but not quite teenager' in the early 80's and how some of the best genre movies ever hit between May and August of that amazing year (ET, Poltergeist, Tron, Conan, Blade Runner,etc). They talk about their love for the sci fi mag STARLOG and how, before the internet, it was their only link to other sci-fi/fantasy lovers, just like them.

I wish I could write better than I do because I would have expressed many of these same sentiments long ago. But hell, I guess that's why they have pro writers. And the guys at AICN- in these series of articles- do it really, really well.

If you want to have a good insight into what my childhood was like (why you want that info, however, is a different story!)...but if you do, you'll find it here:

http://www.aintitcool.com/node/32131 (Poltergeist)
http://www.aintitcool.com/node/31765 (ET)
http://www.aintitcool.com/node/31984 (Tron)

These really touched me and brought me back to a very special time in my life.

They also made me realize how important the movies used to be to me.

These days, I still love the movies but nowhere near as much as I used to. Some of it is just me getting older and just having other things that take up my time; some of it is that the magic of the movies has really been ruined with too many behind the scenes/making of docs; much of it is that the movies today are still pretty good but the business side of the movie biz seems to have won out in a big way; to the point where 95% of the time when you go to a movie, it doesn't so much feel like a movie anymore but instead feels like a 2 hour synergistic attack on the senses brought about by a number of companies trying to sell you shit.

There are those movie makers out there who are able to rise above that bullshit, the true artists working in movies today. And I am so glad they are still around.

And I'm not going to lie...Summer movie season is right around the corner and I'm pretty excited for it. In the same way a sports fan probably has fantasies that their team will make it thru every game of the season and never suffer a single lost game (isn't there a name for that?), movie fans actually hope for a perfect summer...where every flick they've seen advertised lives up to its potential. It's pretty rare....and the AINT IT COOL NEWS guys could make a compelling argument that the last time it happened was the summer of 82.

But hey, this summer brings PIRATE'S 3 (trailer looks amazing); SPIDEY 3 (trailer=meh, but the last 2 were great); Transformers (could be good in an ID4 kind of way); KNOCKED UP looks fucking hillarious, so does that comedy with Sandler and the dude from King of Queens.

So it could happen again...

Man, I gotta start carving out more time for the movies. I really do still love them, I guess. Even though these days they usually let me down, I still hold out hope. Maybe I just need to watch more of them and make the time, you know?Instead of typing on this damn thing, I should be downstairs watching my blu ray of THE DEPARTED (no, I have not seen it yet!)....

...maybe I'll go do that. Can't sleep anyway :)

Talk to ya'll later!

David

ps. and if you have never read STARLOG, they still make it. Give it a read! It's good for you!





pps. then again...I was on a media tour for TWISTED METAL:BLACK in 2001 and the PR guy took me to the Starlog offices and I was gushing to the editor-in-cheif or publisher (who has been with the mag from the start) about how much his mag meant to me as a kid. And he just tossed off this ass-holian comment about: thanks! Thanks for putting my kid thru college.

And I'm like, dude, I'm telling you your mag touched my fucking heart and soul and inspired me to reach for my goals and dreams. And he gives me this smart ass comment. Maybe he was shy. Maybe he has a hard time with compliments. Who knows...but it stuck with me....fuckin' douche.

ppps. Just kidding...he's not a douche. He was probably just having a bad day :)

pppps. I'm fucking conflicted...help.

OFFICIAL CALLING ALL CARS LAUNCH DATE

Hey guys, a few CAC updates:

#1- Geoff wrote today and told me the GAMEHEAD Calling All Cars! segment would air next week, not tonight as planned. He says they got crunched for time so guess who got bumped? Fuckers! :) Still, nice thing is, the segment will now air closer to the relase of the game which WILL PROBABLY BE...


#2- on APRIL 19TH! So about 20 days away. It's as official as things get in this realm. We plan on submitting to format next Friday and if all goes well, the 19th of April will be launch day.

