2 GIRLS 1 CUP...

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Back to the Salt Mines...

Thought we were done editing the Twisted Metal documentary that comes with the port of Twisted Metal:Head On.

Turns out i was wrong :)

We want the game to have a T rating given that we feel the game will appeal to both TM fans as well as younger players who are just getting a PS2 (either handed down as an older brother/sister has moved onto next gen, or getting a first game console as the price for PS2 keeps getting lower and lower). Because of our desire for a T, some of the content in the doc needed to be...pruned a bit? Bleeped...cut...altered...you get the idea.


Here's the list we were working from. The stuff in red is content we KNEW would send us into the M territory. Yellow was danger zone and white was bad language that we needed to bleep. Guess who was the biggest offender in that category. :)




Here are some shots of us in the editing bay at Sony San Diego Studios.



And here's me about 45 min ago, heading home after stopping at Best Buy to pick up Mario's latest! I'm so excited! I played for about 15 minutes cause I just couldn't wait for the end of the day and so far...I dig it! I always like my jaw to drop RIGHT when I first pop a game in and so far, not so much. But for the opening 15 minutes of a game (I am just now getting to the sling stars) it's pretty darn cool...and it's real nice to have Mario back in my life...I imagine most gamers feel like me whenever a new Mario game comes out; like a dear old friend has come for a visit. Dorky? Yep. But true.

So even if the adventure ends up being simply solid (and most reviews say it's waaaaaayyyyyy better than solid), I'll still be happy!

Ok, back to work! Talk to ya'll soon!

David

Are games JUST THAT GOOD?!?!

There’s something about game reviews that has bugged me for a long while. It’s something that until recently I’ve not been able to label or even understand. It’s just been this little splinter lodged in the back of my brain, this little itch that would act up whenever I watched the most hyped games- usually-end up with the most impressive scores (including games I’ve directed…so I’ve benefited from this phenomenon as well, to be sure).

But why are game review scores for games in general, and hyped games specifically, always so damn high?

And does it actually make any sense?

I mean, you don’t see this phenomenon in other media. Yes, every now and then a crazy hyped movie or album or book will meet with unanimously positive reviews. But more often than not, this is not the case. Usually really hyped media tends to be a let down and it’s the out of the blue stuff (ex: Matrix vs. Star Wars Episode I) that gets the accolades. Sure, certainly it’s sometimes the case for one (and MAYBE two) movies/books/albums to live up to the hype. But it’s NEVER the case that over 90% of the hyped up movies/books/albums end up with 90%+ review scores from 90% of the critics.

And IF by the grace of God it does happen, it happens once every 20 years or so…like a perfect storm of movies or books. But it certainly doesn’t happen every year.

But with games? Happens all the time. ALL the fucking time. And I want to know why.

For some comparisons, check out the reviews of the top 12 flix on Rotten Tomatoes: http://www.rottentomatoes.com/movies/box_office.php

The highest movie ranks 90%....the pretty hyped up Michael Clayton.

The NEXT highest flick is American Gangster coming in at 79%. Now this is fucking Ridley Scott and Denzel and Russel in a bad ass story/setting/genre. Can you IMAGINE if the game equivalents of Ridley,Denzel, and Russel got together and made a game in a hot genre? It’d be GOTY! posts and review scores from here to timbuckfuckingtoo! But in movies, not even close.

Why is it the movie reviews and book and record reviews seem like they are a little more…reserved? Honest? Broken? Who knows…

But now check out the rankings that are starting to spring up for the season’s biggest games from some of the biggest reviewers! Check out the scores so far for Assassin’s Creed (9.5/10, 10/10), COD4 (95% from metacritic), Mario Galaxy (9.5, 10), Mass Effect, Orange Box, Metroid, Ratchet, Uncharted, Guitar Hero III.

It’s like EVERY fucking game- score wise- is a masterpiece!

Are games just that good, or is something odd going on? And it’s not a one time event…this happens EVERY year.

