davidjaffe.biz

The Last Days Of Twisted Metal #2 (plus random pics from game production!)

2012-01-24T12:06:00.000-08:00

Hey all! Here's me heading in for what will probably be my last Twisted Metal visit with the San Diego QA crew!

Tell you what: this amazing QA team been instrumental in the game's tuning and gameplay quality, working tirelessly (and I mean TIRELESSLY- these mofos work some CRAZY ASS hours!) with myself, the rest of the Eat Sleep Play crew out in the Lake Of Salt, and the boyz up at Sony Santa Monica! Thanks Bill, Jon, Gregg, and the whole SDQA staff for helping to make this Twisted Metal the best one we've ever made!

Talk soon-

David

ps. hoping to get some one on one QA interviews for the blog with some of the team who have tested the game and helped us tune it. Stay tuned for those!

pps. oh, some random pics! :)

I have no recollection of how or why this amazing tradition began but DAMN am I glad I get to be on the receiving end of it! :) Every Christmas my amazing GOD OF WAR co-writer Marianne Krawczyk gets me a full on pack of fantastic bubble gum! For a few years running it's been Bazooka but I was just in Santa Monica for our final TWISTED METAL playtest and damn if the woman didn't go and get me a 90 piece pak of the best fucking bubble gum IN THE WORLD: SUPER BUBBLE!!! This is just the kinda gum I got as a kid when I'd get a hair cut and I fucking love it! Thank you MA! Oh, and for those of you not in the know, Marianne was also a writer on ALL of the the other GOW games, as well as this year's mega phenom SKYLANDERS and this summer's sure to be hit game STAR TREK!

My view from the playtest last Thursday/Friday! Always fun to watch the last playtest because- barring anything major (and yes, we did find one dial we wanted to tweak!), the game is done and you can just sit back and watch and see how the game came out! And if you are curious by the way, we had 5 play testers last week and here are the results...

Again, as I've said, we never expect/assume these OVERALL SCORES will= review scores and we also never assume just because they BRPs (Buy/Rent/Pass) answers are all YES that the world- or even these folks- will buy the game. In a play test like this - where they are IN the office of the people who are working on the game- you never know if you are getting a 100% accurate response to the game or if someone is fishing for a job! BUT- all of that said- the scores have been pretty consistent as of late and so, hey, I won't like: these are nice to see!

Rambling Man Returns! AKA- DAMN this is long!!! :)

2012-01-22T14:31:00.000-08:00

Pretty long and rambly. PLUS it's Sunday am and I'm working at home so my kids scamper in and out of the video at the start. If you JUST want some TM info, skip to around 6 min, 7 min...and that's all Doctor Who free and kid free too!

Talk soon- gotta run!

David

My Day With Tim...And Morgan...And Garnett...

2012-01-21T16:02:00.000-08:00

...and a whole lotta other super cool, super nice folks!

I hit LA yesterday to pimp our game on Garnett's fantastic WEEKEND CONFIRMED podcast! Here's a crappy pic of my view watching Garnett kick things off:

And yes indeed eagle eyed readers: that IS Michael McWhertor sitting next to me and Garnett. If you don't know, Michael just left Kotaku and is now doing his thang at Gametrailers where he - among other things- writes the biz's newest must read blog: SIDE/MISSION!

I've been a fan of Garnett and his podcasts since the 1up days and it was a real thrill, honor, and blast to sit with his crew (in front of the mikes and in the control booth) and gab games for 3 hours! The time flew by and I had a great time! Thanks ya'll!

So then I headed down Wilshire to the G4 offices where the team allowed me to pimp our baby on one of my fave game shows: XPLAY! I also got to do G4's podcast! Besides getting to talk games and pimp Twisted Metal, doing these shows meant I also got to spend time with the always kind, very talented, and- yes- stunning Morgan Webb!

Here she is hosting the podcast (which will air on/around Valentine's Day...the same day Twisted Metal hits! :)

Oh, and the XPLAY will air end of this month! Please stay tuned for both!

Ok, so get this: while I'm pimping the Metal, turns out the legendary Tim Schafer was doing some XPLAY too, promoting his studio's amazingly fun Kinect game Double Fine's Happy Action Theater! Check it out if you've not seen this super creative title:

Pretty cool, eh? It hits Feb 2nd and I will be grabbing it day 1 to play with the kids!

And even better, I got to jump into the game WITH its creator, along with Ms. Morgan and fellow XPLAY host (and always super cool) Adam Sessler (who is now sporting a bad ass Picard look, by the way)! Check us out, acting tha fools:

And here's Tom chatting it up on the podcast! I could talk games and the biz with this guy all day and hope I get the chance to soon!

And yes, that's Xplay's very own Steve Johnson- man of 1000 voices!- in between Tim and me. Very cool, very funny dude!

And here's me and Tim in another of my 'me meeting a hero' pics:

With this one and John Romero's from last month (and Shigeru Miyamoto's from a few years back), I'm building quite a collection! :)

Oh check it: me, Tim, and Morgan even made a flick together :)

How cool is that?!?!

Ok- gotta run- lots to do this weekend (including getting the contest finally judged by tomorrow!)- talk soon!

David

THE GAME IS DONE (MOSTLY)! + CONTEST UPDATES + MISC. STUFF

2012-01-12T16:46:00.000-08:00

Check us out on Gamestats- how cool! Mega thanks to the Twisted Fans (not to mention Sony PR and Marketing!) for kicking us up so high!

And here is a link to the TWISTED METAL forums! Will start posting on there very soon (next few days).

Chat soon- later ya'll!

David

All Things Twisted!

2012-01-07T15:30:00.000-08:00

Hey- just a random catch all of some really cool TM stuff that hit this week. Wanted to share!

TWISTED METAL DISPLAYS ARE GOING UP!
First up...twitter buddy @sarshelyam sent me these great pics from a GameStop in Pleasant Hill (up in northern CA). I LOVE the fact that Twisted Metal is started to get this kind of love from the retail stores! Thanks for the pics sarshelyam and thanks for the love Gamestop!

TWISTED METAL PRE-ORDERS ARE PICKING UP!
Next up I wanted to say thanks to longtime twitter follower and super hard core Twisted Metal fan @Needles_Kane34 for showing his faith in the series and the team with a fully paid pre-order of the game! Check it out!

I've gotten a handful of pics just like this on my twitter and I wanted to say thanks- on behalf of myself, the tireless beasts over at Eat Sleep Play, and the hardworking crew at Sony Santa Monica- to each and every one of ya'll who've preordered the game (not to mention those that have preordered and PAID FOR THE GAME IN FULL!)

That kind of faith and support has gotten us over 100K preorders on the America Pre Orders chart over at VGA! Check it out!

Now, I know, I know, it's not the 400K of Mass Effect 3 or the 200K of FF, but Twisted has always been profitable but it's never been one of those super main stream titles and I don't expect this time to be any different. So trust me when I say, 100K+ preorders 7 weeks before we hit is something we're damn excited by! Now we just gotta hope those preoders turn into purchases once the game drops (aka- trust me, we're not assuming that a single preorder means a copy sold...but it's a nice indication that we're picking up some good momentum as we head into our launch week!)...

NUMER ONE WITH A POWER MISSILE!
Ok so moving on...check this out- updated TWISTED METAL game stats:

Top of GAMESPOT's COMING SOON MOST POPULAR! And ALMOST in the overall top 10 over on Gamestats.com! Granted, these things change like the weather- more so actually- as we've dropped from the top 5 overall games at IGN (but are still sitting at #3 on their PS3 list)- so it's not like we look at these and think it means we're going to outsell all those games under us (not even fucking close)...but at worst it's a fun little things to track that tells us people are becoming more aware of the title and at best it's one of a handful of helpful tea leaves we can read to get a sense of how excited the world is for the game!

WOULDJA FANCY A PEEK AT OUR WEBSITE?!?
So hey- have you been to our updated website as of late?!? Here's a pic!

The Sony marketing and web crew have been going nuts adding all kinds of stuff. So please check it out at twistedmetal.com!

Now the website ain't done yet, not by a long shot. It's gonna be coming together over the next few months in piecemeal sort of fashion. Here's what's coming up on the site:

Bug fixes :): yeah, we pulled the trigger a tad early and some mistakes made it in (TLMS supports 2 teams, not 4; Kamikaze is indeed the name of one of our sports cars, NOT Specter; and 1-2 other factual errors that we'll be cleaning up very soon)

Twisted Metal University! I'm real excited by this! Sony is putting together a series of deep drive videos to explain how all the weapons and levels and vehicles (and more!) work! These will hopefully hit a major gaming site first and then- after an exclusive window closes- migrate to the blog so by launch, you'll be able to click on every vehicle, weapon, level, and mode and get a pretty great sense of not just the basics but some cool strategies and tactics as well.

Twisted Metal Blog + Forum: very soon, I'll be a frequent contributor at the TM blog where we got lots of fun stuff planned. It's not quite ready for all my crazy videos and pics yet but it will be soon and lots of the TM posts that you usually see on this blog (like this one right here) will live either on both blogs or on the TM blog exclusively. TM Forums will also go up soon that you can access from the site. I'll be a frequent poster both before launch and post launch as we make it our defacto location where we'll connect with the community , hear what is working, what needs to be fixed, what weapons may need some balance love,etc.

COOL COMMUNITY FEATURES!- Can't speak to specifics AT ALL right now! But this stuff has me very, very excited because I know these features- which will be live by launch- will serve to bring the worldwide TM community together like never before! Stay tuned!!!!

TM + MAJOR LEAGUE GAMING/GAMEBATTLES.COM!
Speaking of the TM COMMUNITY- check this shit OUT:

We got a page over at Major League Gaming/GameBattles!

As a lot of ya'll may know, from the very first design emails, we've always thought of this new Twisted Metal as an over the top, bloody, nasty, super violent E-SPORT! The fact that GB/MLG have given us a shot at proving that out? Well that's some damn exciting news, I can tell ya! Can't wait to watch and see if the game- like we've hoped from the start- inspires a strong, vocal, and passionate community of hardcore vehicle combatants! Hell, when I get some downtime from work, I may just start my very own TM clan! :)

TM MAKING THE BLOG/PODCAST ROUNDS:
Finally- been doing a number of the promised podcasts with the gaming sites out there. So far I've done this one with the always fun and entertaining crew over at PSNation:

Thanks to Glenn and the gang for the opportunity, hospitality, and horrific image of me in children's underwear :). CLICK HERE TO LISTEN!

I also did a podcast with Doc (who I first met when he was on season 1 of PSN'S THE TESTER) and his crew. That's gonna hit soon and you'll be able to hear it in PSHOME as well as download it on itunes and- I think- 1 or 2 other places.

And then just 2 nights ago I had a really fun conversation with the team at Splitkick, they of the super fun Fall Damage podcast.

Will post links to both of those shows as soon as they go up. And going to try to lure my partner in crime Scott Campbell onto at least a few of these gab fests, so stay tuned!

And then there's a lot more lined up in the coming 3-5 weeks as we lead up to Twisted Metal. Gonna be sitting down with Garnett Lee and his crew at Weekend Confirmed start of next month; gonna chat with Blair Herter over at X-PLAY/G4 for their great pcast; still hoping to do the Destructoid Podcast with Jim Sterling wherein we discuss/debate Online Passes! Plus, will be talking to other podcasts and blogs as well and will be linking to them here. Also, if you are one of the smaller (and small does not mean small on talent or passion, mind you!) blogs or podcasts I've chatted with over the last 6 months who was promised- or who wants to chat- please reach out to my amazing assistant Q on twitter at @QSincock and we'll get you set up (if I've already promised an interview) and try to get you set up if it's a new request.

'TM SPIRIT'/NEW YEAR'S EVEN CONTEST RESULTS:
Ok whew! That's a lot! I need to take a break then I got a bunch of fantastic, amazing, stunning Twisted Metal Spirit contest entries to judge! If you've entered the contest and are wondering if you've won (same with the New Year's Eve 'Shut Up And Bleed You Motherfucker!' contest) check back with the blog this weekend and I'll have a list of entries as well as the winners!

Talk soon- thanks for visiting the blog! Hope your weekend is going great!

David

Contest Update #2

2012-01-03T10:12:00.001-08:00

FYI: New Year's Eve contest winner details + 'Show Your Twisted Spirit' winners coming this week. Been sick, running behind. Sorry :(.

David

Contest Update

2011-12-31T18:14:00.000-08:00

Hey all! Been slammed on the game most of the day and have only had time to go thru about 25% of the submissions. Calling it a nite as I'm gonna go do NYE with the family. So- alas:

BAD NEWS: Contest won't be decided tonite. I'll post results tomorrow or worst case Monday.

GOOD NEWS: Holy cow there is some AMAZING stuff ya'll are sending in and hell- since I'm running late- if anyone out there missed the deadline, go ahead and as long as I get it by tomorrow around 3pm California time, you're in!

MORE GOOD NEWS: There's just too much good stuff to give away one prize! The grand prize winner still gets all I promised but I'm prob gonna hand out at least 1-2 other runner up prizes cause there's just some amazing stuff ya'll are sending in!

Sorry I'm running behind on this- my apologies- just not enough hours in the day :(...but I'll get it done in the next day or so, I promise!

Ok- gotta get the night rolling!

Have a safe, happy, and fun as hell NEW YEARS! HAPPY 2012 YA'LL!

David

Bottom the Bottom, to the "Top of the Pops"

2011-12-30T14:47:00.000-08:00

I won't lie: nice as hell to see our baby making some waves and gaining some interest! Shit won't last- it never does- so you gotta enjoy it while it's here! Thanks internet for kicking Twisted Metal up towards the top! Ya'll rock!

David

The Final Days Of Twisted Metal Part I

2011-12-29T20:05:00.000-08:00

My Top 3 Games Of The Year

2011-12-29T10:20:00.000-08:00

Hey! IGN posted this piece featuring me and other game developers wherein we gab about our fave titles of the year. Check it out, if you are so inclined!

Talk soon-

David

SINGLE PLAYER DETAILS FOR MEGA MIXER

2011-12-28T14:29:00.001-08:00

This will make sense if you go here and read my response to a poster who calls himself megamixer.

Thanks!

David

+++++

1- That's fair. I'm the same: unless I get the details I want, why would a game maker (or a maker of ANY product) expect my cash? I'm with you on that. As for the single player, specific details will hit in the new year.

2- Since you bothered to write, let me try to shed a little light on the campaign game (1p and split screen co-op). First off, it's the most varied Twisted campaign we've ever done. It's not just the rinse/repeat death match over and over of the old games. BUT it's not a mission based GTA style game, either. So don't buy the new TM expecting some sort of BATMAN:ARKHAM CITY story mode, cause the game's not that.

3. Game has three characters (Tooth; Grimm; Dollface). Each character has an opening, mid, and end movie. In between the movies, each character has 6 unique events spread across 8 levels. The last of the events is a totally unique boss, designed specifically for that character/chapter.

4. Each event is still very much tied into the core idea of vehicle combat. But the individual events/goals are more varied. For example:

*we've thrown some combat races in there (i.e. Calypso has strapped bombs to every vehicle...you must race the other cars to reach the detonation gate that arms the bombs and then be the first vehicle back at the starting line that hits the detonator pad that blows up all the other vehicles in the race....and the LAST race ((there are three of them)) has the detonator pad inside a moving semi truck that's racing down the freeway so things get nuts!)

* Two of the races force you to race thru gates that make up the course. You can bypass these gates for sure, but miss too many and your bomb goes off and you die. The harder the difficulty setting, the fewer the gates you can miss.

*We have modes that contain armed-for-bear semi trucks that can take you our fast and that spawn enemies out the back. These guys don't appear on radar so you need to track them and always have a sense of where they are because every 45 seconds or so a new enemy is dropped out the back of their trailer and onto the battlefield so you gotta hunt those semis down and take them out before they spawn so many vehicles that the event becomes impossible to beat.

*We have traditional deathmatch levels that you must fight INSIDE these electric cages that move around the level, forcing the fight to various areas of the map. Some of the cage configurations are big, some are super small and tense. And you can only be outside the cage for 30 seconds before your health begins to drain when you are outside the cage. So you have to manage your grace period carefully (leaving the cage at the opportune moments to grab weapons or use the 100% full health regen semi from Calypso industries, etc).

*Straight up traditional 'kill all enemies in the level to advance' levels.

* Endurance battles where enemies never stop spawning but you must take out 8 or 10 or 12 to win the event.

...so stuff like that. We feel it keeps the campaign unique and fresh while still staying true to the franchise (i.e. again, it's not turned into a mission based single player game).

* Once you finish an event, you can replay it at any time to earn medals (different from trophies). Earn all gold medals to get skins and other elements. Beating the game on HARD gives you the LASER PISTOL side arm. Getting ALL GOLD on TWISTED mode (the hardest mode) allows you to unlock WARTHOG. Both of these items (a side arm and a full on vehicle) can only be earned in campaign mode. So if you see someone online with either, you know they are pretty elite players!

Again, more details to come in the new year, but that should give you an idea of where we are headed.

5- I was going to say don't call me Jaffeyboy. But hell, you walk around head held high calling yourself 'megamixer' which means you probably would not understand why you calling me Jaffeyboy comes off as disrespectful and annoying :).

Happy Holidays Metal Heads!

2011-12-24T14:38:00.000-08:00

Hey- heading out with the family in a few to see TinTin! But I wanted to wish you all a Merry Christmas and/or Happy Chanukah and/or just general Happy Holidays! Thanks for all the support of Eat Sleep Play, Twisted Metal, and me personally over the years! And thanks as always for coming to the blog!

Oh, before I go, check this out:

This is a hallway in my house. And as you can see, I got a bunch of Twisted Metal PS3 swag and now that game production is winding down, I have some time to get this stuff out to the true TM fans. Some folks have already been promised stuff and me and Q (my faithful and super kick ass assistant) will start getting that out to ya'll starting next week. If you have met me at a show (PAX, Comic Con,etc.) I THINK I still have all your info but please- if you read this- remind me in the comments where we met and what I promised you and- assuming I don't think you're full of shite :)- then we will send your stuff on its way!

To the rest of ya, here's the deal: as we race towards the Twisted Metal February 14th launch day I wanna start making sure this stuff gets out to the true fans of the series. But since it's so limited-and since I love games-I ain't just GIVING it out...I'm gonna make you play for it! :)

Yeah, yeah, contests and the like! So here's the first one for those who are into such tomfoolery.

TWISTED CONTEST #1: SHOW YOUR TWISTED SPIRIT
So all week long I've been getting packages at the house for Christmas. I saw this on the front porch this morning and assumed it was another of the many Phineas and Ferb or Monster High toys I had ordered for to put under the tree for the kids. But low and behold, check out what was inside:

Oh HELL yeah! A whole box full of the brand new TM shirts! Now these are shirts that I THINK will eventually be sold in stores! But right now- if you win this contest- you can get one for free! And well before they hit retail!

Here's a better shot:

Snazzy, eh? I really like it! Only glances at it for a sec but I THINK that's the front of the shit and the back is all black.

So cool!

...but that ain't all! Cause it's the holiday season- and cause this is the very first TM GIVEAWAY CONTEST, I'm gonna throw in even more. If you win this contest, you get one of the shirts above plus you'll get this stuff too:

Click to make bigger!

That there is a still in the package Sweet Tooth action figure and one of the fully assembled cardboard Tooth trucks that you may have seen over the last few months at various stores (Gamestop, Best Buy, etc.)

About the truck: there's a spring I THINK that lets you attach the head to the rooftop so it bobbles and such but I lost mine (or my kids did) so that's why the head in the pic is sitting in front (cause it's a pic of the one I have sitting in my office). If you win the thing, you'll get a brand new one in an unopened box. It'll SHOULD contain the disassembled truck, the cardboard head and guns, the spring (again, I THINK there's a spring), and instructions for how to put it together.

Ok so here's the details:

THE RULES:
THE RULES PART I: Send in SOMETHING to show your TM love/passion/fandom. But it's gotta be something you made or had someone make for you. Cos play, fan art, a video (no more than 1-2 min) with you doing some TM poetry or some such shit or hell, just telling us why you love/like the series. Anything really, long as it's legal and follows these rules :)...

THE RULES PART II: Entries due by 9am Pacific Time on Dec 31st. At midnight California time- aka NEW YEAR'S EVE- I'll announce the winner (be it on this blog or via my twitter if I'm not at home...still don't know NYE plans yet...but the twitter feed is on the top upper right of the blog so you can still find it there if you don't subscribe to tha twitter)...The winner is totally up to me and I may or may not explain my logic/reasoning for why I chose the winner. But hell, I'm sure I will explain it. Hell, I will probably comment on this very blog about any and all submissions as well :)...

