Ben-DutkaI guess everyone is a fan of summer but me. Oh well, just another thing that makes me different. 😉
Other devs should take a cue from Jaffe
I'm plenty disappointed that Twisted Metal won't arrive this year . Being a huge fan of the series, I've been anxiously anticipating this long-awaited entry ever since it was officially announced. …well, ever since Jaffe and Campbell told me by accident, which was long before that announcement, of course. 😉 And now it isn't coming on October 4; we gotta wait until next year. However, did you read that update of Jaffe's at the PlayStation Blog? It didn't sound like a developer officially and reluctantly apologizing; it sounded like a gamer who made his own game, realized it wouldn't get done on time, and reacted like a gamer.
It's not like other designers aren't gamers; hell, they're all gamers. So how come we never see anything quite so candid when other titles are delayed? How come we often receive no reason at all for a delay? Why are we all guessing at reasons? Jaffe was up front with us; he flat out said, "it isn't done; if we released it on October 4, it'd be bad." That's awesome. I want all creators to act this way. All the time.
Good goddamn, Sony has the BEST studios
So inFamous and Sly Cooper developers Sucker Punch are now part of Sony's Worldwide Studios family . This is the kind of acquisition that sets Sony apart in the gaming world; it's the reason why the PlayStation 3 has the best exclusives in the industry, year after year. As so many designers have said in the past, Sony is willing to take risks, and they're willing to stick with talented teams for the long haul. Jaffe mentioned Eat Sleep Play's fantastic partnership with Sony when he apologized for the TM delay, and other studios, like Media Molecule, Naughty Dog, Insomniac, and Quantic Dream have all given Sony similar praise.
It's too bad that Insomniac didn't join up, but that's okay. The bottom line is that the SCE WWS group now has 16 members, and they've all proven themselves. To have a team like Sucker Punch working exclusively on PlayStation hardware is just another reason to stick with the brand. I don't go in for brand loyalty; I go in for the games I love, and where I can find 'em. Simple as that.
Personal gaming update
I'm still plugging away at Catherine ; I've decided it's something I want to relish, and I'll pick it up and play for a few hours when I'm not busy. I also got God of War: Origins from Sony, so you can expect to see a review for that (likely late Monday or early Tuesday). I have my code for the Resistance 3 beta, too, and I'll get cranking on that; I'm not a big multiplayer fan, but I'm looking forward to trying it. By the way, sorry for the delay in getting you codes for the beta; I just haven't heard back from Sony after they offered to give us some.
This past week, I played Bleach: Soul Resurreccion , which really wasn't my thing, but it was kinda fun. For a while, anyway. Entertaining but repetitive as hell. But I can't wait for Deus Ex: Human Revolution and that's closer than some might think: August 23, and I can't wait!
Your right Ben! Jaffe did act like a gamer!
PGU: Borderlands and Naruto Shippuden: Ultimate Ninja: Storm 2. Two great games that I had missed when they got released!
Just became a recent Naruto fanboy, and read the entire manga in a week, loving it!
Edit: I'm a huge Resistance fan, and I have Plus! But man do I wish I could be in the R3 beta, I have played all the other betas, but i was a little mad that Socom 4 players where the first ones to play it. Sorry for the rant!
Last edited by BengiePR23 on 8/6/2011 9:25:28 PM
Sony have their head screwed on properly that's why. I'm not being one-sided but they've always done their best.
In contrast to Ben's opening, I couldn't be more glad that Winter's ending.
Jaffe always comes across as a bit less 'stick-up-the-a**e' than most devs. He's honest as hell and never afraid to speak his mind, so his message about the delay of TM really just flows on from that. He knows how his fans will feel about it, and is in their mindset. Of course he's disappointed as well, I mean, most people are when they're forced to break their promises, but he's just nailed it. What I like most is that Sony didn't actually lock him into that date, as most publishers seem to do. Of course, he is second party rather than first and that could play into it a little bit. Eh, whatever, I'm cool with a TM delay, and I'm now starting to feel that 2012 may well exceed 2011 in terms of great games… I can't believe I just wrote that.