People have expressed confusion as to why these smaller games keep getting pushed. Well I can't speak for any but a few but the thing with downloadable content is that we're still learning how to get our heads around having so few masters to answer to.

What do I mean?

Well, for a disc based product you have SOOOOOOO many people who MUST know the launch date and after a point of no return, that date can not slip.

You got the folks who manufacture the actual disc and manuals and you HAVE to have the gold master to them by a specific date or your game will not make you promised ship date. In downloadable games, those folks- for the most part- don't exist. You send the code off to the Playstation Network and when they are ready- once it's cleared everything- they just put it up. So we're not worrying about getting it to the factory on time anymore.

With disc product, you get paid- as a publisher and developer-by the brick and mortar retailers who buy your game. Best Buy orders 200,000 copies of GOD OF WAR II? They pay us for that. We get paid when a retailer buys the games from us, not when a consumer buys the games from the retailer. And we HAVE to have games out by end of key quarters in order to make sure we can make a certain amount of cash for that quarter which keeps stock holders happy or some such stuff I don't fully comprehend. But if- for example- we look at March 31st as the end of a quarter- and most do- then you best beleive that we need those games sent to the stores by that date or that quarter profit looks bad,bad,bad cause we didn't get paid for, for example, those 200k copies of GOWII from Best Buy. But in downloadable games, there's not really a retailer we need to get cash from. We sell directly to the gamer (yeah! so cool!) and right now, the games cost so little to make and we don't get the kind of sales volume we get- yet!- with download games so there's no big bottom line issue to worry about. So the pressure of hitting end of quarter is not so big with DL games. So that worry is gone.

Advertising is another master that disc based games must kowtow to. Game pubs may lots of cash to buy air time- well in advance- for game commercials as well as print ads in key months of magazines. If the money is spent already but the game is not ready to come out- and you don't have another ad to put in the place of the game that is running late- you've wasted the cash that was earmarked for you game...and often times, you can't get it back because the company has earmarked the rest of the cash for other games that ARE coming out on time. So you gotta be careful about slipping your sked if the company is spending dollars on the ads. But with DL games, there's not much advertising- yet anyway!. At the moment it's only PR and while it sucks to go to the press and say you are slipping, it doesn't cost anyone anything except maybe the fact that in the future, gamers will take a 'yeah, we'll beleive it when we see it' attitude with you and your team.

So the only master we really need to serve in all this- from a release date window- is the consumer. And because of this- and because the games don't cost that much which means adding a few more weeks onto the schedule is not even a blip on the financial radar of a big time publisher- we tend to ask for more time to make the games better. Sure, you can spend TOO long in the game making process, for sure. But the thing is, with games that take 6-10 months, you are often times JUST discovering your game play in like, month 7. So once you know your game, you want all the time you can get to refine and playtest and tune.

So that is what has happened with CALLING ALL CARS!

Miyamoto is well known for saying (paraphrasing): a great game is forgiven for being late, a bad game is a bad game forever.

And so we feel consumers will forget very quickly that a game has slipped the schedule if it's a great game. But a crap game will never be forgiven even if it comes out 10 weeks BEFORE the publisher promised it.

So I hope that clears things up. I feel as we do more games like this, we'll learn to hit the shipping bullseye more often. But this is new to us too. Remember, my last game took 3 years! 10 months is a heck of a switch!

Ok, wife's got cake downstairs. A friend from when she was a little girl is visiting and I wanna go chat a bit and fuck dude....CAKE!!!!

Have a great weekend ya'll; and don't forget GAMEHEAD next weekend!

And I THINK the first episode of BONUS ROUND I did this week airs this weekend on gametrailers.com. Or next weekend. But I think it's up...what, tomorrow?

And the ATTACK OF THE SHOW segment we did will air next friday night! Check it out!

See ya'll!

David

LET'S RETURN FROM LA-LA LAND CAUSE THAT AIN'T GONNA HAPPEN!