THE RULES PART III: ANYTHING you send in I can use however I like. Meaning I can post it on this blog and hell, if Sony's ok with it, when the TM blog launches in a few weeks, I may put it up there as well. If you are not ok with that, please don't send stuff in. There will be other contests that may be more to your liking once the new year starts.

THE RULES PART IV: Please do not send me ideas or fan faction or ANYTHING with your own ideas for NEW stuff (i.e. no new characters or vehicles or levels or anything like that). I don't want to see your ideas and legally I am not allowed to. If it seems people are not getting this concept (i.e. I AM getting submissions with new, original ideas) I'll have to stop this contests cause it just opens up way too many potential problems.

THE RULES PART V: You don't have to make something brand new. Sending in older TM stuff is fine but I'm only human and if I've seen it before- even if I loved it at the time- it's prob lost some of its 'first time seen' power so it may not resonate as strong for me. Just so ya know...

THE RULES PART VI: I'm gonna post everything on the blog that I get sent for this contest. So I MAY have people vote for the best instead of me making the choice. OR I may give out the above described prize set to the one I dig most and then sent a tee-shirt (or maybe an identical prize set, not sure yet) to the one that gets the most votes...not sure yet. So just be aware.

Ok- so I THINK that's all the rules! Any questions, fire away in the comments.

Oh, I forgot! I made you some cookies! Here:

Ok, not really. Those are mine. And I already ate them. :) Me and the kids made and decorated cookies last nite and I took a pic of the ones I made and I figured I'd post it! :) Yeah, the upper left one started off as Spidey but whatever...still tasted good :)...

Ok- off to TinTin! Talk soon- and again, have a fantastic, fun as hell, and VERY SAFE Holiday! Talk sometime next week I'm sure!

David

ps. be sure to check the PS BLOG next week sometime (I THINK Wednesday?) for a special surprise announcement that I'm sure will make old school Twisted fans happy! And no- this is not the 'big surprise' I was talking about that we'll drop sometime soon in the new year. Next week's announcement is more of a nice 'thanks' that Sony put together for the harder core, old school TM fans. Check it out!

Wow! Kratos has been Simpsonized!

2011-12-22T23:34:00.000-08:00

Saw this on TV about a month ago, been meaning to post it.

Man, how damn cool is THAT?!?

David

Regarding What Makes A Great Video Game Box

2011-12-22T09:45:00.000-08:00

Posted this over on NEOGAF, figure I'd share it here as well. Overall, the response to our new TM box has been super positive (so thanks for that- very relieved!) but some folks were saying they still liked the TM:B box the best. So here is what I wrote:

Regarding the TM BLACK box: I really love that box art as well but it really taught me a great lesson which is this: in the 60 dollar (i.e. expensive) retail space, box art first and foremost needs to be functional. It can- and should- be evocative and artistic, but more importantly- IF it is to do its job and act as another salesperson for the title- the box needs to catch the eye while explaining- to SOME degree- the experience inside the box that we are asking people to give us 60 bucks for.

The folks inclined to be attracted to a box because it's mostly/only unique or clever or artistic TEND to be a lot of the same folks who read the game sites and already know if they want the game to begin with. The box is really there to catch the eye and mind of folks who've never heard of your title or who have heard of it but are not sold just yet.

So yeah, I loved the TMB box but TMB was also the worst selling TM game in history (other than Small Brawl). And it was released for the #1 console system at the time. Yeah, you could argue the M rating is what did it in and you could argue that POSSIBLY- except among the core fans of the niche genre- that car combat as a genre was on the wane. And those things may have been- and may still be- true. But I have to think the box art- cool as it was- didn't do us any sales favors.

Another great example is the Resistance 3 box art. I think it's a wonderful image and a fantastic artistic box but I think- as a sales tool- it's a pretty terrible box front. I think the new Saint's Row is a FANTASTIC game that has a GREAT, iconic box front but I don't think it serves the game as a sales tool.

Ok ya'll- off to start the day! Talk soon!

David

TWISTED METAL- THE BOX!

2011-12-21T17:35:00.000-08:00

Twitter follower @RavensForLife1 let me know that Gamestop's just put our box art up on their site! So hell, since it's already out there, I figured I'd share a bigger version of it with you guys :)...

So then here ya go...our box! :)

Not 100% final. I think they are gonna add a copter on the front, adjust the hair a bit. But I'd say the front is about 95% locked.

So tell me: what do you think? Like it? Love it? Hate it? How does it rank against other TM boxes?

So hey, let's look at some back options, yeah?

So on the back of the box, the team is still trying to figure out which of these to go with. Clearly some of the text is wrong, missing info (i.e. local play is 1-4 players, not just a single player,developer logo :),etc)...but given the box back is around 80% locked, I figured I'd share that too :)...

REAR OPTION A:

REAR OPTION B:

REAR OPTION C:

REAR OPTION D:

REAR OPTION E:

Any thoughts on the back of the box? Preferences? I put a poll up on the upper right of the blog; I would appreciate it if you could vote for your fave box back if you have a preference (and have the time). Real curious to see which back of the box people are digging most!

Talk soon!

David

Racists Pricks Give To Charity

2011-12-21T11:59:00.000-08:00

Matt Leone Left A Note On The Door*

2011-12-12T12:17:00.000-08:00

NOTE:
If you’ve not read Matt’s reply to my blog post from the weekend re ‘is it ok for developers to lie to the press’, please read that first if you don't mind? Thanks! Here ya go!

Ok, so slammed with work and no time to edit so bear with the ramble and repetition please?- THX!

Ok, so here's my replay to 1up.com's Matt Leone:

-----

Matt, hey.

You and I don’t know each other that well. We’ve chatted over the years here and there and I’ve always enjoyed those conversations and your work in general. Just wanted to take a sec to reply to your reply to me :).

YOU WROTE:

I see a big difference between holding back information and lying about it. And if someone asks you a question that you don't want to answer or can't for whatever reason, there's always a way to answer the question without lying.

MY RESPONSE:

As I said in my earlier post, I’m a fan of genuine, honest, great journalism and have huge respect for folks like Christiane Amanpour (yes, I had to look up how to spell it), Diane Sawyer, and- after watching Page One (the amazing documentary about the New York Times) I recently discovered the great David Carr and have been going through and loving his stories on the NYT website. On the entertainment side- be it games or music or movies- I think there are some fine journalists/writers in that neck of the woods, as well. And if I may add: I still read an honest to goodness paper newspaper almost every Sunday and devour all kinds of news on tv and the net during the week (from politics to foreign affairs to entertainment to gossip). I’m a news junkie, for sure.

I say all of this so you understand my respect for your profession as well as understand that I come at this discussion as both someone who gets reported on from time to time but also as a voracious consumer and fan of the products that journalists create. And because of that, I 100% agree with you- in principal- with the idea that- as a reader- I want all the facts I can get and I do not want a subject to lie to a reporter because in doing so they are lying to me (a reader).

I also get that in the specific world that you report on- since only very rarely are there genuine news stories worth investigating and since most of your readers have shown again and again that they’d rather have previews and fluffier pieces vs. hard hitting news- that you guys sometimes have it tough. On one hand, you don't want to piss off the folks you report on because that means you may run the risk of being denied the info that your audience desires. On the other hand, even if you risk job security to bring your readers a true glimpse of the shady underbelly of the game making biz- on such rare occasions such an underbelly actually exists- you run the risk of 95% of your readership ignoring your story in favor of something much easier and safer to write about.

NOTE: As an aside- I have only rarely partaken in any sort of ‘boycot outlet X’, fyi. And I would be embarrassed and hurt if anyone associated with the games we work on made this a common practice/threat. And I never would shut out the media- upon which our industry greatly depends- for things like asking hard questions and giving out poor reviews. That would be stupid of me and disrespectful of you and your readers. The only time I boycott reporters are when they’ve clearly, intentionally grossly taken my interviews way out of context (in a hurtful or mean way to either me or the teams with which I work).

In fact, in you look at my history and posts and rants from the time I started doing interviews and blogging, you will find me often pushing the game media to push us game makers more and call us out on our bullshit. You will find posts and tweets with me begging game reviewers to not be so easily be swayed by games that wrap themselves in artistic, ‘meaningful’ trappings derived from other successful mediums and thus promise that the game in question- simply because it wears the costumes of importance and meaning-is also meaningful and relevant itself. In short, I think for this amazing medium to thrive and grow and become all it can be (which is so much more than it currently is) we NEED the demanders of truth (aka you guys) to PUSH BACK and CALL US OUT when we are doing our ‘we’ve arrived/we are important’ touchdown dances but have actually not earned them. I’m actually disappointed and frustrated that while we are doing these dances, you guys- way more often than you should- are cheering us on and gushing from the sidelines.**

All this is a long way of saying: As a fan of the games medium and a fan of journalism in general, I don’t want any journalist lied to. And in an ideal world, no journalist ever would be.

However, when it comes to reporting on video games, this is not an ideal world.

This is a world in which for years my interviews have been taken out of context in order to generate a click heavy headline. Granted, the big sites have gotten much, much better about this but they have also been- and occasionally still are- guilty of this. And I do get it and I hate it but it’s the cost of doing business. I understand that a sexy headline that is ‘true enough’ is better business than a dry headline that clearly states what the story and interview behind the click is really about. Just like sometimes it’s better business for us to lie about what we are working on in order to generate a bigger 1^st impression among gamers- which is a great building foundation to generating the all important hype. Our hype, your click- perhaps we both sell our souls just a little bit so we can keep doing the work we so love.

This is a world where no matter how honest I am (and I feel I am more honest than a lot of folks when it comes to interviews…hell, at least I’m honest about being dishonest! How often does THAT happen!?! :)...) and no matter how many virtual pages I fill explaining my position, hundreds of comments will sometimes be generated from readers who have done nothing more than read the sensationalist headline.

This is a world where 90%+ of the comments generated from this story (on your 1up blog, on my blog, on Neogaf, on the recent Kotaku story) have all agreed with my stance that ‘no comment’- in this day and age- equals ‘yes’.

Someone pointed out that Blizzard says ‘no comment’ all the time, which means-for them- people can actually take ‘no comment’ as ‘no comment’. That’s a disciplined tact for sure and a hell of an admirable one. However, for me, ‘no comment’ doesn’t work as an answer when a genuine answer- that I can give without doing any damage to our game or the teams- will do.

I love letting players peek behind the scenes whenever I can. Not the ‘happy, nerf gun battles at 3am, riding scooters around the office, we’re all just friends all the time, every single person on the team has equal say when it comes to deciding what goes in the game and we vote on everything from what the story is to what color the main character’s shirt will be’ behind the scenes kind of thing (I imagine that is true for some devs, but I can tell you, I sure as heck have never experienced that). So I want gamers to get a peek behind what I consider the REAL curtain.

I grew up bamboozled by the Hollywood PR machine and vowed- in my own small way- that whenever I was fortunate enough to have the spotlight aimed upon me, I would offer fans of our work a true look behind the curtain. I’ve always wanted gamers to know that making games is wonderfully rewarding and amazing fun, but it’s also HARD ASS WORK and it’s stressful and there are fights and battles with teammates (fights that you lose at times and it fucking hurts to lose) and families get torn apart and physical health sacrificed because of all the hours we put in. I want to share the great, amazing times and fun times, but the hard stuff too. I’ve always wanted to share the truth of the journey. And I do it- I guess- because I would never want to do to a fan of games what the Hollywood PR machine did to me (as a fan of movies).

So when you say ‘no comment’ or other terms will do, I take issue because in truth, while there are better terms than ‘no comment’, we live in a world where ANYTHING other than shutting the question/issue down with a firm ‘no’ will result in sensationalized headlines that damage your game’s first impression AND enter the gaming collective brain as a confirmation that the game is being made.

YOU WROTE:

I don't think GameSpot should have to explain the Gerstmann/Kane & Lynch situation if they don't want to (I think it would have been in their best interests to do that for credibility, but that's unrelated), and well, I do think media should be required to disclose any kind of shady negotiations like Jaffe mentions, but that's also unrelated. My larger point is that there's a way to talk about things that you can't talk about without lying in the process.

MY RESPONSE:

I agree and said as much in my post. The gossip lover in me would LOVE to know what goes down in such tense situations, but I get I am not owed that information and the folks at Gamespot should not feel compelled- and I am sure they do not- to offer that info to the public any more than us game makers should feel compelled to tell reporters about the game designer who has a drug problem or the lead coder who got fired cause he was caught fucking a bottle of Clorox bleach in the supply room while singing showtunes from Wicked. Both of these, by the way, are true stories. Actually happened!***

My point was I feel it’s hypocritical for game journalists to demand a certain kind of behavior from the folks they interview while not providing the same kind of behavior in kind. I mean, at the height of the Gamespot thing (which- for the record- I have ZERO details on other than what was reported in the press), do you think if someone would have asked the head of Gamespot point blank, ‘Did Gamespot take cash from Eidos in order to give Kane & Lynch a higher review than the reviewer felt the game deserved’ and the subject being interviewed said, ‘No comment’ or ‘We don’t comment on speculation or rumor’ that fans would have taken that as ‘oh, interesting, they had no comment…I’m just as in the dark now as I was before’? Please, you KNOW that’s not the case. I think we both agree that that is unfortunate that it’s not the case, but it’s just not the world in which we live.

YOU WROTE:

…an explanation of why you can't answer the question is better than both.

MY RESPONSE:

You know, I think you have a great point here. But again, it goes back to the way so many stories in games get reported on. Think about this: if a reporter would have asked if I was working on a new TM, I could have easily said something like, ‘You know, I really would love to spill the beans about what we are making and I know a lot of folks think it’s a new Twisted. Problem with me telling you what we are working on is it dilutes the surprise when we announce it and I think surprises and first impressions count. If it’s a new Twisted, wouldn’t that be more fun to be surprised when you were least expecting it? And if it’s a brand new franchise- the thing we started Eat Sleep Play to create, by the way- then in this climate where it’s tough to break thru the noise created by all the yearly updates of beloved sequels, I gotta do everything I can to make sure the first time people hear about our new IP that our game Veronica Lodges** deep in the mind’s of potential customers’.

Nice statement. Non committal to both possibilities. And a good journalist may have run a headline that says, "JAFFE WON'T SAY WHAT EAT SLEEP PLAY'S NEW GAME IS"...problem is, a lot of sites would run this:

"Jaffe doesn't want to admit he's making a new Twisted Metal"

"Jaffe would love to 'spill the beans' about Eat Sleep Play making a new Twisted Metal!'

"Jaffe doesn't want to 'dilute the surprise' by announcing new Twisted Metal now'

This is how we've been trained, Matt. I'm not saying YOU or 1up have created this culture but it's the way it is. How do you suggest we respond given that this is the culture in which we live?

YOU WROTE: Jaffe and Inaba have lost credibility for telling facts. I still trust their opinions, but I'm no longer confident I can believe what they say all the time. From the majority of responses I've gotten to the previous blog, most readers don't seem to care about that that, because they just want to be entertained by the media. And I understand that perspective, though it bugs me as a reporter because it feels like there's a lack of respect from the interviewee towards the interviewer in these situations.

MY RESPONSE:

Totally, I get that and I was willing to roll those dice. I think I was so willing to roll the dice cause I consider myself a damn honest interview subject (I’ve talked about everything from my struggles with weight and how the biz exacerbates that struggle to my fears about a game not performing) and so given this was a lie I felt most consumers- once they knew why I did it- would forgive me for, and given that I'm a damn honest person in the press and on my blogs, it was worth the risk.

As for being annoyed that most readers just want to be entertained by the media and what you perceive as a lack of respect from interviewee towards interviewer:

a- Just like most gamers don’t want art games like THE MARRIAGE at 60 bucks, as good as those games may be for the gamer’s nutritional diet, most folks who consume entertainment media don’t seem to want hard hitting reporting, they just want to see screens and hear about features and have a nice, fun time flipping thru the mag or the site while pooping. I agree with you that it sucks in some cases and I’ve always wanted a magazine or site that is more hard hitting and tough on us game makers (and to be fair, there are some that manage to be that while still staying afloat). But at the moment, the majority of folks who consume your product are not looking for truth as much as they want entertainment.

I’ve always respected the folks who interview me and I always thank them for their interest. That’s not a line I use, it’s genuine. I’m always surprised and grateful someone from your world shows up to report on a game we’re working on. I do have respect for game reporters. BUT as I said earlier in this long ass post, I would have MORE respect for the game journalist that pushed on me (and my colleagues) when I was making claims about how my game were emotional and moving the medium forward and how it would change the world; I would have MORE respect for a reporter that challenged me and got real answers about the WHY and the WHY NOT of the games we make. I want a reporter who is fair, of course, and who DOES write about the good and helps us trumpet the great, for sure. But we work super hard on the games we make and there is logic and reason for every decision we make and I would not take offense if someone drilled down and talked mechanics or process or wanted to know why we did what we did; I would not take offense from a reporter who called us out when we made claims that- while lofty- were not really evident upon playing the title in question. I think that would be GREAT for the biz because it would start putting that critical thinking in the minds of the gamers and so gamers would start demanding us game makers to really deliver on our lofty goals (and thus force us to either switch to goals that our media is better suited for OR figure out how to push the medium forward so we could actually- for reals- achieve those goals we were promising).

= ++

YOU WROTE:

Jaffe at one point compares himself to a magician pulling tricks on the audience for the audience's benefit, which kind of blew my mind when I started thinking about it. I think readers are used to thinking they can trust what developers say (whether they should or not), and the more they're aware that developers might be lying and might be saying things to mess with their expectations, the more I'm OK with it. [So if for nothing else but making people aware of that, I'm glad my blog and this topic are getting some attention.]

MY RESPONSE:

I never compared MYSELF to a magician. My point was that a magician’s goal is to entertain with his tricks and that just because a reporter asks him ‘hey, did you do the trick by doing X, Y, then Z’ then the magician’s main job is not to be truthful because a reporter asked a question but his main job is to protect his trick- and thus his audience’s satisfaction and thus his own job and the jobs of all those who help him put on his show. And if saying ‘no’ does that, then I’m all for it. But we’ve covered this. This is that ‘no comment’ issue again.

YOU WROTE:

For instance, I think I recall Jaffe mentioning at one point awhile back (and huge apologies if I'm incorrect on this -- not at all trying to be insensitive) that he and his team had created a fake story about members of a Twisted Metal: Black 2 development team passing away in a plane crash, which if my memory serves me correctly he later said never happened. I find it strange that he's OK with putting out a story like that, while also criticizing puff piece behind the scenes making-of videos as "destructive" or something like that as he did recently (sorry, can't find the exact quote on this one either -- might be getting that word wrong), because to me that's essentially the same thing -- a company putting out a not-entirely-honest story to better promote their game.

MY RESPONSE:

I never did what you are accusing me of doing. We never used- and I never would- a tragedy (real or fake) to promote ANYTHING. The story of the developers dying in the plane crash (totally fake) was never used to promote that game. That was simply the story OF the game that was only every discussed OUTSIDE of the game when a reported asked me about it being true or not. It was our take on a BLAIR WITCH set up but we never used it in promoting the game (other than when an interviewer asked me point blank about it and- frankly- I don’t recall if an interviewer even asked about it before the game had already shipped and all promotion for that title was done).

YOU WROTE:

Sure my argument would be stronger if I could track down quotes of him admitting either of those things, but it's Sunday morning as I write this and I'm struggling to find them on Google, so I hope I'm not getting those details wrong.

MY RESPONSE:

Matt, you know that whole thing about you being annoyed that your interviewee doesn’t respect your interviewer? Or the idea that most folks look at game journalism just as entertainment? I can’t fathom why that might be…:)

BUT FOR THE RECORD, I’ve always had respect for you and your site. So don’t take this as me saying I personally don’t respect you (cause I do). But do you really want to admit the reason you can't get your quotes right- quotes that it seems you feel would strengthen your argument- because it's Sunday morning and you are too lazy to go beyond a Google search? Man, good thing Woodward and Bernstein came at things from a different angle :)...

YOU WROTE:

I just wish more readers cared so developers would feel guilty about lying, because I prefer truthful behind the scenes stories over developer-created myths. It's a selfish desire, really

MY RESPONSE:

I prefer these sorts of stories as well. And again, from my past posts and my interviews over the years, I hope you’ve come to know me as a straight shooter that does not traffic in developer-created myths. My hatred for developer-created myths is the reason I am so open and honest about my experience with the process. I don’t see how the lie I told about TM negates all the credit in the bank- in this regard- that I have built up from being so honest- often times at my career’s expense- about the process of making the games.

