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Today's hottest game video: Calling All Cars
The most-watched GameTrailers video, a trailer for Calling All Cars, is our pick for today. We've been wanting this title ever since we saw a tiny glimpse of it at Sonys Gamer's Day back when it was called Criminal Crackdown. The trailer shows some of the party title's fast, overhead racing gameplay.Look for the downloadable PS3 game soon, and watch the trailer after the break.
David Jaffe hates focus testing
Designer David Jaffe's latest blog entry, as vulgar-laden as usual, was a liveblog of his day at a focus test for Calling All Cars (previously Criminal Crackdown), an upcoming PlayStation 3 downloadable title. You won't find much in terms of new game details, but aspiring game developers could learn a lot from this manic entry. We know that some of you out there don't appreciate Jaffe's verbose language or feel like the designer, who's probably known best for God of War, hasn't "earned" his street cred yet, but naysayers can still walk away from this transcript with an understanding of the inordinate amount of anxiety put on game makers when they watch their projects get critiqued and criticized by various demographic representative, for better and worse, and how technical issues will vastly affect the situation.Calling All Cars is planned for a release next month in the range of $5 to $10.
David Jaffe compares Xbox Live to Ashlee Simpson
David Jaffe is a fiery voice who's not afraid to speak his mind. Speaking to Newsweek's N'Gai Croal, Jaffe took some jabs at Microsoft's Xbox Live service and its penchant for retro material.While discussing Jaffe's upcoming PS3 download title Criminal Crackdown, he and Croal entered an extended metaphor comparing game format to music. It is at this point where Jaffe, under the guise that God of War is Opera in this analogy, remarked that Xbox Live is more like the pop stylings of Ashlee Simpson, or of an oldies station (hence Pac Man and XBLA's other retro titles). Criminal Crackdown, on the other hand, is closer to the Beatles. We're assuming post-Revolver era, as "I wanna hold your hand" really isn't much better than the bubblegum pop of today.While we love to see Jaffe take part in inane allegories that are usually reserved for Iwata and Kojima, we can't help but want to extend this metaphor further, throwing in some Mizuguchi and Guitar Hero -- we'll save it for the comments. As all of Jaffe's titles have been published by Sony, we're not surprised he's supportive of his financial backer and antagonized by their competitor. But invoking Ashlee Simpson? That's just cruel.Jaffe also used his interview time to discuss his feelings on God of War sequels, noting that if "it was up to me , he would have fallen off the mountain in the first game and actually died."See Also:Jaffe abandons PSP, releasing quick-turnaround PS3 title
Joystiq hands-on: Cash Money Chaos (PS3)
Some of the smaller games at last week's Sony Gamer's Day interested me most; I'm always a sucker for a fun game idea over flashy graphics. Maybe developers with smaller budgets solve problems with creativity instead of money.The day's initial presentation featured a quick glimpse into Criminal Crackdown, created by David Jaffe and his team. He described the game as a cross between basketball and a demolition derby; players drive around cell-shaded levels trying to pick up the criminal and deliver him to jail. If an opponent's paddy-wagon holds the criminal, another player can attack them, stealing the criminal.Criminal Crackdown looked like a fun game to download and play with friends, but it wasn't available to try. Instead, another downloadable title, Cash Money Chaos, caught my attention. This quirky title felt fresh, even with its close resemblance to Smash TV. The Sony rep showing the game wouldn't draw the comparison himself, but he wasn't surprised when I made the Smash TV connection.Cash Money tossed me into a pit to dispatch never-ending groups of attackers. The overhead perspective gave a big view of the brightly-colored baddies; every time I shot one, splotches of blood and piles of money spilled out. Initially, the blood made me uncomfortable; it didn't seem to fit the fun-house atmosphere. However, I quickly overlooked it and concentrated on the mounds of cash, like a true patriot.
Jaffe's Criminal Crackdown could be a hit for PS3 download service
David Jaffe and Incognito's secret PlayStation 3 project has been revealed as Criminal Crackdown, a downloadable action/party game running at 60 fps in 1080p. With big names on board and "the right" numbers, could this be the first in a series of Xbox Live Arcade killers?Jaffe has suggested that Criminal Crackdown will lead a wave of "shorter, less expensive" titles (developed in under a year, and presumably distributed digitally) created by established development studios -- the future of the industry, he supposes. But is a throwback arcade romp (with just four levels) what the PS3 was built for?See also:Sony's Geometry Wars (and other e-Distributed titles) leaked
