RipTen Videogame Blog » david jaffe

David Jaffe + Sweet Tooth’s Truck + 100,000 Full Metal Jacket Bullets + You = Twisted Fun

Michael Futter — Fri, 10 Feb 2012 04:00:51 +0000

A few days ago, we reported that David Jaffe would be leaving Utah developer Eat Sleep Play, of which he is a co-founder.

True to form, though, the madman behind the clown with the flaming head is not going quietly into that good night. No, not at all. Instead, in celebration of the launch of Twisted Metal, he’s out in the middle of the desert with Sweet Tooth’s truck, ready to blow the crap out of that thing with a big ol’ machine gun.

The best part? You can enter for a chance to join in the fun. Jaffe and friends are hooking up the sweet piece of weaponry to a camera and remote trigger so fans can fire at the hunk of metal from the comfort of their own computers. Think it sounds cool? Just watch the video to confirm your suspicions.

All you need to do is head over to the Shoot My Truck website and sign up before the game launches. If you’re one of the lucky winners, you’ll find out on the morning of Valentine’s Day. Nothing says love like a bullet-riddled carcass of a demonic ice cream truck.

If you were considering acquiring Twisted Metal through less scrupulous means, you might want to rethink your strategy. Jaffe’s got a gun.

Twisted News Out of Eat Sleep Play – David Jaffe Departing, Layoffs

Michael Futter — Tue, 07 Feb 2012 14:30:32 +0000

With only a week to go before the highly anticipated Twisted Metal reboot, everything was smooth sailing. David Jaffe (@davidscottjaffe on Twitter) is known for engaging his fans and critics alike with brutal honesty and humor. He’s one of those developers that isn’t afraid to speak his mind while, at the same time, seeking guidance from those who are emotionally invested in his games.

Imagine our surprise when we woke up this morning to read in the Salt Lake Tribune that Eat Sleep Play, the studio co-founded by Jaffe, is suffering a one-two punch of bad press. The developer has laid off 26 employees at its Utah headquarters, a horrible situation for those employees eagerly anticipating the return of Sweet Tooth.

Worse, Eat Sleep Play co-founder Scott Campbell confirmed that his partner, Jaffe, is departing the studio. Oh, and the developer is now moving exclusively into the casual games market. I’m just having a nightmare, right? The winner of the Twisted Metal tournament made a wish, horribly perverted by Calypso.

While Campbell claims that Jaffe will be moving to casual games also, the man behind the clown with the flaming head softened that blow on Twitter.

The rumors of me making casual games post TM- as many of you define them- are highly exaggerated.

— davidscottjaffe (@davidscottjaffe) February 7, 2012

We won’t know until next week what this means for the Twisted Metal reboot, though without Sony’s intervention, it could be one-and-done. Best case scenario for a post-Jaffe Twisted Metal? The franchise gets passed on to a studio with the same passion that its creator brought to the table. We’ll keep you posted as we learn more.

[Source: Twitter, Salt Lake Tribune]

Twisted Metal Proves to be Twisted Fun (Hands On)

Todd Schlickbernd — Fri, 03 Feb 2012 02:00:12 +0000

Twisted Metal is the oldest Sony-exclusive franchise in all of Sony-exclusive franchise history and yet it hasn’t properly graced the cirsp Blu-ray diskiness of the PlayStation 3. Well clearly Eat Sleep Play has merely been biding its time until the climate was perfect for a new Twisted Metal because this one feels like the car combat game everyone has been waiting for. Vehicles defy reality, twisting and drifting to the player’s whim, combat is fast-paced and intense, and the destruction and mayhem is absolutely top notch. There are some minor hiccups, some of which are probably more of an issue to Twisted Metal fans than those who have never played a Twisted Metal game, but overall this is a game to keep your eye on.

Ever since humans first dreamt they could drive large blocks of metal, they wished they could smash them into other blocks of metal, or perhaps blow them up with all sorts of weaponry, but feared the social impact of having so many deaths on a daily basis. In comes video games, gateway to awesome things unattainable in real life, and with it, the car combat genre. Somehow this genre is one of the most difficult things to make work. You’d think it’d be super easy, like… cars + bombs = win, right? Not right. There’s a million ways to implement the idea of car combat, some use racing, some use deathmatch, some are top-down view, and some… are Twisted Metal. Twisted Metal has always been the epitome of a car combat game, the game other car combat games base themselves off of, and this iteration is no different.