Talk soon/see ya soon- gotta run. Thanks for this fun, educational, and stimulating (for me anyway) debate. It's appreciated!

David

* Yes, it's a Billy Joel reference :)...

** I do find this is more game centric than other entertainment media reporting. I'm always amazed that a Best Picture or Best Album Rotten Tomato aggregate rating can be in the low to mid 80's and still win such awards but with games, almost all GOTY contenders (and most 'almost GOTY' contenders) seem to come with 9/10 and 10/10 scores and heaps of gushing hyperbole.

***…actually not really, but that would be so cool!)…The Clorox story, I mean. The drug thing would be sad.

****No clue why I suddenly started channeling Diablo Cody.

TWISTED METAL: OUT IN THE WILD!

2011-12-11T01:48:00.000-08:00

I love getting cool Twisted pics from fans of the series! Here's a few I got just tonite that I wanted to share:

Got an image of this great decade+ old sheet of notebook paper from Twitter follower @Chrisadactyl! Guy made this when he was 12 years old and found it after all this time! How cool is that?!?

Longtime twitter follower and super passionate TM fan @Needles_Kane34

sent me this image he saw in his local Walmart! I LOVE seeing these kinds of 'out in the wild' Twisted Metal ads and images! It's so cool to know the clown is out there, burrowing into the minds of consumers all over America! If you spot anything similar, please please please, send it in to me?!? Thanks! And thanks Needles- fucking love this!

And finally from my buddy Doc- who yes, you may remember from season one of the PSN show THE TESTER- sent this pic of a sticker announcing the trailer on the blu ray of Priest! I've not see the movie yet (trailer looked cool) and I honestly don't know what trailer is on the blu ray but pretty damn cool! Thanks Doc! Oh, and keep an ear out for a podcast Doc and I are gonna record in the next few weeks!

Ok- that's it- it's super late and I'm crashing! Talk soon!

David

Liar, Liar, Pants On Fire!

2011-12-11T00:17:00.000-08:00

++++EDIT/UPDATE+++++++
New update at end of the post
+++++++++++++++++++++++

Turns out Platinum lied to Kotaku about making METAL GEAR: RISING. Truth came out at tonite's Spike VGAS.

I had an interesting Twitter conversation about this with the great reporter who was the one being lied to- Kotaku's Stephen Totilo.

He said there are alternatives to lying such as saying ,'no comment.'

I said in this day and age- and perhaps back in the day as well- saying 'no comment' is/was the same as saying 'well the answer is yes but I can't say yes to you because that would put me in a bad spot'.

Stephen offered up some less obvious phrases than 'no comment' such as 'we don't comment on rumors and speculation' and I think he has a point, that there are some things you can say that really do allow the interviewer and the interviewee to emerge from the conversation with their reps and responsibilities intact. So for me, that was a good lesson to me from Mr. T (ha! I crack me ol' pirate self UP!) and I was done thinking about it.

But then I saw this from Matt Leone, the talented and veteran 1up.com reporter. It's a question to his readers, asking if they dislike it when game developers lie to them. He cites tonight's MGS:Rising lie as well as the one I pulled in order to make sure the Twisted Metal E3 2010 reveal came off as a surprise.

Give it a read. It's pretty interesting, as are the comments from his readers (my analysis of the comments is the vast majority of Matt's readers feel lying is ok if it helps the game and protects secrets the team can't share but it's shitty when it hurts the customer...and I would agree with that view).

One of the things that bugged me about Matt's story was Matt's comment about 'the best spokespeople' are the ones who are able to distract the reporter or find loopholes to throw the reporter 'off the trail' when a reporter asks a question they don't want to answer.

I'm bothered by this because Matt's statement implies that it's accepted and it's simply how things are done that the experienced folks interviewed by the press have a bag of tricks that allow them to not have to lie but still allow the reporter to get a quote that's factual enough to print. I'm bothered that this is accepted and- it seems- and expected way to go about the job of getting and giving an interview.

Why would a journalist be ok with this and accept this status quo as anything other than shitty?!?

Plus, to me, an interview subject that uses 'loopholes' to get out from lying or telling the truth is the WORST spokesman, not the best.

Now look: I am as hard core a believer in journalism as you can get. I believe in the freedom of information act to the point that I would give my life defending it, I DESPISE the way government has treated journalists since the start of the Bush #2 term, I thought how the White House treated poor Helen Thomas- a national treasure, regardless of her views on Palestine- was the epitome of disrespect, and I am in awe of genuinely great reporters who risk reputation and sometimes life in order to give the world the truth. Oh, and Broadcast News is one of my top 10 movies of all time! So there!

But all that said: when did journalists begin to mistake themselves for judges speaking to witnesses who are legally under oath to answer questions truthfully? While there are certainly those great journalists- in every field, from super serious foreign affairs reporting to more fun entertainment reporting- who thankfully take their job very seriously to inform the public, I can say- speaking for myself- that I take my job to entertain the public just as seriously (and sometimes if I have to out and out lie to protect secrets that are going to make our product- that we've slaved for YEARS on, often times over 100 individuals working as a team- more entertaining for the people who pay out bills (i.e. the customers), then I won't even think twice before I do it).

I think I've been pretty open over the years when game journalists ask me all kinds of things and so I think most folks know that I'm a pretty honest individual. But if I can make our customers happier and more excited by lying to a reporter and thus revealing a title at the right time, then that's what I'll do.

And if I can lie to a journalist in order to protect information that will hurt my team if I reveal it, I'll do that in a heartbeat as well.

The only lie I would never tell is one that would hurt the customer (i.e. 'yes, we are shipping with 30 vehicles in the new Twisted Metal' when in fact, I know we will only ship with 17; or releasing screenshots that are CLEARY not representative of anything even close to the game we're shipping or videos that clearly are not representative of the game or the game experience we are shipping). To me, those are lies that HURT the customer and hopefully - if we do engage in that brand of dishonesty- the reporters and- more importantly- our customers-will lose faith in us quickly.

But there's a difference between a lie meant to entertain (i.e. you think the magician on stage sawing the woman in half is supposed to tell you 'now folks, this is all bullshit and I'm not really sawing her in half'?!?) or a lie meant to protect the integrity of the product (i.e. 'Oh Mr. Reporter, your question is ''does Neo turn out to be THE ONE at the end of the Matrix trilogy? Sure, let me tell you that he DOES even though the last movie is still 10 months away!'') and a lie meant to trick your customers into thinking what they are going to pay for is different from what you know you are selling (i.e. saying 'our game is 100+ hours of gameplay!' when it's really only 12). I think reporters should blast the SHIT out of us and then never speak with us again if we lie like the later example because we are hurting their ability to do their job for their paying customers. I get that. But the former types of lies? I don't lose a wink of sleep over them. And I'm just surprised reporters think they are owed those sorts of truths JUST BECAUSE they ask for them!

Tell you what, if you expect us to answer those kinds of questions, then we should expect the same in reverse. I want to know what EXACTLY went down with the Kane and Lynch/Gamespot/Gertsman-gate deal. I want to know which magazines and websites have gotten favors and cash in exchange for good reviews. I want game journalists to publicly stamp a big, digital 'YELLOW JOURNALISM' sticker atop every headline that they intentionally sensationalize just to get clicks. I want to know the sources of all the anonymous tip offs you journalists are given. I have a feeling that if I phrased all of those above desires as direct questions and then asked them to reporters point blank, those reporters would not run the risk of hurting their businesses- and thus their customers- and so would not answer the questions. Be their answer an out and out lie or a 'no comment' (which I would really advise them not to do because- as I said- 'no comment' to a direct question equals a 'yes' in the minds of today's readers), I don't think we'd get a 100% truthful answer from the majority of journalists in the majority of cases. And I would not blame the journalists one bit for not answering. We're not owed those sorts of truths.

(Note: I don't really WANT answers to these above things...well, I mean, I DO, but I respect journalism enough to respect that I will never get those answers, nor should I). But it just seems hypocritical for journalists to feel the world should be laid bare at their feet just cause they ask a question, but they don't want to reciprocate in kind.

I've had- and hope to continue to have- a fantastic and fun relationship with most game journalists in this biz, but I have to say: I am surprised that a reporter thinks they are just naturally owed the truth by people they interview. If they want the truth, they have to be willing to demand it and fight for it in the cases where they think they are being lied to. When you interview the President of the United States and you feel he's lying, pushing back when you feel he/she is dodging your question (or is out and out lying) is good for your audience. But in entertainment journalism I would imagine it's a bit different.

If I told someone we were not making Twisted Metal- which I did- and they had a gut sense I was full of shit (which I was, 100%!)- is it justified for them to sneak into the Shrine to watch and record rehearsals for the Sony E3 Press Conference just to prove I am lying?

I guess for SOME journalists it would be, but is that really what their customers want? Sure, that reporter may have caught me in a lie (a lie that I was happy to turn myself in for 30 min after the press conference started) but is it worth doing that at the expense of being banned from all future Playstation press events for sneaking into a private rehearsal? Speaking truth to George Bush or Obama and not giving a shit about the consequences is good reporting, because getting to the truth trumps all because that is what the people want and need! But doing the same in entertainment reporting? To me, that's a bit nuts. But that's easy for me to say cause I'm the guy who gets to lie and is justifying it :)...

Anyway, interesting topic to me (clearly) and I just wanted to ramble on it. Eager to bump unto my journalist friends in real life soon and get their views on this in person. My mind is willing to be changed; again- big supporter of good, hard news and am in awe of reporters- but at the moment, I'm more surprised by this article than anything else.

David

++++EDIT/UPDATE++++

While I stand by the above 100%, in my almost 20 years working in video games, the ONLY time I have lied- far as I recall- was when asked (by press and by fans) was a game being made (i.e. TWISTED) that I knew was being made but that I could not talk about. So I lied and said no. I DO think there are other kinds of lies that are acceptable (and I've gone into detail on what those are above), but for the record: I've never used any of those other kinds of lies. Not that I should expect some of you to believe me at this point :)...but hell, what are you gonna do. At least I'm being honest about the lying, I suppose.

++++++END UPDATE++++++

This ONLINE PASS thing...

2011-12-07T22:55:00.000-08:00

While it would be nice to take to heart the 'Jaffe's such a man of the people' well wishes that are coming my way from folks who usually dislike my virtual presence, I feel the need to clear up my stance on online passes.

In doing so, I’m sure some of my new ‘fans’ will call me an ass but at least I’ll be an honest ass.

Granted before they call me an ass I imagine some of them will talk to me about used car and used CD sales and on and on and on and on. Blech. Enough. It’s a junior high school debate team quality argument and you should know better. So moving on…

Point is this: I like used sales for customers. The customer should ALWAYS get the best deal they can. Been saying this for years and if you've followed this blog and my tweets, you know I've been unwavering on this view.

Now sure, while anyone who creates anything should always pursue and desire to create work that is so moving and so excellent that it creates a sense of loyalty in the customer, the honest bottom line is: the customer doesn’t owe us shit other than the cost we ask for to purchase the work we’ve done. And we have to- as we should- work our ASSES off- with each and every new product- to earn the customer’s renewed desire to hand their precious money over to us in exchange for a product that- we hope- will bring them the promised effect (joy, entertainment, sustenance,etc).

But besides paying the cost of the product, the customer doesn’t owe us anything and I can tell you that when we put out a new game, we wait with baited breath hoping the customer will love- or at least like- what we’ve sold them because if they do, it means we may get a chance to do what we love once again.

But the core transaction is: we make something and (in my world) the publisher (who pays for that something) sets a price and the customer pays or doesn’t. And if the customer doesn't pay, then the publisher goes out of business. And the customer should not care. The customer should ALWAYS look out only for himself and should ALWAYS get the best deal they can and not give 2 shits if the publisher or the developer is making money or not.

Now I'm not saying it’s not appreciated and nice when customers DO say stuff like ‘I buy my games new so the developer and publisher who paid for the game and bled for the game make the cash’…that fucking ROCKS to hear! I'm just saying those are nice surprises when we hear them, but we don’t expect that to be the general thinking and frankly, it should not be the general thinking. To me, the general customer thinking ideally should be: ‘Man, I love the games company X makes! They’ve made me so happy over the years and I feel like I’ve always gotten more value than what I paid for whenever I buy one of their products! Man, I just love that company and...Oh, what's that you say?!? They have a new game coming out? Well, it BETTER fucking good or those guys ain’t seeing a dime of my cash!’….

So that’s my take on customers who buy games, used or otherwise.

HIGH CONCEPT: I like used game sales for customers. Customer is always right. I get it and I like it.

BUT

I don’t like used sales for publishers and developers. I fucking hate what used sales do to publishers and developers. We make no cash at all when a game is sold used.

I wish retailers would cut us in on the action.

I get people don’t think we legally should be cut in on the action and they are 100% right.

Legally speaking, I mean.

Retailers don’t owe us shit other than what they promised in the deal that was signed.

We- or in my case, the game publisher- entered into a deal with the retailers and, far as I know, that deal didn’t involve publishers or developers making cash off the games the retailer sells to the customer used. I got no issue with that. It sucks, but hey, you live by the deal you make. Works for me.

Now, I do wish the retailers would cut us in as I personally like most retailers I’ve met and think they are honest and hard working folks as well and would like to see us all do well. But because the folks who pay to make the games are not getting a dime from a large (majority?) amount of sales the retailers do, I do think it’s bringing about digital distribution a hell of a lot faster than it otherwise would have. Which means sooner than later- just like record stores and soon to be book and comic book stores- those retailers (again, many of whom I like a lot) will be out of work.

And while I understand the point of view that used games actually help new games sell, and think in SOME customer’s cases this is totally true- we’ve seen way too much deterioration in the game business as of late for me to think that reasoning is pervasive among enough consumers that it counters the sales lost by publishers on used games. And so…

I do feel a large % of that console software biz deterioration comes from the used game market cutting into the game maker’s ability to break even (let alone turn a profit).

Other than used game sales, I also get that another large % of the retail console software biz deterioration comes from the fact that MOST games cost too much to make and MOST games cost too much out of the consumers pocket. 60 bucks is a lot of muh-fukin-money for ANYTHING other that food and roof and shelter. No doubt. So hell yeah- at that price- customers are gonna be even MORE motivated to get the best deal they can. Why the hell not?!? So the games cost too much (to make and to buy...but I've seen the break evens and budgets folks...I assure you: there is not a lot of padding in these things...at the cost of most 60 dollar games, break evens are close to 1 million units sold and often times more...at that point the argument logically goes to: well SOME games sell amazing at 60 bucks so just make those! And to that I direct you here*)

Another big reason console game profits are falling is free and free to play games and less expensive download only games that- in many cases- are providing as much entertainment value as the big $60.00 games (again, I said ‘entertainment value’, not graphic quality or scope or similar experience as console gaming). Got no issue with this. If someone can entertain you for 99 cents good enough, why WOULD you pay $60 for anything OTHER THAN SIMPLY THE CREAM OF THE MUH-FUKIN-CROP, especially when that 'good enough but not great' $60 game will be $50 bucks used in just a few days...and 20 bucks in a month! So I get there are other reasons the 60 dollar game market is getting all fucked up.

It ain’t JUST used sales.

And you know, that’s not even a bad thing.

Fuck it. If the traditional console market gets the shit disrupted out of it to the point that there are only 1-2 big budget games from 5-6 big publishers a year because that is what the free market decided, well then fuck it: that’s progress and disruption and it’s exciting and fun and I’m honored and privileged to be a part of it the biz at such an exciting time. Games have been around in some form or another for over 5000 years. We ain’t going nowhere. So cool- bring change on. I’m in.

But RIGHT NOW we are still in the 60 dollar physical good space and that is space we are talking about. So…

…unless someone can show facts to the contrary (i.e. if there are facts out there that show that new games actually sell MORE because of used games, can you please provide a link? And don’t send me a link of the pres of some mega corp retailer just SAYING that…show us the figures, please…show us the stats)…but yeah, so unless you can show actual proof that used sales help new sales (and I don’t think you can, but I’m willing to admit I’m wrong if you can), it seems that a big % of the reason that it is feast or famine for the majority of retail console games is NOT because gamers actually feel the industry’s games are not worth 60 bucks, but it’s because the game you wanted that was 60 bucks 24 hours ago can now be purchased the day after release for a 5 or 10 dollar discount! Why would most people NOT WAIT the scant 12-36 hours it often takes for a BRAND NEW GAME to be sold used?

And when the folks who make and/or finance the games don’t see a dime because the customer has been fiscally responsible and waited for a less expensive price for the IDENTICAL EXPERIENCE (which- by the way- is one of the big reasons ((but not the only one)) where the used car comparison breaks down), it becomes harder and harder for the folks who fund the games to break even, let alone profit.

So why would us in the game biz try NOT to get some of that cash for ourselves, especially since there is truth when publishers tell you that it costs a lot of money to run online games and there are a large % of players playing these games for free and game makers/publishers should not have to take on the extra cost of maintaining the online game experience for those folks who have not paid us a dime.

*I get some folks will say, 'Well just make a game that I don’t want to sell back, you fucking idiot game maker loser greedy fuck'! And to that I say: yeah, fuck off. Actually I first say, ‘say good bye to story based games that last 8 hours (still a good fucking deal compared to a movie ticket considering you get to own the game and play it multiple times and a movie ticket lets you watch it a single time and then it’s a memory). And THEN I say to say goodbye even a lot of the long SP games cause those are getting hit as well...sure it may take a few weeks longer for a long game like Skyrim or Darksiders to hit USED but it'll get there, an it won't take long. So I say those things first. And THEN I say fuck off. And THEN I say, “show me something fun that never gets old and I’ll show you someone masturbating’.

And you know what’s funny? Besides that last line, I mean?

What's funny is: if used game sales for almost new games were selling briskly for 30 bucks less but barely a dollar more, then a message would be coming to us game makers loud and clear. That message would be ‘your products are wayyyyyy too expensive! We don't think they are worth 60 bucks or 50 bucks or even fucking 40 ass bucks!!!'....But a lot of used game sales are a tiny 10 bucks off. Usually less…like 5 bucks off! And they sell great! So you’re saying that SHADOWS OF THE DAMNED makes sense at 55 dollars but not 60?!? Or the brilliant RAYMAN:ORIGINS would have sold much better at 50 bucks but not 60?** Please. It’s a bullshit argument that really can only be logically made by folks who NEVER pay more than 30 bucks a game.

So all this rambling is me saying these three things about the online pass:

- -#1- I like the online pass for most games. I'm happy to be affiliated with a publisher that is at least TRYING to find a way to keep making big budget games that don't have to just be military shooters. Not that military shooters are bad, I love those kinds of games- they are great! But I also love that big publishers are willing- and currently able- to roll the big ass money dice on some titles that are more imaginative and unique (conceptually, IP wise) than military shooters. And if it turns out an online pass allows those publishers to keep rolling those dice on things like THE LAST GUARDIAN or LA NOIR or SHADOW RUN or BULLETSTORM or MASS EFFECT (on paper, that game- amazing as it turned out- could not have looked like a slam dunk, could it?!?) or NO MORE HEROES or yes, even TWISTED METAL and STARHAWK...then so motherfuckin be it.

- #2- I don’t like the online pass for TWISTED METAL but not for some 'man of the people/Jaffe really gets the customer and wants to stick it to the publisher/man' 'noble' reason. The ONLY reason I want Twisted Metal to ship without the online pass is because the big picture in my mind is to get as many folks trying Twisted Metal- even folks that we make NO money off of- so that if we ever make a part 2, our fan base will be much bigger and then on THAT game use the online pass.

- #3-I could be wrong about online passes. It could be true that making customers use online passes is actually hurting sales. Perhaps the vocal minority who say ‘they will never buy a game with an online pass’ is really quite a big ass group. And in that case- as I hope it’s clear by now- we should never do an online pass and figure out how- if at all- we can deal with the used sales issue that has significantly contributed to the drop in software dollars publishers (and thus developers) have been seeing as of late. I’m all for letting the market decide and if the market says ‘we hate online passes’ then fuck it, you ignore your customers at your own peril and I don't want to play that game. Again, customer is always right. But I really don't think that's what is going on here.