Some theories? Sure! Here ya go:

1- Games, while being technically challenging to create, are easy to make from a standpoint of if you just spend enough time on it and hire good enough people (not geniuses but GOOD ENOUGH people), you’ll end up with a great game. Not a classic, but a great game. Maybe this is not the case with other media? And why not? Are other media harder to create because the end product has the potential to be so much deeper and richer and games are pretty much one note? Or is it something else?
2- Game reviewers- by and large- are not as experienced/mature/discerning as reviewers from other media? Lots of accusations that game media buy into the hype and review accordingly. BUT this can be countered by the argument that game reviewers are more like reviewers for consumer goods and if all of the boxes are ticked on the consumer product, then it gets a great review. It could also be argued that game reviewers are more passionate and less jaded than reviewers of other mediums and this is why the scores are so high so often…because they love the medium more than other media critics and are passionate about it. Not sure if this is a good excuse as to why the scores are always so high, but it’s hard to knock passion…so there you go.
3- Games are just better than the other mediums?

Shoot, I don’t know…I don’t have an answer. Do you?

And is it just me or do you guys/gals also feel this is an odd discrepancy?

David

STUCK IN AN AIRPORT YOU CAN'T GET OUT OF...

...or something like that.

Finished the game pitch with Phil Harrison up here in Foster City and now I'm sitting around SFO waiting for my plane to board (about 2 hours from now). It's not so bad really, nice break from the last few days of rush, rush, rush. It's very quiet right now...a whole heard of people just got on a plane at the gate next to me...so I'm just sitting here on the floor, cup of coffee in one hand, surfing the net with the other....check it:


Ahhh, Kotaku! My sweet, sweet Kotaku. Never lets me down with the goods...


MMmmmm, Burger King! Well...not really. I used to LOVE the BK fries and then they changed them about 12 years ago or so and they just suck so much now. BK sucks...


Anyway...so that's SFO airport at about 1:55pm on Thursday Nov 8th. Or at least a little corner of it. My little corner....I feel like Tom Hanks in The Terminal...:)

So as for the pitch: I got the sense the powers that be dug what we were pitching, enough to let us keep moving ahead and exploring the vision. So that's always good. Plus, pitching is always fun for me and since I loved what I was pitching, it was even more fun! It's odd...the pitch was a big meeting room with Phil and then a bunch of Sony folks (all of whom I know, like alot, and have worked with for years)...but this time I was on the other side of the table, this time when we were done pitching, instead of getting to stay in the room and hear about the other games Sony internal was making, we (me and Scott) were asked to leave because we're not allowed to know about the unannounced titles from Sony 1st party anymore... For a moment it was a little strange because for 13 years I'd been privy to those sorts of meetings, to that kind of info...so yeah, for a second I didn't like that feeling. And then it passed.

And then I was like: OH MY GOD! I REALLY AM AN INDY DEVELOPER NOW!!! And you know what? I fucking LOVE it! LOVE IT! I LOVED 95% of my years at Sony, no doubt. No regrets...nothin' but love for you baby/Sony....but now, now THIS feels right...I am so greatful for this opportunity...and I love I still get to be doing it with Sony. So win/win, bitches! :)

So all and all...a good day! Now I'm just really fried, ready to get home. Taking the day off tomorrow to go to LA with my wife. We get to get Indian food from GATE OF INDIA!!! Man, that food there....it's like gold if gold were food...and if you could eat gold food....so it's like gold food meaning it tastes so great and we love it....fuck off! I am tired!!!

Ok ya'll...that's all she wrote for now...chat soon!

David

ps. just got an email from Drew, one of the producers on the TM:HEAD ON port. He's at a focus group for the new, TM BLACK levels down in LA. He says we're getting 8's, 9's, and 10 out of 10 ratings for FUN FACTOR (the only rating I ever care about)!!! Man, that is sweet! I have no clue how many people buy ports and who is still buying PS2 games (I hope alot!) but man I think we've all done great work on this title. Head On looks great, the Lost Levels- if I may say so- are really fun, and I love all the bonus content. I hope people give us a chance! But either way, I'm feeling really really proud of the game the team has made right now. Great news from focus groups are always a nice way to cap off a day :)

RUN! RUN FOR YOUR LIVES!!!!

I've been travelling alot these last few weeks. I'm in a hotel room in Utah as we speak. Been working with the team to final tweak the TWISTED METAL: HEAD ON port (and the new Lost levels) the last few days...tomorrow I fly up to Foster City (San Fran) to pitch a new game to Phil Harrison (head of SCE Production). Then- finally- back home.

A few weeks before I was in Los Angeles, then Vegas, then back to Utah.

So yeah, lots of trips the last month or so. And the one thing that keeps cropping up is...well, how to explain.

