Obsidian designer Chris Avellone, whose credits include Fallout 2, Planescape: Torment, Icewind Dale, Neverwinter Nights 2 and many other notable RPGs, floated the idea of a Kickstarter on his blog.

“All of Double Fine’s success from Kickstarter has been inspiring. I GUESS PEOPLE LOVE THOSE CLASSIC ADVENTURE GAMES AFTER ALL,” he wrote.

“The idea of player-supported funding is proof certain genres aren’t dead and sequels may have more legs than they seem. And the idea of not having to argue that with a publisher is appealing.”

The designer asked for suggestions on the blog and his Twitter account for projects Obsidian might explore if it took the crowdfunding route; one of the most popular suggestions is a sequel or follow up to Planescape: Torment, widely considered to be one of the best RPGs of an era dotted with classic examples.

Meanwhile, soon-to-be-ex- Eat Sleep Play boss David Jaffe told Gamasutra he’d consider crowdfunding projects for his new studio.

“With what’s happened with Tim’s Kickstarter, sure, I would consider [crowdfunding],” he said.

“I definitely think it’s a really cool thing, so I would consider it. I think I would be really nervous because suddenly now it’s not just a publisher’s money. Suddenly you have all these peoples’ money, and you don’t want to let them down.”

That said, Jaffe does have some reservations.

“There’s kind of the fear that this would suddenly become, you know, a dick-measuring contest. Schafer comes out and raises a million, and Jaffe only raises $200,000,” he joked.

Double Fine’s record-breaking Kickstarter has now raised over $1.6 million for the developer’s untitled adventure game.

Thanks, games.on.net, Kotaku. [image]

According to Gamasutra, Jaffe said an over-emphasis on narrative “is a bad idea, waste of resources, of time and money and worst, has stuffed the progress of video games, to our own peril”.

The designer said games or sequences within games which have “the intent purpose of expressing a story or giving the player the designer’s narrative” fall down. He criticised Batman: Arkham City for a short section which promotes story over gameplay, in which the player is handcuffed and unable to do more than walk around and look.

In contrast, he praised games in which the gameplay itself “is so compelling and engaging that the player by the very nature of playing the game is the story”, name-dropping The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim.

Those who focus too much on narrative are in the wrong business, Jaffe declared.

“A lot of these people will say ‘I have something to say, I have a story to tell.’ If you’ve really got something inside of you that’s so powerful, like a story you’ve got to share or a philosophy about mans place in the universe, why in the fuck would you choose the medium that has historically, continually been the worst medium to express philosophy, story and narrative?” he scorned, as reported by GamesIndustry.

“Why wouldn’t you write a book, why wouldn’t you make a movie? It’s like being one of the world’s best chefs and working in the world’s best restaurants, you ply your trade in McDonalds.”

“I think we need to adjust our thoughts, we need to change what we think this medium is. We’ve let the gameplay muscle atrophy,” he added.

Jaffe has made similar comments in the past, but has directed them to press and fans rather than trade events.

[image]

As the video below explains, on February 13 and 14, you’ll be able to log into the Shoot My Truck website and activate an M249-SAW aimed at the Sweet Tooth truck Sony constructed to promote the series.

You’ll need to link your Facebook or Twitter account to participate, which means everyone will know you’re a little twisted. Sony’s joke, not mine.

Check out the delicious swear-peppered video explanation below, then head over to Shoot My Truck to sign up. Twisted Metal releases exclusively for PlayStation 3 on February 14 in the US, and March 7 in Europe, having been delayed for last minute edits.

Thanks, EvilAvatar.

“Scott [Campbell, Eat, Sleep, Play co-founder] has been itching to get into iPhone and Android games for a while. I love those kinds of games, but the article that ran in Salt Lake misrepresented me by saying I wanted to do casual games,” Jaffe told Game Informer at DICE.

“I love those games, and one day I may want to make them, but I’m very interested in the browser space as well as the next-gen space. But I will be on Twisted Metal until the end of March at the moment and probably later. We’re working on patches and playing the game all the time and tuning things.”

Jaffe announced earlier this week he was leaving ESP following the completion of Twisted Metal to set up a new studio in San Diego for next-gen and browser-based core games.

He said to GI it could be as long as ten months before the new studio, its name and key staff are announced. If the new IP Jaffe is making goes to browser, he said he’d be looking at 25-40 people for the studio, but he’ll need “substantially more” if it’s next-gen.

Asked if it could go exclusive or multi-platform, Jaffe left all options open.

“Anybody who knows who I am knows who I am because of the kindness and faith of Sony. So I’m certainly loyal to that company. If they would like to have me I’d be honored and grateful to work with them,” he said.

“I’ve always been very open about being an Xbox and Nintendo fan, too. It’s more to the point about who’s the right partner. But it’s very new. The equivalent is something like just logging into my new online dating account. I just signed up. There’s nothing right now.”

Twisted Metal launches in the US next week and in Europe on March 7 for PS3.

In a series of tweets, Jaffe said he’s to start a new studio focused on making core games. It was reported yesterday that he’s to leave ESP to move into the “casual” space. It seems, however, he’s sticking with the core.

“I am still with ESP and have not left, and will not leave until we get Twisted Metal launched (probably another 1.5-3 months),” he said.

Jaffe went on to add: “But I will be leaving to start new game studio. Talking to people about some big, huge next-gen game ideas I’d love for us to make, as well as cool stuff in the browser space (action-oriented, gamer-centric).

“Once DICE wraps and the game launches, it’s company-building time!”

Jaffe is to speak at DICE in Las Vegas tomorrow.

The God of War developer also clarified yesterday’s Salt Lake City Tribune report concerning his departure from ESP, which said Jaffe was “expected” to leave. The piece also detailed recent lay-offs at the Twisted Metal studio.

“if I may clear this up: I was not laid off. I co-own the company. There were a few lay-offs and they were very painful to do for all involved,” he said, adding: “I’m leaving because – again – games are just getting too big to direct from 300 miles away, and I miss the day-to-day of working direct with a team.”

Twisted Metal is to release exclusively for PS3 on February 14.

David Jaffe is to leave Eat, Sleep, Play (ESP), company co-founder, Scott Campbell has said, to pursue the creation of casual games.

The news comes after ESP laid off eight employees last week as it finishes its Twisted Metal and “transitions from producing console titles to mobile games,” according to the SLCT report.