David

** I enjoyed SHADOWS OF THE DAMNED and LOVE RAYMAN:ORIGINS (top 5 of the year, for sure) but I am just saying that if someone was willing to pay 55 bucks for RAYMAN, then they are willing to pay 60. I don't know if the number of folks who will buy RAYMAN:ORIGINS used (thus denying Ubisoft of any cash) is enough to bring them into profit (assuming they have not broken even- but I know NOTHING about that game's dev or cost...just using it as example cause I love it and it doesn't seem to have 'BIG 60 dollar hit!' written on it)...but no matter how much extra Ubisoft would make on that game if they got some of the used sales, at least it's SOMETHING they can add to get them closer to profit. Doesn't matter if you are talking a brilliant 60 dollar game that doesn't sell, a shitty 60 dollar game that does, or - best case- a brilliant 60 dollar game that flies off the shelf, the folks who financed it and made it NEED a cut from those used sales if the 60 dollar games biz is to survive in a form even somewhat resembling the current one. And again- if it doesn't survive- that's fine too. 99 cents, 10 bucks, 100 bucks...been wanting digital distribution and varied pricing tiers for years anyway! :)

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!!!

2011-10-31T06:18:00.000-07:00

Nice to see good ol' Needles and Kratos representing the freaks and killers of the world this All Hallow's Eve! Thanks for sending these in, ya'll!

Here's AG3N1US about to get his sweet tooth on! Mmmmmm....cup cakes! :)

And here's one of AG3N1US in a bad ass action pose (clearly with a friend he picked up while playing THE HEIST!)

Shit, be careful Joe_Stein89...the tip on that knife is sharp and fine! ...see what I did there? I took his name and made a...ah, never mind. Fuck off! :)

JRUFFLER looking creepy with that neat, evil green glow!

Love the semi big headed look of this version of Tooth by LI_MILOE. That mask is super, super cool!

And how could we forget the God of War himself?!? Where'd you get those blades, NINJEL1? Looking very cool!

Thanks Batdump! The way the pic was shot makes it look like Kratos in Big Head Mode! :) Very cool costume! But why so sad?!?

Game Journalism's bad boy (yes, I just wrote that...), Destructoid's own Jim Sterling! Thanks Jim! When we gonna do a podcast together?!?! And by the way, I thought your love note to that hater earlier today was quite hilarious ('I am in love with you'), not to mention super romantic :)...

Ok, I cheat a bit. This is a guy from DragonCon that Edwinshouse tweeted me about. BUT I assume with a costume this cool, he'll be wearing it tonite as well! :)

Sweet Tooth, you will kill Captain America now! The Red Skull demands it!!!

Happy Sweet Tooth Halloween, compliments of Mr. QweggBomb!

Talk about a Tag Team! Sweet Tooth and MJ, kicking some major ass on Halloween night! I assume Tooth used propofol to light his hair on fire?!? Thanks MetinVeyda!

The man, the myth, the mo-fuckin' legend: NUCLEAR JOHNSON! Wait...now that I just typed that name out I THINK I finally get it. It's a penis joke, yes? Anyway, Nuke: thanks for the great feedback on Twisted from PAX! Super helpful and super appreciated! Thanks for being a fan of the series- means tons to us!

And the award for Sweet Tooth with the coolest alter ego goes to: KAPTNGRAVES!

If you are heading out as one of our characters this year (or if you see someone out and about today in a Twisted or God of War costume), take a pic and send it to the blog, if you don't mind? Thanks!

Ok- gonna get the day rolling early so I can hopefully shut down around 5:30 and get the trick or treating rolling with the kids! Be safe and have today/tonight ya'll!

David

Meeting Heroes Rocks Much!

2011-10-28T22:13:00.000-07:00

It's a stunning/humbling moment when one of your heroes becomes one of your friends. Amazing and fun to do the IGDA talk with John Mufu*!in' Romero last night! What a cool dude! And check it: there's TWO heroes for the price of one cause Ms. Brenda Brathwaite was there as well and as you probably already know, she kicks much game design/game making ass (she freakin made Train and designed Jagged 'Freakin' Alliance and co-authored one of my fave books on game design!)

Oh...and please don't tell her this but she reminds be a bit of CJ from my favorite show, The West Wing. So last nite talking to her I spent half the time pretending I was President Bartlett. :) Does that make me a crazy person?!?

David

The Return Of Small Brawl?!?!

2011-10-28T20:14:00.001-07:00

Not so much! :)

I mean, MAN, how cool is that?!?! Can't wait!

David

ps. I THINK there's an RC Axel coming as well! Seen stills of the model but not seen the real thing yet.

Lucky/Blessed

2011-10-26T11:10:00.000-07:00

My kids' school sends out a weekly news letter to let the parents know what's going on at the place (fundraisers, book clubs, Halloween parades...stuff of that nature). The letter also contains a note from the principal (a super great guy who's passion for his work inspires me in my own work) and some light/fluff stuff (a little anecdote or quote or some such). This week the letter included this wonderful poem:

Unity
I dreamt I stood in a studio, and watched two sculptors there.
The clay they used was a young child’s mind, and they fashioned it with care.
One was a teacher—the tools she used, were books, music, and art.
The other, a parent—working with a guiding hand, and a gentle loving heart.
Day after day, the teacher toiled with a touch that was deft and sure.
While the parent labored by her side, and polished and smoothed it o’er.
And when at last, their task was done, they were proud of what they had wrought.
For the things they had molded into the child, could neither be sold nor bought.
And each agreed they would have failed If each had worked alone,
for behind the teacher stood the school, and behind the parent, the home.
- Author Unknown

Damn thing almost brought a tear of gratitude to my eye. I'm so grateful my kids go to a such a wonderful, caring public school, especially in this day and age where so many of this country's public schools are letting the kids down (and usually not because the admins and teachers at said school are bad or uncaring...although that sometimes is the case, for sure...). Our whole family is super lucky/blessed (take your pick, or choose both!) to be in such a situation.

David

My Take On Eurogamer's 'Controversial' Uncharted 3 Review

2011-10-25T12:24:00.000-07:00

Eurogamer's 'controversial' review* of Uncharted 3 reminds me of why I love that site's reviews.

I also loved their fair and insightful criticism of Calling All Cars back in the day; how they sussed out the specific reasons for the lack of depth in our game. God, how I wish I had been able to articulate and even realize that flaw during CAC's development! We coulda made some simple changes that would have resulted in a much better title!**

As for U3, I've yet to play the campaign mode, but I played the beta over the summer and really liked it; I enjoyed it more than 99% of human based shooters on the market. And I'm sure I'll love the U3 campaign when I pick it up next week (just as I've loved the earlier Uncharted games).

BUT…

…Eurogamer's conclusion/criticism about games that are super heavy on the 'experience' at the expense of the 'play' (like they claim Uncharted 3 is and like- by my own admission- GOD OF WAR 1 is***) is wonderfully thought out and presented and the only reason it's been labeled 'controversial' has nothing to do with the review itself and everything to do with the sad state of game consumers who have been so effectively conditioned by a number of the gaming press/gaming PR machines that these gamers leap to a title's defense-not that this gem of a game needs defending- without even being open to the reviewer's criticism (be it valid or not). That's tragic. What's even more tragic is I would argue the games medium itself has been damaged by this practice. Irrevocably? No. But it has taken its toll for sure.

So there's that.

BUT…

Besides having some great insight, what's great about the Eurogamer review is that it manages to be both positive and critical at the same time (Garsh! Wonder of Wonders! How'd they do that?!?!)

It doesn't bash U3 at all (for to do so would just be trolling for hits since it's clear there ain't a thing in U3 that is bash worthy) and it clearly sings the game's many wonderful praises and achievements. But it does call out what some people consider a fundamental flaw in many of today's console titles where making 'cinematic experiences'**** seems to have become a more important goal than making games. And it's nice to see that level of criticism and insight in games journalism, especially with a game as hyped and anticipated (and as amazingly great) as Uncharted 3. How refreshing that a great, hyped, and soon-to-be much loved game can be praised while at the same time intelligently and non mean-spiritedly criticized for what a reviewer thinks (agree or not) are genuine issues. Wow, that's just like big boy writing! And I love it! :)

David

*Amazing this review is the one being called 'controversial'. To me, the 10/10 review that either mentions the flaws of the game and still gives a perfect score OR the review that doesn't mention the flaws at all (an even worse crime, assuming the reviewer thought there WERE flaws) is the true controversial review. Gamers that don't see this as a problem need to wake up to the PR machine cause the Matrix has you.

** A lot of people think I bash Calling All Cars at every turn. I don't. I am actually and super proud of the team that made the game, I'm proud of my contributions, and I love playing Calling All Cars in split screen to this day. I just hate that it didn't succeed more and I place that blame squarely on my shoulders (and I've written about that before). I love the game we made but I think it needed more stickiness and more depth (not always the same thing although many will tell you it is), not to mention a more commercial theme. And I kick myself that I didn't push (myself or others) to address these issues.

***A lot of people ask me if I'd ever make another GOD OF WAR (assuming that opportunity was offered) and I always say the same thing: if it were GOD OF WAR meets something like ZELDA (formula wise), then yes (aka Darksiders, right?)…But if it were GOD OF WAR using the current formula, I would not. For me- and this is just me PERSONALLY (I get and respect not everyone shares this same thinking)- directing GOD OF WAR made me realize that as a game designer (and certainly as game director) I want our games to serve the gods of GAMEPLAY first and foremost. My and then team's desire to tell a story/make a movie may or may not get to be fulfilled (depending on the game) but if we do tell a story, it will never come at the expense of the gameplay (the thing that makes our medium matter and special). Games can have story (and many should, such as God of War) and most games- even pure play games- should have strong world and IP. But working on God of War made it clear that- for me- if we have to cut a set piece or bit of spectacle because of our desire to put play first, then so be it. Ideally, the BEST games are those that do both.

But what is really interesting/telling, is that as much hype and fan love as the cinematic experiences get, it's the game-y games that sell and sell and sell. Look at Guitar Hero, MW3, Angry Birds, Farmville, Mario, Madden, Wii sports, and on and on and on. Hell, even GTA sells to MOST folks because they just like to fuck around in the world (the game part). I think hardcore FANS of games love seeing our medium push (successfully or not- YMMV) into the medium of film and utilize techniques from that medium (sometimes surpassing film, as it seems U3 does via the cargo plane sequence alone- Michael Bay simply DREAMS of such a cool scenario!) And I think these fans dig this stuff because it shows off the tech we love (and paid a lot of cash for), it gives us the stunning art our eyeballs crave and the energy/adrenaline our guts respond to, and perhaps (not for all but certainly for some) because it presents what is- to me- a false hope/desire (and a very real display of desperation) that AT LAST our geeky habit is now COOL and RELEVANT and MAINSTREAM! End of the day tho, look at the top of the charts: the GAME STUFF sells buckets when it's themed right and executed well. The EXPERIENCE STUFF sells well too but not near as much as the GAMEY stuff and the EXPERIENCE STUFF costs a hell of a lot more to make in most cases.

****I use the word 'experience' in 'cinematic experience' as shorthand cause ya'll know what I mean. Ironic tho since the whole point the Eurogamer review makes is that the player's actual INTERACTIVE EXPERIENCE is many times relegated to second class status in order to present the player with a more controlled VIEWING experience.

BWAAA HAAAA HAAAA HAAAA!

2011-10-23T21:30:00.000-07:00

Got the house ready for one of the best holidays of the year today! Slammed with work today and really didn't want to spend the time but once I got rolling, I had to keep pushing :)!

It's also fun that- now that my kids are a bit older (6 & 8)- I get to go darker and creepier :)!

LOVE that dripping blood! Tomorrow when I get a sec and I need to smooth out the top line so there's no light peeking thru, but besides that: I think it's super cool!

Phantom in the bushes!!!

Behind the scenes (aka the kids' playroom totally demolished so I could stick all this stuff in the window)!

Packaging for the blood. Freakin' $2.99 a pack at Rite Aid! It's this thick, very sticky pre shaped gel and man, if this stuff actually clings to the window for a whole week and is still up on Oct 31st, I'm gonna buy stock in this damn company! Ok, not really...but still: it's really neat!

Saw this at Rite Aid while picking up the blood. I just want you to think about something for a moment: I'm 40 and I played this system 30-33 years ago and these were the games I grew up on. $25-$35 per game at the time and now here we are, a few decades later and you can play 60 of the damn games for what used to be the price of a single one! I know it's hard to imagine but in 30 years time, we'll be playing Uncharted 3, Gears of War 3, Battlefield 3, COD MW3, and yes, Twisted Metal PS3 for a similar deal! Granted, it'll just be in a browser window or a we'll be playing a holographic image of the game, but still: just amazing how fast state of the art becomes charmingly nostalgic...

Ok- gotta do a call then get to bed. Up at 5am to Twisted some mutha fuckin' Metal! Later!

David

Where The Magic Is Made...

2011-10-22T15:36:00.000-07:00

...or at least a hell of an awful lot of it! I certainly don't want to make light of the significant Sony contributions to Twisted Metal (many departments, starting with Santa Monica PD and going through Marketing and Sound and Movies and on and on and on) or the invaluable contributions made by many 3rd party companies (not to mention my own work that is on display in the game), but this is where the Eat Sleep Play Utah team takes all of that stuff and turns it into a full fledged game:

Pretty unassuming, eh?!? Certainly not as cool as the Blizzard campus with the fucking Warcraft statue/fountain out front! :)

But before you judge too harshly, know this: Besides being a very cool building in which to work (it was an old hardware building built-I think-in the early 1900's) this building is also the NEXUS of kick ass game making in Salt Lake City!

Or at least one of the Nexi (it's Nexi, right??!)...

Cause besides Eat Sleep Play, this same building houses CHAIR (the amazing Shadow Complex/Infinity Blade creators) and SMART BOMB INTERACTIVE (creators of the fantastic kid's MMO Animal Jam, a game my daughters have been addicted to for the last 4-6 months!)

So there ya go!

David

Disney Days

2011-10-22T15:18:00.000-07:00

Hit Disneyland and California Adventure last Sunday. FIrst time back since May because work has kept me so bizzy. But I needed some quality time with my girls and we'd been away from one of our favorite places for too long. So I made the time and we went. Took some pics. Just wanted to share a few:

Our season passes! Got them in May but this was the first chance we had to use them. Man I love the Disney Season Pass!

Nice to see Uncle Walt was also a firm believer in iteration. Good ol' Iteration: can't make a successful creative project with out it.

Vampires on Space Mountain?!? This is the image that came back to us after we got off the Halloween version of the amazing coaster. WTF?!?

Both my kids are now brave enough to take on TOWER OF TERROR! This is a pic of the entrance to the ride car itself after you walk thru a super detailed line queue of an old, haunted Hollywood hotel. I've only ridden TOT once before last weekend (when my oldest had just turned 5) and the theme/set dressing/story scared her so bad, she's lived in fear of it ever since. This time, her younger sis wanted to go so she wrangled up some courage and we rode it! They both loved it and so did I...

As you can clearly see from this pic! :)

Ah, Mr. Bradbury-what a fan I am! So cool they did this for your classic story!

Pumpkins hanging from the Halloween Tree branches...

One of my favorite rides- The Haunted Mansion- all decked out for its Halloween/Xmas mash up. Love the gingerbread smell!

Pumpkins all up in the woods as we wait in line to enter the mansion...

Words to live by posted in the queue for Splash Mountain. And yes, we took the plunge in FUCKING OCTOBER!

As you can clearly see from this pic! :). Yeah we got soaked but were dry within 15 minutes! Love me some So Cal weather!

By the way, check this out:

That's about 1 year ago...check out the faces of my kids (same front position in each pic...I always try to get us the front of the log rides and the back of the coasters if I can!)...what a difference a year makes! From being scared to loving the thrill...there's a metaphor/life lesson/greeting card in there somewhere but I'm too lazy to sniff it out...

Ok, that's all I got for now- later ya'll!

David

ps...damn I hope that pic of me in the poncho doesn't end up as a gif on GAF or some such down the line. Ah well- the price I pay for sharing my life! :)...

pps. I'm not that vain of a guy but my brother did make me feel like a total wimp for wearing a poncho on a water ride. So as you can see in the most recent pic, those days are long gone :)...

TUNING THA GAME!

2011-10-20T15:11:00.000-07:00

Subject to change a shite ton of times before we ship. This is just what it looks like right now.

And in fact, this is just a list of a few of the many variables we're tuning but I wanted to look at hit points vs. speed vs special weapons only.

Those variables tend to be the big 3 that are most noticable at first. The nuanced variables such as time to break out of an EMP freeze or turbo drain speed are the variables we'll use to 'season' the vehicle distinctions once the core personalities are coming thru.

David

NEW TWISTED METAL SCREENS!!!

2011-10-20T09:03:00.000-07:00

Just wanted to share! Have a great day ya'll!

Mr. Grimm and his gunner taking on Iron Maiden!

She so big! If you can't tell, that's Outlaw wayyyyy down there (that little black & white smattering of pixels)....

Just in time for Halloween: here's Preacher- driving SHADOW- showing off the super powerful MAGNUM sidearm. The battleground is the HAUNTED CASTLE sub level of the game (a sub map of THRILLS & SPILLS AMUSEMENT PARK)

David

DEATH OF AUTO TUNE...

2011-10-15T18:17:00.000-07:00

Tuning a game is hands down the most fun and most satisfying part of the game making process. It's where all of the grueling work of the whole team begins to really pay off.

Just this last week, check out what me, Scott, Kellan, the rest of the ESP gang, Chad (from Sony Santa Monica), and Sony San Diego QA tuned and it will give you an idea of how fun/exciting/rewarding this time in the life of making a game is!

NOTE: A lot of these numbers may be too big right now but we were feeling the vehicles were not feeling distinct enough and so we wanted to push those numbers way out to make sure we could give the vehicles really big, clear, individual voices and then we'll start dialing some/all of those big numbers back in a bit.

WHAT WE TUNED IN THE LAST 5 DAYS:

a) Kamakazi's Turn Radius- went from a bit better than the other vehicles to CRAZY GOOD. Super easy to over shoot the 180 flips now BUT once you master the turn, he really is a BLAST to drive!

b) Upped Reapers Flame Saw from 70 hit points to 150 mother fucking hit points!

c) Upped the NUKE MISSILE hit point- in NUKE MODE- from 50hp (which we intentionally set way too low for the PAX build and- frankly- had forgotten to set it back) up to 150 hp! Now shooting the missile down is very possible but either 1 member of your team needs to be the designated missile attacker (i.e. stocked up with powerful weapons and posted up somewhere with a pretty good vantage point) OR a handful of your team needs to be prepped to go into 'shoot the missile down!' mode if the enemy manages to launch the nuke.

d) Started messing with the Ram Matrix to make sure the bigger vehicles did MEGA RAM DAMAGE to other vehicles and to make sure the smaller vehicles were doing less damage than they were in the PAX build. Up until just yesterday, the spread between a medium sized vehicle's max ram damage and JUGGERNAUT's max ram damage was too small to really differentiate that aspect of the vehicle's personality.

e) Game Programmer extraordinaire Ryan added a tweaker to allow each of the 17 vehicles to have their own distinct EMP/FREEZE attack homing variable, meaning some vehicles have amazing homing applied to their freeze attack while other vehicles don't get any homing applied to freeze at all.

f) got to see the mechanic where if you freeze the copter, it drops super fast like a stone from the sky…giving players on the ground a great counter to the copter's ability to attack from above.

g) got to see the code where each vehicle has it's own 'breakout of freeze' strength, meaning a vehicle like REAPER forces the player to only pound the buttons a little to break out of the freeze whereas a vehicle like Outlaw takes a long time to break the freeze if he gets EMP blasted.

h) Increased some of the SACRIFICE CIRCLE ring sizes in NUKE which we were feeling might have been too small for a fun battle. Too big of a ring and you it's too hard to defend, too small (like we had it) and it's just too chaotic and you can't really do anything but button mash and hope for the best. We're not locked to our core ring size yet (we didn't tune the 'how long a vehicle takes to launch a nuke' number along with the sacrifice circle size yet) but my gut tells me we should go at least a LITTLE bigger on the Sacrifice Rings than what we showed at PAX/E3.

i) Messed around with hit points of vehicles to make players really sense the armor of the vehicles. For example, we've kept Reaper at 90 for now, but we popped Outlaw from 160 up to 300 meaty ass hitpoints (although we need to bring down the damage his special weapon currently does in order to compensate)

j) Showed our in game cinematic to San Diego QA and got some GREAT feedback. A number of slow parts from the movies (i.e. the looooong radio opening that you may have seen here) are being sped up this coming week. We'll also be removing some of the lines/moments from the movies that the QA folks were saying felt on the cheesy side.

k) Began our final PICK UP pass, starting with NYC. Made sure to put our BIG 3 PICK UPS (the ones we want players to fight over/covet, memorize placement locations, care about) in more strategic, memorable locations and adjusted the derivative levels so they retain the core pick up logic from the main maps but have some special case pick up placement to account for the smaller level's intent. If you were wondering: our big 3 pick ups are: HEALTH, MEGA GUNS, and the POWER MISSILE. Sure, other pick ups are great too and for some players, they will covet other pick ups along with (or instead of) these main 3. But still we wanted the all players to feel that these 3 pick ups are pretty special.

l) Adjusted FACTION LEADER locations for NUKE for some of the maps that needed some love (mainly Theme Park, where we had the leaders spawning at the same area of the map- roughly- and since the map is so big, it was ALWAYS a big trek from one side of the map ((where the faction leader was)) to the other side of the map ((where the stationary Nuke launcher was)) ). I don't mind these big treks from time to time, but not every time.

m) Added a COOL DOWN period for MOBILE MISSILE LAUNCHERS in NUKE because the San Diego QA players were launching 3 missiles from the mobile launcher within the space of 30 seconds at times and that just ain't good :)…

n) Agreed to put in a FALL TO DAMAGE logic for ranked games in levels like rooftops where you take a bit of damage (45 hit points) if you fall but you will respawn BUT after a 10 second delay. We were going to make it FALL TO DEATH in ranked games (host can still choose this setting in an unranked game) but it was brought up that grievers on your own team could intentionally fuck with your team by falling and dying over and over just to piss your team off (i.e. if you fall, we take points from your team to dissuade a player who is about to die from just driving off a ledge so the enemy doesn't get a kill)….

o) Agreed to a visual change on the POWER/HOMER/STALKER missile pick ups so the 3 missiles are much more clear. For the longest time, Scott and I both were confused over which was which and given that one of those missiles does 12 points of damage and the other does 75, it's pretty important you know- at a distance and going at super high speeds- if that pick up in the far distance is one you want to go after or ignore.

p) Worked with ESP QA to adjust cameras for 3/4 player split screen as a bunch of them were not showing off enough of the horizon and this making play a bit frustrating.