Let's have 5, let's have 6! Let's have a dozen and pretend their donuts!

Ok, going a little 80's movie crazy there.

Ok, real fast as I'm rushing to put some music and podcasts on my ipod for my drive to LA tomorrow morning. Heading there to discuss some top secret stuff as well as do our final focus test for CALLING ALL CARS! This is where we put the 'catch up code' to the test and decide if it lives or dies, or stays but gets some tweak lovin'!

Also, tomorrow I will be taping two shows:

#1- ATTACK OF THE SHOW- taping this at the G4 studios at 11:30 or 12 or something like that :) Don't think they air it live anymore, but they might. So if you're around, look for me on G4! I love AOTS and have done the show a few times and they are always such cool folks over there. Looking forward to it!

#2- BONUS ROUND on gametrailers.com. If you have not seen it, this is ANOTHER fucking gig from Geoff Keighley! I love this show cause it's what I've always wanted: a video game version of DINNER FOR FIVE! Sadly there's no food or swanky eatery but hey, like I need something else to eat anyway, you know? I will be on with Kellee Santiago, prez of THAT GAME COMPANY, the folks who brought us FLOW. My understanding is we'll be chatting about small games, downloadable games,etc. Looking forward to it alot. Love the show, dig Geoff, and think Kellee is as sharp as they come. Should be fun!

Oh, also, Calling All Cars is featured on this coming Friday's GAMEHEAD (Keighley again). So watch it and let me know how I did! We taped it like last month.

Gonna be doing some other shows and podcasts in the next few weeks as the game gets ready to launch. Got something cooking with the EGM podcast that should be lots of fun and I'm hoping to get the game out there some other ways as well. So stay tuned!

So hey, me and the wife went antiquing this weekend (is that how you spell it? Fuck, I'm not even going to look it up)...but it's where you go look for old shit, right? Antiques and what not. Man I loved it! This huge store FILLED with stuff from not just stuff from MY childhood but my PARENT'S CHILDHOOD and hell, even some stuff from their parent's childhoods! What a blast! I've found a new hobby! Check this out:



I found an old DAVID SOUL record! The one me and my brother used to have...he's the guy who played STARSKY on STARSKY AND HUTCH tv show...his music was forgotten faster than his acting but man, this album, It's amazing to hold this damn thing again after all that time!


I wanted to buy this but 450.00 seemed like way too much. But check it out...it's a framed poster with original candy bar wrappers from a loooooong time ago! There's an old Snicker Bar there; even the first Butterfinger candybar design (I think it was the first).


Old, STILL WORKING stove from 1920, when my grandmother would have been using one and cooking on it. How amazing to touch something that someone from her time would have looked at as brand new and state of the art. What a cool way to connect with the past.

Ok, I gotta run, don't wanna drive sleepy. Take care ya'll; chat with ya soon!

David

IT MAY NOT BE FOR YOU...

Joel- in one of the comments from the last post- pointed me to the Kotaku post where they showed some gameplay footage from CALLING ALL CARS!

A few things about this:

#1- I don't know where they got the music from but it ain't from our game :) The CALLING ALL CARS myspace page (www.myspace.com/callingallcarsgame)has the music that will ship with the game and it sure as hell ain't the stuff they were playing in the clip.

#2- Joel asked what I thought about the comments on the Kotaku(http://kotaku.com/gaming/clips/clip-calling-all-cars-246107.php) page. Well I liked the ones who said: hey this looks like fun! There were a handful of comments that were like: what the fuck is this? This looks like Cel Damage/Shit/etc...

As for what I think about those, well look: as it should be clear from the interviews I've been doing as of late, right now in my work, I'm no longer interested in going head to head with the likes of Halo, Mass Effect, Resistance, Devil May Cry 4, etc. Hell, I don't even want to go head to head against our own GOD OF WAR. I just want to do smaller, simpler games that focus on the fun.