“He’s excited to go into the casual space as well,” Campbell said of Jaffe. “He’s got some projects that he’s excited about. So we’re kind of going down two separate paths.”

Jaffe’s pushed back on the claim, speaking on his Twitter account.

T”he rumors of me making casual games post TM – as many of you define them – are highly exaggerated,” he said.

Jaffe is a well known developer, having been a designer on God of War and God of War II, and is notorious for his four letter tirades towards the press.

Twisted Metal will release for PS3 on February 14.

Having been delayed for localisation and content edits, Twisted Metal is now expected on March 7.

The new dating comes courtesy of Eat Sleep Play boss David Jaffe, in reply to a question on Twitter.

Although we’re sneaking up on the PlayStation 3 exclusive’s release, a new feature has been unveiled – the ability to paint your cars.

“You can download the actual template our ESP artists use to paint the vehicles into your own paint program and have at it. Then upload the skin,” Jaffe said.

“You can go on the website and share skins with the world or lock/protect them so JUST your crew can have them,” he added.

Check out a few examples of custom skins below.

Thanks, Eurogamer, MP1st, Gekidami.

In a video post on his blog, Jaffe said the developer is winding up production on the demo and expects to have it finished early this week.

The demo is the last bit of work Eat Sleep Play has to do – except for a patch.

“We’re doing a day one patch, which is gonna be a very, very, very small patch,” Jaffe said. “I’ve gone on record: I hate patches. But that said – they’re important in some cases.”

Jaffe made his opinion of day-one patches public att GDC 2011, and then again at PAX, where he gave a popular keynote (with lots of swears).

“There are a couple of bugs – we don’t want to release it buggy,” he admitted, “But we’re also doing it for some real final tuning and balance.

“Once you go gold, you have a couple of weeks to really play the game, and me and the QA guys we’re just like ‘you know, this seems a little unbalanced. It would be really cool if this weapon did a little less damage.’ It takes a lot of time to suss those things out.”

The designer also mentioned a few more substantial tweaks he’s interested in making to the game’s levels, which would require a more substantial patch, and have therefore been put on the backburner.

“You start downloading a huge, memory-intensive level and it starts to feel like ‘I just bought this, I just wanna play,’”

“If the game is successful enough we’d love to do future tweaks and adjustments to the game, and some of those hopefully will be level-based,”

The game’s success seems to be a very important factor in the possibility of future updates.

“If we ever touch Twisted Metal again, it’ll be either that it’s successful enough that there’s a big enough community that says ‘hey, we’d really like to get some of these in via patch’, or there are some really heinous bugs,” Jaffe said.

You can watch Jaffe’s full, 27-minute long ramble below, which includes detailed information on the game’s multiplayer. Twisted Metal releases on February 14 in the US, and February 17 in Europe.

Twisted Metal has officially gone gold, and will be released February 14 in the US and February 17 in the UK.

This is the second teaser for what is likely to be a commercial for the upcoming game – PR is rapidly reaching Inception levels – but Jaffe actually posted the video to celebrate the new new Twisted Metal blog, and still isn’t ready to reveal what Sony marketing has planned for the vehicle.

The truck has appeared at a small number of promotional events in the past, including the game’s official debut at E3 2010.

You can see the full video diary below. Twisted Metal launches exclusively for PlayStation 3 on February 14, so we ought to see the fruits of Sony’s advertising campaign soon.

Thanks, GameFront.

“To keep expectations in check, know this: the bosses are super cool, I think the stories/cutscenes/game fiction is really very cool, and the campaign is more varied than any other Twisted Metal we’ve ever made BUT if you go in expecting a campaign the likes of Batman: Arkham City, Skyrim, Gears of War, Killzone 3, etc…you will be sorely disappointed,” Jaffe said in response to a query on Twitter.

“The game – I feel – is well worth the asking price BUT that’s for folks who love the multiplayer. If you are buying the new Twisted Metal ONLY or MOSTLY for campaign, might I suggest a rental?

“Again, not knocking our campaign – it really is the biggest and most varied one we’ve ever done – but just want to set expectations and be super clear that the heart and soul of the title is all about the multiplayer.

“I feel I have to do that in this day and age of mega massive super amazing games that have campaigns like Batman, Uncharted 3, and Skyrim. But with all that preamble, this is the best Twisted Metal game – bar none – we’ve ever done and I am insanely proud of the game and the Utah and Sony Santa Monica teams!”

Twisted Metal is due exclusively for PlayStation 3 on February 14 in the US and February 17 elsewhere.

Dylan Cuthbert, founder of PixelJunk studio Q-Games, picked Dark Souls, stating that after the first two hours of “utter, utter shit” the game opened up “into the most amazing and fulfilling and sheer scarily tense game I have ever played.” Brad Muir, lead development of Iron Brigade at Double Fine agreed, calling it his “runaway game of the year. No question.”

Lionhead founder Peter Molyneux picked Minecraft as his game of the year, as did Ultima creator Richard Garriott. Molyneux felt the game was a bit “rough and ready” at the start of 2011, but contained “a purity which showed amazing potential,” and by the end of the year took fans which participated in its creation “on a development journey.”

Epic’s Lee Perry, lead designer on Gears 3, chose The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim, as did Irrational Game’s Ken Levine.

“Favourite game of 2011? Going to have to go with Skyrim on that,” said Perry. “I know it sounds like ‘going with the masses’, but sometimes the masses get it right. That game is amazing, several co-workers are actually injured from so many prolonged days sitting there playing it and digging through the inch-thick strategy guide. Just try and go 20 minutes around another gamer without a Skyrim discussion coming up, it’s impossible.”

Levine said the game has “really taken over my life” and called it “an incredible achievement in world creation and an inspiring product with an insanely awesome amount of content that feels terrific.”

Eat, Sleep, Play’s David Jaffe had a bit of a tough time deciding which game he liked best, citing Rayman Origins, Batman: Arkham City, Skyrim and Jetpack Joyride for iPhone as the games he enjoyed most during 2011. However, he ending up choosing Batman: Arkham City due to it being just “sandbox enough” that he felt immersed and just lead and constructed “enough that I still feel like I’m being taken by the hand and being shown something cool frequently enough that I don’t end up getting lost.”