Traditionally Twisted Metal has been an arena-style car combat game and it still is. However, in the past each car had a character attached to it (along with a car-unique special weapon) and everybody had to fight over which character they were going to play, though “everybody” only extended to four human players and bots. This time around, there’s a rather robust multiplayer mode which supports up to 16 players and the game has changed to accommodate this. Now, there are several factions to choose from, four of which are available in the demo, along with any vehicle and basic weapon combination when preparing to play a game of Twisted Metal. While each vehicle still has a unique special, multiple players can pick the same vehicle now, which is super cool. Last of the real big gameplay changes is the inclusion of the helicopter vehicle which freely flies about the sky wreaking mayhem and being generally difficult to target, but short to stay alive.

The demo itself has both a single player experience with bots and two online modes including Deathmatch, a timed kill-everybody-athon, and Nuke, a team based capture-the-flag plus sort of deal. Fearing my Twisted Metal skills were suspect after not having played since Twisted Metal: Black (like nine years ago), I opted to play some single player first. The initial controls completely eluded me, but thankfully there are plenty of control styles because just about every button on the controller is used in this game. After figuring out what button does what, I settled in and quickly started to enjoy myself.

Cars are fast, even slow cars are pretty fast, especially with turbo, and yet a sort of “break reality drift” button allows cars to take ridiculous turns and operate with the precision necessary to even dream of hitting anybody with the myriad of projectile death-causers in this game. That mechanic is really the anchor to this game that makes it playable, enjoyable and not the slightest bit frustrating or difficult to play. The gameplay strategy of weaving in and out of battles still exists, taking time to stock up on weapons and entering battles when it’s feasible. Demoltion derby or not, there’s still strategy to this game. The only time the core mechanics get in the way of themselves is targeting, without a way to manually target or switch targets (as far as I found) sometimes the game locks on to the wrong target and that Reaper (fragile motorcycle) gets away with no health while you target that Darkside (beefy semi) and she laughs at you. While that can be frustrating, those issues only exist with the homing weapons, and there are plenty of non-homing weapons to use.

On that subject, the available arsenal is pretty fantastic. The addition of passenger-used weapons like the sniper rifle and shotgun are awesome. Both are special-case weapons (polar opposites in range) but they can be very useful for securing kills both in and out of the mayhem. The traditional weapons return with the power missiles, swarmers, homing and fire missiles, and they’re all super fun to use and remain a staple in every combat situation. There are a couple items including a remote bomb and RC-C4 Car which use a pop-up cam when fired off into the distance to monitor if there are enemies in its blast radius. User interface-wise, weapons with areas of effect do different are qualified when the damage notification pops up, saying “Napalm Close: 30 Damage” versus “Napalm Far: 10 Damage”, same with shotguns etc. While not crucial to gameplay, it does help give the player an idea of how they need to lead their target and judge space within the universe.

Game mode wise, every mode was super awesome fun times, but each had a bit of a hiccup that was a tad frustrating. The single player mode in the demo is elimination style and, while totally fine in theory, can be frustrating because like most games with cars the AI makes a habit of making sure it’s around you at all times. Most every game I finished (after dying and losing) I have taken a significantly greater amount of damage than my AI opponents, having healed so much trying to evade their incredibly tenacious chases. That’s no fun. It’s no fun to be hunted down and forcibly removed from a demo experience. It’s one thing to be killed because, well, it’s a game about killing each other, but it’s annoying when consecutive matches end with receiving way too much AI attention.

The two online modes, Deathmatch and Nuke, were far less hiccupy. Deathmatch pits up to sixteen players against each other in a giant clusterfuck on a massive map (the same map available in all modes) and gives players points for kills and assists. Before hiccups, it should be noted that this game might be the only game to get freaking assists right. Why is it so hard to credit players for assists in first person shooters? No idea. But in Twisted Metal you get varying levels of points based on how much damage you contributed to the death of any player ranging from soft to hard assist. Hard assist is much like the Halo assist in that it is essentially a “kill steal”. Beyond that, gameplay is frenetic and filled with all sorts of explosions and people driving through and off of buildings, leading to immense satisfaction in victory and in loss. My only qualm is with the often-unobserved Twisted Metal powers including the mine, shield and freeze. While the first two are totally fine, freeze lasts way too long; with sixteen players blowing the shit out of each other constantly, getting frozen is pretty much guaranteed death unless you’re Darkside.