So regarding those comments, if they come from folks who have never even thought- and never will think- about giving arcade and casual games a shot, then I really don't care that Calling All Cars is not floating their boat. I mean, sure, I'd love to get all of our games loved by EVERY gamer, but that is not realistic. I let go of that fantasy long ago.

To make it clear- and to put some pics in this post, as I love blog posts with pics- the following games are the ones I look at now as our new competition; the following games are the ones that have players who I want to win over and make love our stuff. Games like these:













So if any/all of these games- or games of this type- float your boat, then we are going to work our butts off to make you love our smaller, downloadable stuff. We look at the above games as both our competition and our teachers. And if you dig these kinds of games BUT STILL don't like what you see with CALLING ALL CARS! then we have much to learn and hope to please you and excite you by our next game, if not this one.

But if these are not your kind of games, fair enough. You prob. won't dig the stuff I'll be directing these days. And that's cool, maybe we'll hook back up in the future.

I think the biggest issue I have is when people act as if I don't know I have a new mountain to climb here. I KNOW you are only as good as your last game; I KNOW people are sick of seeing me all over the net/mags/tv and just looking for me to fuck up. I get it, I understand it. And I am actually cool with it. I think all those responses are natural. And I am willing to work my butt off- along with the team- to make sure we earn your respect. I am looking forward to having to win folks over again; I'm also looking forward to winning over a whole new audience who would have never have looked twice at God Of War. I'm not looking for a free ride.

But when I hear the question- and I often do- of: 'do you think if it wasn't for your name, anyone would care about CALLING ALL CARS' it makes me annoyed a bit I guess. Cause I'm like, look: I'm not trying to pull a fast one here. This is the stuff I like to make now, if YOU don't like it, that's fair. But at least give me a bit of credit for trying to branch out and do new stuff. Isn't it what we ALL complain about that games are too predictable and corporate? Well how do you think it gets that way? People get safe and secure and never branch out.

Now maybe I am branching out in a direction you think is lame or stupid. That's fair. We can have that discussion. But at least give me a little credit for reaching...and give us a shot if you like the kind of games pictured above. We're gonna do our best not to let you down.

But again, if all you like is BATTLEFIELD and HALO and DEAD RISING, then keep on walking. Calling All Cars! may not be a game for you...

David

Random, Ramblin' Stuff

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EDIT:

Coupla media things I wanted to bring to ya'lls attention if you are interested in hearing me gab even more! Check out:

#1- INSOMNIAC PODCAST- I am the mystery guest this week...lotsa fun doing that one! Check it out at:

http://www.insomniacgames.com/podcast/podcast.php

Click on DOWNLOAD LATEST EPISODE to give it a listen.

#2- ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY INTERVIEW: Wow, I made the big time! Give it a read at:

http://www.ew.com/ew/article/0,,20014359,00.html

#3- Finally, a quick interview I did on the floor at GDC with some readers of this blog. Tons o' fun! Check it at:

http://gzresistance.com/?page_id=53

Ok, back to the blog!

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Hey ya'll...been busy trying to lock down CAC with the boyz at Incognito; we are almost done but NOT quite. I will be getting a build in today- I hope!- that has some of the code that we hope will keep scores close without making the players feel much- if anything- is happening behind the scenes. I spoke to some of the guys who worked on the old Midway games that CAC was inspired by (NFL Blitz; NBA JAMS) and it turns out those games had a crap ton of behind the scenes code that kept the games tight. We don't plan on pushing it anywhere near what the older Midway games did but at the same time, our job is to make fun and sometimes fun needs a little push in the right direction :) I may or may not let you know if the 'catch up code' as I call it, actually made it in the game.

Ok, so some random hits...NO time to edit so deal with the typos, bitches!

