David Jaffe: *bleep* the games, it's all about cool names

David Jaffe: bleep the games, it's all about cool names

by Randy Nelson { Jun 13th 2008 at 5:45PM }

We heart you, Dave, and it's not just because you created God of War. No, it's due to your unwavering frankness when it comes to the sheer silliness of the games industry. Case in point: game names. For those of you listening in on this virtual cheek pinch, we're talking about Jaffe's latest blog post about how sometimes it's not the quality of the game, but the cleverness of its name which determines if it'll sell.

Jaffe breaks it down for us, then divulges some names that might have been slapped on a couple of his games in an alternate universe. Twisted Metal? Try Cars and Rockets. Oh, and God of War was at one time Dark Odyssey. Hit his own little slice of the net for more genuine Jaffe, sure to make you all ... laughy.

Tags: david-jaffe, god-of-war, twisted-metal

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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)

atrimus @ Jun 13th 2008 5:56PM

there are likeable game industry jerks like David Jaffe, then there's Itagaki...

Sir Fidlious Wong (Justin T. McElroy Memorial Burn of the Day Award) @ Jun 13th 2008 5:53PM

Well that wasn't very punny...

Sir Fidlious Wong (Justin T. McElroy Memorial Burn of the Day Award) @ Jun 13th 2008 5:54PM

But yeah, Jaffe has a point there.

Huey2k2 @ Jun 13th 2008 6:02PM

For sure, to the average person who never reads online or printed game journalism such as this but wants to buy a new game what's the first thing they notice?

The box art and the game name. If the name sounds cool and the description on the box makes it seem like a good game, gullible people will buy it. If the name is dumb and the game looks dumb on the box they probably won't, regardless of how good the game may or may not be.

j.howlett @ Jun 13th 2008 5:55PM

police vs bad guyz, was reading that earlier and now i want those toys

Long Bow @ Jun 13th 2008 5:59PM

The only reason I know the name David Jaffe, is because he comes off as such a douche.

offday @ Jun 13th 2008 6:02PM

I agree. He is a douche. I'm sure I would have liked him better when he was in high school and constantly getting shoved in lockers.

Mr Khan @ Jun 13th 2008 5:59PM

Personally i quite liked "God of War 2: The End Begins"

Burritoclock @ Jun 13th 2008 6:04PM

Same here, can't stand this guy.

No sir, I don't like'em

bluezy @ Jun 13th 2008 6:05PM

Kratos' original name was Dominus, and the developers working on God of War kept saying "Get the door, it's Dominus."

Aha, that's funny.

Jhongerkong @ Jun 13th 2008 6:08PM

Thats pretty much true for me. Any game with "Puzzle League" or "Tetris Attack" is an insta-buy.

Mystic @ Jun 13th 2008 6:14PM

God, Jaffe is such a Sony corporate whore it's not even funny. It looks like he want to be the next Phil Harrison.

Levi @ Jun 13th 2008 6:43PM

Okay, I believe you're cracking a joke due to the obvious lanyard that he's wearing, but just to make sure:

How many corporate whores do you knwo that sport apparel from their competitors?

BPM [MKWii: 2578 3585 8392] @ Jun 14th 2008 12:59AM

David Jaffe's Now Playing: No More Heroes (Wii)
His opinion: Loving it so far.

Yeah. TOTAL Sony shill. [rolls eyes]

juju187 @ Jun 13th 2008 6:19PM

jaffe
sony's female dog

LaughingTarget @ Jun 13th 2008 6:48PM

I'm gonna make a game called "This Game is Shit: Don't Buy It". It'll be a best seller, especially since it has a colon in it.

Joop @ Jun 13th 2008 6:56PM

Is it me or is Davey looking a little...I dunno...special olympics in that picture?

crudo @ Jun 13th 2008 6:59PM

Nice to see a lesbian making her mark in the Video Game industry.

ChooChooCharlie (MK 0430-8740-2222) @ Jun 13th 2008 7:26PM

Goddamn, why does everyone have to hate on Jaffe all the time?

The man makes GOOD games, alright. God of War 1 was excellent and a huge seller because he wouldn't take no for an answer and worked the dev team to death. Sure, he's let out some emotion in interviews and blog posts in the past, but he's only human. He's a game developer, not a PR person. It's not his job to be cool as ice for the public all the time. And he's obviously passionate about his work, or he wouldn't get so emotional. Personally, I'd much rather have a passionate, hardworking developer who cares about the product he's creating than some corporate piece of shit who's just looking to increase sales figures in any way possible (even if it means half-assing the game to get it out the door on time).

And the personal attacks about the way he looks are just mean. I seriously doubt any of you are a modern day Adonis with women lining up around the corner just to lay eyes upon you.

Besides, if you think he's a bitch - fine. But nowhere in this post is he complaining about anything. He's simply sharing something he thought his readers would find humorous. Lay off.

LaughingTarget @ Jun 13th 2008 7:28PM

He's this generation's John Romero. It's too hard not to make fun of his pompous posturing.

Sir Fidlious Wong (Justin T. McElroy Memorial Burn of the Day Award) @ Jun 13th 2008 10:58PM

He dopes pompous posturing? Really?!? Have you READ the man's blog? Let's put it this way, during a playtest of CAC, he live blogged the event. Majority of the time was spent trying to figure out why one guy was just driving in circles and lamenting the fact that he ate a whole pizza because he is, in fact, a nervous eater. The "problem" with Jaffe is that he doesn't have a filter.

So while this means he may come off as pompous and egotistical because he pointed out some flaws in Super Mario galaxy, it also means he readily admits he's a "B Level" designer and refuses to even be compared with some of the industry greats.

John Romero had an add campaign talking about how he is going to make everyone his bitch. Itagaki stated recently that he's the only good Japanese Game Designer. David Jaffe recently said he likes his staff at Eat Sleep Play because they are veterans and know how to do their job unlike fresh from college kids cruising the internet all day.

Yeah, I can see how they all are related.