I was all kinds of excited to hear about Sony's acquisition of Sucker Punch. It's just another top-notch developer added to the Sony stable, but it really was only a matter of time. I think that it probably has more behind it than just the success of inFamous 2. Maybe SP pitched another slobberknocker IP to Sony, and they just couldn't resist. Maybe Sony found out that another publisher was sniffing around. It's all good.
PU:
Finished Ratchet and Clank: Quest for Booty, user review is up. Now playing A Crack in Time and it's much, much better than the aforementioned title. Really gives me hope for R3 to be really good.
Finished Dracula last night and I'm going to start Jane Austen's Lady Susan soon. Have a few things to do first.
Also still playing FFIV. Rather than going straight on to Interlude and The After Years, I think I'm going to play The Third Birthday before that.
Peace.
Loved Ratchet CiT.
I think that newer R3 trailer looks good. Insomniac looks to have handled the character models and lighting better. I also like the more gritty appearance the game is boasting. Has more of the original's vibe to it. R2 had a lot of this bright color hue pallet thing going on that just didn't do well for me considering the theme of the game.
Definitely love the look of R3, but I don't see why anyone is down on the colour that was in R2. My memory might just be rusty, but it wasn't that prevalent, and it helps to diversify without lightening the mood too much.
The scene with the goliath smashing through the building looks great. It's also got that deamatic world ending vibe that really interests me. "My family.." is the last thing he says before falling out of the chopper.
I'm surprised people are so down on R2's look, sure it was a little brown but some of the vistas of destruction were just beautiful.
I think it's great that the Jaffe wants to release TM at the right time, when done properly. It can only help the brand and quality ethic that goes with AAA developers.
To sustain credibility what Jaffe is doing is right. Once just hopes economically all these delays have been calculated in so they don't sink into a loss during the delay period. I am sure financially they have been flexible in calculating delays and what have you.
Great to see Sony pick up Sucker Punch. I thoroughly enjoyed playing the InFamous 2 demo… In fact I have played it a number of times. I also downloaded InFamous 1 but have not had a chance to play it yet because my PS3 is out of action. It happened soon after Sony opened up the gates with all those free downloadable goodies 🙁
PU:
Have been out of action for some weeks, and probably will be while I wait to get my main PS3 fixed again 🙁 It will probably be in time for Battlefield 3 and Uncharted 3, my two most anticipated titles for this year…
Q!
"play.experience.enjoy"
Last edited by Qubex on 8/6/2011 10:09:46 PM
Ben,
I would like to know exactly how Jaffe accidentally told you about TM. I bet that was funny conversation.
I'm so happy SP is part of Sont now. I can't wait to see what they come up with next knowing it will be on the playstation.
PGU:
I picked up Socom 4 as my vacation souvenir along with finally getting Midnight Club: LA. I finished Socom and am working on Midnight Club. I like buying cars in games that I actually own. It is an awkwardly great feeling. Once I'm done with that which won't be for a long while I'm gonna try to get back into FFXIII.
I'd like to hear it also.
Maybe it's time for another 'Once upon a time a gamer…' article.
I explained all that when we announced Twisted Metal at E3 with the Extra Twisted interview with Jaffe-
https://temp.psxextreme.com/feature/587.html
Basically, it was during an earlier interview at the end of 2008; Campbell let it slip, not knowing they weren't telling people. Then Jaffe found out and asked us not to tell.
But how did it just 'slip'? It seems so unlikely…
I talked to Campbell first and Jaffe second; when I was talking to Campbell about the current project, he just started mentioning Twisted Metal; about how their development files were labeled "Twisted Metal" in the office, etc. I thought it was weird, too.
Then I got on the phone with Jaffe, referred to the project as Twisted Metal, and he stopped me. He said, "we haven't made that announcement yet." Then I told him what his partner had just told me, and that's when we came to an understanding. 😉
It was right after they had changed from a downloadable title; TM was going to be a small digital game at first, if you didn't already know. It was all from this interview here-
https://temp.psxextreme.com/feature/356.html
You can see we mention in the interview that we had to edit things out.