“With Batman, I thought for the first time in recent years it actually had a direction or a voice that really was equivalent to the Christopher Nolan films or some of the best Batman comic writers,” said Jaffe. “It really did add to the canon and had an understanding and its own spin on the Batman mythos, which I thought was a great wrapper around the brilliant gameplay structure.

“It was firing on all cylinders, on all levels.”

Other games of the year for developers were Resident Evil 4 HD, Tactics Ogre: Let Us Cling Together, The Witcher 2, Battlefield 3, Portal 2 , and The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword.

D.I.C.E. takes place from February 7-10. Thanks, GI.Biz.

“I’d actually prefer that we don’t do it, even though it’s probably good business,” Jaffe told Eurogamer when asked whether the game would feature an online pass system.

“Only because we have such a mountain to climb in terms of gaining people’s good faith, especially in Europe, and really letting people know that this is a title that’s worth getting excited about.”

“It’s not my call and I’d totally understand if Sony as a company said ‘Look, this is a mandate that permeates all of our titles. We’re not making selective choices.’”

For the franchise’s reboot outing, Jaffe is willing to forego an Online Pass system and take a sales hit from second-hand trading if it means more people take a chance on the game.

“I’m okay with the fact that we might lose sales on this first game if, because of it, we generate a lot of fans that otherwise wouldn’t have played the game,” he said.

“The online is so much the bread and butter of this game, so I’m okay with it because it means we’re setting ourselves up for a possible return to the franchise one day.”

As far as Eat Sleep Play is concerned, if the PlayStation 3 exclusive earns back Sony’s investment, it’s done its duty at retail.

“Anything beyond that is gravy. We’re not living under any illusions that we’re going to do Call of Duty numbers, or even Uncharted 3 numbers,” Jaffe admitted.

That said, Jaffe definitely sees the game standing alongside the giants in terms of critical reception.

“In terms of value and fun factor and quality, I would put the multiplayer toe-to-toe with Call of Duty, Battlefield, Uncharted 3, if you like this kind of game. We’re worth every penny and more,” he said.

“This might come back and bite me on the butt – I don’t care – but do I sit here and have moments where I’m like ‘I can really see us being nominated for some best multiplayer, best shooter awards next year’? I do. That’s how proud I am of it.”

The full interview, available through the link above, includes a discussion as to why Twisted Metal was pushed back to February 2012, which features one of Jaffe’s trademark colourful swears. Swoon.

“A lot of people ask me if I’d ever make another God of War and I always say the same thing: if it were God of War meets something like Zelda (formula wise), then yes. But if it were God of War using the current formula, I would not,” Jaffe wrote on his blog, responding to the controversy surrounding Eurogamer’s Uncharted 3 review, which praised the game but criticised its adherence to a trend toward cinematic experiences.

“For me – and this is just me personally – 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 the team’s desire to tell a story/make a movie may or may not get to be fulfilled, 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 if we have to cut a set piece or bit of spectacle because of our desire to put play first, then so be it.”

Jaffe commented that despite the hype for cinematic games, its the “gamey” ones that sell best.

“Look at Guitar Hero, Modern Warfare 3, 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),” he said.

“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.”

Throughout the post Jaffe made it clear he was speaking in general terms, expressed his admiration for what he’d seen of Uncharted 3 so far, and made no judgements of his own on the accuracy of Eurogamer’s criticisms.

Thanks, GameInformer.

Call of Duty Elite: All the details from Los Angeles

What happened: Call of Duty XP descended upon Los Angeles and promptly exploded in slow-mo from 37 different camera angles with information. Multiplayer sounds like its been given its annual dust-off, but Elite’s the real story here. For $49.95 per year, you’re looking at 20 discounted pieces of DLC, early access to select content, oodles of video upload space, and probably, like, a unicorn pinata filled with candy and your wildest dreams.

What it means: Call me old-fashioned, but this all sounds like a needlessly proprietary idea jumble – not to mention a perfect way to ensure that, when new audiences try sinking their teeth into the game, they only get bitten back. I mean, temporary DLC exclusivity on Xbox Live was bad enough to begin with. Now Elite adds further audience stratification to that formula – on top of a big, bad boogie man level up system that was scaring players back into other shooters’ armed arms before it was cool. (Also, mostly related: what’s the point of an Elite sub on PSN or PC when Xbox players still get to bunny hop right to the front of the line a month earlier?)

Call of Duty’s always drawn such small-country-sized mass because, well, it’s generally a pretty straightforward game. Just about anyone can jump in and have – at the very least – a marginally decent time. From where I’m standing, however, Activision’s no longer putting its best foot forward, instead opting to aim right down the sights and shoot it.

Call of Duty’s hardly the only franchise to do this, though. While it may be the most egregious current example, game and publisher-specific “services” are coming out of the woodwork like particularly attention-hungry termites – each with their own incentives. So, who gets to crack open your piggy bank and feast on the delicious nectars within? That’s your call – after you’ve sifted through options as numerous as grains of sand on a beach or stupidity worms in Glenn Beck’s brain.

Put simply, it’s pretty freaking intimidating to me, and I write about this stuff for a living. From the outside looking in, it’s got to seem like some kind of sharkodactyl-surrounded sky fortress. At the end of the day, core gaming’s really not all that complex – certainly not prohibitively so. But the industry’s doing a damn good job of making it seem that way.

Battlefield 3: David Goldfarb spells out single-player

What happened: Pat went to Stockholm! Pics co-starring VG247′s very own cardboard-box-from-the-background-of-Bulletcast or it didn’t happen? Sorry, all we’ve got is this massive Battlefield 3 interview. I know, right? Lame.

What it means: Initially, Battlefield 3′s single-player took more than a little flack for bearing an eerie resemblance to a certain other 800 lb silverback gorilla/£19492039485829305 cash cow. Lead designer Dave Goldfarb, though, seems to be taking extreme care to ensure that this is a DICE game first and foremost – not some haphazard high school cover band rendition of another game. Relative believability (as opposed to MW3′s frankly silly Evil Russian Invasion Plot) and pacing that actually knows when to slow down and take a breather seem like the main focuses here. This bit, especially, sounds absolutely wonderful:

“For example, that sniper section on the roof from the Faultline stuff earlier this year? That shit took forever to get right. Just the first six minutes where you don’t fire a shot took a long time to make it be good. People were like, ‘That’s awesome. I didn’t do anything for six minutes.’”