Nuke is a team mode where players alternate offensive and defensive roles, with the offense team attempting to capture faction leaders, sacrifice them to nuke firing devices, then guide a nuclear missile into the other team’s statue. Awesome in theory, awesome in practice. This take on capture the flag is really fun, and takes full advantage of the all of the game’s features, giving fast vehicles a dedicated role and tanky vehicles a dedicated role as well, allowing mid-ranged vehicles to play the field. The strategy here is really under-the-radar, but man can a good strategy just dominate. Unfortunately, the biggest strategy I’ve seen so far is to have the helicopter capture the faction leader, fly a million miles into the sky then go deliver it safely. The helicopters are far too difficult to target, but they’re not that fast or durable so it’s plenty easy to counter this strategy, but it is frustrating nonetheless.

Twisted Metal is absolutely back, though it has changed in more ways than one. Just about every change to the core mechanics of this game has been to accommodate the current generation and is ultimately welcome, this coming from a massive Twisted Metal fan. Combat was fast, frenetic, and even when hunting for weapons I couldn’t escape the violence for long. Destroying the level, finding weapon caches and entering and leaving combat at the right times remain the key to victory and fun, and no game with cars does it better. This game must be demo’d, everyone should try it, even if you’re not a racing fan because it’s more about using a car as a giant weapon than driving an actual car, and any lover of shooting things or BSU needs to play this.

Twisted Metal is out on PS3 exclusively on Valentine’s day, February 14; blow up your significant other then hand them flowers. Then blow those up.

Sony Takes Scalpel to Twisted Metal in Europe

Michael Futter — Fri, 03 Feb 2012 00:02:59 +0000

Europeans anxiously awaiting the arrival of Sweet Tooth, Dollface and the rest of the gruesome cast of Eat, Sleep, Play’sTwisted Metal got a one-two punch of bad news today.

First, the game has likely been delayed with David Jaffe commenting in a NeoGAF post that he “heard” that the title will be bumped to March. Ruins your Valentine’s Day, right?

Second, there have been some small cuts to the game. A little nip here, tuck there, but nothing that should ruin your fun with it. According to Jaffe, the notes from Sony Computer Entertainment Europe requested a number of minor modifications. None of the changes are on the level of what happened with Twisted Metal: Black, but if you put them side-by-side, you’ll notice a few missing frames from the end of particularly gory cutscenes. The gurney bombs feature live victims in the North American release, but corpses in Europe.

Jaffe assures fans that he was there for all the cuts and that the story in the European version is still as cohesive and compelling as it is in the stateside release.

Twisted Metal arrives on Playstation 3 here in the US on February 14, 2012. Fingers are still crossed for a simultaneous worldwide release. We’ll keep you posted once we know more.

New Twisted Metal to Include Free Downloadable of Twisted Metal: Black

Catherine Cai — Thu, 29 Dec 2011 04:57:18 +0000

As a bit of a holiday surprise, Twisted Metal co-creator David Jaffe revealed via video at the Playstation Blog that the limited edition of Twisted Metal will include a free downloadable version of Twisted Metal: Black. Yes, this is the same Twisted Metal: Black for PS2 in 2001.

Watch the video below:

Oh and if you do get the limited edition of Twisted Metal, it’ll look a little something like this:

[Via PlayStation Blog]

Twisted Metal Release Date Announced With New Trailer

Chris Carlson — Sat, 27 Aug 2011 01:00:12 +0000

David Jaffe has announced that Twisted Metal will be shredding hearts this Valentine’s Day when it hits stores on February 14th, 2012. Also released was a brand new “Dollface” trailer for the game.

“Twisted Metal’s debut on the PlayStation 3 comes packed with new weapons, new environments and new vehicles, including the ability to fly with the Talon, a helicopter armed to the teeth with a minigun turret. Optimized for both offline and online play, Twisted Metal is the ultimate multiplayer experience. Grab a couple of friends for 2-4 player splitscreen mode or synch up to PSN and play against up to 16 competitors.”

David Jaffe Explains Why Twisted Metal Was Delayed til 2012

Catherine Cai — Mon, 08 Aug 2011 04:25:42 +0000

Just yesterday we reported that the Twisted Metal reboot would not be hitting October 4th as planned. However, that’s no reason to be mad, as this means Eat Sleep Play will have extra time to fix all the issues with the game before it ships. David Jaffe explained that quite a few things needed to be tweaked with Twisted Metal, such as boss fights, weapon balancing, level caps, regen timing, among many other issues. Fixing all of them would take longer than a month, and Jaffe believed that launching the game in November and December wasn’t a good idea. Probably a wise move, considering that Holiday 2011 is already jammed packed with popular titles.

