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David Jaffe leaves Eat Sleep Play, layoffs hit developer [Update]
Eat Sleep Play, which will shortly ship Twisted Metal, has reportedly laid off eight employees. The Salt Lake City Tribune also reports that co-founder David Jaffe is out and expected to pursue "casual games." Jaffe responded to the "rumor" of him making casual games after Twisted Metal as "highly exaggerated."Eat Sleep Play now has a staff of 26 and will transition to iPhone and iPad development. "It's a platform that is in our pockets almost 24/7. It's kind of the size and types of games we're playing," said other co-founder Scott Campbell to the Salt Lake Trib. "You can certainly reach a lot more people. That's pretty exciting for us."Campbell confirmed Jaffe's departure and said that the company and Jaffe are "going down two separate paths." Twisted Metal is Eat Sleep Play's second project, following the disappointing reception and sales of Calling all Cars. We've contacted Jaffe for clarification of his current status.Update: David Jaffe has confirmed that following the release of Twisted Metal (along with sticking around for balancing and bug fixing), he will step away from Eat Sleep Play. Jaffe also confirmed an undisclosed number of layoffs. ESP's office is located in Utah, while co-founder David Jaffe currently resides in California. Jaffe cited issues with directing a big game from a distance and a fondness for internal game development as reasons behind his decision to leave.The Twisted Metal director plans to open a new studio in San Diego and says he is "talking2peeps" for his new company to tackle some "big, huge next gen game ideas" or even "stuff in the browser space" that he labeled as "gamer centric."
David Jaffe talks death of Calling All Cars as servers go offline
This week heralded the end of the Calling All Cars saga, as David Jaffe finally saw the lights go out on his PSN baby. He's got a set of final thoughts over on his blog -- he says that as his first online game, it was definitely a learning experience, and while there were good times, it wasn't the most fun he'd ever had. He's suprisingly regretful about the whole thing: He says that he seriously thinks he probably should have "made it war themed and ['ditched'] the cartoony stuff," and that it was really a problem of expectation. At $10, he says, they were expecting gamers buying downloadable titles to just be "sampling them like candy," not looking for a full game experience. But we wouldn't worry too much about Jaffe -- while he jokes that the CAC server shutdown "marks the beginning of the end of my career," we're sure there's still more fun to be had from that mind of his. We're hoping to see what he's got planned next by the time E3 rolls around this year.
Calling All Cars servers calling it quits in January
David Jaffe's Calling All Cars will have its internets removed on January 14, 2010. An official announcement within the game (pictured) declares that the servers will be shut down, and thanks players for thar support.Though it's sad to see the game's online bouts coming to an end, it won't affect a majority of users -- there are currently zero games being played and zero players online.[Thanks, Kassatsu; Via PSN Stores]
Some interesting alternate game titles scrapped by David Jaffe
Oh, sorry. Did we interrupt you from playing Metal Gear Solid 4? Enough about that! Let's talk about something random and fun (and gloat about our amazingly awesome photoshop skills). David Jaffe updated his blog recently and spoke out about some of his greatest franchises and titles that simply didn't stick for them. In fact, Kratos from God of War was going to have a very, very different name.Twisted Metal could have been named the following: Urban Assault, Cars and Rockets, High Octane, or Firestorm. All of these are sexy names in their own way. Calling All Cars might have been named Criminal Crackdown or Damage in an alternate dimension. God of War emerged after brainstorming names like At The Hands Of The Gods, Dark Odyssey, Omega, or just the Greek omega symbol with no real name. Kratos was going to be named Dominus -- the developers ousted this name by joking "get the door; it's Dominus" for a year. There you have it. Think Jaffe and crew chose the best names after all?