You know those WALK/DON'T WALK guys? The ones you see on street corner signs? Here, these?



So these ICONIC guys right?

Well it never occured to me how odd they would look drawn in different positions, especially positions meant to convey fear and terror. Especially fear and terror of the 'run for your life!' variety.

Well now I know.

And now that I am aware how stupid the Walk/Don't Walk guy looks in any other pose besides well, err, WALKING, I just keep seeing these 'so awful it's hillarious to me' examples all over the place. Here, check these out....these are from the elevators from hotels I've stayed in during the last month.



Now this first one is kind of basic, sort of what you'd EXPECT the WDW dude to look like when he's running. So I don't know why it strikes me as funny, but it does. Maybe it's because he's just so focused and poised about the whole thing. No drama to it, just getting the job done.




Now this one looksvery dramatic...like Lon Chaney or one of those other Universal Monster Movie creatures slowly creeping down the steps in a dramatic pose, more interested in the Nora Desmond like drama of decending the staircase than in the fire that is inches away from consuming them.



This one is like some Victorian Era Dandy slowly and clamly cascading down the staircse, looking around to take in the scene, interested in all things, including the fire that is about to destory him. He just seems to calm and collected and UNINTERESTED in the FUCKING FIRE THAT IS RIGHT BEHIND HIM!!!


And this one, I'm sorry is just....it's so strange...like the propostions of the guy are all out of whack, like the WDW guy got stretched out on the rack...and he's just kinda plodding down the steps all enthusiastic and the like...

I dunno...I dunno if these strike you as funny as well...I think they rock...maybe I'm just really tired of being away from home and am starting to go a little nuts :)

David

ps. Yeah, I knew about Cory leaving a few weeks ago. It's not my place to give any real details...that's up to Cory. But I'll say these two things (cause I've been asked alot about it since the news broke):

a- the GOW team is one of the best in the game making biz. Losing key members of a team- from any department- is always a struggle. But I have no doubt the team- being as amazing as they are- will shake it off and get back to work on what promises to be the best game in the series (assuming they follow the creative and tech ideas I've heard about so far).

b- Cory's moving on to some sweet ass stuff, from what I hear. I'm sure in due time he'll spill some beans. And when he does I'm sure you guys/gals will be as happy for him as I am...some neat things could be going down for our Mr. Barlog in the coming months/years...so stay tuned!

Ok, I'm done. Gotta get to bed early for the flight to SF so not even gonna reread this for typos and obvious spelling mistakes...hope it makes sense! See ya!

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!

Happy Halloween everyone! As I sit at my desk, Tootsie Roll Pop in my mouth (stolen from our candy stash for trick or treaters...I've been good all week but I finally had to open the damn bags!), I just wanted to drop a line and say hey.

This is one of my favorite holidays of the year! I used to love it as a kid because I got to go out trick or treating. I still remember hitting our hilly, suburban neighborhood hard, my brother in his plastic Steve Austin costume and me in my Spidey outfit (same one every year) getting pillow cases full of candy. I have vivd memories of dumping the candy out and then crashing in front of the tv to play INDY 500 and Intellivision Football on the Atari 2600 with my best friend Cary. Ahhh, memories :)

Then as a young adult I loved it for all the horror themed props and movies,all the dark fantasy that- for once a year- seemed not only ok, but encouraged.

Now-as a dad-I love it because I get to take my kids trick or treating. I gave up a few years ago trying to force my kids to have fun and make great memories; that's out of my hands. But for me, I form my own great memories, watching them toddle up and knock on doors, watching them excitedly rooting thru their candy bags to see how many sweets they've collected. And then- once they are asleep- I love crashing in front of the tv and stealing candy from my kid's candy bags while watching shows on sci-fi and discovery about ghost hunting and real life spooky locations. Hell I may even stay up late tonight and pop in a scary movie. Or maybe not...we'll see.

Lots of work to do today, so I need to really hunker down and stay focused till about 3pm when my kid comes home and I take off early to help her and her sister get ready for the big night. So off to work I go...

...but if this is your holiday- like it is mine- have a great, safe time! Man, I'm excited!

Talk to you all soon!