There was a bunch more but you get the idea! And as I imagine you can tell by the list above, all these changes really make a HUGE difference in how well the game plays!

Here's a video of the tuning sessions I took with my new Ipad2…love the damn thing! Altho as you can tell, I shot it upside down and didn't even know it (didn't look upside down when I shot it, I assure you!)…I had a more detailed tuning video but accidentally erased it…sorry bout that :(…

Ok- gotta get some work done tonite then hitting the hay early as tomorrow is a Disneyland day with the kids! We've not been there since May and me and the girls are jonesin' for the Dland...especially since my youngest is now old enough to want to ride the Halloween themed Space Mountain AND go on Tower Of Terror for the very first time! :)

Talk soon- hope you're all well!

David

BEHOLD...THE JUGGERNAUT!!!!

2011-07-15T10:51:00.000-07:00

I LOVE this image and I LOVE this vehicle!

Scott and I have been wanting a semi with trailer in a Twisted Metal game since we worked on the first title back in 1995! We finally got it!

And not only did we get it! But we got it and THEN some!!! Check it out:

Juggernaut lets your teammates drive their vehicles inside the BACK of the damn trailer and then man weapons attached to the top of the trailer! All while the driver of Juggernaut is busy ramming the hell out of the bad guys! But be careful cause if you open your trailer doors to let your buddies inside, ANY SHOT that lands INSIDE the trailer does 2.5X damage!

God, I love this vehicle! :)

Thanks to Donald and Kellan at Eat Sleep Play for grabbing this amazing screen!

David

ps. And yes, if you are wondering, we limit the number of Juggernaut's a team can use in ranked team games. So for Nuke, your team only gets 1 Juggernaut for the whole game. So it's best if your coordinate with your team to decide if you wanna use him as transport or offensively or defensively or at the opening, mid, or end game...Same logic will apply to other 'class like' vehicles such as Talon (the helicopter) and Junkyard Dog (the medic)...For unranked games you can turn this logic off and have- for the most part- as many of these vehicle types as you like...

TWISTED METAL BOX ART!

2011-07-14T18:17:00.000-07:00

+++++++EDIT+++++

Oooh, one more! This one from OLDMARIO on my Twitter account....man, this one is dang cool!!! Thanks Sir OldMario :)!

+++++END EDIT+++++

So TWISTED METAL BOX ART!!!!...well, not really :) ...not yet :)...

However, I saw these over on Twisted Metal Alliance and wanted to share.

First up is a fan created box art from Minion89:

Wanna know how I know it's fake? Well, other than for the simple fact that it's...fake? That big, shiny EAT SLEEP PLAY logo on the FRONT COVER. We gotta earn our stripes as a unique company before we are able to negotiate studio logo on the front of the box!

But anyway, I thought this was kinda cool. However, I would never get behind this as the actual cover and I'll tell you why: no cars! As I've said before, one of our mistakes with Twisted Black's box was picking a great image (I felt) that didn't communicate what was inside the box. This image- cool as it is- has the similar issue which is it sells the insane world of Twisted Metal great but it doesn't sell the core fantasy of the play mechanics: CARS WITH GUNS!

Still, pretty neat to see them all in one place. And cool to see Calypso in there as well although I don't think he'll ever make the box just because- from a sales standpoint- his story is nowhere near as important as the core fantasy the game is selling.

Then there's this from SeventyXSeven. Guess he got this at E3 this year?!? I had no clue they were handing these out but now that I know, I need to get me one of those!

This image- as I recall- was one of the MANY images we were looking at for the final box art. Final box is not locked yet tho and I don't think this one is going to be the actual box image. You never know, but I don't think it is. Still, I like it! But again...all the wacky vehicles...but no straight up CAR COMBAT! Gotta make sure that makes it onto the core box!

Ok- slammed as always- talk soon-

David

2011-07-14T00:45:00.000-07:00

For those who have not met our first boss...this is IRON MAIDEN!

And for those folks out there who wonder why we hire amazingly talented artists and animators: these are my sketches of what would become IRON MAIDEN for a pitch document I wrote for the team:

Core concept? CHECK! Some of her rough gameplay represented (that Scott, Kellan, and I fleshed out LOTS more at LAST year's Comic Con)? CHECK! Visual excution above a 5 year old 's art talent level? OH HELLS NO! Thank God I work with a super talented team! :)

Ok, later ya'll!

David

Twisted Metal...brought to life!

2011-07-13T23:54:00.000-07:00

Man I really hope these movies work out! :)

David

How Cool :)...

2011-07-13T23:49:00.000-07:00

Big thanks to super talented De-monVarela over at the super cool DeviantArt site! I know it's probably egotistical to post this but I just thought it was really neat!

I imagine most of us who have worked on these titles feel there is a lot of us in the characters. I know I certainly feel that way, that Kratos and Sweet Tooth are very much inside of me and part of me. So to see a pic like this, well, it's just pretty cool and I wanted to share!

Ok- work's been nuts. Sorry for the lack of updates but what can I say: we've all just been super slammed making the new Twisted Metal!

Comic Con next week! Hope to see some of ya'll at our Saturday 6pm panel!

Take care, ya'll!

David

Prepping For Our Press Event

2011-04-11T09:09:00.000-07:00

As some of you know, Twisted Metal gets to be seen and played by many of the gaming press this coming Wednesday night! Along with a whole host of American journalists that we are super excited and grateful to visit with, SCEE is bringing a heaping-helping of European writers to the event as well! We all know that Twisted has never been as big of a hit in the European territories as it has been in America. Hell, has it even ever been considered a 'hit' at all over there? I really don't think so.

BUT we feel with this version of the game we have a shot at substantially increasing the number of Twisted Metal fans all over the world! And this event is a great opportunity for us to reach out to these potential new fans (as well as inform and entertain the amazing fans we've already got).

So as you might imagine, we're very excited- and a little bit nervous (which I take as a good sign...kind of like butterflies in your stomach before you go on stage!)-about the chance to present the game to all of these very important people (the press that shows up and the gamers who read the press afterwards).

Anway, I WAS going to fly out to Utah last night so today Scott, Kellan, I, and the team could sit and tune driving physics, ramming damage, weapon damage hit points, and a whole host of other valuable tweakers and sliders. However, I hung back to work with Sony San Diego on some videos we will be showing to Wednesday night's press before each level/mode that they play. Sort of like what I did here at last year's E3 breakout session:

I thought this video- which we never intended for anyone outside of the press to see- did a great job of letting people know some more of the more intricate, tactical, meaty details of the game. I was surprised-but very happy- that Giant Bomb captured and posted this breakout session.

And that got us thinking: because we're doing three more of these types of videos/presentations for Wednesday night, we should make sure they get filmed so after the press is done reporting what they want to from the event (we ain't gonna scoop the press at our own press event! :)...) THEN we'll toss the videos of me speaking OVER these 3 new videos onto the net. Should be good: the press (and man, we hope they like what they see and play) - along with these videos being available to those who want to watch them- should really give people a great, thorough idea of what this game is and where it stands.

Sad part is, in order to get the videos locked, it means I have to stay in San Diego and do remote tweaking sessions with the team today. Remote tuning works great BUT it's nowhere near as fun and satsifying as sitting with the team and making the changes in real time.

ANYWAY- all that preamble and set up just to share this:

This is a part of the email that Scott and Kellan and I are using today to discuss outstanding issues still unresolved for the Wednesday night build. It also has a list of things we want to tweak and tune before the doors are forever closed on this particular press build.

So I just wanted to share a little behind the scenes 'making of' stuff from my perspective.

Ok- week is gonna be nuts! May not get to chat till after the event. Will take pics and write up my impressions of the event for an end of the week post, for sure. But if we don't get to talk before: have a great, safe, fun, productive week!

Talk soon-

David

TWISTED METAL LAUNCHES: OCTOBER 4TH, 2011!!!

2011-04-10T07:08:00.000-07:00

Hey! GTTV just launched our brand new TWISTED METAL trailer that- as it turns out- reveals the release date at the end! Thanks to Geoff and Jeremy and the rest of the gang at Gametrailers/GTTV for supporting our game- we really, really appreciate it!

So, check out the trailer below:

Twisted Metal Video Game, Exclusive Broken Trailer | Video Clip | Game Trailers & Videos | GameTrailers.com

What you think? I'm super happy with it and think all the folks at Eat Sleep Play, Sony, Sony VASG, Sony Marketing, Sony PR, Create (the team doing the post work) and Matt Donaldson (our super creative, super nice live action director) did an amazing job on this thing! From the gameplay footage to the live action shots, this is really feeling like the Twisted Metal we've been seeing in our heads for the last few years! So exciting!

Anyway, so: super slammed with the game so no time to chat.

Prepping for a tuning trip in Utah right now (heading out tonight, tuning for 2 days, then in LA Wednesday for our press event). I'll be back on Thursday and post some pics from the event!

Meanwhile, hope you dug our launch trailer and stay tuned for a new, extended version of this trailer (more live action, more gameplay) that should be hitting the net next week sometime (Thursday I THINK?)...

Oh, and check me out on Friday's Playstation blog. I really wished they woulda used the whole edit (it was much more fun and stupid) but hey, it ain't my blog- I'm just glad they are pimping the game and being as supportive and helpful as they are :)...check it out!

Fun video but hell: could they have picked a more unflattering picture of me to freeze frame on?!? Ah well- whatcha gonna do?

Ok ya'll- crazy day ahead of me so I gotta bolt. Gotta: pay tons of bills (been putting that off cause it takes a lot of time) THEN head to Sony to review sound fx for Wednesday night then head to Sony editing to review edits for Wednesday night videos (which I hope to see up on the net soon) then head to the mall to buy some jeans (I literally have 1 pair of socially acceptable jeans at this point cause I've been too busy to go clothes shopping for over a year) then home to pack and get all my tuning notes ready then head out to the airport. Gonna be a busy mo-fukin day! Ok- I'm on it! Later ya'll! Talk soon!

David

GAMERS HEART JAPAN

2011-04-03T20:56:00.000-07:00

Give if you can. DETAILS AND DONATION INFO HERE.

David

ON SET:TWISTED METAL

2011-04-02T13:36:00.000-07:00

Been doing some pick up shots and reshoots for TWISTED METAL's live action, in game cinematics over the last week. We'll finish up this coming week (last day of shooting is Wednesday) and then that'll be all she wrote! At that point, what we'll have 'in the can' (as they say) is all we'll ever be able to get and I HOPE it's enough to make these in game stories amazing!

I'm feeling pretty good about it actually! We've shown the rough cuts to a lot of folks and even with a lot of the current content still consisting of rough 3D animatics and 2D storyboard stick figures (cut in with the finished live action shots), the response has been great! Plus, the stuff we shot last July along with this new stuff is looking fantastic! So I just wanted to share some behind the scenes shots with ya'll. Most of this stuff has already been tweeted but here it is again, all in one place.

At first I was like, "I ain't showing ya'll that video! It looks goofy!" BUT this shot was designed to occur in super slow motion and it's AMAZING how dorky something can look when it occurs at real-life speed (like the video above) but then it takes on a downright creepy/artistic quality when it's played back at super slow mo. This is one of those times :)...

As you can tell, the specifics of the shots are all intentionally vague. I can't give away much of anything at this date (and hell, I'd rather you experience for yourself in the proper context)- but if you are as excited as I am about the new Twisted Metal, I thought you'd dig seeing some of this stuff.

Great weekend ya'll!

David

ps. At first I was worried about showing this stuff so unfinished but man, you guys should see how it looks all processed and tricked out. It's going to look SO DIFFERENT from the pics above that what you are seeing here will be almost unrecognizable! So I figured...why not?!?

The Value of (and difference between) PLAY TESTING and FOCUS TESTING

2011-04-02T13:22:00.000-07:00

Got this post about FOCUS TESTS from blog reader Daniel in the comments section of another post. I thought it was worth addressing the topic in a post of its own. So here goes:

Here's what Daniel wrote:

David, I know you've had experience with focus tests, I've read your piece on when you were doing a live blog during a focus test for one of your games. I don't understand why this happens in the industry.
Why have games become so watered down? Is it because COD4 sold millions of copies that other publishers want the piece of the pie and think their games have to be designed in similar fashion of watering them down?
I just don't understand the need to make games dumber and more accessible. The challenges in-game are what make the games entertaining. I guess if I wanted to just pass time I'd play Solitaire but that is pushing it since it's more challenging than COD4. :)

My thoughts on this:

- Firstly, Play Tests and Focus Tests are different things. A Play Test is when you put the game in front of players who have never played before so the team can learn about nuts and bolts production/gameplay issues. A Play Test teaches you things like: where the game is confusing, too hard, or too easy. It lets you know if a particular puzzle's solution is too obtuse or if the campaign's difficulty ramps at a good pace. Here's just a few of the questions we've used Play Tests to help us answer about the new TWISTED METAL:

- did placing that shotgun pick up near the movie theater doors motivate players to drive near the doors and thus increase the chances of players noticing the doors and thus motivating players to bust down those doors and thus discover there is a whole room behind those doors that many players were never finding?

- which driving control scheme should be our default (the classic and much loved- but very, very dated- controls of TM1,2,and TMB OR a more modern control system ((gas on the shoulders)) that- while modern and expected and much more pick up and play friendly- is not as shooter/car combat friendly as the classic control scheme)?

- Has the VOICE OVER NARRATION and on-screen/HUD text we've put in the game since our LAST Play Test significantly aided brand new players in understanding the rules for our NUKE game mode?

Also: Play Tests bring up brand new (and often times crucial) problems with the game that you and the team never saw coming (either because it's impossible to foresee every problem and/or because after you've been playing and living with the game for 18 months straight, the team gets used to annoyances and folds dealing with those annoyances INTO the play experience…but a new player who is trying out your game for the first time- and who is not PAID to play and live with the game for over a year- will not be so adaptable ). Here's a few of the problems with the new Twisted Metal that we never would have considered fixing/addressing had it not been for some invaluable Play Tests:

- Many players are confused about how to select the vehicle's ALTERNATIVE SPECIAL WEAPON. We assumed the big 'S' with the TRIANGLE ICON above it would make it clear that hitting the triangle when you had SPECIAL selected would cause the SPECIAL to change to ALT SPECIAL. But no such luck.

- A great deal of the meatier gameplay (i.e. the remote bomb has 2 stages but you have to let the bomb 'cook' in order for the bomb to reach the triple damage of stage 2; if you fire the shotgun very close into the FRONT window of an enemy vehicle, you get a mega damaging POINT BLANK attack) is not being well communicated to players so they have no idea there is as much depth and substance to the gameplay as there really is.

So- as I imagine you can tell- I'm a HUGE fan of Play Tests. I would not want to make a commercial game without them.

So that's a Play Test.

But a Focus Test is usually a marketing department tool used to test higher level concepts. Things such as: is the core idea of the game marketable, culturally relevant, and commercial? Is the main character unique enough to be memorable but not so unique that he/she/it is not relatable? How does the game you just played compare to similar games in the genre (better/worse/the same) and if you were only going to buy one of them in the next year, what would it take for you to choose OUR game?

A Focus Test can be run at anytime in the game's life cycle and very different- and very valuable data- can be mined based on when you run the test. For example: when Twisted Metal was just in design phase several years back, marketing did a focus test to figure out how relevant the brand still was as well as how relevant the genre of car combat still was. That particular test told us that car combat was dead to gamers UNLESS it was the TWISTED METAL brand. When it was 'TWISTED METAL car combat' the tests showed us that the genre was still very exciting to action fans. That test also showed us that many gamers really, really, really wanted to see the TWISTED METAL brand revived/back in the gaming space. So- needless to say- that was a dang good Focus Test for all of us at Eat Sleep Play!

That test also told us that the majority of gamers loved the MP of Twisted Metal BUT still had a very high demand for the Twisted characters and stories and the general TWISTED METAL world. We used that same focus test to see if gamers were more warm to a $39.99 multiplayer-only Twisted Metal Blu Ray game (ala WARHAWK and SOCOM:CONFRONTATION) OR if they wanted a fully featured $59.99 Twisted Metal with Multiplayer and single player campaign modes.

So that Focus Test went down in 2008 maybe? Start of 2009? But so we did another marketing driven Focus Test just a few months ago (I think Jan 2011) where we let players play a post E3 build of the game and Sony Marketing used that particular Focus Test data to help determine things such as: which features are players most excited about, what levels did they enjoy the most, and which modes and weapons did they like and choose most often. The point of this new data was to aid marketing in knowing where to focus the marketing message when it comes to tv, print, and internet ads as well as general PR opportunities.

Again, great, great data and a great value to the game.

A lot of people knee jerk at the words PLAY TEST and FOCUS TEST and automatically assume they are evil and they are killing art/emotion/individuality (in games or movies or television or music).

But at least part of the knee jerk is the gamer not understanding the difference between Play Test and Focus Test. I would imagine if gamers understood that PLAY TESTING was- in essence- mining data to make the game live up to the team's vision, there would be very few folks who would oppose it (except for auteur based art games that are really intended to be a singular vision and playability takes a backseat to the game's message).

But I think I get where the other part of the 'play/focus tests are evil' knee jerk comes from. It's probably motivated by the times when the data from those tests has been used to undermine the intent and goal of a game (or movie or tv show) in order to make it more palpable to the masses. Does this happen? I'm sure it does…hell, I know it does! But that's not always a bad thing. Hell, in most cases it's not a bad thing. But just like there's a popular myth that ALL corporations are bad and evil, there's one that says MARKETING IS BAD and the people who work in marketing are stupid, unartistic sheep. This is not near true from my experience. Hell, the marketing manager for the new Twisted Metal is MORE of a gamer than I AM!

The deal is, the main reason the vast majority of people consume entertainment is to be distracted from their everyday lives. They want a break from the norm, or something to do with their friends on a Friday night…or just something to kill time with. Be it a mass market shooter or a stupid sitcom or the latest loud, exploding summer blockbuster. That's just the way it is. Can those things also have depth and meaning and meat on the bones? Oh hell yes and when they do, they make even MORE money (God of War tried to be that; a sitcom that is funny and dumb but still has heart does that; a big blockbuster like THE DARK KNIGHT RETURNS does that). But when you are spending the kind of money it takes to lure in the mainstream (be it production costs or marketing costs), there is value in casting the net wide. And Focus AND Play tests help content creators and content marketers get a sense of which way the wind is blowing before they spend much money as well as WHILE they are spending a shit ton of money.