Alright, Goldfarb, you’ve got me. I will now hit myself in the head with a hammer until I forget Bad Company 2′s miserable single-player campaign. But this is your last chance, do you hear me?

Jaffe 2.0: David Jaffe on putting gameplay first

What happened: I spoke with David Jaffe during PAX, and he went on an absolute rampage through the industry’s holy grails section, leaving metal bits (perhaps of the twisted variety) scattered in his wake. Topics discussed included the weakness of story in gaming, social games, outspoken game developers, and everything else ever.

What it means: Love him or hate him, Jaffe made some good points. While I love a good story as much as the next guy/gal, handing over too much of the spotlight has resulted in a glut of same-y linear shooters. Most interesting, though – at least, to me – was his comparison between pay-to-unlock freemium content and rank-based unlockables in games like Call of Duty. Do you spend money or time? Regardless of how you win, someone else loses – arguably in an unfair and frustrating fashion. Neither system is ideal. “Horizontal” approaches as seen in games like Twisted Metal and Tribes, then, sound like just what the anger management counselor ordered, but that seems like a balancing nightmare just waiting to happen. Fingers crossed, obviously, but uphill battles aren’t won overnight. And this hill looks more like a mountain.

Hard Reset developer: Mainstream games are boring

What happened: Flying Wild Hog CEO Michal Szustak opened fire on modern shooters, declaring them “boring” and claiming that “players will grow tired and will crave something different.” Well gee, that sounds reasonable. Why am I even including this story if–

What it means: “I believe many players around world miss those old days and old games.” Damn it, Szustak. I mean, I understand that most of this brazen anti-Modern-Warfare chest-thumping is just meant to drum up interest in Hard Reset, but the fact that it’s working so well is what gets me. This mentality is one step forward, two steps back – plain and simple. Certainly, Flying Wild Hog’s blazing a couple interesting sort-of-new trails – eschewing multiplayer and streamlining the dev process, foremost – but gazing fondly back is a crappy way to move forward. I know; I’m highly experienced in the fine art of running into poles. There’s a ton of talent at Flying Wild Hog, too. Hopefully, for its next trick, it’ll stop pulling the same old rabbit out of its hat.

Valve concerned with getting DotA 2 right, will worry about monetization later

What happened: Valve continues to remind everyone why we all love it so much. While folks like Activision charge headlong into the monetization game without any regard for consequences its consumers will no doubt suffer, Gabe Newell says excellent things like “Our focus is really much on building something that’s cool, and then we’ll worry about monetization… Premature monetization is the root of all evil.”

What it means: DoTA 2 may be pulling some pretty divisive opinions, but Valve’s almost scientific dissection of what its community does and doesn’t want is damn impressive. Today’s gaming market is sink-or-swim, yet it’s flooded with companies that just want to tread water. Valve, though, continues to push forward – urged on by the rapid advances of ultra-competitors like Apple. Granted, the recent EA-Steam kerfuffle’s a bit of a biggie size black mark on its record, but both companies seem to be moving toward a resolution. Time will tell, anyway. Until then, though, I can’t quite sing the Church of Newell’s praises.

David Jaffe isn’t a typical “core” gamer, and he’d be the first to admit it.

If you’re into reading between the lines, you’re probably already scratching your head. After all, we’re talking about the man who pioneered PlayStation mainstays like Twisted Metal and God of War; today’s cinematic giant-boss-bashing epics owe him the kind of gratitude usually reserved for parents or whoever came up with the idea for Nutella. In other words, Jaffe’s been down this path before and then some.

Thing is, he’s now certain that he’s found a dead end.

Story and gaming have always had something of a rocky working relationship. The end result? Jaffe’s message during PAX: Mechanics, mechanics, mechanics. No more long-winded cut-scenes. No more throwing bottles at NPCs while they obliviously carry on with their life’s story.

So he’s going back to the basics, right? Not exactly. We sat down with Jaffe during PAX to chat about where he’s at as a game developer, storytelling in videogames, Angry Birds, microtransactions, telling the truth, and tons, tons, tons more. Tell your loved ones you’ll be occupied for most of the day and get ready to see the word “fuck” every time you blink. Here’s David Jaffe on, well, everything.

VG247: Obviously, you’re working on Twisted Metal right now, which is a big-budget ultra-blockbuster. You’ve also said, though, that $60 is a pretty extraordinary amount to charge for games. Given the popularity of smaller titles right now – especially on iPhone and stuff – would you be interested in giving smaller scale development another go? Maybe make Calling All Cars 2: Calling Even More Cars Than That?

David Jaffe: I think what’s really cool about the game space is that there are so many opportunities – such a spectrum of ways to communicate and make games. I love games on my iPhone, and I love big-budget games. So it’s really about what makes the most sense for what we want to do and express. So I have ideas of big things and small things.

The key thing that speaks to me is more about… I don’t want to be a movie-maker. I want to make play mechanics. I want to make gameplay. And so, I think there are games in my head that I can do at any of those levels that speak to that mechanics-driven mindset. But I think the bigger thing in my mind is less about scope. I want to walk away from trying to express things with anything other than mechanics. For a while, I really thought [big, cinematic games] were the way for me, but – for me, and I know for a lot of people it does – but for me, it doesn’t feel genuine. It doesn’t feel pure.

Did that shift have anything to do with your canceled PSP project, Heartland?

No, it mainly came about as the result of God of War. I mean, God of War was my swing at the fences of merging narrative and interactivity and merging emotion with interactivity. And I think we did a really great job – and it’s a really fun game and everything – but ultimately, I realized that pure play mechanics [matter most]. And I think you have to wrap it in a nice wrapper. It’s got to be fun and compelling conceptually. But, at its core, what your brain is doing when you’re playing a great game is a totally different thing than what it does when you’re watching a great movie – in my opinion.

I mean, I was on a panel with Ken Levine today, and he was like “Well yeah, but don’t you think part of your job is to sort of figure out how to evolve that – how to learn a new language that mixes interactivity and story?” What it taught me was, my gut doesn’t automatically come forward and assume that you have to merge storytelling and narrative with gameplay. I mean, why? Why is that the most important thing in the world? Why are we so compelled?

I don’t know about other players, but for me it’s absolutely a sense of wanting to do things that play to the strengths of the medium. The purity of the medium. And I look at the things that have been so successful – whether it’s, like, an Angry Birds or something like Ms Pac-Man, which I grew up with, or even big stuff like Deus Ex – they’re more about play than anything else.

