GDC08: Jaffe confirmed no-show at keynote

by Andrew Yoon { Feb 22nd 2008 at 1:30PM }

David Jaffe was supposed to speak at Game Developer's Conference with a session called "From Grunt, to God, to Startup." But, many feared that the man responsible for the Twisted Metal and God of War would be a no-show after a statement on his personal blog (see above). In his stead is Paul Steed from Exigent (he helped make Wing Commander, apparently. His aggressive, loud demeanor caused murmurs from the crowd: "so he's a replacement Jaffe?" His colorful language certainly reminds us of the intended speaker. Explaining Jaffe's absence, he said: "He has bronchitis ... in his cock, or something." His replacement session, "From Artist to Entrepreneur" promised to help up-and-coming developers as Jaffe's session intended. Some disappointed at Jaffe's no-show immediately left the room, while others stayed and listened intently. Perhaps it was because Steed promised "free t-shirts at the end"? Or, maybe it's because he actually was fun to listen to?

"Game development isn't a job -- it's a lifestyle," he told the willing audience. The key things needed for a successful career, he notes in his PowerPoint presentation: Energy, Attitude, Character, Change, Learn, Teach and Beer (or vodka).

Tags: david-jaffe, gdc08, paul-steed

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)

wait in the car @ Feb 22nd 2008 1:43PM

"Some disappointed at Jaffe's no-show immediately left the room"

Oh man... that's rich!! No one should be THAT disappointed at a Jaffe no-show.

Benny @ Feb 22nd 2008 2:29PM

Well, we all know how moody Kratos can be...

eldee @ Feb 22nd 2008 5:02PM

jaffe is actually kind of a douchebag. his one major hit is pretty much a fluke at this point.

He's like a cloned version of Dave Perry.. finds success once and promptly rides it into oblivion.

eldee @ Feb 22nd 2008 5:16PM

sorry, make that *two* major hits..

Nigeria @ Feb 22nd 2008 1:44PM

"He has bronchitis ... in his cock."

Of all the places.

Benny @ Feb 22nd 2008 1:45PM

"He has bronchitis ... in his cock, or something."

Blowjob from Nat King Cole?

JayVe @ Feb 22nd 2008 1:49PM

"The key things needed for a successful career, he notes in his PowerPoint presentation: Energy, Attitude, Character, Change, Learn, Teach and Beer (or vodka)"

Funny. The best games of all times are often made by understated, focused and reserved individuals with a deep understanding of play mechanics. When I think of Will Wright or Miyamoto, I don't see any of the rockstar like attitude of attitude, or drinking, or in the case of David Jaffe... drug use.

David Jaffe is to game development what Rob Liefield is to comic book art, or what Brittney Spears is to Pop music, or what Michael Bay is to cinema... a flash in the pan for all the wrong reasons. When they are gone, the real movers and shakers in the industry will still be there, pushing things forward in new directions while Jaffe continues to ride his one-trick pony of violence and sex to sell his otherwise bland games.

dan stabbingworth @ Feb 22nd 2008 1:53PM

Please, if you think Japanese developers weren't consuming mass amount of psychedelic mushrooms in the 1980s when it was both legal and culturally significant in Japan, then I suggest you think again. Super Mario Bros anyone?

Noshino @ Feb 22nd 2008 2:01PM

err...I don't think Jaffe is "a flash in the pan for all the wrong reasons"...

All of his games have been critically acclaimed and well received by gamers, because certain people complete things in a game different than others doesn't really mean that they are "bad" or just not as good...

Oh, and for the record, when the people ever make their drinking public? you seriously believe that Wright and Miyamoto have never drunk?....right

JayVe @ Feb 22nd 2008 2:07PM

"you seriously believe that Wright and Miyamoto have never drunk?"

When have Wright or Miyamoto ever claimed that being drunk was a key to a successful career in game development?

There is a difference between drinking for pleasure and claiming that drinking is "needed for a successful career."