The less cash you spend, the less people you need to worry about appealing to. And I love pure art pieces, pure commercial pieces, and I especially love those pieces that blend the two. And in all mediums, there is a place and a need for both.I think in games especially, our industry does a great job of making games all across that pure art/pure business spectrum.

Do I think it's super cool when tons of money is spent on pure art/vision pieces? Oh totally! It's super cool when that happens! But it's rare and it SHOULD be rare. And getting upset that- as games have become super expensive to make- game companies have decided to use Play and Focus Tests to help cast the net wider in order to increase the chance of having a hit, shows a lack of understanding (or a lack of acknowledgement) that games is a business as well as an entertainment/art form.

Also- when it comes to games like CALL OF DUTY (Daniel's specific example in his comment): COD campaigns have difficulty settings so you can play campaign in super hard mode if you like (at least I think they do…I only play on medium). And while I know his point is the MP aspect, the reality is COD has a shite ton of settings in unranked games so there is nothing it to stop you from setting up a super hard core game if you like. And hell, if you want MORE hardcore than what the unranked COD host settings offer, there are games out there like OPERATION FLASHPOINT that fit the hardcore bill. That game is not near as pretty or polished on the production value end (pretty and polish tends to = lotsa cash) BUT gameplay is what immerses you anyway once the visuals wear off and so those games are being made for folks looking for a more hardcore experience.

David

Well, Hell...I'd Rather Play In A Space Ship Than A Parking Garage Too...

2011-03-23T11:56:00.000-07:00

Oh I dunno....I'm torn over this one.

I mean, ok, the ending occurs way too often in our business and that is very bad and very sad. And many times it IS the result of bad management and bad creative choices (that the game implementers- by the way-had NOTHING to do with 99% of the time). And the dude in the movie with the cell is a dickhead, no doubt.

So is this clip an accurate portrayal of the business? Do industry folks who work for developers (and publishers as well) really have a right to gripe about this stuff? Oh hells yes!

THAT SAID: I think this all too familiar discussion goes both ways in all creative businesses. But the way many developers like to spin it is, 'executives & high level creatives are clueless morons who are not engaged with the product and don't know anything because they are not the ones touching the code or the building the assets in Maya.'

This argument- by the way- is the obnoxious cousin of the equally obnoxious- and totally false- argument that 'great ideas are cheap and easy and execution is everything!'

I think both of those arguments are stinky-ass loads of horseshit. And I base that thinking on the game industry successes and failures I've been involved with and had a hand in over the last 17+ years.*

For every 50 examples a 3D modeler/programmer/game design scripter/etc. can give about being forced to implement an admittedly stupid or uneducated request from a publisher/producer/high level designer/game director, I can name 1 bad artistic/market ignorant/'ripped-off-from-the-latest-movie-they've-seen-without-even-realizing-it' high level creative decision made or suggested (or simply implemented without any warning) by a 3D modeler/programmer/texture artist/etc.

'Well, Jaffe- a 50:1 ratio ain't bad in the favor of the implementers', I hear you saying!

But it actually is. Because the reality is, the folks on a team who mostly do implementation can implement bad decisions (that they themselves had NOTHING to do with, creative wise) and a game can still be a mega hit. Don't get me wrong: NO ONE on the team wants ANYONE to ever be wrong. The more right we ALL ARE the better the game is going to be for the player. BUT if a specific texture doesn't look great or a bad decision by a publisher makes the frame rate drop in a few spots, those types of things (unless they are legion) don't spell doom for a game (and thus- because games are so expensive to make these days- also don't spell doom to the team, developer, and/or publisher).

BUT the folks making the high level decisions don't get to be wrong all that often. And for SOME decisions (game theme, genre, release window, key features, rating,etc.) they don't get to be wrong at all! Make even just a few of these big mistakes- or just miss ONE of the KEY issues- and that's the ball game.

All one needs to do is look at Sony Santa Monica's KINETICA or CALLING ALL CARS! to see this concept made real. Kinetica was a well reviewed, beautifully executed title (made by many of the same genius programmers and artists who make the GOD OF WAR series) but the theme and the art style and the read of the market for the time that title was made was all wrong. CALLING ALL CARS- while not as well reviewed as Kinetica- was beautifully executed from a code and art standpoint, but the theme and the timing made us DOA.

Now look: do I think there are people who can do BOTH of these things- high level creative, marketing thinking AND actual in the guts game making/implementation? Yes. But I've met very, very few.

Usually the ones who think they can do both kinds of jobs really can't. They just wish they could.

Trust me: I've tried to learn C programming language before. And you know, I can kind of do it. I can get some stuff to move around on screen and make stuff interactive. But I'd be a delusional fool- and a disrespectful asshole to the folks who are wired to be Gods at coding- to think my brain is even close to capable of thinking about- let alone executing- game code in ANYWAY close to what the coders at Eat Sleep Play and Sony Santa Monica can do. Same with art. Same with sound fx and music and producing and managing.

But because the high level marketing/game direction/design part of the equation is so intangible (just like writing a screenplay or directing a movie), most people assume they could do it if they just had the time or the opportunity. But I've seen many greenlit games that were ill thought out and/or poorly 'high level' directed (while being staffed with really talented folks) struggle for their lives (and frankly, the majority of these games end up cancelled).

The folks I love to work with in games are those who specialize in their fields but also have a healthy respect for those other areas of the game making process in which they do not excel. The reality is, all areas of game making are crucial and all areas need experts (as well as passionate, eager to learn noobs) on board if the ship is to fly high. Just like there are programers worth 100x their weight in gold because of their ability to lead a coder team to develop the next super hot graphics engine, and just like there are concept artists and 3D modelers who can take a chicken scratch sketch on a napkin and turn it into a fully realized, living, breathing world, there are people in design, direction, marketing, and publishing who can read the tea leaves of the business, who can take an accurate pulse of the players, and who are in touch with the cultural zeitgeist (as well as in touch with their own creative powers) and in doing and in being so, these 'high level thinkers' are able to make consistent-enough decisions that result in marketable high concepts, big sales, and intellectual property worth hundreds of millions of dollars.

David

* Please don't send me or reference the 'ideas are cheap;execution is everything' clip from PIXAR. It's a great- and pretty inspiring- clip. BUT what a lot of people miss when watching that clip is that IDEAS are PART of EXECUTION at PIXAR and Lasseter and Pete Doctor and Brad Bird are all masters of great ideas and storytelling and character creation (all intangible skills that range from high to low level thinking) . If these Pixar creative leaders were not great at the ideas, then instead of UP and TOY STORY and FINDING NEMO, PIXAR would be making MARS NEEDS MOMS! and GNOMEO AND JULLIET (2 movies that I've seen no one bitch about the execution of, but have seen TONS of people bitching about the lack of quality characters, lack of fresh ideas, and stale storytelling within those technically well executed films).

ps. Does it suck to turn a parking garage into a spaceship? Yes. SHOULD that idea have been brought up during the concept art phase? Yes. But you know what? Shit happens. High level thinkers don't always get it 100% right out of the gate anymore than a coder is expected to NOT rewrite a line of code close to launch in order to make the game run faster. Great creative work (at all levels) is messy and iterative (look at the history of TOY STORY 2) and it's management's job to recognize this and build this uncertainty/iterative time/redo time into the schedule and NOT sign deals with publishers that promise the moon (simply to get the deal signed) but end up hurting the team.

GOOD NIGHT AND HAVE A PLEASANT TOMORROW...

2011-03-19T13:03:00.000-07:00

Happy Weekend! If you were curious, here's what's up with me :)...

1. IT'S A TWISTED METAL WEEKEND: Settling in for a long weekend of Twisted Metal work. On Deck:

a-Sending my notes and ideas to the team so we can lock what the RANKED non-tweakable HOST settings will be. For ranked games, we're- understandably, I assume- not giving the host much freedom at all.

b- Figuring out the UNRANKED host settings for multiplayer. For example, when you fall off cliff roads and rooftops in an unranked game, we'll let the host decide if a fall= instant death (the earlier TM games) or just damage and a respawn back in the action (the latter TM games). Oh, and from what I hear from the TMA crew, UNLIMITED WEAPONS is a big no-no! :)

QUICK QUESTION: And we may have discussed this before but it's time to pull a damn trigger on the issue: My gut says everything should be unlocked in UNRANKED games (online and split) because if you just want to play casually with buddies and see the stuff you paid for, why the hell not? BUT I also know there is a vocal crew of CALL OF DUTY:BLACK OPS that were PISSED that everything was unlocked in unranked from the get go. What do ya'll think? AGAIN: PLEASE- not looking for fresh ideas...just looking to see which way you'd go out of those two options- thoughts? Thanks in advance!

c-Writing the TIPS that appear on the load screen in in game.

d- Sending the team my latest notes and thoughts on our CAMPAIGN mode (tweaks, tuning suggestions, any last remaining pacing suggestions/ concerns/questions,etc.)

e-Prepping for a TWISTED METAL media event next month.

f-Reviewing the shot list for our live action Twisted Metal shoot coming up next week (going back in to the studio to capture shots we missed, redo some performances that need touch of love, capturing a few new shots to make certain story points stronger). Storytelling- like game creating (and ANY creative project I would assume)- is ALL about the iteration.

g-Prepping tune/tweak numbers to send to Scott out in Utah for vehicle driving differentiation and weapon/special weapon damage amounts.

h-Recording a video for Victor Lucas' I LOVE JAPAN charity event.

FUCKING WHEW! Wish me luck!

Here's what else I'm gonna try to squeeze in:

2. WEST WING SEASON 3 MARATHON CONTINUES- Been devouring them on Apple TV for the last month! Never watched before and it's become my second favorite tv show of all time already (right behind SIX FEET UNDER). At the end of the series, it may take the top spot (but I doubt it).

3. SPIN/MEDITATE- hope to get 2 spins in and about 20 minutes on the cushion this weekend. We'll see!

4. BILLS and BUDGET- ugh, never ends. How dare those bastards ask me to pay for the shit I use! :)

5. CONGRATULATIONS TO MY BUDDY- Some of you know I'm friends with Jeff Goldsmith, he of the amazing Creative Screenwriting podcast (also my co-writer on the TWISTED METAL:BLACK and TM2 end movies). Well these days he does an amazing Q/A with the world's best and most successful screenwriters and this stuff ain't PR fluff folks. He's really, really good at offering up insightful, probing, and smart as hell interviews about the craft and the life of today's working screenwriter.

OH WAIT!...he ain't doin that no more! :)

Nope- Jeff bolted from Creative Screenwriting and started his very own screenwriting podcast (same great format, same great guests, same amazing quality...if not better!) called THE Q & A WITH JEFF GOLDSMITH The first few episodes just hit this week (including one with the screenwriter of the new film FLAWLESS, a movie I REALLY want to see!) so please, do yourself a favor and check it out!

6. PRAYING FOR A MIRACLE- Check it:

This just can't end well...can it?!? :)

My kids and their baby sitter are washing our new dog- Austin- at home for the first time. We just got him in January and so far I've had the vet bathe him twice and then used an animal grooming/bathing service up the road just once. We let him dig in the dirt, play in the backyard, go a little nuts (as all dogs should! :) )...

Well today the kids really wanted to bathe the guy in their own tub and their baby sitter was game (she's braver than I am, I tell you that!) Well so far, it's going GREAT! He's such a damn trooper this guy- so sweet and gentle with my girls. He just puts up with everything. Look at that face: you can tell he's just like, 'Ah screw it-these are my people and if these loud little kids wanna bathe me, screw it- what else I got goin' on today?' I'm not sure why he's a union truck driver from New Jersey, but there it is. :)

Ok- it's a full weekend so I'm gonna get banging on it. Hope ya'll are having a great one as well!

Talk soon!

David

PS. WHICH FONT? Is this post the way to go?

Or should I go with the SMALLER FONT I've been using?

THANKS!

Kids

2011-03-16T10:04:00.000-07:00

This is a picture of the top of the little cabinet outside my daughters' bedroom. Since they were born, I've been reading to them every night before bed. Hell, I read to them even when they were still in their mamma's tummy.

I have fond memories of leaving the God of War 1 team around 6 on most nights to rush home and read my oldest (now 7) The Foot Book By Dr. Seuss. Then I would head back in to Sony to work on the game.

Putting my kids to bed with books: it's just been instinct. It never occurred to me not to read to them before bed.

Ok, so back to this cabinet: I toss the books we're currently reading up on top so they're easy to get to the next night.

So just now, I was heading in to my office-across the hall from their bedroom- to start my day and I was stopped cold when I saw the books that were up there. When I looked at them, a few things occurred to me:

* Man, they grow fast and you can see that growth in the books they now like. My youngest (5) is learning to read for herself (and doing an amazing job of it, I might add!) and thus the Level 1 My Little Pony reading book. My oldest continues to say she wants to be an Animal Rescuer when she grows up (she's been saying this since she was 3) and hence the Jane Goodall bio above (side note: it's so cool to use books to introduce my girls to amazing people- and especially women- who have done amazing things in life!)

But these titles are such a far cry from The Foot Book and The Very Hungry Caterpillar cardboard books I used to read to them (and that they used to chew on as they were teething). It's a little sad to watch them grow out of those kinds of things (I love being a dad and loved having tiny kids in the house) but seeing this progress in them is actually much more exciting. Not just because it shows how much they are learning and how their mind's are developing. But because before I know it, they'll be reading teen fiction and then adult books. How fun to be able to share books with them as adults (electronically, I would imagine!) and how fun to sit around the table (be it ours or a table in their own homes as adults) and discuss and debate and share the things we've discovered in books.

* There's a shite ton of creative work happening in kid's fiction. Not just the Harry Potter and Percy Jackson stuff, but for all ages and all genres. Unless you have kids- or want to write kid fiction- I can't imagine this stuff is on your radar. It certainly wasn't on mine. But now that it is, it's such a cool new world to discover. And now that I've discovered it, I think I may actually have a kid/young adult book in me! But then again, I imagine most parents who rediscover the fun, imaginative, cool, varied, creative, and exciting world of kid fiction feel that way. I wonder if I'll ever really sit down and try to write the thing.

*The last- and most powerful- thing that stopped me cold when I saw these books is this: I am super, super blessed. By God? By random chance? By the team that programmed this super immersive VR simulation that I've been playing for the last 39 years? Hard to say- that's why I love being an agnostic...I don't have to say! :)- BUT whatever it is that brings things into our lives, I've been blessed by it. Being a dad is the best thing I am and the best thing I ever will be. It is joy.

David

The Trouble With BEING The Batman...

2011-03-13T22:52:00.000-07:00

This was a comment reply I made to a very well thought out- but fundamentally flawed (in my mind)- argument that a reader named Chris made about the way to improve- and the need for- great storytelling in games.

Here's what I wrote:

Chris- thanks for the well thought out, passionate reply. Clearly you've thought a great deal about this.

However,not to come across as someone trying to burst your bubble but I have to say that I've thought a lot about it as well and your 'imagine if's' (i.e. BATMAN/JOKER in the interrogation scene) sound a lot like me 5,6 years ago...even before that.

But here's the problem I have with your pitch and similar pitches (and trust me, I hear your line of thinking all the time):

You make the mistake of thinking that many of us who make gamey games don't care about infusing great story into our games and are just in it for the BIG! BANG! POW! because that's what we grew up with. Not the case. My generation also grew up with JAWS and ET and EMPIRE and OUT OF AFRICA and on and on and we are very aware of what film is capable of and there was a time a lot of us (myself included) longed for games to have a similar impact on our audiences (and on us).

But then we actually worked in the interactive medium and studied the medium and watched how the brain works when a game is played and realized that PLAYING as BATMAN in the interrogation scene would look NOTHING LIKE and FEEL nothing like WATCHING Batman interrogate the Joker. And that's the mistake so many in your camp make (and I used to make it as well): you watch movies and get moved by them and then rush to say 'I want my games to feel that way too!' BUT you fail to realize that the feelings you are so amped by come from the very nature of OBSERVING SOMEONE ELSE'S STORY from a tightly controlled, highly manipulated, and non-interactive vantage point.

You CAN'T feel the way you feel when you WATCH a great scene simply by being the star of that scene. Because the INSTANT you have control, all of the emotion that you love about linear storytelling dies and your brain goes to the same place it goes in your real life when you encounter a challenge: 'how do I solve this problem?'....be it it 'how do I get home by 6pm for dinner with the kids' or 'how do I avoid the guy with the gun who just came into the bank' or 'how do I get that girl to go out with me', all of these scenarios- once they become YOUR scenarios- are expressed thru actions and 'play mechanics' and because of that, the FEELING you get when you are solving the problem (NOT watching someone else solve it) is one of a puzzle or a challenge (the feeling would be EXACTLY that of playing a game if you were capable of removing the real life ramifications of your challenge's outcome. But even though you can't the feeling is still very, very close to playing a game and it's significantly closer to the feeling you get playing a game than it is to the feeling of watching a scene in a movie).

And that to me is the FIRST step I feel game makers HAVE to accept if we are to discover what interactivity is capable of.

We have to realize that the way the brain responds to an interactive scenario is incongruent with the way the brain responds to watching someone else's interactive scenario play out. And in making this realization, we can then ask ourselves how the very thing that makes our medium so special- INTERACTIVITY- can bring about the emotions and ideas and scenarios that we see in film and are so eager to replicate in games. HOWEVER, the way we give our audience an emotion- even if it's an emotion shared by another medium like movies- will be very different than how the other mediums provide the very same emotion. THIS- to me- IS KEY!

OR we'll come to a point where we realize- BECAUSE we are slaves (as we should be) to interactivity, that we should chase after emotions and ideas and scenarios that are special and unique to interactivity, versus simply trying to replicate the emotions that other mediums already offer up so naturally and so successfully. Perhaps interactivity will NEVER be able to create the sort of emotional longing that one gets when they watch ET fly away from Elliot...but we CAN do tension, terror, competition, anxiety, the joy of team work, the joy of learning through experimentation,etc,etc,etc probably better than ANY other medium. And I say why run from this? Why not plant our flag in the rich and still fresh soil of the emotions and responses that our medium excels at NATURALLY? Why are we so desperate to bogart emotions from other mediums? Perhaps those that are should just- you know- go work in those other mediums and then they'd be a lot more satisfied.

OR we'll wait for 100-1000 years until AI and processing advances to the point where a story/scene writes itself in real time/procedurally and as we play in the space we never encounter challenges (that pull us out of the fiction and turn us into puzzle solvers) but instead we experience a constantly adjusting and always engaging, interactive scenario that writes and re-writes itself in real time based on our choices, while still staying true with the genre/style of experience that we've chosen to have.

David

Shit Never Gets Old...

2011-03-12T21:59:00.000-08:00

It's always an amazing feeling to see a game you're working on on a magazine cover out 'in the wild';knowing that even while you are holed up banging on the game and just going about your daily life, the mag is out in the world, doing it's job to spread the word! I love this cover and I love that DollFace and Sweet Tooth are out and about preaching the Twisted gospel to the masses!

David

++++UPDATE: One of the commenters- Misael- asked me why Dollface was picked as a cover subject instead of Sweet Tooth. I started to answer him in the comments but figured this may be of interest to some others...so I put it here. Here's my answer:

Misael, We have a great producer on the game named Angelic who does a great deal of the Eat Sleep Play art wrangling when our games are fortunate enough to be offered a cover. Between her, the art folks at the magazine itself, and one of our stunningly talented concept artists (in this case a sickeningly MULTI talented ((and all around nice guy)) concept artist named Owen Richardson) the covers get done.

Ok, ok, YES there is a decent amount of backseat driving from myself, Scott Campbell, Kellan Hatch,Sony PD,PR, & Marketing and- naturally- the publication itself who always (understandably) has their own agenda they need to fulfill.

In the case of Twisted Metal and print mags, it's a bit of a challenge because we are always hearing this sort of thing: 'Vehicles on covers don't sell...we gotta see people/characters. Whenever we have covers with vehicles as the stars- in MOST cases- the sales for that month are not where we want them'.

And this is not just Gamepro. This pretty much seems to be the party line for 99% of the print mags that we've worked with. And we get the point. Most people are visually and instantly drawn to other people/characters instead of machines. Makes sense to us.

But it presents a challenge for our particular game because it's not good for Twisted to JUST put characters with no vehicles on magazine covers because new fans- as well as long time fans just getting wind of a new Twisted Metal- could easily misread the cover's message and think we've turned the new TM into a 3rd person character shooter and/or a game where you can get out of the vehicles and walk around ala GTA. So we're always trying to find the balance between giving the print mags what they need to succeed in their business world while also making sure the message of what the new Twisted Metal is is loud and clear (aka what WE need to succeed in OUR business world).