It really is a sense that I don’t want to spend anymore of my precious time trying to be someone making a movie. I don’t want to make a movie. If I did, I’d go make a fucking movie. I want to make a game, and – even if it’s an epic story based thing – I want it to be epic and story based because of the interactive nature. Not the presentation and the cut-scenes and all that.

Certainly. But – by the same token – there are degrees of interactivity under that umbrella. For instance, a lot of shooters are trying to be big and epic with setpieces right now. You know, stroll through a corridor and thrill at the prospect of what’s essentially a tightly choreographed dance routine put on by monsters and explosions. Do you think that approach to interactivity dilutes the medium’s purity just as much?

I think what it comes down to is – and I haven’t seen any scientific studies about this, but I’m sure they exist – if you give me a controller, my brain is doing something different than if you say, “Hey, sit down and watch this movie.” So if you give me a controller and I walk through a room into this amazing thing that’s been set up, I’m just like what’s up there? What’s over here? What does this do? And it doesn’t feel anywhere near as emotional as when I abdicate control in a movie and go “Yeah, I don’t need to look around. I haven’t been given the preconceived idea or expectation that I need to look around.”

So my brain is in a different and relaxed state of “Entertain me. Show me something.” But the minute you put a controller in my hand, I want to play and run and jump and try things. And I don’t necessarily feel that the traditional narrative experience – or most, not all, but most narrative experiences – trying to piggyback on interactivity is conducive to that sort of mindset when you give me a controller.

And I know this isn’t every gamer, but this is me. And if I’m designing, I have to design for myself first. Otherwise, I can’t get excited and commit three years of my life away. Like I said during my keynote at PAX, I get that most people love that stuff. I appreciate that. I’m not trying to sell anybody on it like “I’m right. I’m right. Listen to me!”

Think about this, though. And I’m not trying to disparage any game, but let’s take Homefront from THQ, for example. I enjoyed what I played of it. I really liked Kaos before they closed down. They did a game before it called Frontlines: Fuel of War that was a really cool shooter – in fact, better than this one. Regardless, though, think of all the money and time that went into creating that bus ride at the beginning of Homefront, where you’re watching your countrymen get shot and all that.

As a player, I have a thousand times more fun – as an interactive experience – playing Angry Birds. Dragging my finger, pulling back the bird, realizing that “Oh, this one does this when I press it. This one goes faster! This one breaks into three! This one drops a bomb!” And I’m not saying it’s got to be a small game like that, but it’s a game that puts interactivity first. It puts the spirit of the medium first.

“The minute you try to merge [gameplay and narrative], it’s not like chocolate and peanut butter. It’s chocolate and tuna fish.”

As brilliantly executed as that Homefront scenario was, I still found myself looking around the bus. “Why can’t I move? What can’t I go over here?” The minute you try to merge [gameplay and narrative], it’s not like chocolate and peanut butter. It’s chocolate and tuna fish. It’s not a good combination for me as a player. Not necessarily for everybody else.

That’s the thing: I always say shit like this on the Internet, and I get hammered because people think I’m trying to knock the shit they like. I get that – especially at a conference like this – I’m not the guy. I’m not the Pied Piper. I get it. But for me, I don’t like that type of game as much.

And that’s interesting, because numbers seem to be on your side these days. I mean, Homefront sold a few million copies, but I imagine even gray moon men know about Angry Birds at this point.

Well, there are other reasons, too. Let’s just take Angry Birds. Part of it is the interface, the cost – all that’s true. But I look around the industry – and I love this industry; I’ve been part of it for a long time – and there’s a sense of a barrier to entry. Whether that’s controls or just the fucking wait it takes to boot up your motherfucking console, and then do an update. I mean, literally, on my PSPgo with street mode, I’m immediately in. Or on my iPhone or whatever.

To me, that’s a big part of it. And maybe it’s because I’m getting older, but I just want to have fun, have a good experience, and move on. I don’t have interest in making a commitment. And I don’t know if that audience is getting smaller, but certainly when you bring up Angry Birds, it does say that there’s a lot of people – far more than we originally thought – that love interactivity. And there are now devices able to speak for that.

So then, on a personal level, is that encouraging for you? It seems like the industry’s shouting “Hey David, you’re right!” Do you think this is a good direction for the industry?

First off, to be clear, what’s great about PAX is – while you get a lot of core gamers – there are a lot of mechanics-based players here as well. But when I look around this group [gestures toward PlayStation demo kiosks], I see so much effort put [into cinematic stuff]. For a lot of people at PAX, I think it’s not effective.

You know, I don’t think the industry’s moving collectively toward small mechanics-based games. The industry is expanding to allow different profitable and sustainable business models. And I’m very passionate and excited about that. I mean, I would still love to make a big game one day. I’d just want it to be more mechanics-based than something like God of War – just as much as I’d want to make something small like that on Vita. It’s not so much about scope as it is focusing on mechanics. And I think the industry has now shown that there’s a big audience along that spectrum.

So what about the other side of the industry’s shiny new toybox: social gaming? Around events like PAX, it gets a pretty bad rap for being sort of “soulless.” What’s your take?

I think a business model is a business model. There’s a difference between a business model and the idea of social games. The idea of games that are meant to bring your friends into the experience is as old as the very first game that was invented. That’s wonderful. The idea of a business model like free-to-play or microtransactions or a number of those things – that’s going to be invented as we speak.

And I think even people who make those games will admit that they’ve tapped into something that works for a number of people. But at the same time, I imagine they would also admit that – at the moment – a lot of the most successful models do come at the expense of the quality of the experience. I don’t think it’s a baby-bathwater kind of thing. Like, can you take what the Zyngas of the world have pioneered and go “OK, there’s something here that’s absolutely working and resonating” with the mentality that currently the way it’s being expressed as a business model is a bit flawed? That needs to be worked out.

I don’t think anybody would say there’s a problem with paying for fun. But I think the minute you start to tie in the amount of money you’ve paid with your ability to succeed, that’s where myself as a designer and player and a lot of people here at PAX have an issue. It’s not that we don’t want to pay for things. It’s that I want to know I beat that guy with my own ability.

