Drawn To Jaffe · @davidscottjaffe
26th Mar 2015 from TwitLonger
Listening to the @IGNBeyond guys mock and insult a series I’ve had a lot to do with (GOD OF WAR) sucks. I am a fan of those guys and I’ve always loved that site so it sucks to hear them invalidate our IP in such a dismissive and insulting way :(.
That said, listening to them talk, two things come to mind:
#1- They- and lots of critics of GOD OF WAR- don’t get that the tone of games like GOD OF WAR (and TWISTED METAL and DRAWN TO DEATH for that matter) are only partially meant to be literal. Another aspect of the tone is a nostalgia trip back to that time in life when we were both still innocent (and monsters, buff heroes, great adventure and cool locations still held great appeal) but also starting to grow up (seeing the violence in the world, learning about sex). That crossroads of child and adult is a place we’ve all been and- to me- these games help me reconnect with that magical time. Some people seem to be ashamed of who they were at that time. But not me. I loved that age. AKA: It’s not ONLY that I think a chain with spikes chopping a dude in half is super cool. It’s ALSO that I like reconnecting- thru these games- with that really cool part of me/time in my life.
#2- It is so fucking easy to get some game journalists on your side. Wanna know how? Add breathing and wind to your sound track and little else, set your game in some wide open lonely feeling space, make it ‘about’ something that feels all adulty even if the the game play itself has NOTHING to do with said theme, and finally- as the coup de grace- kill off a character. BOOM! Instant ‘art’ and instant adulation from the gaming press (whatever that’s worth to you).
Thin Skinned- but still correct!- Jaffe