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Industry Icons: NeoGAF Spotlight David Jaffe

Musky_Cheese

Musky_Cheese

Banned
One of the many ideas to come from the Volunteers Program, perhaps it would be fun and interesting to start a series of threads discussing Industry Icons. Both individuals and Companies themselves. I'd like to have many covered including Hideo Kojima, Kaz Hirai, John Carmack just to name a few. As well as Companies like Nintendo, Playstation, and Bungie. If you'd like to volunteer in making one of these threads PM me so I can get your name on the list.

Why do I want to start with David Jaffe? Personal reasons and I am the author of this thread lol.

The truth is I would like these threads to be more of a celebration and reflection of the spotlighted Individual or Companies contributions to what we all love… GAMING. And seeing how GOD OF WAR (2018) is being awarded Game Of The Year by many publications, it seems appropriate to talk about the father of that franchise. And here we go…

David Gaffe was born in Alabama. After graduating High School, he attended USC. He had dreams of working in film industry, but somehow ended up in the gaming industry. Thank goodness he did.

Twisted Metal!

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I was about 9 years old when I first played Twisted Metal at a friends house. ZOMG! It was the first time in my young life that I wondered about the people behind the product. Prior to this, I never considered even the camera man on TV shows. I didn't know who George Lucas was and didn't care. Stan Lee wasn't a name I knew. My only thoughts were about actors and TV personalities… The people you can see.

But after playing Twisted Metal I wondered "who came up with this stuff"? It was like someone took my imagination and playtime with my hot wheels and put it into a game. The cars were very familiar but also new. The setting was cool and also somewhat scary.

My Grand Father was a truck driver so Darkside was my main. Seeing the local Ice Cream Truck ride by was never the same after that first sitting of Twisted Metal. Playing local vs is a memory I think about anytime multiplayer is brought up in gaming.

Then came Twisted Metal 2. And don't forget about Twisted Metal Black! Black being one of my favorite games of all time.

God Of War.

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My favorite series in all of gaming, Kratos my favorite character. Still to this day, all I have to do is remember not to hit X when playing the first God Of War and I am enjoying it all over again. This game and series for me is timeless. I've played God Of War 1 & 2 on 3 separate consoles (PS2, PS3, Vita). I've beaten every God Of War game minus the mobile game because I didn't have access to play it.

I can't get enough God Of War. The story from Chains Of Olympus to God Of War (2018) has been my favorite in any medium, from Movies, TV, Comics. The settings, enemies, Boss Battles are all superb. If I had to pick 1 franchise to save and start the Human Race over, it would be God Of War.

TLDR version is Mr. Jaffe has big contributions to Gaming. More than Twisted Metal and God Of War, but those are the 2 big impacts for me. Imagining what gaming would be like without them is horrifying imo.

We wouldn't have great, interesting single player games without people like him. I wouldn't have started to consider the people behind a product as early as I did without Twisted Metal. We wouldn't have possibly Game of this Generation with God Of War 1. Gaming without David Jaffe wouldn't be what it is today.

Here is the list of games he worked on according to Wikipedia


Skyblazer (1993) (Super NES) - tester

Mickey Mania (1994) (Super NES/Sega Mega Drive/Genesis/Sega CD)[9] - designer

Twisted Metal (1995) (PC/PlayStation) - designer

Twisted Metal 2 (1996) (PC/PlayStation) - game director, producer, and designer

Twisted Metal: Black (2001) (PS2)

Kinetica (2001) (PS2)

God of War (2005) (PS2) - game director

Twisted Metal: Head-On (2005) (PSP) - game director

God of War II (2007) (PS2) - creative director

Calling All Cars! (2007) (PS3) - game director

Twisted Metal (2012) (PS3) - game director

Drawn to Death (2017) (PS4) - game director

I played Mickey Mania on my Genesis. Didn't know he was part of that until I researched this thread : )

Anyone else want to discuss these games? How they have impacted you and gaming in general. How do you feel how these games will be remembered?

If you are interested in doing a Industry Icons thread, please PM me
 
Musky_Cheese said:
Anyone else want to discuss these games? How they have impacted you and gaming in general. How do you feel how these games will be remembered?
If you are interested in doing a Industry Icons thread, please PM me
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Twisted Metal (especially Twisted Metal 3) for me was pretty much my first big multiplayer game. Absolute insanity.
 