Everyday Shooter, fl0w, Calling All Cars on sale
In addition to a massive Store update, SCEA has temporarily reduced the price of three PSN downloadable titles. Now available for $4.99: Everyday Shooter, Jon Mak's synesthesia masterpiece is our pick. If you only have enough money for one download, make it this one. Calling All Cars, David Jaffe's gift to the PS3 world, is another great choice ... only if you have four controllers and three other friends. As a multiplayer game, it's madness, but single player gamers need not apply. fl0w, the is-it-art-or-game creation by thatgamecompany is an interesting experience that's for those with far more daring tastes in games. It might not have enough gameplay to keep you coming back. PixelJunk Racers is a collection of mini racing games. Often misunderstood, these are supposed to harken back to the era of 2D racing games ... something we've long gone from. These prices are valid until November 29th. [Via CAG]
David Jaffe takes pictures of potential new studio
Remember that David Jaffe fellow? You must do. He's that guy that makes those games you love. Games like God of War and Calling All Cars. You must remember him. He had a blog, once upon a time, but it went dark about a month and a half ago. Made a rather scathing post after a certain website commented on him pulling Calling All Cars back just before launch to fix some bugs. Ah, now you remember. Good.Well it seems that the darkness that once shrouded his blog has been banished after a new post was made today. Jaffe clearly believes in the old cliche "a picture speaks a thousand words," so he's given us two of them. Words? No, pictures. The pictures show the insides of an empty building. Empty apart from one thing - potential. Could these be images of his new "small games" studio? Especially considering the title of the post is "coming soon." With a dedicated work space for Jaffe and his casual-games making cohorts, we could be seeing more games being produced by him at a much higher pace. We're intrigued to see how this turns out and will definitely be keeping an eye on his, hopefully frequent, blog posts from now on.[Via 1Up]
Dates for upcoming European PSN releases and Motorstorm patch
The European PSN Store is a bit of a tragic tale, as we're sure you've noticed. According to Three Speech, however, that's about to change with two new games available to download before the end of the month. None of that Midway rehash rubbish, either. These are full, specially made for PSN, titles. Ok, I've kept you in suspense long enough, check out the list below. Calling All Cars - 22nd of June (£4.99) Super Stardust HD - 29th of June (£4.99) Not too shabby, eh? While our US cousins have had Calling All Cars for a month now, Super Stardust HD should be a worldwide release. If you're as impatient for these games as we are then you might also like to know that this coming friday, the 15th, sees the release of the highly anticipated Motorstorm patch. Looks like Sony are finally pulling their finger out with their PSN releases. Let's just hope it continues beyond the end of June.
David Jaffe interview, more downloadable games coming
David Jaffe, the revered designer of God of War and the more recent, Calling All Cars, delivers some interesting banter via an interview with Three Speech. He says the difficulty of developing a title like Calling All Cars was the inability to rely "on old tricks" to alleviate the obviousness in areas with weaker game play. In regards to arcade titles, he says "if [the] core gaming isn't working, you have nowhere to hide." Near the tail-end of the interview, when asked if he has any more ideas planned for more downloadable games, Jaffe says his team is "in the design phase with two and three." Hmmm ... Calling All Cars 2 and 3? Or maybe a redesigned remake of the original Twisted Metal? Hey, we'd buy it.
Calling All Cars due for release tonight!
Finally, after a month or so of doing the will-it-won't-it dance, David Jaffe's Calling All Cars has a set release date: Today! It will appear alongside Rampart (as promised) as part of the US PlayStation Store line-up tonight. There's no word on when it will be coming to Europe, but we're hoping it'll be within the next few weeks.The full line-up for tonight is as follows: Calling All Cars ($9.99) Rampart ($4.99) Warhawk video (free) Burnout Paradise trailer (free) Rampage video (free) All in all, not a bad haul. You lucky Americans. No doubt we'll have a review up for Calling All Cars before too long. Until then, be sure to comment and let us know what you think. Enjoy![Via SCEA press release]
Stop Calling All Cars, they're coming today
David Jaffe's crackdown on criminals, epic games and disc-based content, Calling All Cars, will become available on the US PlayStation Network today. Having seen its fair share of delays and drama, the high-speed, cartoon cops 'n robbers clash is undoubtedly the PSN's biggest and most scrutinized release thus far. Engage in all the hootenanny, hijinks and hubbub online for a $9.99 fee. [Via SCEA press release]
Jaffe unhappy at the internet - quits blogging
Yesterday, David Jaffe announced on the NeoGaf forums that Calling all Cars! was delayed (again). The general reaction on the Internet to the announcement was disappointment mingled with acknowledgment that fixing bugs is a worthy reason for a delay. Some people took it better than others though and when our parent site Joystiq compared Jaffe to "a little girl struggling to keep her favorite doll out of the garage sale bin," they clearly hit a nerve on the outspoken developer.Though he didn't specifically call out the Joystiq post as the one that pushed him over the edge, Jaffe posted another one of his infamous rants in which he expressed his ... strong dissatisfaction with a certain 'unnamed' website and declared that he is going to stop blogging: "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"Personally, I'll miss his blog but he's such a volatile guy that maybe some time out of the limelight will be good for him. According to Jaffe, we can expect to hear from him next in July when he announces details on his next PSN title - or until somebody gets him drunk on camera.