THOUGHTS ON GDC:
So the show was great; I loved it; best one I've been to. Often times tho, the quality of GDC has to do with if you get lucky/smart and go to the right panels/roundtables. As I am very passionate these days about the smaller game world, I hit most panels dealing with that and thus, had a great time, learned alot,etc.

Saw a pretty interesting panel from the designer/coder of FIFA 2007 on creating emotions in sports games. Man, I gotta tell you, with all the talk of emotion thru in game characters and plot points and twists and turns, I LOVED this panel cause here was a guy who was like: let's deal with emotion THRU gameplay! Granted the emotions were things like victory, shame, pride, etc. but hell, those are the kind of emotions I think games do really well. So I loved that talk evnn tho it didn't go as deep as I had hoped it would.

Chatted with my buddy Heather Chaplin, one of the co-authors of the great 'behind the scenes of the game biz' book SMARTBOMB. She's always fun to gab with but what was interesting is, as we were discussing games as art- a frequent point of discussion between us- I caught myself saying: yeah, I'm not all that interested in games as art anymore because, honestly, I have nothing to say.

And when I heard myself say this, I was like: is this apathy or maturity?

It's actually a nice place to be, whatever it is. It's nice to care and have an opinion but not be all chomping at the bit and dying to share it with everyone. I mean, sure we could have made Heartland- and may still make it one day- but from a MESSAGE standpoint, what's the point? So here's a game that says: I HATE GEORGE BUSH! I HATE THE IRAQ WAR! I HATE HOW AMERICA HAS LOST ITS REPUTATION AROUND THE WORLD IN THE LAST 6 YEARS,etc,etc,etc....it's like....so what? The folks that agree with me will nod in approval, the folks who don't will call me an ass...and there will be one more opinion out there that we've all been hearing for years. Maybe if I had something NEW to say, something fresh, ok then it makes sense. But I really don't. I just want to make games that make people feel like this:




That is really all I want to do these days....

And it was SO AMAZING to watch folks playing Calling All Cars at GDC and they were pretty much doing what they are in that stock pic above! People always seemed to have smiles on their faces and were laughing and talking smack. It was so nice to know that- for those folks who liked our game- that we did that; that we gave them that feeling! See, to me, that's a damn nice feeling! That's what games do better than any other medium!

So hey, the Game Design Challenge went great! I was REALLY worried about it for like weeks leading up. But it went off great and even tho I came in dead last, I was proud of my entry and thought it was just tons of fun. It's odd...maybe I've just grown up but I generally did not care about losing. It was the first time in my life where the addage 'don't matter if you win or lose, it's how you play the game' really made sense to me. I just really appreciated being there and pitching my stuff!



Here's Eric Zimmerman (Diner Dash fame); Harvey Smith (Deus Ex); Myself; Clint Hocking (Ubisoft Creative Director); and Alexy Pajitnov (Tetris and this year's winner!)

HAUNTED HOUSES:

Me and my wife went to Old Town, San Diego this weekend and toured the Whaley House. It's supposed to be one of the most haunted houses in the world and we did see something odd. In the upstairs bedroom we kept seeing this curtain that divided the bedroom and closet move in an odd way. All the windows in the room were closed and the curtains on the windows were not moving at all. Just this one curtain that divided the closet. And it didn't move like it was being blown around, it moved in a stiff, irregular sort of way. The docents of the house say they have heard many people talk about the curtain but I don't know. I want to buy into Ghosts and stuff...I LOVE ghosts! But this curtain seemed almost too constant to be anything supernatural. Has anyone else been to the Whaley house? Anyone seen the curtain moving?

Either way, it got me thinking about how much I love ghosts and stuff. There seems to be a pretty active ghost hunting community here in San Diego and I may just sign up for a tour to go with them on an investigation. I love that stuff man.

PICS: Coupla random pics from my trip and the net I wanted to share:



GANDALFFE? JAFALF? I dunno, but I love it...from the freaks at neogaf, naturally!