We need Jaffe (back?) on GAF. A true legend.

Great OP too. I had no idea he was involved in Skyblazer, or Mickey Mania for that matter. He's created two legendary franchises, which is a spectacular achievement.
 
Twisted Metal Black was noteworthy for being M rated. 6th gen marked the turning point when more and more games were rated that way.
 
Obviously, the first two God of War games were pretty industry-changing.
 
my fav bit with him was when he told uwe ball to his face on camera that he didn't want him to direct a god of war movie
 
I like how he tells it like it is and isn't afraid to rip anyone a new poop chute when the situation warrants it. Plus he's made some incredible games.
 
I never understood this personality cult in this industry. I took a game dev course a long time ago and one of the teachers did something similar with "game dev personalities". What's the point?

It is not like they are creating masterpiece after masterpiece. Game development is highly dependent on a high quality team in order to create a memorable game.

The times of a genius with a vision are long gone. Maybe in the 80s or early 90s, when one guy or a handful of people could create masterpieces, this was true.

What has Lord British created after Ultima? Suda 51 is a parody of himself. Kamyia crashed and burned with Scalebound. Etc.
 
Twisted Metal 2 was the first PS1 game I bought with my system. It was a lot of fun and made me instantly fall in love with the 32bit era. I think a modern day Twisted Metal game could be a lot of fun.
 
Thiagosc777 said:
I never understood this personality cult in this industry. I took a game dev course a long time ago and one of the teachers did something similar with "game dev personalities". What's the point?

It is not like they are creating masterpiece after masterpiece. Game development is highly dependent on a high quality team in order to create a memorable game.

The times of a genius with a vision are long gone. Maybe in the 80s or early 90s, when one guy or a handful of people could create masterpieces, this was true.

What has Lord British created after Ultima? Suda 51 is a parody of himself. Kamyia crashed and burned with Scalebound. Etc.
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If all you want to create is AAA "every aspect voted on by a committee or focus group" schlock, then sure I get what you're saying.

Eric Barone and Toby Fox say hi though.
 
Great Choice Musky. I absolutely love God of War and Kratos is definitely one of my favorite characters. I have yet to play the newest GOW as I have a couple games im trying to finish before I start it but man those games are just really some of my favorites. Never really played Twisted Metal or any of the other games except for Calling all cars which was a fun game. I like Jaffe and I think he said he wouldn't do a big game anytime soon but Id love him to try something big budget again if he got another chance.
 
epicnemesis said:
Calling All Cars is an underappreciated gem of a game. Better than Rocket League. Yea I said it.
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Good tip. Watched some videos and seems fun. Will pick up if possible. Not really sure why you compare it to rocket league as there's pretty much no similarities except you play as a car. :)
 
Great thread and fantastic first choice Musky_Cheese Musky_Cheese
In our industry, we usually appreciate the art as the artists behind that piece of art drift away into obscurity. Legends like David Jaffe should never be forgotten.
 
TeamGhobad said:
my fav bit with him was when he told uwe ball to his face on camera that he didn't want him to direct a god of war movie
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Yeah, but he did say that twisted metal was more up his alley.
I like Jaffe. Like how he soeaks his mind. I like that he's a Superman fan. And... he's a natural in front of the camera.
 
JORMBO said:
Twisted Metal 2 was the first PS1 game I bought with my system. It was a lot of fun and made me instantly fall in love with the 32bit era. I think a modern day Twisted Metal game could be a lot of fun.
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They already pulled it off in 2012, it controlled like a dream. Sony just made some really bad decisions (tacked on campaign, online pass, broken netcode) and it didn't do great because of those things.
 
Mojoraisin said:
Good tip. Watched some videos and seems fun. Will pick up if possible. Not really sure why you compare it to rocket league as there's pretty much no similarities except you play as a car. :)
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Using your car to take an external object to a goal. They actually play somewhat similar.
 
His God of War is fantastic, although I will forever hate Jaffe for THE FUCKING ROTATING COLUMNS near the end. It's the most I've ever been mad at a game. The underwater bit with the blades or whatever can also go fuck itself.