Here’s all of the issues that Jaffe outlined below in a statement:

No real way to ship Twisted Metal sooner than the date we are currently shooting for (early 2012)…Sorry for the delay. But the extra months are really needed for polish and we feel we need more than 4-6 weeks (which would see us hitting shelves in your suggested November time frame) of polish/tuning. Also hitting smack dab in mid Nov/Mid Dec is a bad time to release this game (although that was not the reason we delayed AT ALL…we WANTED to be out in Oct)…but the extra time gives us more time to balance weapons, tune vehicle handling, tune the EXP progression for levelling up, etc…I assure you, better to be a LITTLE ANNOYED in the short term versus hate us forever for shipping a game that’s not up to your understandably high expectations. ANY money is a lot to ask from someone for entertainment. 60 bucks is a S**TE TON to ask for so if we are going to charge that, you deserve our best…even if it takes a little longer than we anticipated.

Some examples of stuff we’re not happy with yet- which should allow you and others to really peek behind the scenes at the kind of stuff this kind of extra time will allow:

Iron Maiden has a few boss attacks that don’t have strong enough telegraphs (aka- the player isn’t able to clearly, consistently tell when she is going to launch the attack)

Iron Maiden has an attack that- even if you can see it coming- the player is not really sure how to avoid it besides using a shield (and we want the player to always have another defensive ability beyond a shield)

We are not 100% happy with the XP rank up tuning….we don’t want you to be able to hit the level cap too soon but we also don’t want the level cap to be so hard to reach that only super amazing hard core can reach it

There are 1-2 online trophies that will motivate players to take actions that go against the more team oriented aspects of some of the modes and thus will piss off other players so we need to rethink and replace those

Pick up placements for split screen local gaming needs more attention

Pick up regen timing needs some tuning…

So imagine about 250 of those sorts of things. Could we ship without change a single one? Totally and it would still be a really fun game. But it would not be good enough for us. And certainly not for you.

Good call on Eat Sleep Play’s part for delaying Twisted Metal. A game with that many issues would surely tank. After all, better late than never.

[Via Examiner]

Twisted Metal Delayed Till Early 2012

Jorge Bocanegra — Sat, 06 Aug 2011 19:00:17 +0000

Ok, let’s get the bad news out of the way first: Twisted Metal will be missing its previously-intended October 4th launch date. Fans who’ve been desperately waiting for the return of Sweet Tooth and friends will sadly have to wait longer–until early 2012– for the series’ big return on Playstation 3. David Jaffe stopped by the Official Playstation Blog to break the news, stating the following to back up this decision by Eat Sleep Play:

“Anyway – it sucks bad when games miss their announced launch dates. We’re gamers too and we know how annoying it is. It’s disappointing and frustrating and it really takes the wind out of your sails if you’re a fan that has been looking forward to playing a title for a long time. Thing is, you gotta trust me when I tell you that – with this extra time for tuning and polish – the game is going to be so much better than it already is. And if you played Twisted Metal and liked it at E3 or Comic-Con, or if you get to play it (and you enjoy it) at one of the August shows, just imagine how much more fun the final game will be with some extra time, polish, and love.”

Sounds reasonable to me! This is the series’ big comeback, so extra development time won’t hurt at all, especially when it’ll help enhance the overall game, ensuring fans get what they deserve. There’s quite a few heavy-hitters coming this year anyway–including some Playstation 3 exclusives like Uncharted 3– so releasing Twisted Metal early next year will definitely help its chances of getting more exposure. Now, onto the good news.

Gamescom and PAX Prime are both quickly approaching and Eat Sleep Play plan on making Twisted Metal have really strong showings at both events. Both events– running from August 17th-21st and August 26th-28th, respectively– will play host to a brand new level, titled “Thrills and Spills Amusement Park”. Jaffe goes on to describe it as being ” filled with the over the top destruction, strategic level choices, and twisted humor that fans of the series have come to love and expect.” A new multiplayer mode will also be available for attendees at both shows: ‘Team Hunted’. Details on that mode will be revealed at said events.

Lastly, apart from Sweet Tooth masks being given away to fans at both events, a new story trailer will be revealed, focusing on Dollface. Seems like there’s a lot in store for Twisted’ fans in this month alone! And, yeah, it does suck that we’ll have to wait till next year for the game’s release but hey, I’ll leave you all with this quote from a legend in the industry (which Jaffe also posted on the Blog):

‘A late game is only late until it ships. A bad game is bad until the end of time.’- Shigeru Miyamoto

Source: Official Playstation Blog

Jaffe Releases Glorious Stick Figure Concept Art For Twisted Metal

Dave Oshry — Thu, 14 Jul 2011 08:01:05 +0000

David Jaffe is many things, but an artist is not one of them. One of the bosses in the upcoming Twisted Metal is known as the Iron Maiden \m/ and when lord Jaffe was conceptualizing the boss, he drew up some…. “rough” designs of what he wanted the boss to look like and how the fight should play out.