Last edited by Ben Dutka PSXE on 8/7/2011 12:24:43 AM
Ah, it was before my time here, no wonder I missed it. Cool though, thanks for clarifying.
I like summer. I just don't like when it gets scorching hot forever. Thankfully, the heat here has rarely cracked 90+ this year.
I'm glad Jaffe saw sense to delay TM for the sake of doing it right. props
I really look forward to playing that GoW PSP collection. Particularly for Ghost of Sparda. Chains of O. I thought was the weakest of all the GoW's. It started strong though =)
PGU: Fallout3, Tekken6, and Insanely Twisted PLanet. Nick keeps having me play the cheap'o download 360 games. World, you really need to get a 360 to do some of 'em 😉
I ordered my laptop earlier this week. It has an i5 and an AMD 6770m VPU. The laptop came with a "free" xbox 360. But after looking closely at the pricing, it would seem people just end up paying for it with the console cost appearing to be largely embedded into the laptop pricing. Looks like a promo gimmick to me. I'll be taking the sealed 360 to Walmart for return credit when it arrives… if they take it. But anyway, I look forward to doing Starcraft 2, Crysis/Warhead, Deus Ex, Rage, and Skyrim on it. I'm having to remind myself I shouldn't get too excited with the newer more powerful hardware. Especially considering that in 4 years of PC gaming absence, there have been only 2 exclusives too have surfaced that are worth my time.
Other than that, I just got back from spending the day with the family at an amusement/theme park. Fun stuff.
Last edited by Temjin001 on 8/6/2011 10:30:10 PM
I've always liked David Jaffe for being the blunt guy that he is. In a world where most people would sugarcoat their real thoughts just to please the majority, Jaffe is a breath of fresh air. I follow him on Twitter and read a few of his interviews, so I know just how honest the guy can be. So, you go Jaffe! I'm sure that most TM fans would be more understanding about his decision even if there's a bit of disappointment somewhere.
It's so easy to be a fan of Sony, even with how slowly they started this generation. This would come across as a fanboy rave, but they've honestly been doing most things right (at least to me) this generation. They acquired excellent developers, they are supporting fresh ideas from indie developers, most of their first-party games were very well-received by fans and critics alike, and I even laud their take on motion control gaming (though they still need to come up with more games that would really make the Move shine). And did I forget the Vita? It's like they took note of the missteps with the PSP and made the necessary changes here. Anyway, Sony is not the perfect company but they are the closest one out there right now.
PGU:
I'm very late to the party, but I've been playing Demon's Souls non-stop since I got my copy last week. It's as difficult as what people claim it to be, but it's still a brilliant game. And an addicting one at that! I lost 60,000 souls last night because of a small mistake (forgot to equip the Thief's Ring), but that's just how the game is. It really forces you to be on your toes the entire time, and there's not a lot of that out there currently.
That's one reason I can't play DS, an itty bitty thing sets you back so far it makes going forward pointless to me.
I do not believe in the Kobayashi Maru.
Well I won't really call it a no-win scenario, but I understand where you're coming from. The difficulty was one of the things that held me back when it first came out, not to mention that I was catching up on a lot of games that were higher on my must-play list. But now that I started to play it (because a friend at work forced me to, LOL) I enjoy it for what it is. Sure, the setbacks can be huge and downright annoying, but I really enjoy the gameplay so it keeps me coming back. Not to mention that it's a real RPG. 🙂
I Loooooove Demon's Souls. Are you excited for Dark Souls?
I know I am Claire. 🙂
Aww, I hated in Demon's Souls making a wrong move and losing a bundle of souls… especially when you don't manage to make it back to them. But a seriously great game. Dark Souls is the number one reason that I'm glad TM was delayed.