Jaffe's direction was really special. It's a playable Harryhausen movie but it never feels as patronising as modern cinematic games.

I never liked how the sequel ignored the great ending of the first game. Then it turned out to be one of those "same but bigger" sequels and I didn't finish it. I have a hard time caring about the series after the perfect ending of the first one.
 
Thiagosc777 said:
I never understood this personality cult in this industry.
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Every media needs visionaries that drive it forwards. Famous game developers are like famous movie directors. Sure, it's a team effort, but we still need bright heads that can evolve the medium with their creative ideas.

Without Carmack, the FPS games wouldn't be such a popular genre. Without Will Wright the city building and simulation genre would be looking much different today. Warren Spector pretty much pioneered deeply story driven open world games with Deus Ex. Paul Neurath and his Looking Glass Studios pretty much defined stealth gaming with the Thief series. Richard Garriott defined RPG games with his Ultima series, etc...

Thiagosc777 said:
It is not like they are creating masterpiece after masterpiece.
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Isn't like one masterpiece that's a paradigm shift in gaming enough? The majority of people don't even manage to produce one good product, let alone a masterpiece.

Thiagosc777 said:
What has Lord British created after Ultima?
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Do you really expect these people to be around forever? What's important is what new ideas these people have brought to the table, not their lifelong output.
 
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I really enjoyed his God of War games and Twisted Metal. I would love to see him make another Twisted Metal game with proper Single player. I don't know anybody else but for me the best part about that seris was playing through watch driver's story to get their crazy and very creative endings.
 
David Jaffe is definitely an Industry Icon. Absolutely loved Twisted Metal 1 and God of War. Wish Sony would bring him back and give him his own team at Santa Monica. Just imagine a Jaffe team with a new Twisted Metal game, Barlog with his rumored new IP and the primary team working on the sequel to God of War.
 
I love seeing all the opening cinematics in Twisted Metal Black. I had played the original Twisted Metal from Blockbuster/Hollywood video. The games were fun and one of a kind. I never got into derby games because Twisted Metal had set a standard for blowing stuff up with rockets, gunfire, and spikes.

God of War, wow, what a game. I played the God of War Hydra demo from the magazine that it came with. I had never felt such fluid controls with his Blades of Chaos. I ended up selling my Xbox and all my games for a slim PS2. I had a launch PS2 that stopped working. Granted, I was spoiled because I would rebuy the console later on. I still wanted God of War and I didn't have a working PS2. I played it and absolutely loved it. The game felt ungodly good.

I ended up going to every God of War launch - God of War 2, 3, Ascension, and the latest entry. I loved his work. I would watch the making of God of War commentaries that came with the games.

David Jaffe has made some awesome games. I played bits and pieces of Drawn to Death. I even got to be on his Twitch stream during the beta phase.

I honestly thought his studio's name was the actual game. No offense at all. I thought it was cool he brough GameStop employees pizza during the PS4 launch.

He's a cool guy. I watched a few episodes of The Testers. He's super talented. I hope we see his imagination come out again. To me, he's the father of western action games. He has a game that can be up there with Devil May Cry, Ninja Gaiden, and Bayonetta.
 
Don't forget that David Jeffe found out that Resetera is just a toxic chamber. I know, it's off topic, but it's on topic within here since we're talking about him.
 
We need to acknowledge more creators like Jaffe, regardless of his controversial personalities to some people. Personally, I think he is a cool guy and I enjoyed the God of War (franchise) including GOW1.
 
Whoa, he made Mickey Mania?!?!?!

I wonder how he managed to get the Mode 7 effect on the Mega Drive for the chase scenes and the towers? That must have took a lot of deisgn knowledge to try and replicate it from the SNES, and I believe people prefer the Mega Drive version over the SNES one. (I only owned the MD version so I can only say that I liked that one).

His feats for GoW and Twisted Metal are impressive but I am pretty shocked he was on the Mickey Mania game when he was an unknown! True talent is eventually rewarded if you stick to the craft it seems. :)

Apologies if this is off the trail a little but could I recommend his fellow colleague Allen Becker for a future thread? His recent work turning around Sony's Japan Studio is pretty amazing and you rarely hear about him from other outlets.
 