David

TRIO OF INTERVIEWS

Hey, so a handful of net interviews I did a while back (start of summer) have just hit. Some interviews you do, you come off great, others you come off like an ass. But I'm really happy with all of these. Maybe I just got lucky or maybe I'm getting better at communicating my points. Or maybe these guys are just great at making their subjects come across great. Either way, I think these represent my ideas and positions really well. So give them a read/listen if you are into such things:

INTERVIEW #1: The first interview is with N'gai Croal from Newsweek. N'gai always scares me cause he strikes me as one of the smartest game journalists out there. With most other game journalists I feel like I'm on even ground, like I can go toe to toe with these guys/gals and have a decent chance of coming out smelling like roses. With N'gai, he's like Ivan in Rocky 4, like all it takes is some secret code word and he'll uncork with a flurry of big words and even bigger ideas and I'll be left stunned and staggered. That said, I thought this interview came out great. He also gave me the much desired chance to use a different photo than that awful, depressing green jacket picture that's been floating around for the last few years. You know, this crappy pic:




Yuch man...I hate that picture. So click on the link to not only read the interview but see what I hope becomes the new defacto Jaffe picture:

http://blog.newsweek.com/blogs/levelup/archive/2007/10/22/the-complete-david-jaffe-interview.aspx


#2- Here is an interview I did with the online version of Playboy ages ago. Had totally forgotten about this one till it surfaced last week. This is about as clear as I can be when it comes to my whole issue with stories and games. Here's a link:

http://www.playboy.com/magazine/features/video-game-blowout/video-game-blowout6.html

Check out the interviews with other game makers in that same series. Some good reas in there.

#3- Finally, here is a phone interview I did for PlaystationNation end of last week. Audio is not great and I kind of ramble a bit but there may some stuff in ther you find of interest. Give it a listen at...I come in around the, I dunno, 15 minute mark if you want to hear me blab. But I recommend listening to the whole show. I'd never heard it before, but I dig it. Link is:

http://www.playstationnationpodcast.com/uploads/bb/gm/bbgmB25ipKiD_Z6nxn9_Og/PS3Nation-Episode-32-No-Trained-Monkeys.mp3

HIYA ATUS!

Hey all...sorry the updates have been few and far the last 2 weeks. Just lots and lots going on. Hate blogs that don't update without reason so that's why I'm posting now:

I'm going on blogger hiatus for the new 2-6 weeks. I'll be back; always am. Still dig the blogging but just got lots to take care of the next month or so. So I'll ya'll back up around Halloween or a bit after. Take care, hope everyone is doing really well!

I'll miss ya...but I'll see ya soon!

David

Movie Going Weekend

Just goes to show, I don't know shit. Cause this movie has a 98% fresh rating on rotten tomatoes:



Most depressing movie I've seen since the documentary on R. Crumb. This was not only boring and slow, it also made me sad. Me and the wife left the theater feeling down and depressed and just...grey. I mean, sure, that doesn't mean it was a bad movie (although it was- to me, at best- an average movie) but nothing in the previews made me think I was going to pay to see a real downer. The guy running around the arcade telling people that a Donkey Kong kill screen was coming up made me want to put a gun to my head and just end it. The only reason I didn't was I was rendered unable to move by the scene of the players stuffed into someone's 'cabin' (wtf?!?) and gathered around an old school Ladybug machine. These people are lost in time, detactched from reality, and sad as can be. I hope at least at least some of them are able to crawl out of this hell one day...but they probably don't even see it that way. Which- I guess- is all that really matters anyway. But for me, living in the world of King of Kong would be what going to hell would be like. I guess you could say it struck a nerve. I guess you could say it made me question: shit, I'm a geek...so how much would it take to make me as geeky as those guys?!?!

So that was King of Kong. Beloved by critics.

And then there's this, weighing in at 43% fresh on the tomato meter, it's the new Jodie Foster flick:



And I LOVED this movie. I thought it was soooo cool and entertaining. Previews made me think I was in for a downer and it was actually smart AND entertaining...how often does THAST happen? It's like what Batman would be like if he were real...down to the Alfred role being taken by an eccentric next door neighbor and Commish Gordon played by the amazing Terrence Howard. I thought this flick was just great.

Again,goes to show what the hell I know.

Ok, off to pack for my Utah trip...talk to ya'll soon!

David

Shit...did he just say FUCK HALO!?!?

Here's a conversation on IM between myself and Adam Orth, designer at Sony who worked with me on TM:Black, Calling All Cars. He also worked on some of the Medal of Honor games over at EALA. Enjoy!