Noshino @ Feb 22nd 2008 2:13PM

you don't have a sense of humour huh?

JayVe @ Feb 22nd 2008 2:19PM

Of course I have a sense of humor. It is one of the key things needed for a successful career.

Vidikron (FU) @ Feb 22nd 2008 2:52PM

Please... games like TM and GoW are solid and some of the best of their genres. Your points are hollow.

FidliousWong @ Feb 22nd 2008 2:58PM

JayVe, here's your issue...

You claim Jaffe is worthless because he states beer and getting drunk is part of a successful game career. Curious because the quote you pulled was from John Steed. This is also funny to me because, if you've ever talked to David Jaffe, you'd know he doesn't have an ego to be stroked. In fact, he's pretty much like the kind of guy you play against on Halo or Warhawk when he bitches about how he sucked that last match. Jaffe readily puts himself down.

As for why he moved onto Eat, Sleep, Play... simple. Stress. It was literally eating him alive. He's one of those people who worries about every single decision in a game design. And doing the huge epic games and the stress that comes with it had a HEAVY toll on him as a person. In fact, due to stress eating and such, he put on a large amount of weight (which he has since lost).

Now, here's the thing. Miyamoto doesn't design on the idea of "this will be a great game." He designs around this being a great idea and builds up from there. Likewise, Will Wright loves playing god and designs his ideas around that. As he puts it, "the worlds I create are special because I control them."

Jaffe? Well, he's the guy who buys Road Warriors on VHS and ponders why gladitorial deathmatches haven't involved cars. A demo derby to the extreme. He wonders why a Mickey Mouse game limits the character to one period rather than embracing all of them (Yes, Jaffe did Mickey Mania). He looks at the old fantasy barbarian picks and wonders why this isn't a game. His approach to game design is the same as many peoples. Thinking "that would make a great game" while watching/reading something. In fact, the one time he strayed from this and delivered a truly unique experience, while creating one hell of a frantic party game, was largely bashed and hated.

So if he ever leaves, many people will rejoice but personally, I'll feel bad. Not many game designers would have the balls to argue for five straight years defending God of War as a hell of an experience to Sony when Sony would have been much happier all around with MAOR TWST'D METAZ. Jaffe pours himself into his projects, publicly exposes himself and his ego to people who hate him, and ultimately defends his works. And while he's crass and rough around the edges, at least he's not a Derek Smart, Lorne Lanning (who's become much cooler since he left the industry), or Itagaki.

NeverSage @ Feb 22nd 2008 3:21PM

Wow... I tend to disagree with you FidliousWong... but that was excellent. I think you made me actually dislike Jaffe less.

FoxHoundADAM @ Feb 22nd 2008 1:51PM

I can't stand Jaffe. I personally would have cheared at that announce if I was there.

Of course my opinion doesn't matter so I wasn't.

uberartist @ Feb 22nd 2008 1:53PM

Andrew Yoon: Please tell me you're joking about not knowing who Paul Steed is. And even if you are joking, it might be nice to give him props for what he has done to fill in the blanks for the young crowd who doesn't know.

samfish @ Feb 22nd 2008 1:57PM

Joystiq, post that damn Nintendo charging for online story. I need to bitch.

Nigeria @ Feb 22nd 2008 2:09PM

lol, wut.

rom @ Feb 22nd 2008 2:18PM

I think he's talking about the new Nintendo program called "Wii Pay & Play". Sounds like Nintendo might doing a XBL-like service sometime soon.

deaftly @ Feb 22nd 2008 2:18PM

http://blog.wired.com/games/2008/02/nintendo-to-beg.html

cc123 @ Feb 22nd 2008 2:24PM

hehehe

I was waiting for this one too.

Fernando Rocker @ Feb 22nd 2008 2:25PM

I just read that story in Kotaku...