What’s ironic about that, though, is in those social games – if you study them – you don’t have to pay a dime to be the best fucking player. And it’s not that dissimilar from a lot of guys who will spend months upping their rank in a game like Call of Duty or Battlefield, and going “I’ve paid with my time, so I can now decimate everyone.” So it’s just a matter of where you put your value. I mean, I don’t even like that one. With Twisted Metal, we do have a rank up system, but we’ve bent over backward to make sure that anyone who’s the highest level can still get their ass kicked by someone who’s just coming in. It’s not like you can unlock a car at level 30 that’s way better than your car at level one.

So it’s kind of interesting that a lot of hardcore gamers will bitch about that business model and how it breaks the game – which I agree with – but they don’t also realize that they’re kind of breaking it in the hardcore sector. What people like Zynga and Activision have realized is that there are other ways to monetize, whether it’s money or time. But I still think there’s a little bit more to go. We have to find a way to embrace these business models – which we have to embrace, because games are really expensive now – but not to the extent that the player feels like “I lost because I didn’t pay as much money as the other guy.”

That’s where it breaks down. Or “I didn’t spend as much time!” I don’t fucking like going into a first-person shooter that’s been out for a month as a level one. I just get headshotted by someone who has a better weapon than I do because they’ve played more. That’s really shitty. So I think it’s a really exciting time for redefining what a game is, what’s its value, how do we charge for it. But I don’t think anybody’s hit that sweet magic spot yet.

What did you do in Twisted Metal to make sure there wouldn’t be that kind of disparity?

We let you unlock options. We don’t let you unlock power. So, for example, we let you unlock a shield at a certain level, and it’s a reflection shield. You start with the normal shield that protects you for X number of seconds. The reflection shield will send back missiles and some other weapons with homing on them to the guy who fired them. But it takes more juice to use, and it doesn’t last as long. So it’s a matter of risk-reward. I can use the normal shield, which will still let me survive just as long as your reflector shield. I just won’t have offensive power. I can use it more often than you can use your reflector shield.

Or let’s say you unlock Sweet Tooth at level 15. I can wipe the floor with Sweet Tooth using the car you unlock at level one. It’s just different. What you’re unlocking is new content, but the content isn’t better or worse. It’s just different and more. So that’s how we’re approaching it in Twisted Metal. If you’ve got everything unlocked, you’re still no better or worse than everyone else. Your skill determines that.

That’s actually really cool. The Tribes: Ascend folks are doing something really similar, but with microtransactions. You buy different classes, but it’s not, say, the difference between being Captain DeathLaser McMurderface and a guy who’s jetpack is an office fan duct-taped to a backpack. Their term for it is “horizontal expansion.”

Right, like League of Legends. And the tricky part there is, well, there was this journalist online who said it’s a really cool monetization model, but you can’t recognize in the heat of battle which person has which character class. And without the ability to do that, it kind of devalues it a bit, because you can’t plan around how that guy is going to be able to fight you. And I hope they fix that, because I really like it. I like that term, too. Horizontal expansion. That’s really cool to me.

Switching to a more personal topic, you’re obviously a very outspoken guy in an industry that’s become increasingly obsessed with very deliberate messages dressed up in little pink PR packages with bows on top. You actually speak your mind – even after having it come back to bite you. Which is completely awesome, but I have to ask: Why? And can you think of any situation where you’d just default to “OK, I need to stop talking”?

“There’s a necessity – in my opinion – to be honest. If someone’s going to put a spotlight on you or a recorder in your face or even if it’s your own blog.”

Of course. I’m not reckless with it. There’s a necessity – in my opinion – to be honest. If someone’s going to put a spotlight on you or a recorder in your face or even if it’s your own blog, I think you have a responsibility to be honest. That doesn’t mean that you’re reckless. I work for and co-own Eat, Sleep, Play. I used to work for Sony. There are secrets, political things, and personal things that are not my position, and it wouldn’t be in my best interest to share them. And frankly, most of them are no one’s business. Just because someone would like to have a webcam at Sony in every conference room… that’s fine. But you don’t have the right to all that information.

But yeah, certainly there are things I don’t say, because it’s not my place [to say them]. Maybe it’s no one’s business. But within that, I think there’s a lot of freedom. The thing for me where it started is that I grew up absolutely obsessed with Stephen Spielberg and George Lucas as a kid. And my walls were covered; it was almost like a shrine. You would have thought I was a serial killer stalking him. It was like behind-the-scenes photos, movie posters – I wanted to be a movie maker. And I was obsessed with watching the behind-the-scenes making of Temple of Doom and all their movies and shit.

“It’s hard. You put your health second a lot of times. You put your family second a lot of times. Failure sucks; it hurts. You doubt yourself.”

The reality is – it’s not that they were out-and-out lies – but when I came out to Hollywood and tried to make movies, it was so manipulative in terms of a message intended to sell a product. Now, I want to sell products. I’d love for Twisted Metal to become a big hit. There’s all kinds of great stuff that happens when you make a big hit. I want that. But I still think there’s room to tell you about our game and be excited and let you in. We can also kind of say, “This is real.”

When I did my keynote, it was very important to me that if I was going to stand in front of all those people, I had an opportunity to really express something genuine. Like “Hey, you get scared, and you get worried, and you have doubts about your abilities. You don’t know if you’re going to be as successful as you once were, and what does that mean?” The message that you’re sending out to the world is this big fucking loud bullhorn of “Everything’s great. This industry’s awesome. It’s not hard. Come join us. Make games.” And all of that is true. Those aren’t lies. But there’s also a flipside, which is “It’s hard. You put your health second a lot of times. You put your family second a lot of times. Failure sucks; it hurts. You doubt yourself.”

I’m not trying to make it sound depressing, because I love this industry. But I think people are owed that. In our society – whether you talk about videogame journalism or politicians – I think we’re owed more truth than the media or the people with the media have allowed us to get. And I think it’s damaging to us as a human race. And so, in my own teeny tiny small way, if I can stand up on stage and convince someone that “Hey, the guy who makes these games that I really happen to like with a team I really happen to like is also a real guy. I can relate to that. Maybe I can contribute in a similar or even bigger way then he did,” I think that’s cool!

On the flipside of that, what about the folks who decide you’ve committed a cardinal sin by not being some sort of omnipotent deity? I think it’s similar with, say, Peter Molyneux. The second either of you slips up, gamers storm the message boards with stories of how you ate their families. Are they being unreasonable, or is there a tiny sliver of method to their madness?

