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Jaffe to play on Sony team 'for a long-time'
- August 09, 2007 11:39 AM PST
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We sit down with famed God of War creator David Jaffe and Twisted Metal mastermind Scott Campbell at their new Salt Lake City studios to discuss the PS3 (not to mention PS4, and PS5), review scores, God of War sequels, casual games, and the current state of the industry. While Jaffe is now independent, his loyalties still remain with Sony.
Eat Sleep Play's David Jaffe
GamePro: First off, are you guys gaining a lot of creative control by leaving Sony? Was that a strong motive in creating Eat Sleep Play studios?
David Jaffe: I feel that from the first year at Sony [Scott Campbell and I] had a really great boss, Allen Becker, who always gave us creative freedom. He was very supportive and viewed us as artists, so starting a new company with Scott was never about getting more creative freedom.
So they were not cramping your creative style at all?
Scott Campbell: Not at all.
Noting what David called a "pay cut," what's the real motive for starting your own independent studio then?
David: Well, there is [a financial increase]. It is "risk for reward." Both Scott and I -- as everybody here -- owns a piece of the company. We have a better shot at returns. I saw the God of War II launch party at the Metreon, and it was so grand. It was so beautifully, wonderfully over the top, but I remember sitting there thinking, "I didn't own any of this. It is great, but that is all Sony's." There comes a point when you give your blood, sweat, heart and soul to something, and you want at least a little bit of ownership. I think there was some sort of sense of that.
I'm keen on the name. How did you come up with the "Eat Sleep Play"?
David: There is a big story behind that. We struggled and struggled as nothing was legal. I thought Game Soup and the Buttery Smooth Game Factory were cool names, but they wouldn't clear legally.
Scott: I think between the two of us, we basically covered the whole gambit, and it was the most frustrating process because we would fall in love with a name, give it to the lawyers, and it would come back and they would never give you a definitive answer. It was always, "Well, you could run into problems with Midway or somebody..."
Regarding the exclusivity deal with Sony, I read that it is a three-game deal with the first being Twisted Metal.
David: That is incorrect. No, we're dealing with the Twisted Metal port... but the three are going to be original IPs for Sony.
Is there also a time deal as well with Sony?
David: No. Just [three games].
Can you disclose anything about the three games such as themes?
David: I can't disclose themes, but the [first] new game is medium-to-hardcore in terms of gameplay and will focus heavily on multiplayer. I am more excited about this game than anything I have ever worked on. I cannot wait to unveil it. It is awesome!
"The first new game is medium-to-hardcore in terms of gameplay and will focus heavily on multiplayer. I am more excited about this game than anything I have ever worked on. I cannot wait to unveil it."
Do you anticipate these three titles being Blu-ray or downloadable games?
David: They could be both. But that is something that we don't have total control of. We love the downloadable space. We love PSN. We love Xbox Live Arcade. That whole model is growing and will continue to grow, we feel. There is something really appealing about being able to buy a game and not leave your house and buy it for less money because you don't have to pay for packaging, so we're big fans of the PSN service. Whether or not [said games] end up on Blu-ray or both is up to Sony.
In a recent interview you said "that is just not the path we want to go down right now" when asked if you would create a game similar in scale and content to the God of War series. That said, how do you define your current "path?"
David: If you look at Calling All Cars, it is probably the smallest kind of thing we'll make, and Twisted Metal Black is sort of the biggest thing we'll make, obviously scaled-up to inflation of technology. We want to make games that are easy to pick up and play and (not always) but more often than not having a strong multiplayer component. That is the kind of stuff, more modern-day arcade, pickup and play games. I will be very surprised if you saw this studio making anything God of War.
We want to make games that are easy to pick up and play. I will be very surprised if you saw this studio making anything God of War.
Regarding Calling All Cars, have you been happy with its reception?
David: We're all just ecstatic about how it turned out. Maybe if the service was a little bit more evolved and the numbers were a little bit higher...
Scott: Yeah, I would expect different results, but we knew going in that this service isn't established...
You mean the lower than expected install base of the PS3?
Scott: Yeah the install base. Both of us are used to doing bigger numbers.
David: It is funny, as it is also just the awareness of the service because as I always said when I was a Sony employee, I loved the [PSN] service. I think it is a great service. I think the fact that Sony has put a lot of money and energy into original, cool content is very impressive and respectful and you have to sort of appreciate that but at the same time, I know people who have PS3s who have no clue that there is even a PlayStation network to go to. My brother bought a PS3 and was like, "What do you mean, I can just click on that little bag icon?" I think that is more my disappointment, but Sony is working to promote so a lot of people know there is this great service out there.
Calling All Cars was a huge learning experience for me for two main reasons. One is if you are not bringing your A-game, don't put it in the game, which in my case means the single player. If you put single player in just because gamers expect it, it doesn't really work. Ultimately, [Calling All Cars] was intended as a multiplayer game.
We certainly got a number of very positive reviews, but there are people who will bitch that there are only four maps or not enough content. I saw one guy online who said the game is only fun for a week and a half. It is $10! As an independent developer, we can't spend a zillion dollars on every single thing we make because we can't afford to do that, but at the same time we respect the fact that these are the expectations of the people who are spending their money on our product.
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