Behold!!

Glorious indeed.

I actually fought this bitch at E3 and the fight pretty much played out just like that. Lots of driving around and pew pew lazors. Here’s what Jaffe had to say about his awesome sketches:

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 execution above a 5 year old ‘s art talent level? OH HELLS NO! Thank God I work with a super talented team! :)

Stay tuned to RipTen for more on Twisted Metal, David Jaffe and stick figure boss art and also be sure to check out some actual footage of the Iron Maiden from the E3 trailer below:

Twisted Metal Gets a Release Date and Brutal New Trailer

Dave Oshry — Fri, 08 Apr 2011 09:43:47 +0000

It’s about damn time. It’s been too long since we’ve seen some new Twisted gameplay. Better yet, we now know when Sweet Tooth is coming out to play.

Yessir, TM is looking to be one hell of a ride.

Buckle up on October 4th.

via [HBG]

GDC11: Jaffe Says Console Games Take Too Damn Long To Load – Ends Up Playing PSP On The Can

Dave Oshry — Wed, 02 Mar 2011 21:00:19 +0000

Moments ago, the ever outspoken lord of Twisted Metal gave a brief presentation during the GDC. During which, he brought up a few slides showing just how god damn long it takes from the time you power on your console, to when you actually get to start playing games. Games like Assassin’s Creed Brotherhood can take up to 13 minutes before you’re in a game, and even Killzone 3 can take 8 minutes before you get that instant bloodthirsty gratification you crave.

This being the case, Jaffe let us know that the place he now finds himself doing most of his gaming … is on the toilet. PSP firmly in hand, as so not to drop it, Jaffe contends that handheld devices like the PSP and DS can still give gamers that instant gaming gratification they crave that we simply cannot get on modern consoles. It would also appear he has a healthy amount of fiber in his diet.

Jaffe concluded by letting us know that games used to ship finished on day one – and we shouldn’t be patching them the first fucking week that they’re on shelves. However, that is far less interesting than thinking about him playing PSP while taking a shit, right?

David Jaffe Sounds Off on GeoHot

Dave Oshry — Tue, 22 Feb 2011 02:20:16 +0000

The always vocal overlord of Twisted Metal has sounded off on the current situation revolving around George “GeoHot” Hotz.

If you’ve no idea who the hell I’m talking about – “GeoHot” is the young iPhone and PS3 hacker who is currently being sued by Sony.

According to Jaffe, it doesn’t matter what GeoHot’s argument is – “If he broke the law, he broke the law, and needs to suffer the consequences”

While Jaffe admits he may agree with GeoHot on a philosophical level - that does not make it ok for him or anyone to break the laws of this great land.

David Jaffe – Model American.

See all of Jaffe’s thoughts on the matter below:

Fan Made Twisted Metal Movie Trailer is Amazing

Dave Oshry — Thu, 28 Oct 2010 19:42:00 +0000

David Jaffe asked, and the fans delivered. Not only that, but this trailer is so good, I think I’d actually see this film. Bravo Blue Goggles Films for making a game based movie that makes us all scream for ice cream!!

Here’s all the details from the guys and gals at Blue Goggles:

“I want us to make an honest to goodness, low-budget slasher movie and sell it on PSN exclusive.” – David Jaffe (co-creator of Twisted Metal)

Jaffe asked for it so we made it for him, a trailer for a low budget slasher movie starring Sweet Tooth. This was made for fans of the much-beloved franchise and to all the people at Eat Sleep Play working on the new Twisted Metal game. We can’t wait to play it. Happy Halloween!

Writer & Director: Ben Moody
Director of Photography: Steve Birnbaum
Producers: Rachel Campbell & Lisa Marie Kull
Special Make-Up Effects: Andrew De Leon
Grip: Shawn Marchese
Production Designer: Lisa Marchese
PA: David Meyers

STARRING:
Chris King as Needles “Sweet Tooth” Kane
Danielle Evon Ploeger
Carl Guthrie
Robert Perreault
Jon McMahan
Kurtis Wheeler
Ashley Spillers
Nathan O’Hara
Audrey Johnson
Shayla Bagir
Ciara Flynn
Patrick Knisely
Kelly Campbell

Based on characters created by David Jaffe & Scott Campbell

Hey Jaffe!! Throw some of that God of War money at these guys and let them finish the film!!

