Jaffe: "I Couldn't Care Less About Next-Gen"

[The Wooster]

Jaffe: "I Couldn't Care Less About Next-Gen"

Industry veteran, David Jaffe's, response to the next-generation of consoles is a resounding "myeh."

"I couldn't care less about next-gen," the notoriously outspoken developer told Edge. "I started at Sony Imagesoft doing Super Nintendo and Sega Genesis games, and I went through that to PS1, then PS2, PS3, Vita... You go through the cycle enough and you realize today's 'Oh my fucking God' is tomorrow's 'Ehh, whatever'."

"Ultimately, this is all going to be yesterday's news and it's about the experience, the game," he continued. "Unless we're talking about holodecks, or AI that's so amazing it can actually write a compelling story around you procedurally based on your choices, I'm not interested."

The Twisted Metal creator later clarified his position further with a short essay. [http://www.twitlonger.com/show/gdkrvf] In it, he questioned whether the increased costs of producing games for more capable hardware are worth it.

"I was referring to the fact that UNLESS the next-gen of consoles are unique and fresh and bring something substantially more to the table," he wrote, "I could not care less about next-gen from a sense of WHAT the new boxes will let us- as game makers- create."

Jaffe's views make an interesting counterpoint to those of Epic Games VP, Mark Rein, [http://www.joystiq.com/2012/03/12/epic-consoles-must-be-bleeding-edge-in-next-generation/] who recently claimed that next-gen consoles will have to feature "bleeding edge" technology in order to compete with Apple's growing gaming presence.

Source: Edge [http://www.edge-online.com/news/jaffe-no-rush-next-gen]


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[Wolfram23]

Shouldn't the cost of making games kind of plateau at this point? I mean saying that it'll be more expensive because of graphics is kind of silly considering we're already getting PC games with ridiculously nice graphics on budgets comparable or cheaper than many console games.

The rest of the games, things like cinematics, gameplay mechanics, level designs, etc, wouldn't really change from current gen. Maybe they'll have to hire a couple more artists for texture work and 3D Max designs but the engines used to make these games are pretty versatile (usually) and I doubt they'll be changed a whole lot. For example Frostbite 2, Unreal Engine 3 (or 4?), CryEngine 2 are all ready for super duper high quality graphics. They're already waiting to be put to their full use...

Just my thoughts. Maybe I'm way off.

 

[Cowabungaa]

Well at least with more processing power we'll be able to have more complex AI in our games. And graphically I welcome more detailed animation work. That's why I care about the next generation of consoles, the current generation is holding those two very important things back.

 

[KingsGambit_v1legacy]

Random guy I've never heard of doesn't care much for the next console generation? Oooh, big news. You know what Jaffe, don't really care what you think. Current gen consoles are ancient, senile, lumbering dinosaurs compared with current processing and graphics power. We're 3 years overdue at least for a new, better hardware platform.

I don't want any more Unreal 3 engine 3rd person brown shooters, TYVM. This generation is full of them, time to move on. Thanks.

 

[Zen Toombs]

Industry veteran, David Jaffe's, response to the next-generation of consoles is a resounding "myeh."

Wow, this guy cares a lot more about this than me. All I can muster is a "meh", this guy can pull out an entire other letter!

 

[Something Amyss]

Is it me, or does Jaffe look 12 in that picture?

Shouldn't the cost of making games kind of plateau at this point? I mean saying that it'll be more expensive because of graphics is kind of silly considering we're already getting PC games with ridiculously nice graphics on budgets comparable or cheaper than many console games.

Except costs are rising and a good chunk of it goes into graphics. Maybe not in every case, but they're still trying to push it. On consoles, with static graphics cards, I would imagine more goes into optimisation, too.

Keep in mind that, while I agree there are plenty of games with "ridiculously nice" graphics and I think that's good enough, it's never going to be good enough for graphics whores of any stripe.

Prices only plateau if we at some point end the graphics arms race.

Which I really think needs to happen, but then, so does world peace.

 

[Dastardly]

Jaffe: "I Couldn't Care Less About Next-Gen"

Can't say I disagree with him on this one.

Looking at the WiiU for instance, consider the hardware cost alone. That's just the price of admission, right there. And each of the games will still be at least $60, if the current price point holds.

And I can't really see that games, as a whole, have gotten "better." They look nicer, sure. They run faster, most of the time. Better AI? Yeah, I guess so. But better games? Nope.