I seriously haven't read or seen much of Dark Souls. I'm probably get late on that again since I'm just started on Demon's Souls. But I'm positive I would be playing it eventually.
And talking of Demon's Souls? Has anybody read this funny article yet? http://bit.ly/7jtmqo I laughed a lot reading that. LOL
Dark Souls is pre-ordered and I am ready to suffer!
I wish you guys the best, it's Skyrim for me. When I make a mistake that game will just punish me and send me on my way.
I actually want Skyrim more. =)
As much as Skyrim impresses me, the fact that it's on a first-person perspective would deter me from playing it. It's probably my version of your "DS is too punishing".
I know I'm missing out on a lot of good games (e.g. Bioshock and Skyrim), but thankfully there's no shortage of great games to play around November.
PS: I'm not sure if Skyrim could be played on third person but if it is, I read that the game is not best "experienced" that way.
Did you dl the Bioshock demo???
I did. I could definitely play it, but not for too long. I'll try to get Infinite anyway, since it's coming out with the first game. I'll try that and see if I could finish it. If I can't, then I won't feel too bad as it's like I bought the game for half its price and that I still supported a quality game (even if it's not meant for me).
@ZettaiSeigi
I believe someone mentioned on an article of Skyrim on here that you can switch between 3rd person and 1st person view.
They also done away (I heard) with the leveling system they had in Oblivion. Not sure what system they will use for Skyrim, or if it will have a leveling system or not.
Last edited by Clamedeus on 8/7/2011 1:51:09 PM
Yeah Elder Scrolls can be played in third person, but I've tried it and it's kinda stupid. Everything just works better in first person and since the game is about ultimate immersion it feels better in first person too. Though maybe with Skyrim they have improved this.
Yah. The third person view in Oblivion was not all that great to play in. The only time I used it was either when traveling great distances or to look at just how cool my character looks in all her badass armor. 😉
The third person view for Skyrim I think is suppose to be much better than Obivion's, but I doubt it'll be good enough to play that way all the time.
ZettaiSeigi, you might be able to handle The Elder Scroll games because they aren't very fast-paced, and switching between first and third might help. =)
The leveling system is suppose to be the same except you don't choose any stats or abilities at the beginning. Instead you just use whatever you want and level-up what you use.
Last edited by Claire C on 8/7/2011 2:15:04 PM
Believe it or not, I use 3rd person view to use my Bow. :p I can basically play the whole game in 3rd person if I wanted to, it's just that when you go to enter a house you can't see if the door icon is red or not. That's the downfall of why I don't use it when entering houses.
That is why I was hoping there was a demo for Oblivion IV on the PSN but, alas, there was none. I hope there's one for Skyrim so I could try it out. If not, I'm just gonna borrow my friend's copy (provided he has one).
I wouldn't count on one for Skyrim.
My problem is, nobody behaves like they do in an FPS so its double weird in TPS. You wouldn't traverse a town or room by strafing and walking backward, but in first person it's a great way to keep things in view. In third it looks and feels so ridiculous that it yanks me out of the cool fantasy world. Not to mention the fact that I can see myself standing on 75 degree angles straight up and down when I ought to be falling to my death. It's just presented better in first person because there's the illusion of traversing thing properly somewhere below your field of vision.
The view I'm in, in a game doesn't matter to me, I'm still drawn in, I'm used to 3rd person and first person so it doesn't bother me, I just use first person to look at things more closely.
I can't help but compare it to how characters in games that are meant to be third person attach to their environments ya know? If Nathan Drake behaved like the guy in Oblivion I couldn't play it.
I hear you, I wouldn't mind seeing what Uncharted looks like in First Person though Lol. With all the crazy jumping and climbing I think it would be cool. But the game is fine the way it is in my opinion.
I'm with Clamedeus. The wonky animations look cheap, and I'm a huge proponent of realistic player-environment interaction, but it's not a game-breaker for me. I'm used to characters "picking up" items without actually reaching for them and the like, so what's a little awkward verticality?
IMO the first-person view is (always) just as fake-looking, so I'd rather play in third-person.