And sometimes there are mags that simply won't put cars on the covers at all. In those cases we have to look at the magazine's impact on gamers and the mag's cultural relevancy in the gaming space and the magazine's circulation and decide if the risk of potentially incorrectly communicating our brand with a non vehicle cover is worth it.

Usually though, the magazines are happy and helpful to work with us on a compromise and we are always grateful for that. This is why the actual Gamepro cover is different from Owen's initial concept art (which you can see a few posts down)...at the last minute Gamepro (a magazine we all love and were desperate to work with) stepped in with a suggestion of how to keep the cover character centric but still allow our brand message to shine through. I love how it came out and I hope the issue is selling great for the Gamepro folks.*

As for why Dollface was used instead of Sweet Tooth: I honestly don't know why Dollface was picked as the cover subject. Perhaps because PTOM (Playstation: The Official Magazine) had been kind enough just a few months back to also give our game a cover and they used a bad ass Sweet Tooth image (also by Owen) and so perhaps Gamepro wanted their Twisted cover to be different? I'm not really sure.

But as I said, I think it came out FANTASTIC! Hope you all do as well and I hope if you are into/interested in the new Twisted Metal (as well as interested in reading a game mag that- in the last year- has really, really gotten good) that you pick up the new Gamepro.

Later!

David

*Please don't read anything into the fact that the PTOM cover did NOT feature a vehicle. In other words: I'm not even close to suggesting that for PTOM we would live with potentially muddying our brand but we would not do the same for GAMEPRO. That's not the case and for all I know Gary and the team at PTOM would have been happy to work with us- like Gamepro-to create a marketable cover that worked for them while also working with us to more properly communicate our brand. It's just that the PTOM cover- which I also love and ended up getting a mega sized version framed and now have hanging in my office- came together before we had set up our internal marketing/PR/PD primary directive of 'ALWAYS show the game's characters IN/ON/AROUND/ASSOCIATED WITH the game's vehicles.' In fact Owen's submitted image for Gamepro also occurred before we had set up our 'Characters WITH vehicles' rule (thus the difference between his final image and the on the shelf cover). So again, thanks to Gamepro for stepping in with a great, creative solve that seems to have worked out great for everyone!

Shit Or Get Off The Pot...

2011-03-12T08:25:00.000-08:00

+++++UDATED: SEE BELOW/AFTER INITIAL POST++++++++

Just because there's wind blowing and a minimal soundtrack and vast open spaces to explore and a slow pace doesn't mean that the game you are playing is art.

And just because a game's story and presentation contains elements you've see in the 'big boy movies' doesn't make a game adult or mean the medium is maturing.

These are all surface elements that-while challenging as anything else in games to produce well- do not speak to the maturation of the medium one iota.

I'm tired of seeing gamers- and game journalists especially- falling for this.

Game journalists of all people need to be calling us developers out on our smoke and mirrors bullshit.

If we really want to get to the top of the mountain we have to be honest about the current state of the 'art'.

Just because your game wears the trappings of relevancy does not make it relevant. Any more than putting on a beret and a black turtle neck and sitting outside a Parisian cafe makes you one of the intelligentsia.

Just because your game's surface elements shout from the rooftops that 'this is important and artistic and meaningful' doesn't make it so. And in fact, the more a game- or anything for that matter- rambles on and on telling you how special it is, the more reason we have to assume that the claims come from a place of ego (or marketing) and not real passion and innovation.

Real art and genuinely important work doesn't need to continually toot its own horn. The very nature of something being artistic and important means that- except in rare cases- its power is evident without anyone having to tell you that it is.

And the sooner the people who write about games for a living start reporting on this angle of the story, the sooner us developers will be forced to shit or get off the pot.

David

++++++UPDATE: I was responding in this post's comment section to Matthew but it turned into a long ass rant...SO I thought I'd just share it here. Here goes:

Matthew, like you, I'm nowhere NEAR opposed to a more balanced gaming diet. But there is a difference between WANTING a more balanced gaming diet and ACTUALLY- as a developer- BEING ABLE TO PROVIDE GENUINELY GOOD ALTERNATIVES to the already fantastic core/pure play experiences that games have been offering (exclusively, as a medium, it should be pointed out) for over 5000 years.

To me the issue- and the worrying point of all this- is that there seems to be the need/desire amongst some gamers,some game makers, and a number of games journalists to shout from the rooftops that games 'have arrived'. But for those of us who simply don't think that that is anywhere near the case, it's troubling because it sends a false message that actually hurts the very progress that is needed to CREATE AND NURTURE the more nutritious gaming diet we so crave (assuming this sort of diet is even possible with games/interactivity).*

Adults and kids are- in many ways- not that different when it comes to maintaining their motivation. So If I tell one of my daughters- whose current obsession is learning to draw a photo realistic unicorn/Pegasus hybrid- that her art is perfect and her image looks like a photo realistic magical horse AND if this is NOT ACTUALLY TRUE (and instead I only wish that it were true), then am I really helping my daughter? Am I really respecting her? Am I really DISRESPECTING the craft of art, in both the medium and long term? Because best case- assuming she cares what I think- and I think she does :)- she'll think she's a better artist than she really is and lose some of her ambition. WORST case my lie will make her think she's achieved her goal when she really hasn't, and she'll no longer want to improve at drawing. It's not that different when it comes to the 'games as art' issue.

Tell us game makers we've arrived and before you know it, we'll think we really have (some of us already do). As will the fans and the press. But we really haven't arrived at all and it all just seems like this bullshit, backroom, secret-handshake kind of club where we tell the press how important and meaningful we've become in order to stroke our own egos, and then the press (SOME, certainly not all) goes off and writes about how important games have become in order to convince themselves they are doing important work and not 'just' writing about the number of guns in the latest shooter or the size of the levels in a hit game's expansion pak. And they also write about how important games have become so that it seems that their education and time is not being wasted and that perhaps one day- just like their colleagues at the 'important' periodicals and web sites that they really wish they were writing for- they too will be taken seriously. And all this gets filtered down to certain vocal fans who then go off and spout the very talking points us developers have force fed them through the very press that they are paying for. And so these fans go out into the world, carrying our message about games being important and artistic and as relevant as literature and cinema ('We're in early days! This is just like silent film! Give it time! Which game designer/game development team will bring us our very own BIRTH OF A NATION?!?! Where's our CITIZEN KANE?!?!')...

But let's be honest- if the fans really felt this way, why would they be putting such passion and energy into trying to convince the world? I don't feel the need to convince you that I love cheese pizza, adore Marvel Comics, and think sitting at my kitchen table while having a great conversation with my family is one of my favorite things in the world to do. Those are all true statements, by the way. I just don't feel the need to sell you on that truth. Yes, I may occasionally ramble on about the benefits and joys of said things, but I don't feel the passionate need to convince you of the fact that I really enjoy them. Frankly, I'd rather be spending that energy and time actually enjoying cheese pizza, reading Marvel Comics, and chatting with the fam.

It's the same with 'games as art'. If artistic/meaningful games were even semi-close to being what so many 'games as art' supporters claim, many true believers would be saying, 'you either get it or you don't and it doesn't really matter to me because you not getting it doesn't take away my enjoyment of and my response to meaningful, artistic games'. But many supporters of the 'games as art' movement seem hell bent on convincing the world that GAMES. DO. MATTER. And come on, not to be a prick, but it's clear that this desire comes from the same place as the game maker's desire to create these sorts of arty games and the game press' desire to sell the 'GAMES HAVE ARRIVED' bullshit headline. And that place is: a deep seated insecurity born out of being a childhood/teenage outcast/geek.

Don't get me wrong. LOTS of great art has come- and will continue to come- from creators working through and allowing themselves- as adults- to feel the full brunt of childhood/teenage angst. But putting that angst IN THE WORK/ON THE STAGE/IN THE BOOK/ON THE SCREEN/IN THE PLAY MECHANICS is what matters and THAT is what makes something meaningful. Using that angst - and all that energy- to embrace, support, promote, and fight for a flawed theory (aka 'TODAY'S GAMES ARE AS- AND PERHAPS EVEN MORE- ARTISTIC AND EMOTIONALLY POWERFUL AS CINEMA AND LITERATURE') is sad at best and a waste of time at worst.

Now why do I care so much about all of this? Well part of it is- frankly- I got a SHIT TON of work to do this afternoon on Twisted Metal and we're running out of time and so I'm really anxious and nervous as all get out that we won't get it all done. That's just life in the game making biz. You NEVER get it all done. But it still makes me nervous as shit! So I'm procrastinating by blogging and tweeting about a subject that- no matter what any of us say today- is way too big and has way too many moving parts to predict what it will actually become in the next 5, 10, 100 years...So yeah, there's that. And so it's either blog away or stuff a mega sized cheese pizza into my pie hole. I guess I could simply be with and accept and feel the Twisted Metal anxiety and deal with it like an adult...but come on, who are we kidding? So yeah...there's that. But back to the point: why do I care about this subject so much?

Well the flip side to this whole thing is: those very same 'GAMES ARE ART!' accolades given out (by developers, press, and fans) to 'ART/MEANINGFUL GAMES' does damage to pure games.

'How?', you ask? Well I'll tell you:

Shining the powerful media light on these sorts of games- that tell you they are important but are not really all that engaging/interesting play wise and are nowhere near as emotional or meaningful as most B rate, night time dramas on network television-means that the media light and publisher cash gets taken away from traditional games. And because of this, traditional games are disrespected, devalued, and shown a lack of appreciation, understanding, and love for the very things the medium does so well, so effortlessly, and so successfully.

To shed copious print and e-ink (not to mention publisher marketing dollars) on a title just because it shouts loudly that it is art/important (where- upon closer inspection-said title is usually 'simply' a game ((and usually an average one at that)) cloaked in artistic robes created for- and custom tailored to fit- another medium) is a real problem.

To be going on and on about how games need to be/can be/should be/already are 'more' than 'just games' to me disrespects the joy and happiness traditional games bring to the world. I don't know about you, but my life would be at least a little less fantastic (and probably a hell of a lot worse) without Baseball, Basketball, Chess, Chutes & Ladders, Old Maid, Ms. Pac Man, Zork, Super Mario Bros., Gears of War, Killzone 3, Guitar Hero, and Call of Duty:Black Ops Multiplayer.

See, I'm ok if games are never 'accepted' or 'legitimized' or called 'art' by those folks that many in the 'games as art' argument seem to care about (although I accept that perhaps one day games may very well be viewed that way, by elitist snobs and your 'average' people alike). But I'm not ok if the progress of making pure games better and more successful is slowed or even stunted by a significant enough redistribution of energy, funds, and media attention into the 'games as art/games are important' camp.

Why doesn't more of the gaming press trumpet the amazing breakthrus in play mechanics every year? Why do television commercials have to sell me the story aspect of the game versus the actual gameplay aspect? Why not more features in the deeper/more serious gaming mags and game sites about things like the chronic problem of conceptual and thematic mismatch of certain play mechanics within the settings/worlds in which those play mechanics exist?

Why spend 2-10 million dollars on cut scenes whose power only super rarely comes close to the non interactive media choices we already have on television and at the movies? Wouldn't that money be better spent on more levels, more weapons, unique play mechanic experiments, extra development time to tune and polish the title until it shines? Wouldn't that money be better NOT SPENT AT ALL so the developer and publisher breaks even faster and bonuses and royalties flow into the pockets of those folks who busted ass to create the game to begin with?

I'm not an idiot. I like IP, I like game fiction, I like stories in SOME of my games. I get all that. I get and enjoy the value of all that. But not when it comes at a substantial expense to the very thing that makes the medium great to begin with: gameplay/interactivity.

Also, this whole thing just seems odd and wrong and broken at a gut level. I mean, check this out:

You don't see folks who love traditional paintings going on and on about how their favorite medium needs to step up and get better at doing car chases and action scenes.

You don't see folks who love reading books going on and on about how books need a symphonic score that plays while you read (and changes based on the page you are on) in order for literature to reach its full emotional and artistic potential.

So why with games can't we just love games for what they are and always have been?

And doesn't this strike you as a bit odd: The core idea/point of/power of a story was painted 35,000 years ago on a cave wall in Europe and that core idea of what a story is still survives to this day (in books, summer blockbusters, indie films, short stories,etc.) Yes, details and specifics about narrative structure and the like have changed (a bit) over time, but the core idea of what a story is and is supposed to do is the same.

And isn't this odd: the core idea of what a game was for/what a game did well was created and embraced over 5000 years ago with ancient titles like UR and Mancala and today that same core idea of what a game is still survives.

The same applies to music. Granted, the tunes played on the oldest musical instrument discovered (35,000 years ago!) would be a far cry from the stylings of Jay-Z, Kanye West, and Arcade Fire. But the core essence, the core idea of what music is and music's core purpose has not really changed in all that time.

So this idea of a story/games/meaning/art mashup seems very odd to me because in all of the time we've had games (analog and digital), if games COULD have been 'about' something and could have easily supported both narrative and play mechanics as a single unit, don't you think at least a FEW of those older, analog games from the past 5000 years would have AT LEAST hinted at such a thing? And in all that time, if STORIES could have used more interactivity to make them more meaningful to readers, don't you think at least a handful of stories (beyond CHOOSE YOUR OWN ADVENTURE books) would have hinted at this? Don't you think readers from thousands of years ago would have naturally come to this conclusion/desire?

+++END UPDATE

*Not to go off on an even larger tangent than the one I'm currently on, but this issue is strikingly similar to the debate between scientifically minded atheists/agnostics and certain evangelicals. Many hard core religious folks claim to already know many of the secrets of the universe (why we are here, what we're supposed to be doing, what happens after death) and they suggest we should just settle in and enjoy life by using an instruction book that was written- by MANY, MANY humans- some 2000-4000 years ago. In their minds, the case is closed, the day is done, the mystery is solved...let's eat! But to most scientifically minded atheists/agnostics that sort of thinking- and the insistence that others buy into that sort of thinking, many times at the expense of science- is the very thing that STOPS man from getting closer and closer to life's currently unanswerable mysteries, as well as discovering new ones.

JAFFE VS. UTC LA JOLLA APPLE STORE

2011-03-11T14:54:00.000-08:00

I love's me some Apple products, ya'll know I do. And I fucking think Steve Jobs is this generation's Willy Wonka/Walt Disney. I continue to be inspired and pushed and excited by their amazing work. All that said, the Apple Store in La Jolla can go fuck itself.

Great weekend ya'll!

David

ps. by the way, just to be 100% clear: in the above video when I say "I'm a fan of kicking your ass" or whatever it is like that that I say, this in NO WAY should be taken as me making a threat against Apple, ANY Apple store, ANY Apple employee, OR the Apple Store in UTC/LA JOLLA. I would not harm a fly unless the fly attacked me physically first.

I KNOW this is obvious from viewing the video but in this day of sue happy mother fuckers who either a) can't process things in proper context or b) CAN put things in context but choose to clog up the courts with bullshit lawsuits, I figured it made good sense to point that out. Thanks! :)

RAMBLIN' MAN!

2011-03-10T10:50:00.000-08:00

Hey- peep my new video blog if you're into such nonsense :)

Mostly talking about remaining design decisions for Twisted Metal DeathMatch/Team Deathmatch. Also chatting a bit about my GDC talk and hey: meet my new dog, Austin!

Plus a preview of the next video blog (aka Kayne and Divorced Moms). So check it out! :)

Talk soon- hope all is well!

David

IT'S BEGINNING TO LOOK A LOT LIKE COMIC CON! :)

2011-03-08T15:08:00.000-08:00

As fellow San Diego Comic Con freaks know, tomorrow at 9am hotel reservations open up for the show! Last year I was dying to get into the Omni but my amazing assistant ended up booking me at the Hard Rock hotel. And man, I'm glad she did! What a great Comic Con hotel! Right across the street from the center, all the geeky celebs stay there, and right at the start of the Gaslamp. It really makes for the perfect Comic Con experience!

So tomorrow at 9am we're gonna be REFRESHING our browsers and hitting REDIAL on our phones trying to get some of us Eat Sleep Players into the Hard Rock! Wish us luck! Unless you are competing with us for the same hotels...in that case: FUCK OFF!!!! :)

So yeah, my brain is totally jonesing for those 4 amazing geek filled days in July! If you've never been, you just need to make the time. It's as simple as that. Nothing else comes close. Although to be fair, I've yet to attend either PAX convention (but I will be at PAX PRIME this summer). But even still, Comic Con is one of my top 2 or 3 fave times of the year.

Hell, I'm so jazzed I ordered this off Amazon yesterday...and it just came! :)

It's a big ol' coffee table book chronicling the 40 years of San Diego Comic Con. Check it out:

Tons of cool art...covers from all the Comic Con programs from 1970 till last year....

And then lots of great candids from the show itself!

Man I'm digging this book! Makes the wait for July a little less painful!

Ok ya'll- back to work! Hope ya'll are doing great! Talk soon!

David

DOLLFACE AS COVERGIRL!

2011-03-06T16:18:00.001-08:00

Yes, I'm back. No long explanations, no super secretive reasons. The team and I have just been super busy with the game and so it's been much faster to stay in touch via Twitter. But I'm back now. Got a lot to say these days, lots of cool stuff going on to observe and chat about ,etc.

So let's begin, shall we?

First up: Twisted Metal made the cover of the new GAMEPRO! Check it out!

Thanks for all the work and support GamePro! Super appreciated by us all! The cover and the article turned out just great!

Also, thanks for the Bunnies idea! If we're fortunate enough to do a TWISTED METAL 2, now I know the FIRST thing I want to propose to the team! :)

And before I forget: to some of the fans out there complaining that we didn't spill any new game specific beans in the article:

#1- I think this is a fantastic and very informative article about the history of the series, some cool behind the scenes stuff, insight into how we make the games and work as a team, a few new pieces of art that shows off what could be coming down the line.

#2-We know ya'll want new info and I promise: new game related info is coming very soon. It's not my place to go into the PR strategies or give out information release dates but rest assured: the game is coming along GREAT, it WILL hit store shelves in 2011, and sooner than later we're gonna start showing our hand.

We were actually going to unveil some new stuff at last week's GDC (and the team busted ASS to get the build looking and playing AMAZING!)... but at the last minute we decided to pull it. We all just felt that Twisted Metal is the kind of title that needs more attention and time than we would get by being sandwiched in between some of the MEGATON news announcements that dropped at last week's show.

To put it another way: so many games these days are big, epic, story events and Twisted Metal is PROUDLY and LOUDLY a GAME above all else! So we felt the game's next big reveal needed a little more breathing room than we would get at GDC; away from the bombast of the epic story based games and announcements/displays of next-gen tech. For us, the next time we show off the game we want to really make it clear that- to journalists and fans alike- that we feel we have something really fun and really special in today's market.

Thanks for understanding!

Ok- last thing for now:

Here is the AMAZING original cover done by one of Eat Sleep Play's super star concept artists. I'm happy to tell you his name but I need to ask him if it's ok first. Some of the team is happy to do press and put their names out and about while others like to keep a low profile and stay out of the press/spotlight. In the meantime- as Will.I.Am says- check this motherfucker out!

Isn't that just so cool?!?

We're very grateful Gamepro worked with us at the last second to get Tooth driving his truck in the pic (we didn't want people to confuse the game with a FPS or 3rd Person Shooter vs. the pure vehicle combat game that it is. To people reading this blog, most of ya'll know full and well that TM is all about vehicle battles BUT new fans or fans who have neen away for a while might be confused and we didn't want that). BUT the original image- like the final Gamepro cover-is freaking amazing! And so I wanted to share! :)

And here it is mega big in case you want to- oh I dunno- make it your wallpaper or take it to your tat artist or somesuch :)...

Nice to be back blogging ya'll! Will be tweeting as well so keep following twitter if I've been informing and entertaining you all avec the tweets!

So that's it for now. We got Panda Express downstairs and the smell of fried rice and chow mein is wafting up the steps. So I gotsta run!

Take it easy ya'll!

David

Me WANTS IT!!!!

2010-10-16T11:33:00.001-07:00

...GOD I fucking want this!

This is the best Halloween display I've ever seen. So damn cool!

Totally one of those 'I wish I wuda thought of that' small businesses. Not sure how this guy is doing cash wise, but what fun!

Reminds me, I should download Atari's remake of Haunted House from Steam this weekend. Anyone played it yet?!?

David

Dear Max Console...