As much as I love Nintendo, theres no fucking way Im going to pay for their online service. If they redesing their entire online systems, and I mean, everything, friends codes, allow DLC, patches, music, demos, allow external storage and offer a service like Live, then glady I will pay.

Noshino @ Feb 22nd 2008 2:36PM

although SSBB has already been released...Mario Kart can always go the pay per play route...

Fernando, you better get your wallet ready..

Donald @ Feb 22nd 2008 3:05PM

I'm hoping that it's mainly for those certain third parties who act like the Diz-Nee Corporation (EActivision) and that no Nintendo game falls under this.

If I have to pay to show people my Pokemans, I will personally fly to Japan and kick Iwata in the crotch.

ThornedVenom (Ludwig Defense Force) @ Feb 22nd 2008 3:16PM

WTF?!!!!!

That's it, I'm going PS3.

FidliousWong @ Feb 22nd 2008 3:24PM

I'm wondering if this isn't just a confimation of an MMO or persistant world project either from Nintendo, or adding support for third parties to pursue this...

C'mon... I'm the PS3 fantard supposedly and I'm the only one taking the rosier route on this? If paying to play equals Pokemon MMO... fuck yes.

Imran @ Feb 22nd 2008 2:00PM

You guys missed a parenthesis somewhere.

Marty @ Feb 22nd 2008 2:01PM

What, did he get his feelings hurt by a few bad reviews again?

samfish @ Feb 22nd 2008 2:05PM

"Explaining Jaffe's absence, he said: "He has bronchitis ... in his cock, or something."

This implies that Jaffe HAS a cock...a dubious claim, at best.

We DO know for a fact, however, that he is sans balls.

Donald @ Feb 22nd 2008 2:58PM

If alcohol is required for a successful career, does that mean there's a Ballmer Peak for game development?

AJ @ Feb 22nd 2008 3:24PM

Oh how quickly they forget. Paul Steed was a designer at Id during the heyday of Quake 2. His most famous design being the "Crackwhore" player model. 10 years ago he was somebody in gaming and Jaffe was nobody.

SinistarX @ Feb 23rd 2008 1:48PM

Thank god somebody posted this. I can't believe a gaming blog had no idea who Paul Steed is!

Damn kids these days.

After leaving ID, Steed went on to do a lot of design work for WildTangent.

MosquitoControl @ Feb 22nd 2008 3:48PM

Paul Steed used to be huge. If you gamed, and you used the internet, you knew who Paul Steed was.

Probably says something about the age of joystiq...

Roto13 @ Feb 22nd 2008 3:57PM

Jaffe is a cock.

Matt B @ Feb 22nd 2008 4:18PM

The level of Jaffe hate is laughable. Perhaps if he made a great game for Nintendo or the 360 there would be much different opinions.

samfish @ Feb 22nd 2008 7:43PM

Maybe if he pulled his head out of his ass and stopped poking fun at and saying inflammatory things about those other fans he would be hated less.

My main issue with him is he usually comes off as a douchebag Sony fanboy who has himself quite the soapbox.
It wouldn't kill someone in his position to be...a little more diplomatic/professional.

waynski1457 @ Feb 22nd 2008 4:52PM

confirmed: jaffe is the new axl rose and GOW3 will never come out but will be praised by people who will "supposedly" see it 5 years from now.

Silly Sauce @ Feb 22nd 2008 6:30PM

The only reason I don't like Jaffe is because from reading his interviews and blog posts, he seems to think he is some sort of game designing God and it has inflated his ego to the point where his head has its own gravitational pull. He is a dick and if he was a grown man, he would let his [outstanding] games do the talking for him like 99% of the designers out there.

ob1979 @ Feb 23rd 2008 12:17AM

Except according to this interview, his attitude is exactly opposite that:
http://www.playboy.com/magazine/features/video-game-blowout/video-game-blowout6.html

He specifically doesn't think he's a gaming god; he does have strong opinions, but who doesn't?