You know, anonymity is a really dangerous fucking thing. It’s wonderful thing, but it’s also really dangerous. People let their worst sides of themselves out on the Internet. It’s cruel and it’s mean. But at the end of the day, I don’t give a fuck. I’m not saying I don’t care. Like, nobody wants to be told that they’re fat. A few days ago, I did an interview, and I saw that someone said, “Jaffe, your forehead’s too fucking shiny.” No one wants to hear bad things about themselves. I guarantee you, though, it’d be pretty easy for me to go to every single one of those commenters and point out a bunch of fucking shit I don’t like about them either.

“People let their worst sides of themselves out on the Internet. It’s cruel and it’s mean.”

But ultimately, yeah, it hurts sometimes, but what are you gonna do? Shut up? I mean, it’s an absurd concept, and I would hope that these people commenting and having really negative opinions don’t think it’s actually having an effect. I mean, really? Do you honestly believe that has power? Get off your fucking ass and go make something. That has power.

But sitting there anonymously and saying I’m fat? You think I don’t know I’m overweight? But trust me: I’ve beaten myself up a thousand times worse than you ever will. The thing that bothers me the most isn’t the haters on the Internet hiding behind anonymity. It’s the fact that there’s actually a perception of strength or balls [in doing that]. You want to fucking come at me? Then come at me at PAX in real life. Then we’ll figure it out. Then we’ll have a real conversation. But don’t post anonymously and act like you’re the man.

“A lot of people look at Twisted Metal, and they really just look at the surface. They see the chaos and the destruction, and that’s what we’ve always called the shallow end of the pool,” Jaffe told Giantbomb at PAX.

“We wanna get people in with the chaos, but there really is so much depth that we’ve built in.”

Jaffe gave the example of the character Shadow, who has a weapon which becomes more powerful the greater the distance it is fired from, and Axle, who can jump much higher than usual to take shortcuts or avoid choke points. Skilled players will adapt a different play style and strategies based on unique abilities like that.

“This game has so many differentiators amongst the vehicles. When we say it’s a fighting game, I really want players to find their favourites and learn to master all of them,” Jaffe added.

In addition to general differentiators, each character has special abilities unique to individual multiplayer modes. The Eat Sleep Play leader hailed Nuke as his favourite multiplayer mode because it relies on strategy and team work. In this mode, players must capture the opposing team’s faction leader and put him in a woodchopper – but different vehicles take a different amount of time to achieve this, meaning a co-ordinated group of players can take advantage of their knowledge of varying character strategies.

Twisted Metal is a PlayStation 3 exclusive, and was recently delayed to February 14, 2012. It sports online and offline co-op and competitive multiplayer.

“The extra months are really needed for polish and we feel we need more than four to six weeks of polish and tuning., Jaffe commented in a statement published by Examiner.

Although he called it “a bad time to release”, the Eat Sleep Play lead said the end of year release crunch wasn’t the reason for the delay, and that the extra time would allow for multiplayer tuning.

“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,” he said.

“Any money is a lot to ask from someone for entertainment. 60 bucks is a shit 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.”

Jaffe gave a few specific examples of areas in need of extra development time, including fine tuning the Iron Maiden boss fight, balancing XP gain, and sorting out pick up plcement in split screen.

“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,” Jaffe concluded.

Twisted Metal releases exclusively for PlayStation 3 early next year.

Thanks, RipTen.

Originally slated for an October 4 release, Jaffe said the game is “just not ready yet,” and Eat, Sleep, Play needs extra time to “polish our demented baby until it shines.”

“It sucks bad when games miss their announced launch dates,” he said. “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.

“With Twisted Metal we plan to ship a multiplayer classic. We plan to ship the best Twisted Metal ever made. We plan to convert a lot of folks who think vehicle combat is a relic best left to 90′s nostalgia. And we plan to explode the belief that the only relevant kind of shooter is a first person one. Most importantly, we plan on treating you – the kind folks who play our game (and pay our bills) – like the VIPs that you are. You only deserve our best and we appreciate your understanding as we take a little more time to guarantee that our best is what we deliver.”

Jaffe went on to say that the development team is currently working to get a playable build of Twisted Metal ready for both gamescom and PAX Prime attendees to get their hands on.

Twisted Metal for PS3 will ship early 2012.

“Without blood, it felt a little weird, frankly,” creator David Jaffe said during a panel at Comic Con, as reported by Gamespot .

Jaffe showed a live-action trailer for Twisted Metal featuring its iconic killer clown, Sweet Tooth, standing over the bloody corpse of a woman and vowing to track down an escaped victim – the one who stabbed him in the eye with a pair of scissors. Gamefront reports the trailer will be released when Jaffe is “happy” with it.

Other points of interest included Jaffe playing down the possibility of an open beta for Twisted Metal’s online multiplayer, saying it doesn’t need a large scale public test.

Collectors will also be disappointed, as Jaffe said he didn’t know of any plans for special editions, suggesting the included bonuses distract from the game itself.

Twisted Metal is due exclusively on PlayStation 3 in early October.

Thanks, CVG.

“I’ve enjoyed every Battlefield game I’ve ever played,” Jaffe wrote in an exclusive statement.

“I was very excited to get today’s EA and DICE email that reminded me that I would have access to the Battlefield 3 beta come September (access I gained from buying last year’s Medal of Honor, another game partially developed by DICE that I also really enjoyed).”

Jaffe had made comments about E3 footage of Battlefield 3 shown on GameTrailers, which showed a tank battle from the perspective of a turret, as not being enough evidence alone to label the game winner of everything forever. He was promptly accused of professional jealousy and besieged on Twitter and forums.

Now, the outspoken designer has explained that his comments were addressed at the general trend of treating graphical performance as the be-all and end-all, and not at Battlefield 3 in particular.

“My tweets were not complaining about the current well-deserved hype that Battlefield 3 has earned,” he protested.

“I have no issues with mega-hype that is based off amazing graphics and the trust that a great developer has so deservedly earned from its fans over the years.”

“My point was that based on that clip of gameplay alone, calling Battlefield 3 GAME OF THE SHOW and hyping it for anything other than the amazing visuals, was irresponsible and damaging to the medium because saying a game that looks amazing but doesn’t seem to have evolved beyond an arcade game from 1980 is the same as saying, ‘We don’t care about the play experience, we just care about visuals.’

