David Jaffe compares Xbox Live to Ashlee Simpson

by Ross Miller { Oct 26th 2006 at 7:20PM }

David Jaffe is a fiery voice who's not afraid to speak his mind. Speaking to Newsweek's N'Gai Croal, Jaffe took some jabs at Microsoft's Xbox Live service and its penchant for retro material.

While discussing Jaffe's upcoming PS3 download title Criminal Crackdown, he and Croal entered an extended metaphor comparing game format to music. It is at this point where Jaffe, under the guise that God of War is Opera in this analogy, remarked that Xbox Live is more like the pop stylings of Ashlee Simpson, or of an oldies station (hence Pac Man and XBLA's other retro titles). Criminal Crackdown, on the other hand, is closer to the Beatles. We're assuming post-Revolver era, as "I wanna hold your hand" really isn't much better than the bubblegum pop of today.

While we love to see Jaffe take part in inane allegories that are usually reserved for Iwata and Kojima, we can't help but want to extend this metaphor further, throwing in some Mizuguchi and Guitar Hero -- we'll save it for the comments. As all of Jaffe's titles have been published by Sony, we're not surprised he's supportive of his financial backer and antagonized by their competitor. But invoking Ashlee Simpson? That's just cruel.

Jaffe also used his interview time to discuss his feelings on God of War sequels, noting that if "it was up to me , he would have fallen off the mountain in the first game and actually died."

See Also:
Jaffe abandons PSP, releasing quick-turnaround PS3 title

Tags: criminal crack down, CriminalCrackDown, david jaffe, DavidJaffe, x b l a, x b l m, XBLA, XBLM, xbox live, XboxLive

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)

carlos @ Oct 26th 2006 7:29PM

wow i hate this guy first everyone praises him for realising one ONE good game and now hes talking out of his ass come and crminal crackdown looks like GARBAGE

Pedro Van Faulk @ Oct 26th 2006 7:33PM

What a coincidence! I wish Dave jaffe had fallen off a mountain and died!

Agent MOO @ Oct 26th 2006 7:31PM

That guy's off his rocker. I'm unable to come up with a sillier sounding metaphor than that as a comeback...

Judd @ Oct 26th 2006 7:34PM

You know I like the idea of designers becoming celebrities, and some of them should be as appreciated as film directors. But I feel like a lot of these guys lately have no modesty. Miyamoto and Kojima are famous in the gaming community yet they've generally remained humble. Jaffe worked on Twisted Metal and directed God of War. CliffyB worked on Unreal and directed Gears of War, a game that's not even out yet. Why do these guys think they're hot shit?

Agent MOO @ Oct 26th 2006 7:35PM

Ok, in this one Sony's britney spears. They used to be all hawt, but have moved to the trailer park and are doing raps with kevin federline.

KineticOnline @ Oct 26th 2006 7:40PM

See i would have though Ms Simpson would have been more like a PS3.
Both Sexy
Both Stylish
Both are something that you know your friends would want
Although they may look like it neither can cook

And they are both as slow as a snail

Sorry couldn't resist

Miniboss @ Oct 26th 2006 7:44PM

Yeah, there's a reason why Jaffe is working on small games now... nobody wants to work for him.

As far as I can tell, XBLA has original games like Geometry Wars, Castle Crashers, and Small Arms. And if he wants to argue that these are "old-school games", I would say that his latest offering is one of the oldest genres known to man. In fact, XBLA has a lot of variants of his game's style. Sure, there might be one or two gimmicks that differentiates it, but it's essentially the same.

As for God of War being an opera... He's certainly humble isn't he? :|

I predict Jaffe will be the next Romero.

FuzzyPickles @ Oct 26th 2006 7:44PM

Give him a few more years and he'll be founding the Dallas branch of Ion Storm part II.

The ZeroCorpse @ Oct 26th 2006 7:45PM

Sony = Britney Spears is good thinking.

Then: Hot, number one on the block, appealed to squealing tween posers, but still managed to be quite coordinated and popular despite lack of any depth.