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I've always been a big fan of his, he's helped create some classic games and just in general seems like a cool, down to Earth dude.

I remember his 2010 interview with EGM was a really interesting look into his life, I highly recommend any fan of his read that.
 
God of War was so important to my growth as a teenager. I had an impressionable mind and while that had its cons (I picked up smoking from Snake, MGS; quit last year after over a decade of the nasty habit), it had its pros. Kratos got things done. Adopting that part of his personality gave me some courage to face my fears head on when it mattered. Jaffe is largely responsible for that.
Recently picked up III on PS+ and once I finish Ys VIII, it will be next, I think. Or maybe after I beat RE haha.
I never followed Jaffe's career much but GoW remains a favourite of mine and I am grateful for his role in its creation. Thank you DJ.
 
Mexen said:
God of War was so important to my growth as a teenager.
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I was 15 and I remember totally being blown away by seeing bare breasts in a video game, lol.

I also want to say that I've always been a big fan of Twisted Metal Black and it's dark tone and world, I like how it's got this vague 1950s look to it, but creepy.

It's a shame Black never got a direct sequel.
 
Danjin44 said:
I really enjoyed his God of War games and Twisted Metal. I would love to see him make another Twisted Metal game with proper Single player. I don't know anybody else but for me the best part about that seris was playing through watch driver's story to get their crazy and very creative endings.
Click to expand...

2012 was originally going to be a multiplayer only $40 digital game but Sony wanted it to be a $60 so they tacked on a campaign and made it $60.

Personally I think they were right to focus on the multi aspect since that's where the replayability really is but I did miss the stories a lot, only focusing on 4 characters was very lame for a Twisted Metal game, I also hated how you could have any character drive any car.
 
-MD- said:
2012 was originally going to be a multiplayer only $40 digital game but Sony wanted it to be a $60 so they tacked on a campaign and made it $60.

Personally I think they were right to focus on the multi aspect since that's where the replayability really is but I did miss the stories a lot, only focusing on 4 characters was very lame for a Twisted Metal game, I also hated how you could have any character drive any car.
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i fucking hated that part so damn much. It basically destroyed each driver's unique characteristics. I'm not saying it shouldn't have MP but just like good fighting game it should have well made story mode.
 
Danjin44 said:
i fucking hated that part so damn much. It basically destroyed each driver's unique characteristics. I'm not saying it shouldn't have MP but just like good fighting game it should have well made story mode.
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I agree, hell they could do something dirt cheap like Twisted Metal 2's cutscenes and I'd love it. The live action stuff was just too expensive.

And yeah having everyone drive everything made all the cars and characters feel hollow.
 
This is a really great idea for the community. I don't really follow or know much about things outside my personal interests so it's always good to be able to learn new things that other people are passionate about. Looking forward to more of these.
 
Danjin44 said:
i fucking hated that part so damn much. It basically destroyed each driver's unique characteristics. I'm not saying it shouldn't have MP but just like good fighting game it should have well made story mode.
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Especially since as of October 25 this year, the servers for it (along with Warhawk) are being shut off so now we basically have a nice coaster. This is why multiplayer is a cancer of sorts. The ability to play the game is dictated by elements outside of the purchaser's discretion. Things like player volume and servers basically means the game you bought becomes worthless once those things go away.
 
GOW was a great game that really was able to separate itself from the Devil May Cry inspiration that encircled lots of games of its day. The swinging blades gave the game a signature look, and they had a really solid attempt at blending historical mythos with in-game conventions. It's also a game that bears the mark of popular traits of the times- The obnoxious QTEs, the shallow platform orb collecting as breadcrumbs, the superficial RPG upgrade system (did the first game have that?).

David Jaffe made an industry Icon, and he himself is a charismatic individual in the industry. I remember him speaking out about the need for trilogies (Speaking about when they announced that Mass Effect / Starcraft 2 / Others would be a trilogy of three games)!
 
I think he overstayed his welcome. He was a ps2 icon, but hasn't developed anything worthwhile in what? 10 years?thats a lot of time in today's market. He is now known for ... talking with lots of curse words? I respect his legacy, but thats it. I don't think he is relevant anymore.
 