In fact, with the ability to throw in so many bells and whistles, it seems like developers are getting lazy (the big-budget guys, anyhow). You don't have to push yourself to do more with less, so you do less with more...

And the big push to hit the next console generation is from the big guys. They want the mainstream gamer to move onto new hardware so that the growing "indie" crowd doesn't have time to catch up (in terms of name recognition and customer loyalty).

 

[Adam Jensen_v1legacy]

I don't care about it either. And if rumors are true that next gen consoles won't allow used copies, I can see a lot of gamers switching to PC. Which is always a good thing IMO.

 

[Chairman Miaow]

Why do you guys keep reporting on him? He is clearly a retard.

 

[uncanny474]

Well, at least they're reporting on someone saying something debate-worthy rather than someone saying something that makes me want to pluck out their eyes with a dessert fork. I don't have to add this guy to my "boycott" list, so that's something...

 

[shintakie10]

All I care about is game devs not havin to handicap their games because consoles have jack all for power compared to a PC. Graphics are fine as they are now, what we need to be workin on is stuff like AI not bein retarded and animations bein meh all around. For that we need a new generation of consoles because at this point we've cut every corner imaginable on our current systems to the point that there's little else they can do.

 

[EvilRoy]

It sounds like he is bitter as he hasn't been relevant this generation except for a game he left mid way through production and for his complaints, like this one.

He just likes to be "edgy".

Eh, I can kind of see where he's coming from. If I had to completely relearn the hard parts of my job every single time they released a new edition of the NBCC or whatever, I would be pretty irritated too. Especially since this next group coming (wii-U and the vita for instance) are pretty generally underwhelming to consumers and producers alike, at least according to the sales of the latter.

 

[shintakie10]

Can't help but agree. We have people demanding that the 'console tards' are holding us back while blindly ignoring the fact that this level of graphical fidelity is impossible. Time the industry and community woke up to this, methinks.

Its not about graphics though. Everythin in games is bein held back by how horribly equipped this current console generation is. AI is awful. Animations are dodgy at best. The best lookin games out there either don't run smoothly or they cut so many corners to do it that it is not worth it (in my opinion). We absolutely need a new set of consoles if we're ever goin to see any kind of progress on those fronts.

 

[viranimus]

No the guy is deade on right. A prettier brown bloom filled shooter is still a brown bloom filled shooter.

The focus needs to be on expanding what can be done with the horsepower, Not exponential increases of horsepower.

Sort of like buying a drool worthy fully loaded dodge challenger

yet having governers that restrict the speed to 80 mph.

Actually this drive for horsepower hurts games. You hear people say that they dont like the same game over and over. A big part of that problem is forcing devs to constantly relearn techniques and skills because just as they get adapted to using new higher horsepower engine, they have to go back to square one and start learning a new more advanced engine because fanboys have been clamoring for higher res graphics and thus spawning a premature console generation.

So of course we still have the same kind of brain dead AI we have had since the PS1 days. Devs are having to focus entirely too much on keeping up with the graphical jonses due to the more readily visible graphical nature in order to keep up with the overwhelming bulk of the consumer bases ignorant demands, instead of being allowed to focus on more abstract concepts like crafting a new generation of AI or physics

 

[lacktheknack]

He lies.

I bet all my money that he cares even less about my chapped lips.

But then again, I don't see why he should care. Better hardware = more money required to make AAA games = fewer risks = fewer games that aren't military FPSs.

I'm not exactly filled with joy myself about the new generation...

 

[lacktheknack]

Keep in mind that, while I agree there are plenty of games with "ridiculously nice" graphics and I think that's good enough, it's never going to be good enough for graphics whores of any stripe.

I resent that. I'm a "TURN UP ALL THE THINGS" breed of graphics whore, but I think we have enough pretty games floating around.

 

[newdarkcloud]

I'm in complete agreement. We don't need better engines and prettier graphics. What we need are better AI and more originality. The people who desire top-of-the-line graphics aren't nearly as numerous as you'd think.

 

[BishopofAges]

Looking at the responses, it seems most people here are taking his explaination at face-value as 'Your favorite console sucks because I say so.' Which is not what he is saying, clearly.

I believe he's trying to say that graphics and that sort of hardware are insignificant IF and ONLY IF the game creator has the story/gameplay writing abilities of a 3 year old with a massive head wound. Simply said, "...it's about the experience, the game," to quote him.

As for the people who can't help, but say 'who is he and why should I care?' He is the fellow behind Twisted Metal and the first God of War game.