Now: Oversized, appealing to idiots, white urban youth and trailer trash, and unable to hide lack of depth because coordination is completely gone. Makes outrageous claims and tries to use former fame to promote talentless, nearly-useless, unwanted attachment (KFed/Blu-Ray).

Yeah. I'll go with this.

The ZeroCorpse @ Oct 26th 2006 7:59PM

This thread is funny, and proof positive that NOBODY likes a braggart.

"Opera" my ass. God of War was a side-scrolling beat-em-up. Period. It was the video game equivalent of a Michael Bay movie; Lots of big effects and visuals, but no meat whatsoever.

Drop A Load @ Oct 26th 2006 7:50PM

Krazy Ken is all up in his ass ....it got him spewing Stupidity

Krazy Koala @ Oct 26th 2006 7:55PM

Provided the port is well done, I can't wait for sony fans to try Ninja Gaiden and realise how much better itis than God of War (though god of war is a good game). Then maybe this guy won't be treated/treat himself as the God of Gamemaking...

Live is a damn good service, and at less than five bucks a month, ppl that complain about the price are cheap @@#$(8908. Yet why do they pay for a 500-600$ PS3? Its quite puzzling

Ethan @ Oct 26th 2006 8:03PM

So by that does he mean that both are very expensive in the long run. Oh burn!

Bored @ Oct 26th 2006 9:38PM

What is next for this guy to say? I am bigger than God? Someone needs to hit the release valve on his oversized ego.

Optimus Prime @ Oct 26th 2006 8:06PM

If MS wants to get serious with XBL Arcade, they need to (1) get rid of that 50mb limit and (2) let devs charge more so they dont have to break their games up into pieces and sell them separately ala Lumines (to get under the pricing cap).

Odds Bodkins @ Oct 26th 2006 8:07PM

Man that just makes him look like an ass who's kissing up to Sony. I saw this from another link, I really hope it's taken out of context.

Comparing himself to the Beatles (at least in game terms) is also kind of funny. Maybe he was drunk and trying to impress a gal...

Richard @ Oct 26th 2006 8:11PM

If you have ever heard David Jaffe talk you know that he is the biggest dipshit in the gaming industry, so his opinion doesn't really mean much to anyone anyways. He had one good game and unfortunately people crowned him a god of game design. He is a serious a-hole and should be ignored at all cost.

Kumar Shah @ Oct 26th 2006 8:14PM

Haha...what a tool. Is Sony now having its dev's doing their talking for them?

Have you ever heard a MS Dev say something like this? lol

Rask @ Oct 26th 2006 8:17PM

Jaffe is like a hammer.

He's a well respected Tool.

$Eih\'Beir$

Eih\'Beir @ Oct 26th 2006 8:19PM

Is this...news?

bill pullman @ Oct 26th 2006 8:24PM

David Jaffe should change his name to Wretched Cock. i mean, because... well... 'cause he's a cock. he makes analogies like old people f*ck.

Colin @ Oct 26th 2006 8:32PM

No offence to Jaffe (All praiseth the creator of thy God of War! (and twisted metal), but when I heard his lecture at GDC last year, he was going off on how he himself listens to bubble gum pop! Bring new light to his comment? I think so...

spoo @ Oct 26th 2006 9:05PM

John Lennon of videogames... So he is bigger then Jesus?

EvanB @ Oct 26th 2006 9:13PM

It's a shame when a developer gets wrapped up in all of this pointless mudslinging.

Usedtabe @ Oct 26th 2006 9:13PM

Lol.

God of War is nothing more than Fuzion Frenzy-sized character models with Prince of Persia gameplay....nothing but a blatant rip-off (as most games come to be). I hated God of War with a passion. Boring as hell. It even stole the "powers upgrade" system from DMC and games like that before it. Thank God I borrowed it.

diskoboy @ Oct 26th 2006 9:24PM

We are witnessing history here - the developer fanboy.

Jaffe has never worked for anyone but Sony. So to say his comments are biased through the roof would be an understatement.

God of War was a total Ripoff of Ninja Gaiden for the Xbox.