David Jaffe and Team Auction Off Autographed Copy of Twisted Metal For Charity

Dave Oshry — Tue, 12 Oct 2010 01:34:27 +0000

PlayStation Museum is auctioning off a copy of the first Twisted Metal for the original PlayStation on Ebay. What makes this auction worthwhile is not just the fact that this copy of Twisted Metal has been autographed by David Jaffe, Scott Campbell, and other members of the original Twisted Metal Team — but it’s for a very noble cause.

The auction is for a charitable purpose as 100% of the proceeds will go toward the benefit of the American Cancer Society. The highest bidder will receive a framed copy of the game signed, and ready for display in any gamer’s collection. The game has been framed for obvious reasons, but anyone who would crack it open and play it obviously has no idea it’s true value. :-)

It’s a piece of history for any Twisted Metal or David Jaffe fan out there, and a noble cause for anyone willing to pay to add it to their collection.

As the son of a cancer survivor, I am glad the proceeds will be going to benefit the ACS. In fact, I may bid on this myself.

Ebay Auction

David Jaffe Confirms Axel’s Twisted Metal Return

Garrett Hartman — Mon, 27 Sep 2010 20:59:13 +0000

If you’re like me, Axel was one of your favorite Twisted Metal characters. Anyone who could stand there shirtless between two giant tires and still take on psychopaths like Sweet Tooth deserves to be placed in the company of Chuck Norris. Thankfully, David Jaffe recognizes this and announced via Twitter that Axel will return in the upcoming PS3 version of Twisted metal:

For those asking about Axel in TMPS3. So yes he’s in and he has 2 attacks: he rolls up into a ball and for a limited time u can crush the hell out of people. How many crushes can u get b4 timer runs out?Secondary special is a charge up shockwave that does little damage but knocks enemies hella far back. Great for clearing groups off rooftops or ledges and for clearing some space for ur teammate in NUKE while he’s trying to launch a missile. If we can get it working across the net (it’s a fast attack) players should be able to jump the shockwave 2 defend against it.

He’s back and will be joining the ranks of Sweet Tooth, Dollface, Mr. Grimm and The Preacher. Can’t wait to find out who’s next.

Twisted Metal will be a 2011 PS3 release.

David Jaffe: No PlayStation Move or 3D Support for Twisted Metal

Dylan Duarte — Fri, 23 Jul 2010 22:48:16 +0000

According to developer David Jaffe, the newest installment in the Twisted Metal franchise will be played with a standard run-of-the-mill controller and be displayed in flat, old-fashioned 2D. Thank the God of War.

Twisted Metal is still a ways off, so the powers that be have plenty of time to cram these things in, but lets hope that they don’t. We know that Jaffe is a fan of gameplay above all else so it’s probably safe to assume that he’s behind this decision. Let’s hope he sticks to his guns and keeps Twisted Metal pure.

David Jaffe Weighs In on Downloadable Content Debate

David Oxford — Tue, 20 Jul 2010 00:38:00 +0000

Downloadable content has been a sticky-subject among gamers since its inception, particularly when it involves money changing hands. And while that alone is able to draw a divide between gamers, things can get really heated if a company is so bold as to release downloadable content on the same day a game is to arrive in stores.

Recently, Eat Sleep Play founder and God of War/Twisted Metal designer David Jaffe carried out a lengthy discussion with some fans on how he perceives the matter, including his thoughts on when it is justified and when it’s not, or whether publishers are “lazy and greedy” for releasing it on Day One.

This debate, of sorts, was carried out in its entirety on Twitter. We are reformatting it slightly for ease of reading; contents, most errors, and the like are unchanged. The person tweeting will be in [brackets].

[@davidscottjaffe] http://bit.ly/9L5sjH I find paragraph 2 and 3 of this write up to be utter horse shit. Man I’m in a cranky mood today! :)

Money’s worth is great. But 60 bucks for 1-2 months worth of entertainment (1 month=30 days!) is a bad deal?!?

ALSO this ‘day 1 DLC = greedy publisher” is such utter horseshit.

[@GweedyJ] Day 1 DLC is utter horseshit my friend

[@Sam_Stone_] @davidscottjaffe I agree with you, but I feel it’s nice when publishers/developers go out of their way to give you value. look at the following that Valve has for PC gamers, they go out of their way to treat the customer well.

[@davidscottjaffe] @GweedyJ As I always say, it’s about value for money. U R owed $60 worth of entertainment. If I have another $10 worth of entertainment ready to go on the same day, that really has nothing to do with you. As long at the $60 game u bought makes you happy and taken care of.

