david-jaffe
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God of War PSP images leaked
Looks like someone got their Electronic Gaming Monthly issue early and, as is customary it seems with every month's release, uploaded the juiciest scans online. The June 2007 issue, on sale May 8, has a feature on God of War: Chains of Olympus for PSP and German site consolewars.de has the images in a nice gallery for us to peruse.Chains of Olympus is looking very pretty, though these scenes look similar to what we saw in the trailer. We can't wait to see how the action title translates in the forthcoming demo.[Via PSP Fanboy]
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.
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]
Shed a tear for Jaffe's Heartland
Newsweek's latest exchange with designer David Jaffe dredges up memory of Heartland, one of the industry's recent missed opportunities. In October 2005, when Heartland was known as 'Project HL', Jaffe went public with his goal to make gamers cry, describing his PSP epic as an examination of "what's happening with America and the military". A year later, Heartland was shelved and forgotten, until Jaffe squeaked out a few details in an interview with Entertainment Weekly last month. "Hearing myself talk about it now makes me a bit sad," lamented Jaffe, who was re-realizing that the would-be allegory that depicted a fictional Chinese invasion of the US would have been an important effort for the games industry -- and perhaps Western culture at-large.Our perception of what Heartland could have been has been damaged by Jaffe's often-manic outbursts. The designer essentially snuffed out all curiosity in the title when he spastically proclaimed last September that the future of the industry was in (in all caps) "SHORTER, LESS EXPENSIVE" games, beginning with his PSN launch pad Calling All Cars. Though the Calling All Cars delays will apparently cease by mid-May, the untimely delivery has led many of us to tune out Jaffe's banter. So, just as we've yet to join Jaffe's "pop songs" crusade (a belief that small-time games will pwn the market), we have little faith in the notion of his PSP tearjerker. Shame on us then for feeling a pang of sorrow -- that sudden urge to pour one out -- over Heartland, as Jaffe confesses to Newsweek's N'Gai Croal his reasons for abandoning the project:
"Heartland should do for the PSP what Halo did for the Xbox"
In a revealing chat with Newsweek's N'Gai Croal, opinionated God of War and Calling All Cars developer David Jaffe spoke about his ambitious (but canceled) PSP game, Heartland. He revealed the political motivations behind the title, and why the game might have been too ambitious for its own good:"The game was very much a liberal person's response to the Bush administration and the war in Iraq ... [have players] feel what it must be like to have their own homeland occupied by another country. SCEA and I went back and forth over if we would ever say it was CHINA vs. AMERICA as they were a bit worried about being so literal ... As for Phil, his biggest issue was thinking a game so epic should be on PS3. But I was always pushing for PSP, saying that Heartland should do for the PSP what Halo did for the Xbox."Ultimately, Sony didn't provide the support that Jaffe needed to complete the game. Instead, Sony pulled resources from the title to place into the PS3 title, WarHawk: "If the team would have been the right size, we would still be in production with Heartland today. That was the main reason we killed it, not enough folks to make the game ... the main issue that made it clear that we could not continue was that WarHawk kept taking our team members as they were further along in production and were the top priority."Sony's admitted to focusing too much on PS3 at the cost of PSP development, and they've promised to change. With WarHawk nearing completion, could Heartland make a comeback?[Via 1UP]
God of War creator would have left Blu-ray out of PS3
It's refreshing these days when someone says what is on their mind, and doesn't pander to the corporate entity that they work for all the time. One voice that certainly isn't afraid of biting the hand that feeds him is David Jaffe, creator of God of War, and Game Director and Designer for Sony in Santa Monica. He pretty much chomps down on that hand with relish.In a Bonus Round video interview with Jaffe on GameTrailers, he says "I probably would have taken the Blu-ray out and sold it for less money." Considering how Sony is really pushing the Blu-ray as one of the main reasons to own a PS3, he's certainly swimming upstream. Jaffe (pictured above with a Nintendo neckstrap *gasp*) is probably the only Sony employee openly questioning the Blu-ray inclusion.
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?
April Fool's Alert #2: David Jaffe explodes on Geoff Keighley
David Jaffe will finally lose it tomorrow on GameTrailers.com during an interview with Geoff Keighley. The cubby Jaffe will finally have a lover's quarrel on camera with the twinkie Keighley and say, "$%@& you man, why do I have to be humble to you? I'll $%&@ you up your @$$!" Yeah David, don't let Keighley push you around, enough is enough!This April Fool's Day joke is based on Jaffe's previous outbursts. There was the drunken tirade at the Playboy Mansion and once on Keighley's show, GameHead, Jaffe had some choice words about a Gamespot story on him. We certainly look forward to seeing what scripted crazy-talk Jaffe will unleash on Keighley. Then again, taking Jaffe into account, it could all be real!
God of War to go beyond a trilogy?