And Halo fans...my flame suit is on, so do your worst! Just read the whole fucking thing :)

David
++++++++++++++++

AIM IM with adamorth.
11:47 AM

Adam: give me a fucking break:
http://kotaku.com/gaming/tease/the-teaser-for-the-halo-3-teaser-299105.php?autoplay=true

Jaffe: It's a decent add I think. I just don't get HALO. I don't think the story is all that special, don't think the world or characters matter much. I don't know if I am simply not 'getting it' and it really is all that...or Microsoft has simply purchased rabid fan reactions for what is a great game but nothing more.

Adam: that ad is insulting
"belive"?
come on

Jaffe: Am I missing something?
What's insulting about it?

Adam: well, for 1, i think it's disrespectcful to actual veterans of real wars
and 2, they really expect people to become that invested in the halo story?
i guess i just really dislike halo and that ad aint helping

Jaffe: well that's what I mean about buying the hype. I don't dislike Halo at all and really liked parts of Halo 2 alot...I am in minority who felt single player halo 2 was better than halo 1 single player. I mean, I hear people talk about the flood and shit and I'm like: what? Who gives a shit.

Adam: halo = meh

Jaffe: As for disrespect, come on...like Medal of Honor has not been doing he same for a long time. They talk about how important the games are and they are so earnest about it but come on, they are shooters. If they really cared about doing it right, they would give the MOH teams 3 years schedules and make Bioshock meets MOH...in terms of story and character and production value. And they would make THAT the game Spielberg was directing for them.


Adam: respectfully, i'll totally dosagree with you there. MOH games take alot of care to not be disrespectful it's one of the things they do right


JaFFE: While I LOVED MOH:Underground (top 10 games of all time for me) and dug the first one on PS2, emotionally, the most moved I ever was by MOH was with the music and seeing it played likve over a montage of soldiers at Video Games Live.


Adam: well, i guess i have a different insight than you do having sat with veterans and taklked about their experience and how it relates to the games...


Jaffe: It's not an issue of disrespect to the troops. It's an issue of them riding on the sentimentality of people when they talk about how much they care and understand the sacrifice of the soldiers and then put out a sub par shooter that has nothing to do in the play mechanics or design with the sacrifice the soldiers went thru. It's all window dressing that shows either the team doesn't understand how to apply the history 'under the hood' and apply it to the play itself OR it shows that EA does not care about the message at all, and it's all a way to market the game./


ADAM: i agree that most of the finished products veer off from the original intent. it's big problem at EA for MOH


JAFFE: They can cram all the sappy music and interviews with vets on the disc they want...but the game, the product they are actually selling, does not make me feel any closer to the vets sacrifice than any other shooter.
Hey- can I post this discussion on my blog if I don't put your name>?


ADAM: you can post my name...

JAFFE: sweet- sadly it will rile up halo fans...hope they see that I DO LIKE HALO! I just don't get the religious fervor and feel much of the fervor has been purchased by Microsoft. But they'll still hate me


ADAM: fuck halo


JAFFE: well they don't have your name! You can say that! Anyway- ok, gotta go! See ya! And please, for the love of God: LEAVE BRITNEY ALONE!!!!!


ADAM: actaully, i stand by what i said, you can print my name, just leave out "fuck halo"

JAFFE: shit really? Ok.


ADAM: ok, print it
fuck it


JAFFE: cool, you got it.


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

So there you go...well hey, I thought it was fun!

David

Fucking Yeah, Bitches!

Love the title! Love that it's less than a year away! Love that my-....err, can't spill those beans, just yet! But one day! man I'm dying to tell somebody! Ah well...but nope! Lipz iz sealed! :)

David

THE DNA OF A GAME

Well, there it is! Our first new, non-port game for Sony!

Well...sort of.

It's actually the result of 2 or so weeks of me doodling on white boards and notebooks and on my Wacom tablet. All those scribbles- or at least the ones that I think matter- have now found their way onto sticky notes and onto my white board. Next step is to try to fashion the game core from these elements. They won't all make it...some will die out because of scope....some will die out because- while being cool- they don't fit in with the other elements all that well. Some will die out because they were stupid ideas to begin with.

From these sticky notes, I'll write a very high level design doc and send it off to the gang in Utah. Then they will have suggestions for new ideas and for killing some of the listed ideas for various reasons; we will haggle over this and that. And then it goes off to Sony where we hope they are digging it as much as we are.