[@davidscottjaffe] .@Sam_Stone_ I am ALL ABOUT treating the customer well. You should feel like a fucking king for your $60. No doubt. BUT if I have more I want to sell outside of that $60 experience- whenever I want to sell it- that is NOT greed. Gamers R not owed EVERYTHING we have just cause they WANT it.

[@GweedyJ] @davidscottjaffe Day 1 DLC tells me yr not confident enough in yr product & R just looking 4 easy $$. No offense 2 U just my feelings

[@ZoopSoul] @davidscottjaffe DLC IS a statement of greed in most instances. I feel like I’m not receiving the full game for my $64. Examples: AC2 removed two full chapters scheduled for the disc. It makes the purchaser feel like they aren’t getting total package. Mass Effect 2 promised loads of free DLC with new purchase; two 30 min pieces were free, several $7 DLCs released after. Simply put, it feels like nickel and diming. Furthermore, I have yet to buy a piece of DLC I’ve thought was worth the $$$.

[@davidscottjaffe] .@ZoopSoul Right but in that case you have a valid issue about not feelin u got your $60 worth. That is a GREAT thing 2B pissed about. But that has NOTHING to do with selling DLC day 1. They are 2 totally separate things, or they SHOULD be.

.@GweedyJ Well to be fair, you feel that way because the industry has made you feel that way. And that is unfortunate. But that is more of an issue with specific publishers taking advantage of customers versus an issue with the DLC system.

[@GweedyJ] @davidscottjaffe thats a very good point. I would not mind day 1 dlc done right.

[@Matty1209] @davidscottjaffe I’m not bothered about DLC as long as it isn’t an unlock key and it’s already on disk but if they were on your tray and they wont allow you it untill you pay extra is cheeky :)

[@davidscottjaffe] .@Matty1209 I got not issues with that either. All I care about is ‘did we take amazing care of you for the money you paid’.

[@Sam_Stone_] @davidscottjaffe I mostly agree with you for sure, and just know that if TM has I’m probably going to buy it.

[@GweedyJ] @davidscottjaffe Already on disc DLC is horrible. When i pay money for something i want all of it not most of it.

[@davidscottjaffe] RT @doboworth You don’t demand for more fries for free in McD’s as they are already made JAFFE: Best argument ever! Genius sir!

[@cmabbott] @davidscottjaffe as a game designer, do you ever get irritated/pissed off with the sense of entitlement that (most) gamers have?

[@davidscottjaffe] .@cmabbott Yes. People’s sense of entitlement drives me up the fucking wall. The line between demanding value for your $ (good) and being a greedy asshole is a pretty thick line. And yet people seem to have a hard time telling the diff between the 2.

[@brenden77] @davidscottjaffe @doboworth and as such when that fry container isnt quite full, you wish they would have put a little more in there.

[@davidscottjaffe] .@brenden77 But that is a DIFFERENT issue. If you don’t get enough fries for your money first go around, that’s a real problem.

.@SamRosenthalI agree 75% of the games out there are not worth 60 bucks. SOME tho are worth 500 bucks in terms of playtime.

[@Xenokai] @davidscottjaffe “long as my bills are paid and i can take care of my family id do it for free” U said this once. Just wondering wht changd?

[@davidscottjaffe] .@Xenokai NOTHING changed. But my desire to do my job for almost free does not mean gamers should get games for free. 2 different issues.

[@Xenokai] @davidscottjaffe Wasnt sayng gamrs should get FREE games, i understand buying used games = no dev support, just seemed like ur outlook chngd

And that’s pretty much it. That said, do you agree or disagree with any of the points Jaffe (or anyone else) made? Has anything changed your mind after reading this? Feel free to sound off below.

Jaffe Spills on Twisted Metal Details

David Oxford — Fri, 09 Jul 2010 00:57:41 +0000

Before E3, you couldn’t get David Jaffe to so much as even acknowledge the existence of a new Twisted Metal game for the PlayStation 3. But now that the show is done and the cat is out of the bag, just try to get him to shut up about it (or don’t; rumor is that doing so will lead to an incident involving Sweet Tooth, toilet paper, and a flamethrower).

Jaffe’s outlet for dropping hints, teases, facts, and answers to fans’ questions has been his personal Twitter account. Following are some of the juicier excerpts.

The Eat Sleep Play co-Founder revealed that the four playable factions found in the new Twisted Metal are Sweet Tooth’s gang, The Clowns; Dollface’s gang, The Dolls; the disciples of Preacher, The Holy Men; and Grimm’s followers, The Skulls. Jaffe says each car will be driven by one of four chosen faction drivers/gunners, with 16 characters to choose from for each of the 16 vehicles, of which he says a new one can be chosen when respawning.