Calling all Cars! delayed AGAIN - David Jaffe crushes my dreams
Considering the game has only taken 11 months to make, it seems like we've been waiting forever for Calling all Cars. Unfortunately, it appears we're going to have to wait a little longer. David Jaffe confirmed today on the NeoGaf forums that Calling all Cars! will NOT be coming out this Thursday, negating what he said last week.Evidently, there were a handful of major bugs that were discovered at the last second that caused Sony to delay the release and push the game back indefinitely. It also turns out that the May 3rd release date was never official, and that Jaffe actually got in trouble from Sony for suggesting it did. Jaffe expressed hope that it will pass QA soon, but was clearly wary of offering up an exact release date.But don't worry, according to the rumors, we are getting Super Rub-a-Dub as a replacement this week!
Jaffe un-promises, Calling All Cars delayed
Like a little girl struggling to keep her favorite doll out of the garage sale bin, David Jaffe is returning to the world of Calling All Cars to make some fixes and revise some of the criticisms the title received via reviews, even after announcing that the title has gone gold, according to a post he left on the NeoGAF forums. The title, therefore, has been delayed for an unspecified time.The bug fixes concern network connection and voice chat issues. Jaffe apologizes, of course, and notes that the previously-mentioned release date was never official. ("Sony was kinda annoyed that I claimed 5/3 as release date," he said.) Would gamers have preferred the game be released on time with a patch promised at a later time? We're leaning towards no, given the importance of multiplayer in the game, although our opinions might sway depending on how long these two "key bugs" take to fix.
Initial Review Roundup - Calling All Cars!
After delay after delay, Calling all Cars! has finally gone gold and the initial rounds of reviews have started to trickle in. Gamespot, 1up, and IGN have all weighed in on David Jaffe's 'casual' follow-up to God of War, and the response has been... interesting. IGN gave it an 8.5, stating that "Calling All Cars is Sony's first truly original, must-have title on the PlayStation Network, and it bests just about everything there is to be found on Microsoft's online arcade center." 1up gave it an 8.0, calling it "a chaotic successor to the likes of R.C. Pro-Am and Super Off Road that's easy on the wallet, and it's also among the best examples of how the concept of downloadable content should be used." And then there's Gamespot. Gamespot gave it a 6.7. They said it was a "frantic good time that's cut short by a serious lack of content." They dinged the gameplay for being too random and luck based, and practically rioted over the inclusion of only four maps, saying "that it feels more like a demo than a full game." As you can see, there is some interesting contrast in reviews between the 'big three' gaming sites. Unfortunately, we cannot really give a rebuttal at this point, since us mere mortals will not be able to get our grubby little hands onto it until next Thursday. Conveniently though, David Jaffe has posted a rebuttal for us! It is a surprisingly thoughtful critique of the Gamespot review and game reviewers in general. Check it out, I highly recommend it:(P.S.: First post!)
Calling All Cars is done, due out May 3
David Jaffe has announced on his design blog today that Calling All Cars (formerly Criminal Crackdown) has gone gold and is expected to hit the PlayStation Network on May 3. The game had been previously delayed for focus testing and other minor tweaking, but it now seems that Jaffe is happy enough with the product to let it go.Has it been worth the wait? Reviews are slowly coming in, but IGN is calling it "Sony's first truly original, must-have title on the PlayStation Network" and claiming it bests just about everything on Xbox Live Arcade. Strong words; we'll see for ourselves next week.[Thanks, Pete]
What's coming to the PS-Store near you?
ThreeSpeech, the semi-official blog under Sony's umbrella of ultimate justice, have posted a quick reminder of what titles are coming to the PlayStation Store in the next month or two. Not surprisingly, more delays! Awesome. Calling All Cars - May 18th Nucleus - May 25th Super Stardust HD - June 15th Will Calling All Cars ever come out? Probably not. Will the US ever get Super Rub-a-Dub? Of course. While it is surprising to see the two crazy spaceship-ish shooters coming out so soon, we really wanted to get our hands on Calling All Cars back on March 22nd. Jaffe, you're a crazy guy, but you shouldn't drive us to insanity, too.