“Do I think (and almost know for sure) that DICE is going to put out another amazing game in the series, regardless of how it looks? Of course they are. That was never my point. And I have no issues with mega hype that is based off amazing graphics and the trust that a great developer has so deservedly earned from its fans over the years.”

Jaffe was actually quite effusive in his praise for the game.

“I never said the game was not a dazzling beauty of a game that represents the current visual state of the art for games (because it does). And I never said the EA/DICE team members responsible for creating those amazing visuals (as well as the street battle visuals that I saw on the show floor) did not deserve all of the accolades I would hope they have been receiving (because they do). And I never said the game doesn’t deserve the hype that has come from the amazing visuals in that game (because it does).”

Although social media has granted developers greater accessibility to fan feedback, it has also increased the speed in which misinformation can spread, and Jaffe seemed quite rueful on the matter.

“You’d think when you’ve been taken out of context and out and out misquoted as much as I have, you’d learn to share nothing of yourself with the internet other than happy and positive and useless statements that have been processed and spit shined via the PR machines of the world. Alas, I’m either an idiot (likely) or just stubborn (for sure) cause I keep getting nailed by this stuff,” Jafe wrote.

“You’d think when you’ve been taken out of context and out and out misquoted as much as I have, you’d learn.”

“I’m hopeful that VG247 has a magic bit of web code that allows certain people’s reading comprehension to increase when they come to the site, cause lord knows, they missed the point when I was tweeting about it.”

Jaffe’s latest game, Twisted Metal, is a PlayStation 3 exclusive due in early October. Battlefield 3 drops on PC, PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 later in the month.

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“I don’t think it will do anywhere near as well as the Wii did,” the designer told GamingUnion.

“… I think there’s a large enough percentage of people who bought the Wii as something other than a gaming device, and turned it into the fad that it was.

“Most of that percentage is going to go away now. I don’t think enough of them have become ‘gamers’. They tried [the Wii], now they’re onto something like free-to-play MMOs and then they’ll move onto something else. How many of them got converted into actual gamers? I don’t think a large portion.”

Jaffe also feels that in the interim, Apple products have become must-have tech toys for kids, cutting out a slice of Nintendo’s market.

“A lot of kids want iPads, iPhones and iPods now. And a large portion of the people who would’ve been interested in traditional Nintendo stuff, beyond core gamers, are just as happy playing Storm in a Teacup on iPad versus a new 3D Mario,” he said.

“Between those two audiences going away and the number of choices core gamers already have on the other systems – which, let’s be honest, a lot of them like super-amazing graphics on their 3D TVs and stuff like that – a lot of people are going to be better served going to the competition.”

Describing the conditions leading to the Wii’s phenomenal uptake as a “perfect storm”, Jaffe predicted it won’t happen again, although he doesn’t think the Wii U will fall flat on its face.

“I think the Wii U is going to be less successful than the Wii, probably 50% less successful,” he said.

“I don’t think you’re going to see the Wii U at number one in the next console generation.”

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The first one features SVP of Worldwide Studios Product Development at SCEA, Scott Rhode, chatting about the development of Vita and why it is a flexible platform.

This next video, has Dylan Cuthbert and Baiyon showing off the latest in the PixelJunk series from Q-games, PixelJunk Lifelike. It’s definitely an interesting title.

Finally, the last video is for Twisted Metal, in which David Jaffe chats about the character stories, gameplay balance, and the pros and cons between the game’s 15+ vehicles as well as the reveal of the game’s “biggest and most complicated” boss, Iron Maiden.

Designer and studio head David Jaffe isn’t certain the new Twisted Metal will perform well enough to justify further investment; it has traditionally struggled outside the US.

“I don’t know how this is going to do,” he admitted to Eurogamer.

“I don’t know whether in 2011 there’ll still be a big enough home for us to say ‘make another one’ or ‘make one for the Vita’.

“We’re just stepping back and asking ‘we’ve had a lot of love from the fans, but is that going to translate well beyond break even?’ Or are we barely going to cross the threshold of making our money back?”

Sony hasn’t asked Eat Sleep Play to produce a Vita version of the game, something it’s done with other major IPs.

“As to where it is on the Vita, probably if it’s a big hit we’re going to do it,” Jaffe said.

“… Nobody has talked to us, so it’s not like ‘I can’t talk about that’ – that’s usually what you say when it’s in development. Nobody has talked to us.”

Jaffe gets the feeling Sony isn’t as keen on the franchise as it might be.

“I don’t know – there are probably people within Sony who look at Twisted Metal and say ‘that’s a big franchise’”, he said.

“… There are guys who get it, but there are just as many other people who go ‘I don’t really get it – is this something we really want to be promoting at the same level as say, Uncharted 3?’”

Twisted Metal, the latest entry in a venerable series, is due on PlayStation 3 in October.

“What we’re not going to do is go ‘how do we cut the balls off this spirit, of this essence, just in order to say maybe we’ll get more fans,” Jaffe told Eurogamer
at E3.

“There are games that can survive that kind of neutering, but Twisted Metal isn’t one of them. If you don’t get it, you don’t get it.”

Jaffe blames censorship of the last major title in the series, Twisted Metal Black, for the game’s poor reception outside the US.

“Our last really big Twisted Metal went out everywhere except America with all the storytelling, cut scenes, characters and things that gave it a conceptual definition ripped out for censorship reasons.”

Expressing a hope that better marketing would help Europeans see the “fighting game and the sporting spirit” of Twisted Metal, Jaffe said he’s “not going to beg” Europeans to like it, comparing the game’s reception outside the US to Wipeout’s limited success inside it.

“My layman’s sociological view of Europe is that you guys tend to respond to things that are sleeker, cleaner, more refined, a bit more humorous,” he said.

“I think Twisted Metal is rough around the edges, it’s raw, it’s like a garage band. It’s dented, it’s busted up, it’s oil and diesel fuel. And to us in America, at least to Twisted Metal fans, it wears that as a badge of honour. We like that spirit.

“In the same way Wipeout was never a mega hit over here and has always been appreciated by a smaller group than in Europe. There’s a similar dynamic going on. Your Wipeout is our Twisted Metal.”

Twisted Metal is due exclusively on PlayStation 3 in October.