Regarding the story of this installment, Jaffe said:

“The stories and world and characters are VERY important to us. BUT the bread and butter is MP so made more sense to put much effort into the levels and design and modes and balance vs. tons of time making more and more factions that really don’t affect play at all. And individual characters would not work in Team modes for us (i.e. factions easy to distinguish which team is which).”

Speaking of story, Jaffe notes that tournament organizer Calypso gets a bit more exposition and is still a “‘be careful what you wish for’ kind of prick,” but not to the degree seen in Twisted Metal Black, which was a version of the character the developer notes he did not favor.

Instead, he says the tone will be “in between Black and TM2…not as cartoony as TM2, not as depressing and dark as TMB. More like Creepshow? Edgy Twilight Zone.

Back on the gameplay side of things, some were underwhelmed by a lack of debris during the demo seen at E3. While the game is not to that point in development, Jaffe explained that the plan was for the final version to “toss debris and flip cars when a big ram occurs.”

And what of local multiplayer, an aspect of the game which has been around since the beginning? Jaffe reassures everyone:

Local MP will be a very strong aspect of the new TM. We would never abandon it. It’s a KEY aspect of any TM game.

Other tidbits revealed are:

“If you freeze the copter it drops out of the sky and smashes in the ground. Takes a bit of damage but more than that: opens itself up for a devestating [sic] turbo ram.”

“The plan is to toss debris and flip cars when a big ram occurs but it’s not happening yet.”

“We are hoping to support custom soundtracks but it’s not for certain yet. Depends if we have time to hook it up.”

“We’ll be at the con with- hopefully- a cool ass panel and other stuff but we’re still trying to get it all together,” he wrote. “Probably no playable demo though as we can’t get that many screens on the floor. Space is limited at the con.”

Finally, though the game won’t be available until 2011, fans will get a chance to go a few rounds at the upcoming San Diego Comic Con, while more official details (including new characters and vehicles) will come throughout the year.

Source: Scrawl (via Kotaku)

Jaffe Says Twisted Metal Multiplayer May Include Ranks and Unlockable Content

Dylan Duarte — Fri, 02 Jul 2010 03:00:37 +0000

Today David Jaffe responded to overwhelming requests for Twisted Metal to have a leveling up system, say it’s a possibility but also expressing his doubts.

I don’t know what in the holy hell TwitLonger is, but Jaffe hammered out a long tweet on the subject of leveling up and RPG elements in online gaming. Here’s his response in a nutshell: it may happen but he’s worried that it might hurt the overall product. He cites arguments that it “preserves” the life of the game, responding that while this may be true, just like with food preservatives, you also lose something essential. Like healthy videogame nutrients.

He makes valid points, like the fear that “a player is taking his mind off the core game and staying focused on the meta goal of acquiring rank and goodies and such.” I’m sure that’s true for some gamers, and while a level system may inadvertently encourage that, it’s really up to the players how they enjoy the game. You can’t force them to play it a certain way. For me, personally, I love the new trend of RPG elements in games like Call of Duty and Transformers: War for Cybertron, but I definitely don’t let it distract from the fun on a basic level.

Read his full response here and let us know if you agree or disagree.

David Jaffe Absolutely Does Not Want To Make A Sweet Tooth Movie for PSN At All

Demi Adejuyigbe — Fri, 25 Jun 2010 06:26:02 +0000

If there’s one thing David Jaffe has taught me (and there is only one thing) it’s that whenever he tells us something, we should assume the exact opposite. That said, since David Jaffe has said that he wants to make a PSN-exclusive low-budget slasher movie based around Sweet Tooth, we should assume that David Jaffe does not want to make a PSN-exclusive Sweet-Tooth movie, and does not like movies at all.

The news comes courtesy of Jaffe’s Twitter account, the direct source for such Jaffe Gems™ as these.

By the way, the Sweet Tooth PSN thing I want us to do is a MOVIE on PSN, like THE TESTER in terms of exclusive PSN programming…not a game. I want us to make an honest to goodness, low budget slasher movie and sell it on PSN exclusive. Peeps saying we are making a PSN Sweet Tooth GAME got it wrong.

I would not be surprised if Sony announced a PSN Sweet Tooth game in the next month. I’m not going to say that Jaffe is a horrible developer, or anything- he makes great games. But he’s also very arrogant, and kind of a dick at times. Again, though, he makes great games. David Jaffe truly is the Kanye West of the gaming industry.