AG @ Oct 26th 2006 9:41PM

Wow, is MS putting you guys up to this, paying you under the table?

"God of War is nothing more than Fuzion Frenzy-sized character models with Prince of Persia gameplay"

"God of War was a total Ripoff of Ninja Gaiden for the Xbox"

You xbox fanboys are crazy, God of War is one of the best games to come out ever! You guys are just pissy because you know it will never come to Xbox and all you guys can rant and rave about is halo.

Logan @ Oct 26th 2006 9:54PM

To see people trash God of War is hilarious. It didn't set out to do anything innovative, but rather make a damn good game in all departments.

One thing it did do correctly is give every game developer out there a case study in how to perfect production values. The game set out to be epic and achieved it.

I respect the heck out of the man for Twisted Metal (the first two and Black, at least) and God of War. Heck, I even have more respect for the man admitting that he wanted to kill Kratos for good. I really wish he would have done that.

He makes good points about the state of download services in games too. Though I will agree that his analogies are a little too extreme and arrogant. I just hope this blatant cockiness dies down a little.

Then again he could attempt to be "fake, hip, pretty boy" like Cliffy B. I mean, everyone wants a semi-metrosexual game developer for them to have a subconcious homosexual man-crush on, right?

Sorry, I just had to comment on that seeing that the two are the apparent prime voices for the big two standard consoles.

Usedtabe @ Oct 26th 2006 10:01PM

#27
Not a fanboy. I have all gurrent-gen systems, and plan on getting all next-gen systems. That does not negate the fact that IMO, God of War was nothing but Fuzion Frenzy sized (actually not an opinion, Kratos was small on-screen) character models and Prince of Persia gameplay, and I hated it. All my opinion. But that does not make me a fanboy, nor does it mean I'm mad it's not coming to Xbox. Way to assume like an ass

Liam @ Oct 26th 2006 10:45PM

haha, at the overreaction for the xbox crowd. and a sepcial lol to the guy who wished for jaffes death.

Ezxra @ Oct 26th 2006 10:50PM

What the hell are you talking about AG? God of War was praised yes...I personally dont like it...too much like prince of persia...this guy has only done like four games? 360 has enough games now and others that will surpass this travesty of a game ...no one will miss it after God of war 2 which I doubt will be as reviting as the first.

robrob @ Oct 26th 2006 10:54PM

yeah, i love my 360 and snicker at the dumb shit sony is doing with the PS3 (and its free for all online "service"), but hell- god of war is easily one of my favorite games of the past few years.

dsub @ Oct 26th 2006 11:01PM

what does David Jaffe have to say about upcoming XBLA titles like Castle Crashers and Small Arms?

And if having classic retro titles on your download service is a bad thing, then why is Sony's launch lineup of DLC containing things like Konami Antiques Collection, Resident Evil: Director's Cut and Tekken 2? Those certainly are classic titles in their own right. Either way you put it, this is nothing more than the Sony hype/marketing machine in full force.

dsub @ Oct 26th 2006 11:01PM

If God of War is an Opera, then Ninja Gaiden is a Mozart Symphony.

? @ Oct 26th 2006 11:03PM

"it was up to me , he would have fallen off the mountain in the first game and actually died."

As director of God of War isn't up to Jaffe to decide to let Kratos die anyway. As a gamer I don't apprieciate video games designers making games if there is going to be a sequel planned before the game becomes gold. A great game does not need any sequel tie ins. A great game can stand alone with its own story. Think Zelda. or GTA. or Ninja Gaiden.Hell even Final Fantasy( I know I will regret that but let me finish). Its a developers job to think of a way to bring dead things back to life that justable. Anyway Davve Jaffe is a tool who should not have as much attention as he is getting. When he makes a game that makes peolpe cry while playing it, then he desevres it.

Liam @ Oct 26th 2006 11:04PM

Ezxra, you're an idiot. have you actually played cc to come to the conclusion that it's a "travesty?" and if you are referring to gow as a "travesty of a game," then you are a bigger idiot than i thought - especially since gow smashes everything on the xbox 360 thus far. and on the issue of "what has he dont to garner such praise" i have a question... what the hell has cliffy b done to garner just as much, if not more praise? hell, at least jaffe and team delivered some awesome game. what the hell has cliffy done?