BTW *every* game should offer the ability to switch perspectives. If Jak & Daxter could do it (in limited fashion), why not COD?
I'm with Ben, I hate summer. The heat, the humidity, the inability to enjoy ones self out of doors. I'd much prefer a nice blizzard to a heat wave.
I wish we could get the kind of frank remarks we get from Jaffe out of other devs. Imagine what would happen to Square Enix if they weren't 100% run-around replyers, people might at least consider them honest if nothing else.
I too am happy Sucker Punch sold to Sony, now there won't be any chance of them doing fool things like going multiplatform for the sales and falling flat, ahem Ninja Theory ahem. I'm not upset that Insomniac is trying it, but I don't see a bright future for Overstrike at all. We'll see if it was a worthy investment or if they should have spent more time on Resistance 3's graphics instead.
Playing Saint's Row 2, God that game is fun. I hope they get The Third to run a lot better for PS3 cause I'm on board. That game has replaced GTA for sandbox action in my head. What good is a great big city if all you can do in it is go play darts and other non-fun things? Also slowly creeping towards that platinum for inFamous 2.
Saints Row 2 is boring. To me.
I find the missions, story, writing, voice-acting, and overall gameplay of GTA4 to be more "fun" than SR2. That's just me. 😉
me to! finally another person that doesn't hate GTA IV!
I never said I hated GTAIV, I still have it don't I? It's still hard to get around the fact that what made the series great has mostly been stripped out though.
Claire if you mean "superior" by thosethings then I agree with you.
You have fun taking your cousin on a date, I have fun pimp slapping people across the street. 😉
Last edited by WorldEndsWithMe on 8/7/2011 12:28:39 AM
yeah yeah i like SR2 alot i still got my copy. its all good. they both succeeded it what they were aiming for. bring on SR3 & GTAV! love open world games
Hell yeah I had more fun. Roman was HILARIOUS!!! =D
edit: I find things that are better executed or "superior" to be more fun generally. 😉
Last edited by Claire C on 8/7/2011 12:23:05 AM
I don't. I can still have tons of fun on old games that were much more poorly executed that new ones.
I should also mention that I'm a customization whore, SR2 is like an insane RPG to me. I made a guy that looks like me, dressed him up like Cole, gave him a Michael Jackson dance for a taunt and a severe pimp limp when he walks. I wish I could do that in GTA. I'm building some pimp rides to go cruising like my sh*t belongs in a tricked out version of L.A. Noire. I made my team into Ninjas, put stripper poles in my houses, and put together the best crusing mix of a playlist you've ever heard.
I loooove collecting stuff and customizing. So now you know why I rage at Dragon Age II for taking out armor.
Last edited by WorldEndsWithMe on 8/7/2011 12:34:48 AM
Just because something's old doesn't mean it wasn't executed well.
I still enjoy SR2 a lot. It's just I enjoy another one much, much more. =>.>=
Well… to each his own, still the control in Saints Row 2 was awful and there wasn't much action. It was just boring, at least to me it was. Sure you can say, "have fun taking your cousin on a date" but we all know that was completely up to you. Personally I didn't take anyone on any dates, only on my platinum playthrough. Nothing beats cruising around in the dangerous streets of Liberty City with your buddies online trying to avoid 15 other people who will shoot to kill.
Maybe start playing multiplayer?
Okay okay that was optional, but it didn't feel that way. You sure weren't getting 100% without it. There was a serious lack of mission diversity too, SR has that all over GTA. There was an awful lot of go kill so-and-so and go chase so-and-so. In SR2 there's tons of different activities and more varying missions. That's no opinion, that's just how it is. I was bored in the first two hours myself, then I realized how open the thing really was. True sandbox with all the games, that big old city in GTAIV felt wasted. The script and graphics and effects were all way better, but the number activities in the city that were worth doing were woefully inadequate.
Multiplayer is gay. (No offense LV)
Last edited by WorldEndsWithMe on 8/7/2011 1:45:03 AM