Another NEOGAF classic! Man, I wish they had used a new pic as I've lost like 20 pounds since this pic! Still, Jessica's hot so I don't mind as long as she doesn't!



Another JAFFE LOVES HERMINEY (I KNOW!!!) pic from Adam!



SITE FOR SORE EYES! Man, I found this little corner of old arcade games in the Metreon Arcade across from where GDC was being held. It was like stepping back in time; all those old arcade games lines up, a dark little corner. It was like coming back home!

Ok, that's it for now. Gotta get to work! Talk to ya'll soon! Gonna be in Utah next week doing what I feel is our last tuning session. Then I hope to squeeze out ONE more focus test and then that's all she wrote! We'll see how it goes!

Talk to ya'll later! And sorry for the typos...not even gonna re-read this before I post. Too much to do on my TO DO list! See ya!

David

OUR BIG DEBUT!

My understanding is that CALLING ALL CARS! will be playable tonight at a GDC event. And then on the show floor for the next three days (starting Wednesday)!

I will not be there tonite (I was supposed to be there but last minute tuning needs came up) but I will be all over the net this evening in hopes that a few GDC goers will post impressions.

Having the game at GDC is a challenge as press and other game makers are the main folks playing your baby. And they are the toughest critics of all.

But short of some tuning here and there, what they are plaing at GDC is about 95% the game that will ship. Granted, internet play will not be on display (the heart of the game...with the soul being split screen)...but that's not our game's fault; it's just the set up they gave us (no net connection)...

So I hope folks will be nice to our kid and really like it (maybe love it)?

We'll know soon enough! If you see any player impressions on the net, please shoot me a comment? I would appreciate it.

Talk to ya'll later!

David

LAZY SUNDAY

Ahhh....what a perfect Sunday afternoon.

Sitting in my office with the spring like March breeze blowing thru my window; oldest daughter is outside on the swing I just installed, being pushed by her grandpa. Wife is on the couch downstairs, reading a book.

Man, this is nice. I love that spring is almost here!

Speaking of spring, you know it's getting close when GDC rears it's head. And GDC is this week, as you may know.

I am on two GDC panels, so stop by if you get the chance.

Panel #1 is on Tuesday night- around 6 I think- and deals with the indie game scene. Odd they would choose me for such a panel as Calling All Cars, while being small, is hardly independent. From my understanding tho, they want me on to talk about bigger companies- like Sony- getting into the smaller game space (sort of like how big movie studios have their indie divisions like Sony Pictures Classics). Certainly I could/would/should never design an ultra indie darling like flOw or Dawinia, but I am digging the smaller titles so maybe I will have something worthy to say. Either way, I am excited as the first two days of GDC are devoted- in part- to the small/casual/indie game scene...a scene that I am very rapidly falling head over heels in love with! In fact, I have DEFCON's eerie music playing in the background as I type...thanks Steam!

Panel #2 finds me competing for the GAME DESIGN CHALLENGE crown against last year's winner Harvey Smith (lead designer on my top 5 all time fave game DEUS EX) and Alexy Pajitnov (he of Tetris fame and all around genius). In other words, I am fucking dead. And not just dead, but 'killed in front of industry peers whom I would like to impress as one day I may be knocking on their doors for a job' dead. And get this fucking challenge: design a game where the user interface is a needle and thread and a piece of fabric. Yeah, you read that right. A needle and fucking thread interface. Dead, I tell you! Dead!

But that's ok. I have an idea that I think is kinda cool, both theme wise and play wise. And end of the day, all you can do is pitch what you like and hope for the best. I'll let you know how I do!


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I LOVE THE 80'S!


Me and the wife saw Music And Lyrics with Hugh Grant and Drew Barrymore last week and I've been in 80's love mode ever since. NOTE: I just re-read that sentence and it could mean two things. I PROMISE you, it means the thing you think it means...not the thing it would so cool if it meant.

So...