Scott @ Oct 26th 2006 11:18PM

#36 said: "hell, at least jaffe and team delivered some awesome game. what the hell has cliffy done?"

Ever hear of Unreal?

Jonn @ Oct 26th 2006 11:40PM

So...would that make PS3O the pretty but dumb one?

Steven @ Oct 27th 2006 11:26AM

"What a coincidence! I wish Dave jaffe had fallen off a mountain and died!"

lol

Liam @ Oct 26th 2006 11:51PM

Scott, he designed a few UT maps... whooptie de fuckin' do. i have made many ut maps, can i have some credibility now?

AtLeastSomeBeatlesKnowledge @ Oct 26th 2006 11:58PM

Too bad this blogger doesn't know sh*t about The Beatles.

Rubber Soul (pre-Revolver) and Revolver (neither pre nor post) are two of the most experimental, acclaimed, fantastic and best-selling albums ever.

This post needs a Beatles edit. The rest of it....I didn't really read. Would any Beatles fan, after that heresy?

ManekiNeko @ Oct 27th 2006 12:03AM

Did someone just say that HIDEO KOJIMA was humble?! Uh, that's rather doubtful.

There are some pretty big egos in the Japanese game design community. Ever read an interview with Tomunobu Itagaki? When asked his favorite classic Ninja Gaiden game, he responded, "My own, for the Xbox." Uh, yeah dude. Maybe you should just drop any remaining pretense of humility and start making movies with M. Night Shayamalan.

JR

Scott @ Oct 27th 2006 12:17AM

Liam,

If you think that all Cliffy has done is "designed a few UT maps" then your thoughts on the matter are effectively worthless.

I suppose he did what, throw pencils at the ceiling the last few years and talk about how f'ing cool he is until he just happened to stumble into being the lead designer for THE major action game on the Xbox360 for 2006?

I'm by no means a CliffyB sycophant and I never even cared for Unreal. But to say he has done nothing of note is ridiculous and reeks of fanboyism.

Liam @ Oct 27th 2006 12:37AM

Scott, uh, he hasn't done anything of note... yet, so he doesn't deserve the praise he is receiving, atm. Once Gears is released, and it turns out great... then, yeah, I'll say he has earned it. Until then, however, he's just a guy who designed a few UT maps.

Kao @ Oct 27th 2006 12:51AM

Wasn't he behind the development and design of the Original Unreal as well as Jazz the Jack Rabbit. I know he was central designer of the JtJR, but I don't know about Unreal. I think he did Dare to Dream as well.

Jay @ Oct 27th 2006 2:05AM

*yawn* Twisted Metal was overrated, God of War was fun, but apparently Jaffe is a douchebag. Game Directors usually just run their mouths and annoy the huge teams of people that really make the games anyway.

Cool8man @ Oct 27th 2006 2:07AM

Xbox Live is like Ashlee Simpson. It's constantly being upgraded and improved.

Figboy @ Oct 27th 2006 3:43AM

i'm a Sony fan, i own an X Box, i own Ninja Gaiden. i still like God of War better. why? because God of War is actually playable.

i played Ninja Gaiden for a few days, loved it. got to about chapter 4 or 5, then, due to my hectic work schedule, had to stop playing the game for about 3 months, came back to the game, and couldn't even make it out of the save point spot, as i got obliterated by Ninjas. basically, you must play this game nonestop, as any time off will leave you rusty and lame. i'm starting over from the beginning, just so i'll get back in the groove again.

games aren't supposed to be frustrating to the point of not being fun. i'm too old, and i don't have the patience for a game as mind numbingly difficult as Ninja Gaiden anymore. God of War is easy to get into, and doesn't have such a steep learning curve.

don't get me wrong, Ninja Gaiden is a deep and beautiful game (visually and gameplay wise), but i shouldn't have to work so hard in something that is supposed to be entertainment. i don't get off work after 8-10 hours to break my controller during "relaxation time."