2010-10-14T13:52:00.000-07:00

...please change your headline.

I never said EITHER thing you are saying I said.

Come on ya'll. Show a little professionalism.

David

My Take On Medal Of Honor

2010-10-14T09:29:00.000-07:00

I was home sick yesterday so in between bouts of sleeping I got to play a lot of Medal of Honor while crashing on the couch.

If you are interested, here's my take:

I like it!

The game has heart. The SP feels more immersive to me than a game like MW2. I think it's clear MW2 has MOH beat to hell and back in production value and sheer 'wow' factor, but MOH almost feels like I'm on an adventure with these three other soldiers...kind of more like playing a war story where as most other FPS war games feel more like I'm living in a war simulation. It's one of the reasons I'm really digging the SP of this game. I don't really know why that is as MW2 DOES have super cool scenario designs where it is just you and a buddy or two (ice pick climbing and such). But for some reason that game- while a fun ass ride- just doesn't feel as immersive. Is it that the scenarios are SO James Bond that it's hard to really feel immersed in the scenarios? Hell, maybe it just comes down to sound fx and music and MOH- I think-has really immersive sound and the music is just great. Makes me feel like I'm in a movie like SPY GAME or GREEN ZONE.

That said, MOH is crazy repetitive in its enemy scenario design (to the point that- even as a short game- I'm reaching my threshold on how many times I can do the 'advance, hunker down and shoot dudes popping out, rinse repeat' thing). Also, I don't like how I went from being the Tier 1 guys to being Rangers. I was digging my ZZ TOP brethren and now- all of a sudden- I'm some clean cut army guy?!? WHY?

Oh, also digging the little sub/mini game things like targeting tanks and trucks with the paint target binoculars thing. That's really fun!

Also, I wish a lot of the non interactive story telling would have been interactive. How cool would it have been for ME to have solved the 'puzzle'- as a player- of kicking the dude in the chair ( with the bomb strapped to his chest) out the window?!?

But still,all that said, really liking SP so far.

Digging the MP as well and not sure why. It still has the problem most FPS have (in my minority opinion) in that to ME it's not fun to respawn, run out and be alive for 5-30 seconds, then die and then you have this down time of respawning again, walking back to some sort of conflict area again before you are reengaged. I fucking HATE that pacing. But that's most FPS games, not just MOH. And most players seem ok with it.

But the MP has me hooked for now. Maybe it's the quality of the matchmaking or just the fact that no one has played long enough to rank up to the point that they are fucking unstoppable monsters on the battlefield...or maybe it's the fact that the rank up rewards do a better job of keeping the balance fair while also rewarding players by letting them feel more powerful. Not really sure. But so far I've stuck with this MP longer than I stuck with MW2, KILLZONE 2, and BFBC2 MP. It just feels more 'fair' at the moment, like I have a good chance to get a decent number of kills, complete some objectives,etc. Versus just 'walk/die/walk/die' which tends to be my FPS online experience with other games. Is that only me?

I also like the big, beefy medals that pop onto screen when you do something cool. Yeah, every online game has medals these days but the presentation of earning a medal in this game is a lot more rewarding to me for some reason than in other titles. That said, the presentation of achieving a rank up in this game is very lame. Just a little piece of text that says: YOU RANKED UP! ....meh :(

Anyway, I dig this game! I know the reviews have been mixed but for me it's a solid win.

David

My Response to EA Louse...

2010-10-13T08:26:00.000-07:00

If you have not read the EA LOUSE letter that is making some waves in the game biz today, I highly recommend it. It's good reading. Here ya go!

And now, here's my response:

Knowing nothing about the company, game, or people, I'm in no position to comment on how true and valid all this is vs. how much it's just a tantrum from someone who felt they should have been listened to but was not.

I will comment on two things however:

#1- EALouse- no one gives a shit if you or the animators get to express yourselves IF in expressing yourself it breaks the fiction of/immersion into the world of the game. It's not a fucking art class where everyone gets a chance to 'show what's inside them!'...it's work. I don't know much about the Warhammer world but fuck man, seems a pretty spot on comment that if the whole fiction is about some horrid, down and dirty war then mechanics and animations that allow characters to fucking DANCE are probably not going to fit into that universe. And the fact that you feel removing the dancing- which was a good creative call in my mind- served to take away some of the team's ability to express themselves does nothing but paint you as someone with out of touch, unrealistic expectations of what your job is supposed to do for you. Games SHOULD allow for self expression by members of the team- that is FANTASTIC when that happens and something management should always try to offer up- but it's gotta be within context of and in service to the product.

#2- What the fuck is it about making games where it brings out the worst, most immature, most obnoxious sides of certain types of people on a team? Everyone thinks they always know better than the people in charge. On God of War 1 I still remember a small group of hard core gamers on the team that felt we were making the game 'wrong' because there was not all this deep, deep, Street Fighter 2/Tekken style depth to the combat system. "Jaffe's out of touch!" "Jaffe doesn't 'get it!'"...never did it occur to them that we were going for something else...even tho I explained this to them over and over! But still, every few weeks I could count on this little contingency being up in the studio head's office pitching 'their' version of the game, with the goal being to have the head step in- which he never did- and shove their ideas into the title. Fuck it annoys me! Am I the only one in games who has experienced this?

David

ps. the dancing part is not in the original post but in the Q/A-Comments section of the blog post where Louse goes on to answer reader questions.

Fuckin' Ugh...

2010-10-12T07:32:00.000-07:00

While I like this ad, think it's well made and funny, and think most of us can relate to it (as both the phone users and the people annoyed with the phone users), I really hate when tech companies take this angle. As I recall Prodigy or Compuserve did the same thing back in the dot com craze with some line like, "Log on, get your stuff, log off, and get on with your life".

To me it really shows a lack of understanding about how technology is changing our very wiring. To not only push against that change, but to present our obsession with tech and the ease with which so many of us get lost within it as a bad/wrong/weird thing just seems out of touch at best and intentionally dishonest at worst.

The reality is many people- for whatever reason- DO want to look at their phones and text and get mail INSTEAD of interfacing with the outside world. Stop being such old fashioned snobs and just embrace that fact. Fuck, you want to do something innovative and cool, get to work on a product that lets us dive deeper into the matrix without running the risk of bodily harm as we are walking around the real world (heads up displays for glasses and contacts lenses...stuff like that....Apple should come out with the ieye :)...).

But this just reeks of one of those 'don't be a geek all lost in your phone and your tech but be cool instead' messages that I just hate.

David

It Begins...

2010-10-11T07:46:00.000-07:00

My brother came down from LA to help me decorate my yard over the weekend. This year my kids wanted a more scary Halloween display instead of the cute, little kid one we usually have. So I splurged at the Spirit store Saturday and picked up some creepy stuff. There is still no gore- they are way too young for that- but it's a lot more spooky! I dig it!

This is my fave area of the house with my brand new Grave Digger! He is so damn cool that when the holiday is over I'm gonna stick him in my office. :)

Also, the kid's costumes have gotten scarier too. Instead of the usual Disney Princesses and barnyard animal style costumes that they've gravitated towards since birth, this year my oldest is going as a Werewolf and my youngest is going as a...hmm...I dunno what the hell she's going as...she just assembled her own little thing from stuff lying around the store and ended up with this:

Kind of like a cross between a vampire, Star Child from KISS, and something out of a Meatloaf video. I love it...so surreal and creepy!

My brother and I also hit San Diego's famous HAUNTED HOTEL this weekend! I was SOOOO excited but it was kinda 'meh'. The production design/execution/professionalism/crowd control was fantastic! One of the best haunted houses I've been in in those regards; just very well done all around. But the scares were pretty by the book, nothing all that creative or unique other than the 'dot room' (which I won't spoil for you if you don't know what it is). I think it's time for haunted houses to step up to the next level; there is just so much more you could do with them. Not sure if there is a biz model that could sustain a more ambitious, creative haunt but perhaps one day- I hope- I'll get to find out.

Ok, back to work. As you can probably tell by the lack of updates, work is all consuming these days as we try to get the game where it needs to be before we unleash it to the world! Hope all is well!

David

ps. So my brother and I were older than 99% of the other people at the haunted house- naturally. But I got to wondering: why?!? At what age do most people lose interest in haunted houses? To me- assuming it's a good one- haunted houses can still be a fucking blast. What is it do you think that- as people get older- makes them no longer care to head out to the haunts for Halloween?

Peep My Nasty Ass Desk

2010-09-30T15:15:00.000-07:00

I've been slammed. Work has been nuts- which explains the lack of updates this week. The state of my life and soul can easily be discerned by the cleanliness of my office and car. And when I am crazy with work, the rest of my life goes to pot (no time to clean, or excercise, or eat well...it's all work). Good news is these come in fits and spurts so it's not like this the whole project...just a lot of design docs to get written this week.

Anyway, just wanted to share and say hey! Been too long.

Picked up DEAD RISING 2 and FRONT MISSION today. Hope to find some time to play this coming weekend.

Hope you are all well!

David

Jaffe The Couch Potato

2010-09-24T16:57:00.000-07:00

I had big plans this weekend.

I really did.

I was going to drive up to LA tomorrow, see a buddy of mine and eat some amazing Indian food for lunch. Then I was going to swing by a friend's surprise birthday party- which has not been a surprise to him for about a week now. Then I was going to go to a show that night and meet the person doing the show (can't say who but I'm a mega, mega fan of this person)! AND I was going to meet a new industry contact who is doing some pretty big work in the biz. And I was going to stay with my brother who lives in LA and who lives right around the corner from the amazing Canter's Deli on Fairfax! Breakfast at Canter's=amazing!

Packed, fun weekend for sure.

But I'm bailing on it. I just have to.

This week was a lot of late nights for work and last weekend was non stop with the kids at Disneyland. And I'm just so damn fried that I think if I don't take care of myself and just let myself veg, watch tv, play some games, hang with the family, get in some exercise, lay in bed and read magazines on my iPad, watch a movie or two, and just- in general- fuck around, then I really think I'll be hating it on Monday. And there really is nothing worse than rolling in to work in a job you LOVE and just not being able to motivate yourself to do great work because your creative, emotional tank is just flat empty.

So sometimes you gotta know when to just say, "Fuck it" and remove yourself from the rat race (fun as that race can be).

This weekend is one such time.

Hoping I can resked all the LA fun for the coming weeks.

In the meantime, I'll be on the couch :)...

Great weekend ya'll!

David

R.I.P. Blockbuster Video

2010-09-23T09:52:00.001-07:00

Ok, that may be a little premature but you get the idea. And you never know, they could come out of this stronger than before but I doubt it. Plus shit, much as I have fond memories of going to the video store, most of those memories are from Mom and Pop video stores, NOT Blockbuster. So maybe it should not be R.I.P....hmmm...anyway, I'm slammed. Here's a video blog :)

Hope all is well!

David

I Am Ken Watanabe!!

2010-09-22T05:04:00.001-07:00

Just woke from a dream in which I had cracked open the PS2 version of the new Twisted Metal game we are making. It was being created by a different, brand new, much smaller team of people. Brand new start up group. This was their first game.

Now there IS no PS2 version of the new Twisted Metal. THAT should have been a tip off that I was dreaming and my architect had overstepped.

But I stayed asleep.

After I opened the box I immediately grabbed and flipped thru the manual: it was filled with lots of super cool ideas for car combat games. Most of it was the stuff I wanted in the current PS3 TM that we just have not had the time to do (ex: laying oil slicks in the level and then if you drop napalm onto the oil or shoot missiles over the oil, the heat from the napalm ((or from your missile trail)) would ignite the oil slick and create giant protective walls of flame). Stuff like that. And this team- this small, scrappy, brand new 'never made a game before' team- HAD somehow managed to pull all that stuff off!

So all the ideas I wanted for the new TM that we did not have time to do were in someone ELSE'S game...but not in ours?!? Hmmm. Now THAT should have tipped me off I was dreaming...or in hell. But nope, I stayed asleep.

What woke me up was when I took another look at the game manual and realized it was more than 5 pages long and in color. HA! A nice, slick, THICK, COLOR game manual!?! In 2010?!? PLEASE! Nice try Sidhe! You almost had me! MAYBE next time!

David

ps. It's 5am. I'm goin' back to bed.

Sweet Tooth Returns!

2010-09-21T09:21:00.001-07:00

Get all the latest info on our new game in the latest issue of Playstation: The Official Magazine!

I have not seen the piece yet so no idea if they dug the preview we gave them or they hated us or what. Gulp! Hope they dug what they saw last month!

Either way- check it out- should be on new stands any day! Lemme know what you think!

David

ps. A character/vehicle many folks have been asking about is revealed in this issue.

pps. Not only is this issue of P:TOM sweet cause it has OUR game in it :) BUT this is also the kick off issue of their brand new redesign! Eager to see what the new look/take has in store!

Up With The Sun...

2010-09-21T05:38:00.000-07:00

It's 5:30am, up since 5 to work. So much left to do on the game and most work days after around 5pm, I'm done, fried, kaput. I can do bizzy work after 5pm, but creative, analytical work is pretty much shot for me once the sun goes down. As I get older, I DO tend to be able to do creative work late at night but I can't always count on that (I never know when that energy surge is gonna hit). So I get up early to try and get as much work in before late afternoon as I can. Hard to tell if it's better to be more clear (i.e. less tired) for less hours (i.e. sleep till 7-7:30 instead of up at 5) OR if it's more productive to get up at 5 and have more hours to work but have less focus. We'll see! :)

Meanwhile...is it odd I'm really excited to see this?!?

I know it's a kids movie...or maybe FAMILY movie is more correct? Either way, I'm taking my kids this weekend. Has sort of a Dark Crystally feel, yes? PLUS it's from Snyder...how can you go wrong with a PG kids movie made by the 300 and Watchmen guy?!?! Anyway, let ya know how it is!

Ok- gotta get cranking- later!

David

Journalistic Assumptions

2010-09-17T08:35:00.000-07:00

I'm really tired of journalists writing pieces about what they feel is lacking in games- be it deeper artistic sensibilities, deeper stories, meaningful mature views of the world, or more realistic portrayals of women- and framing the opinion as if it's a foregone conclusion that what they are asking for simply needs to happen and it's our lack of maturity as developers or our lack of ability or our fear of a lack of sales that are the things that prevent their desires from coming true.

It's like they never stop to consider that perhaps many of us game developers don't want what THEY want.

Maybe some of us LIKE games that don't want to be art.
Maybe some of us would rather be the Jerry Bruckheimer of games than gaming's Orson Wells.
Maybe some of us LIKE portraying women in a more comic booky way (the same way- by the way- that the vast majority of male game characters are portrayed).
Maybe some of us don't want to load our games down with political and philosophical discourse.

The point is not whether games can or should push at these boundaries. For some developers and gamers they absolutely should try to do so (and some games do try and at times somewhat succeed). For other gamers and developers, not so much.

But just because YOU- dear journalist- may want games to be a certain way (and you have every right and in some ways even an obligation to shout from the rooftops about what you don't like and what you want to see changed about the medium that you cover) don't assume that we all have the same desires that you do. And more importantly don't assume that the reason things are not the way you want them is because game makers are just not trying hard enough or we're all stunted or we're all too scared of not moving units.

And if you really want to write about this topic in a fresh, meaningful way- and since some of you are so clear on the fact that if we were just more grown up as developers we could be making video game versions of Citizen Kane (don't fucking get me started), how about an article explaining exactly what you mean? Be specific. Explain first off what it is about Citizen Kane you want to see done interactively. Explain the psychology that drives a player to chase after feelings and emotions in a videogame that they can already get in other mediums. Talk about the collapse of the suspension of disbelief in the fiction- that is required to immerse someone in a film or book (and thus allows those mediums to be powerfully emotional and moving)- that occurs the moment you pick up a controller and are given a task to complete. Discuss the challenge - and is it even possible- to create emotion while a player is also- at the same time- busy dealing with a task. Instead of just being accusatory ('developers are stunted' 'developers are scared of real women and/or don't understand women'), and instead of being presumptuous ('games should be ABOUT something! They should tackle the tough subjects like marriage and death and politics and these game makers are just so worried about blockbusters that they avoid making the medium great!) actually dig into whether this thing you say you want is even possible in this medium, how it works, the brain science and psychology behind interactivity and how there may (or may not) be ways to merge play and emotion.

David

ps. before anyone comments about how games can be art and such, I get it. I want games that have deeper meaning and deal with tougher issues as well. I'm not opposed to that. And as much as I'd like some games I work on to allow me to proudly wear the 'Jerry Bruckheimer' label, there are times- and games I want to make- that would let me drape myself in the cloak of Sidney Pollack or Spielberg or Nolan. So I'm not hating on the idea of games being 'more' than just action/adventure and explosions and T&A. I'm bitching about some journalists that assume that the reason most games are not 'more' than this has everything to do with lazy, untalented, and/or scared developers.

2 Quick Thoughts

2010-09-16T12:52:00.001-07:00

#1- POT CALLING THE KETTLE BLACK

Is amazed that so many ultra right wingers can- on one hand- claim to be anti Muslim but on the other hand endorse the very freedom killing beliefs that only the most extremist Muslim folks (who do not represent the vast majority of Muslims) support.

#2- OLD JIMMY STEWART CREEPS ME OUT AND MAKES ME SAD

I'm watching The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance these days (taking me a few nights to get thru it) and I just don't like seeing Jimmy Stewart older than say 35. It's just not right, not natural, and it's downright creepy. He's only and always supposed to be young, full of life, energy, and good old fashioned can-do American spirit. Like this:

And this:

Now THAT'S Jimmy Stewart dammit!

Right wingers want to ban media and games and movies? Well start with this: Ban all Jimmy Stewart movies where he's older than 35. No matter if they are classics like Valance and Vertigo, just ban those fuckers. Ban them now! Old Jimmy Stewart is bad for America.

That's is all.

David

Sweet! New Disney Animation!

2010-09-15T16:24:00.000-07:00

Day one! With my kids of course! But hell, it looks so good I'd probably end up seeing it even if I didn't have little girls :)

I know I'm in the mega minority on this but I tend to like Disney animation more than Pixar movies. Princes and the Frog had some big issues but I enjoyed it much more than the latest Pixar flicks (which had tons of heart but mega story issues for me).

Anyway, this looks great!

Torn Between Two Dantes

2010-09-15T08:34:00.000-07:00

So this dude above- based on all we know right now- is the new Dante from Devil May Cry.

Fans ain't happy. Well, at least if internet message boards are to be believed (but given how well Scott Pilgram and Snakes on A Plane performed at the box office, isn't it time we just accepted that all of the geeks posting on the net really only amount to like 1000 people or something??!)

I'm torn. As the guy who was very seriously considering turning Sweet Tooth into an inner city gang banger (big ass, super tough black man with fire tats on his bald head instead of flames), I get the need and desire to freshen up and re-imagine characters from time to time. Creative folks have got to have the freedom to play around, experiment, push boundaries. That's why they- we- are creative folks. It's what we do.

At the same time, when you are talking about classic characters- like Dante- how much consistency is owed to the fan base? How much consistency is needed for you to be allowed to drape your product in the name of an established franchise? And does that amount change if what is being delivered- new and fresh as it is- is crazy great? I would imagine if the dude above was all kinds of awesome visually, fans would be being more forgiving. It's not that he's bad at all. He's totally fine but he's kind of generic. Which may very well be the point. Maybe he BECOMES classic Dante with all his crazy quirks and flair as you play thru the game. Maybe he's generic so players can project their own personality on him (ala GTA). Maybe he's generic because they are going for an archetype (ala Nathan Drake). I got no way of knowing at this point.

Fans should also keep in mind that the Devil May Cry games- at least since the first one- have not been mega sellers. Yes, DMC has its share of devoted fans (and I'm one of them). But it's not like we're talking Modern Warfare numbers here. Not even God of War numbers. So I can see a publisher and developer going, 'Shit, we gotta do something to take this amazing game series and make it more relevant to a lot more people'. So I can see how they ended up where they are now. This guy's design may not be the next Master Chief but I can see him being more commercial to more gamers compared to the very cool but also very effeminate classic Dante.

So I'm willing to give them the benefit of the doubt. Let the team play, let them roam, let them try to entertain us. I'm sure this decision was not made lightly. I think sometimes the net jumps the gun and mocks and makes fun and tears creative types apart without giving them a chance to prove themselves.

Once the game or movie or comic is out? It's fair game, for sure. Hell, I'll never forgive Crystal Skull for being a shit pile. But until the game is done, I'm all for supporting the creative process. Because when it works, we get amazing, amazing things.

David