Sony unfurls Q2 release list for PlayStation platforms
Prompted by a panicked glance at a nearby calendar, Sony has blasted out a list of "key titles" slated for release on all manner of PlayStation devices during the second quarter of 2007. Starting over two weeks ago and ending on the last day of June, this period of time sees us paralyzed by F.E.A.R. and having to resort to Calling All Cars to save us from The Darkness brought by ninjas, pirates and Transformers. We'll likely run the Gauntlet in a Final Fantasy of Harvest Mooning... oh forget it. Just read the list. PSN Calling All Cars -- 18 May Nucleus -- 25 May Super Stardust HD -- 15 June Championship Sprint Gauntlet II Joust Mortal Kombat II Rampage World Tour Super Puzzle Fighter II HD Remix Rampart [Note: PSN release dates as published by "semi-official", semi-accurate Sony blog, ThreeSpeech.]
David Jaffe wants independent studio, hates capitalism?
David Jaffe is the closest thing to a mascot Sony has right now (we've actually got a nice feature detailing that coming up -- so long as this weekend allows Nick the time to research and write it up), so naturally whatever he says will be taken with a grin, nod, and written down to report on later. GameDaily had another interview with the guy, and we'll take the honor of posting some of his fabulous quotes.What would you change about the PS3? "I probably would have taken the Blu-ray out and sold it for less money." Fair enough. Is this the first time someone affiliated with Sony said something like this? Any plans to start up an independent studio or anything? "I think it's a great idea and it's an idea that I've explored and will continue to explore." He talks about how he's not sure whether the studio would be within or outside of Sony, but he plans to continue contributing to Sony either way. However, he's not sure about the idea. Are bigger games better than smaller titles? How do you feel about being driven to create blockbuster titles one after the other? "It's like, 'F**k you capitalist society that says all I need to do is work and contribute to the bottom line. F**k you up your a**.' I want a life." Now that's what we're talking about! It was strange how Jaffe's attitude was absent from the rest of the interview. Heh, capitalism. He's certainly entertaining. His games are, too. Even if he decides to shy away from those "bigger" titles permanently, he'll definitely become a force to be reckoned with once those downloadable games start rolling out. His latest, Calling All Cars, should be out next week. Probably Thursday, since the PS-Store loves updating on Thursday. Just like Phantasy Star Universe... speaking of, there's a huge update in that game today.
Jaffe: fixing scoring gap reason for Calling All Cars delay
Insomniac Games (Resistance: Fall of Man, Ratchet and Clank series) interviewed David Jaffe (God of War) for the second episode of their new podcast, The Full Moon Show. Of note is Jaffe's explanation for the delay of his upcoming PlayStation Network title, Calling All Cars.Jaffe said that during playtests people were enjoying themselves more when the scores were close, rather than when the scoring gap was wide. He talked to some industry vets who had worked on a few Midway titles to see if they had any code that could be used to narrow that scoring gap, and sure enough they had some code."We certainly don't want to go into and put in tons of that, but we've gone in and added just a little bit," he said. He continued to say that his hope is folks who are within 20% of each other's skill levels to have very competitive matches. Jaffe also explained that this was the reason for another playtest, and if the code's effects are noticeable then they will take it out.Jaffe noted that they are still planning for a release during the month of April.The interview starts 21 minutes into the 2-hour podcast. Jaffe also talked about his frankness in discussion, his love of playtests (the fifth one is coming up) and his ambitious, now on permanent hiatus, PSP tearjerker Heartland. The podcast also includes updates on Resistance: Fall of Man and the upcoming Ratchet and Clank Future.[Via Aeropause]
Why was Calling All Cars delayed so much?
The Full Moon Show, an Insomniac podcast, recently released "Episode 2" where they interviewed some guy who called himself David Jaffe or something like that. Ever heard of this lout? He thought he could explain why Calling All Cars, made by this other guy named... hmm... well, shoot, we completely forgot! Was it something like Javid Daffe? Either way, here's the explanation from the man himself.During their extensive playtesting, there were instances where one player would just blow away the other players, creating a gap in score that kept growing to silly amounts. Sensing that it would draw away from the fun, Jaffe retreated to some devs who worked on older, arcade-style games for some coding help. Enter the image of Jaffe conversing with a Council of Elders in Developerland. Jaffe and crew are currently testing out some of the strategies for fixing the issue as given by these other developers. At least he's trying to make it fair for everyone, right?