So there you go: the first step on the long, hard road to fun! You gotta start somewhere, ya know?

Have a great weekend, ya'll!

David

LEVEL DESIGN MIX AND MATCH

As some of you know, I was not involved in Twisted Metal:Black 2 while it was originally in production. I was tied up on God Of War at the time and could only watch from afar as Sweet Tooth and the boyz (yes, I'm kidding with the 'z') had another go. But for reasons to be revealed in the upcomming TM Doc, TM:BLACK 2 was canned and for a while, those levels just sat around, collecting virtual dust.

Well now we're bringing some of the coolest levels back to life and putting them on the port of TM:HEAD ON in a bonus game we're calling TWISTED METAL:LOST. Lost will have a handful of the levels (prob. 5) from the cancelled TMB2. And these lost levels are what I've been working on the last few weeks. Take a look:




So I sit here in San Diego- as well as the days I'm out in Utah- and we try to figure out how to get these levels to play great, especially in multiplayer. I send my little photoshopped images with my chicken scratch all over them out to the magic makers in Utah and then sit anxiously, waiting for a new built to go up on the network to see if I've guessed right in the changes I've asked for ...and they are all guesses, believe me! Sometimes we get lucky and it plays great...other times it's crap and we go back to the drawing board.





See those big red bars? Those are just placeholder- obviously- barriers thrown in to test out what reconfigurations of the maps could feel like. Sometimes they are just adding a little path to streamline things a bit...other times tossing up some of those giant walls changes how the level plays entirely.

NOTE: Lots of the art in these images is placeholder, like the ground texture which- clearly- is not finished. But you guys can handle some REAL behind the scenes stuff, right? Vs. the bullshit 'behind the scenes' stuff game co's usually toss out...this is the real deal, bitch! This is what game production actually looks like! Ahem....anyway....Just FYI :)

But if the game was so far along when it was canned, wasn't the play already established for these levels? Well, before the original game was canned, the levels were really just nice looking levels with cool ideas but not a whole lot of gameplay love given to them. So now we find ourselves mixing maps together, chopping out entire sections, and adding entire areas of gameplay to make them work. It's actually a really fun design exercise: instead of starting from scratch you're given a bunch of left over parts and pieces and asked to make it fun! And it really is a ton of fun doing it. It's great to see a level take shape before your eyes, to see one or two adjustments make the difference between crap and fun. I'm having a ball and really looking forward to player reactions to these new battlegrounds.

We're also trying to lock our logo down for the new venture. It's tough because on one hand we plan on doing these hard core Sony titles for hardcore and medium core gamers. And that seems to demand a specific kind of logo. But on the OTHER hand we plan on doing casual titles for more mainstream players...and THAT seems to demand a totally different kind of logo. I've been obsessing looking at game boxes from companies like Komami and Capcom where they put out casual and hardcore games. I wanted to see if the logos they chose could travel between game styles... and you know, you don't even think about it. It just kind of is and eventually, you just don't even think about it. Komani has Silent Hill and MGS but the same little red and white Komani logo also graces the cover of DDR. So it kind of doesn't matter.

And I know that...intellectually I get it: the logo matters only if the products matter. But when you own part of the damn company, suddenly it DOES matter....the trick is to be aware that it really only matters to you and some of the team and that gamers- end of the day- will only care about the logo if the products they get from you are amazing. So maybe that's my way of telling myself to stop obesssing about it, pick a fucking logo, and get back to working on the stuff that matters! Thanks Blog! I appreciate it! And cheaper than a therapist too!


Ok, heading to work (which means going to get a bagel and then coming right back here to my office to focus on Twisted Metal)...hope things are going well for all ya'll out there! Shit man, fall is coming! I'm so jazzed! Halloween stuff is already up at Rite Aid and I can sense the shift in the air....so great man! So ready for fall! Ok, see ya!

David

America the embarassing...

How fucking sad and stupid that the GOP wants Craig to step down for what amounts to- in my mind- nothing more than a semi-creepy act in a bathroom stall but the Republicans- and probably many Americans- have no issues allowing Bush and his evil cronies to stay in the White House. What's worse: a guy soliciting sex in a bathroom or Iraq/Katrina/Having 9-11 happen on your watch/putting folks in charge of mine and bridge safety and then watching them fuck up and get people killed/etc./etc./etc....