If you have not seen the movie - and you like romantic comedies- go see this flick. It's really good. And if you were a kid/teen in the 80's and have a fondness for that time period, you MUST see this flick if for no other reason than to see Hugh Grant play an Andrew Ridgely style character who was one half of a WHAM! like duo. Check this out, the opening of the film:

http://youtube.com/watch?v=GuWS4Alp43s

Not ONLY does the song SOUND 100% autentic 80's but the fucking video is spot on! I LOVE the fact that the doctor looks like a GQ model...and the red flashing heart under Hugh Grant's shirt at the end is perfect! Totally 80's!

So yeah, I got the soundtrack on my ipod the day after seeing the film and was jamming like an idiot to it while driving to LA last week for our second to last CALLING ALL CARS focus test.

Our biggest issue with the game right now is that when the battles are close, the game is a BLAST! We get amazing scores and people are laughing ,swearing, and having a great time. But when we get mismatched players- as in any multiplayer game, video or not- the scores drop as both players get bored.

We are debating if we should put in some NBA JAMS style catch up code that gives players who are lagging behind a bit (like 10 points behind or so) a bit of a boost in various areas of the game. Not sure how we feel about this for a number of reasons. Maybe we put it in but give players an option to turn it on/off. We will see but I sure as hell ain't letting you guys know what we decide as I feel that would blow the magic of the experience.

But anyway, I'm in 80's mode, listening to tons of 80's music and dreaming about Alladin's Castle at Brookwood Mall again...the old, long gone arcade I used to practically live in. Ah, those were the days. Man, I've searched the net for pictures of that place for years and have never found ANYTHING. How I miss Alladin's Castle :(

So hey, have you guys seen this book yet:



What a great book to trigger those amazing arcade 80's memories. I wish it was a huge coffe table sized book but it'll do. And it makes me so excited to have a game coming out this month that really speaks to the love I have for those old arcade games...from like 1978 up to like 1993, there were some amazing games in the arcade that changed my life and molded me as a creative individual.... and while I probably will never make an actual arcade game, Calling All Cars, to me, has the soul and spirit of an arcade game and that makes me very, very excited, happy, and proud.

Folks will get to play Calling All Cars next week at GDC and then, in a week or two after, the game hits. We'll see the reviews, see player comments on the boards...it's an exciting but stressful time. I really want people to like the game but you just never know. I am very proud of it but who knows what gamers expect these days. Will the gamers be willing (or have a desire) to put on their 'arcade hats' and have appropriate expectations for a game like CAC or will they come to CAC expecting the same depth and breadth that they want to see in HALO3 or KILLZONE 2?!?!

I have moments where I feel we've made a balls to the wall blast to play that will keep people coming back for more and more...and then I have moments where I'm like: fuck! This thing is gonna give all the Jaffe haters all the ammo they need to just bury me.

Some people are like: dude, don't worry about it so much.

And they are right. And I've done this long enough that by this point- most times- it doesn't worry me. I know we did the best we could. But there are those times when you catch yourself hoping for the great reviews and the fan board praises....but it's key not to think on that too much, not to come to depend on that too much.

All you can do is your best and HOPE you and the team have done enough to guarantee folks that the game will provide the most important thing of all: a good fucking time!

Ok, I'm off. May update from GDC...if not, talk to ya'll soon after!

Take it easy!

David

CALLING ALL CARS SOUNDTRACK

Well, if you can call it a soundtrack!

It's only 4 songs, but hey, the game is only $9.99! What do you want for 10 bucks ya cheap bastards?!?!

Anyway, check it out when you get some time:
http://myspace.com/callingallcarsgame

We put the first 4 songs of the 5 song soundtrack online.

I totally realize it won't be everyone's cup of tea as it's:

a- a very cartoony game
b- has a bit more TWANG than any other game I've ever worked on.

But this music works GREAT for the game I feel; a great sense of the silly/slapstick/kinetic vibe we are going for.

Hope you enjoy it!

Back to tuning!

David