GOW Designer David Jaffe On Game Design Focus

Sony Computer Entertainment's God Of War designer David Jaffe has posted a new personal weblog entry discussing a change in his design philosophy, suggesting that he is weary of making games that tell stories or otherwise do not fully “embrace interactivity in the most purest sense.” “I think somewhere in the last year,” wrote Jaffe, who recently relocated to San Diego but continues to work for SCEA, in his blog, “...I realized that electronic games have always had an amazing ability to evoke emotion. They are not the emotions that many of us- including me- have been pursuing. But they are emotions nevertheless; they are feelings that the best pure games can always evoke. Feelings of tension and release, feelings of fear and anxiety, feelings of triumph and defeat, feelings of confusion followed- sometimes- by joy at having overcome the challenge.” He added: “These are REAL emotions and they are not to be denied or ignored or belittled. They are to be- as game makers- embraced and enhanced and held up as one- if not the only- real path for game makers to follow.” He also noted that designers of action and adventure games rarely get to enjoy the process of game development, as for them - and for him specifically with regards to God of War - the game holds no mystery. “I already enjoyed all of the elements of God of War on the day me or the team thought them up, way before they were executed,” added Jaffe. He continued: “I do not want to just work on dinky little mechanic based games that have no thematic resonance. But now I just want to do it in a way that celebrates what makes video games great, versus taking elements from other media and trying to squish those elements into a product that - if you do everything right - MIGHT just have one tenth the emotional impact as what you can get from more traditional media (like film, TV, or books).” He did suggest, however, that his current feelings toward game development may not be a permanent fixture, but that for now the designer is currently trying to re-focus his efforts on creating games that “take steps towards more pure game experiences.” He concluded by writing: “I've always gone with my gut on this kind of stuff and right now, my gut is having a ball.” Though he is also helping with God of War 2 for the PS2, due out in February 2007, Jaffe's main unannounced project is for the PSP, codenamed 'HL', for which he is attempting to apply these 'pure' experiences, is currently in development at the Sony-owned development studio Incog. Inc (Twisted Metal: Black, War Of The Monsters) in Utah.