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DonF said:
I think he overstayed his welcome. He was a ps2 icon, but hasn't developed anything worthwhile in what? 10 years?thats a lot of time in today's market. He is now known for ... talking with lots of curse words? I respect his legacy, but thats it. I don't think he is relevant anymore.
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Respectfully disagree.

God Of War is this years GotY for many publications and sites. Of course his accomplishments are still relevant.
 
John Lee Packard said:
I was 15 and I remember totally being blown away by seeing bare breasts in a video game, lol.
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Had a similar a similar experience with the PSP game when it came out, only the off screen sex and the moving candles! XD

It's all descended from there though as it led me to Katawa Shoujo a few months later. D:

At least it has took strides to making Games more accepting by showing that Adult content can be done the right way in the same way as TV or Films are.
 
Musky_Cheese said:
Respectfully disagree.

God Of War is this years GotY for many publications and sites. Of course his accomplishments are still relevant.
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Yes, that god of war that plays nothing like the original, has non of the originals ideas and tone...its just the character, not even the mythology...nothing. I love both God of War, but 2018 barely has references to the original trilogy.
 
Thiagosc777 said:
You do realize that the new God of War was directed by someone else, right? And it shares nothing with the previous ones, right?
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It was, but you may say that Jaffe gave the reigns to Cory. Quite literally. There is a video interview with both of them, where Jaffe explains why he trusted Cory to do GOW2. He was animation lead on the first one.

GOW2 was a good game as well, but it was definitely more of the same- Which was also another trait of the times (Splinter Cell, Prince of Persia, Jax and Daxter and other action platformers had sequels that didn't separate themselves enough). GOW3 I never played, but it seems Cory has sort of truly become a distinguished person of interest with this new reinvented GOW. It's not in the shadows of Jaffe anymore like GOW2 was. This new GoW is truly special and a massive accomplishment for him, SMS and Sony. Microsoft could dream of having a game of that caliber as an exclusive.
 
Thiagosc777 said:
You do realize that the new God of War was directed by someone else, right? And it shares nothing with the previous ones, right?
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DonF said:
Yes, that god of war that plays nothing like the original, has non of the originals ideas and tone...its just the character, not even the mythology...nothing. I love both God of War, but 2018 barely has references to the original trilogy.
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Yes I am aware. I'm aware that God Of War 2018 wouldn't be possible without God Of War 1. Which is why I said what I said.

Joe Montana is still very relevant in the NFL and the 49er's. imo
 
I dont know how many here are in Jaffe's discord, but if you're not, it's worth checking out. Some pretty decent people in there, and Jaffe is involved with the discussions.
 
Musky_Cheese said:
Yes I am aware. I'm aware that God Of War 2018 wouldn't be possible without God Of War 1. Which is why I said what I said.
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It'd be possible. The original has no influence on this new one. They just reused Kratos and God of War because those are known brands. They could replace it with another character and call it Norse God and it'd make no difference.
 
Thiagosc777 said:
It'd be possible. The original has no influence on this new one. They just reused Kratos and God of War because those are known brands. They could replace it with another character and call it Norse God and it'd make no difference.
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Completely disagree.

The previous games are a huge part of the new one. The only fear Kratos shows throughout the new game is his son finding out who he is/was.

It is known by other characters in the new game and explains their view and interactions with Kratos. It also explains many choices/decisions Kratos makes since GOW3 and thought the most recent game. Has huge impact in many parts of the new game. Kratos reputation is known to everyone except his son. It weighs heavily through the game.

The gameplay is different yes. But the references to the other games is way more than fan service.
 
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Musky_Cheese said:
Yes I am aware. I'm aware that God Of War 2018 wouldn't be possible without God Of War 1. Which is why I said what I said.
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God Of War 2005 is just one brick in what is the awesome wall of God Of War 2018. Hell, Cory Barlog was involved in both 1 & 2 and threw away tons of concepts of the original games.
 
DonF said:
God Of War 2005 is just one brick in what is the awesome wall of God Of War 2018. Hell, Cory Barlog was involved in both 1 & 2 and threw away tons of concepts of the original games.
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? Then we can make a Cory Barlog spotlight to...

If you wanted to that would be awesome.
 
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