Not saying the Democrats would be much better. They'd be spineless wimps as well, just over a different issue, I'm sure.

I mean, what really is the problem here? I don't know Craig's work as a Senator. For all I know he was great; but I heard something about him being an uncompassionate ass, so I don't know. But either way, if he worked for me, that's all I'd care about- did he do his job well?- in regards to him staying in office.

And what the fuck is with these hollier-than-tho motherfucking politicos like Romney saying what Craig did was 'disgusting'? What is he, 8 years old? Shit man, yeah, if I was taking a shit in a stall and some dude's hand started creeping under the stall, I sure as shit wouldn't be down with that. Man, I'd probably stomp on the thing out of instinct, thinking it was a strange spider or something. I mean, yes, it is- as I said- kinda creepy. I get that, I agree with that.

But when you toss out words like disgusting, it just kind of makes me a bit ill. Because folks using those sorts of words are doing so mainly to paint themselves in this bullshit Normal Rockwell sexual light that pretty much says, "I am a robot. Only missionary sex is ok and I never think of any women other than my wife and we have sex 2-3 times a week even if we are not in the mood and why would I ever want to go into a stirp club...that's icky!- and every now and then my wife gets a 'little naughty' and wears a little something from Victoria's Secret'....fucking ugh, dude. How fucking sad that our country's views of what is ok and what is not ok sexually are so watered down and dull. Again, I'm not into bathroom stall solicitations but fuck man, maybe if parts of our country didn't demonize sex and make sex 'dirty and wrong' on one hand, but then pour it down our throats in tv and movies and advertising on the other hand, we'd be ok. Or in this case, if our country wasn't so homophobic in the first place, Craig- who seems gay to me or at least curious, assuming he did what they said he did- could go do what he needed to do without HAVING to get his fucking rocks off in a bathroom stall. Sheesh! And it's not just sex either. It's not only about here's the way you should FUCK to be accepted... it's beauty as well. It's like: here's the way you should LOOK to be accepted....even if we have to air brush the shit out of you to the point that NO ONE actually looks that way...but we'll float it out there, to hell with the fact that it fucks up kids who grow up with an impossible sense of what beauty is... Jesus man, junior high never ends, does it? I mean, if I have to hear one more time that Romney LOOKS like a president....I mean, who gives a bathroom-stall-fuck what the man looks like?!?!? I'd vote for a fucking brain in a jar if it could do good work....hell, I'd elect Lulu from fucking Hee-Haw if she'd get the work done! Shit man...

ok...off to do my work...

See ya!

ultra liberal David! :)

Let your damn kids be what they want...

Saw that USC/NFL/ARENA FOOTBALLER Todd Marinovich was arrested again for drugs. I read that this will be his 9th or 10th drug charge and he's already on probation. Seems like jail time is certain. Check out the sad, sad mug:



This fucking breaks my heart, man. For two reasons:

#1- I was at USC when Todd was there. Never met the man but we were in the same year and I had friends who knew him. It just makes me feel old I guess, seeing his pic; granted, it's a mug shot but still...last time I saw him he was like the total golden boy. He really defined the stupid term BIG MAN ON CAMPUS when he was at USC. I can't image there was one thing he would have wanted- a girl, a car, a check- that, at the time, he could not have gotten. Just amazing and sad. Boy I feel old today.

#2- I always heard these stories about how Todd's father was obsessed with him becomming an NFL great and from early childhood had put Todd on that path. The big story that got repeated all the time at SC- which I can't imagine is true- was that until he came to college, Todd had never been allowed to eat a hamburger (because he was on such a strict training regimen his whole life). True or not, I can't say. But it makes me very happy that I really could give two shits what my kids grow up to be, as long as they are happy and kind, or doing what they can to become happy and kind. To that point, it makes me really happy that my parents didn't care what I grew up to be, as long as I was happy. I mean, damn people, let your kids be who they want. There is a HUGE difference between parenting and controlling. Hell, as long as you raise them to be good people, the rest is, really, none of anyone's damn business but their own. God, to think how many kids are simply ruined because they have parents who think it is their place to determine what their kids will become, who they will be, what they will want. Just amazing and, again, sad.

Good luck Todd. No one deserves a shitty life and I hope you find whatever strength you need to turn this shit around.

See ya'll.

David

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