Holy crap. Having just finished reading this interview (it's about noon, not that it matters), I've got to keep myself from laughing out loud (LOLing, if we may) because I'm in a study... area. Anyway, David Jaffe was interviewed way back during GDC about a number of things, but we're going to concentrate on his talk about God of War and where that franchise will go. But we're also going to make a quick list of our favorite quotes from the interview. Because it's hilarious. Jaffe on Nintendo and the Wii: "I love Nintendo. I can't get my hands on a f***ing Wii." Jaffe on asking Nintendo of America President Reggie Fils-Aime for a Wii: "I don't know, it's not like he's carrying them around like Santa Claus..." Jaffe on Microsoft responding to HOME: "I think it's a good attempt at spin. Good for them for trying to spin their way out of a pretty bad situation." Jaffe about missing the rumble feature: "No one would say, "Yeah rumble sucks, nobody cares about it." It's a nice feature... but let's put it this way: when I heard we weren't going to have rumble I wasn't like, "Oh my god we're f***ed." All right, whatever. The meat of the God of War stuff is on the third page of the interview. To summarize, Jaffe explains that he knows exactly where the story of Kratos is going and where it will end, but he thinks it may take two or three more games to tell the tale completely (sales dependent, sure). Also, Sony will probably release some mini-stories to tie up other loose ends. The third title is rumored to be coming to the PS3 (duh), will support 1080p and some nifty SIXAXIS ideas. Good stuff, funny guy. Curses like a sailor. We at PS3Fanboy always respect men of the sea, because they're like pirates and pirates are pleasant and cordial.
The truth behind David Jaffe's HL
David Jaffe wanted to make gamers cry with his PSP game Heartland. Well when the game was cancelled he accomplished that goal as many gamers faced incredible disappointment at its loss. Just as that wound was starting to heal, 1UP re-opens the wound and pours salt in it by getting details on the game. Of course, no matter how much it hurts, the curiousity factor makes it so we can't ignore the info David Jaffe cleared the air by saying "Heartland was the story of China invading America. It was a first-person-shooter where you played a soldier debating whether to stay and fight for America or go AWOL to meet up with your family. We were trying to put in a lot of gameplay that would evoke emotion. You had sequences where you'd go into homes and your commanding officer would tell you to shoot innocent Chinese-Americans. It was very dark and was meant to cause players to consider what it's like to live in America and be an American today." Sounds like it could be a deeply meaningful game, so why did Jaffe step away from the project? "Hearing myself talk about it now makes me a bit sad (that we didn't finish it). But I wasn't incentivized to make it, in a way I could go to my family and say 'You're not going to see me for 90% of the time, but there's a pot of gold at the end of the rainbow.' There isn't a pot of gold at the end of the rainbow, at least the current way the industry is set up." Maybe Cory Barlog can continue this project too?.
GDC 07: Calling All Cars impressions
Calling All Cars, David Jaffe's upcoming PlayStation Store-exclusive game, was available for play on the GDC show floor. The game, which has you competing against up to three other players, has you controlling wacky cop cars trying to catch criminals. The game is easy to pick up, fast, and most importantly, totally fun.Playing with three other players resulted in a game of total chaos and mayhem. The cars were incredibly responsive, and the various weapons created constant clashes. The levels were highly destructible, encouraging players to enter total rampages.Be sure to check out Calling All Cars when it hits the PlayStation Store later this week.
Pajitnov, with needle and thread, wins Game Design Challenge
The game design challenge is an honored tradition four years in the running at the Game Developers Conference, pushing creativity in a competitive, humorous environment. This year's winner was Tetris creator Alexey Pajitnov who managed to create a viable action-puzzler using needle, thread and cloth. He bested both David Jaffe (Calling All Cars, God of War) and last year's winner Harvey Smith. The following is a pseudo-live blog of the event from earlier this afternoon. Read on for a full description of each game proposed.
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.
Calling All Cars preview overview... that works, right?
Well, we last spoke of David Jaffe's Calling All Cars game sometime last week. He was going to show the build to 1UP and like someone who keeps his word, he did just that. What did they think? What did they learn? We're going to talk about just that. But we'll say this: they had fun and that's a good sign.The premise of the game is fairly simple: choose a car, knock other cars out of your way (either bumping or weaponry works -- more on that in a bit), nab the criminal and port him off to the nearest prison drop-off. Bam! You receive points. There are other ways to get points, like nailing a helicopter or a paddy wagon instead of the regular prison drop-off point. Most points at the end of the game wins, just like golf! I always win at golf.Weaponry is a good assist when it comes to knocking your rivals out of commission. They're one-time use items, but they get the job done. First up is the Hammer: it's short-range and you can imagine what it does. If the car subject to your attack has a criminal inside, he'll pop right out. Next is the Magnet: it's medium-range and seems to suck the criminal right out of a car nearby. Handy. Lastly is the Missile: you can figure it out. Jaffe claims each weapon has defensive abilities too, but the 1UP staff didn't understand his hints. Like we said earlier: there's probably a rock-paper-scissors effect (magnet attracts missile, missile stops hammer, hammer crushes magnet is what this clever blogger is assuming). There's a bit more coverage about the game, but it's just the control scheme and their final impressions -- all positive. We're looking forward to this one![via 1UP.com]
The name of Jaffe's "sucky" game revealed
Project HL, David Jaffe's canceled PSP game was supposed to make you cry. And with a name like Heartland, it might have succeeded. Jaffe's gone off to bigger and badder things. Like God of War III. Too bad we'll never see what Heartland could've been ... if it didn't suck so much.[Via IGN]
