God of War Creator Calls For Games With Soul

David Jaffe, creator of last year's very popular God of War, made a plea during a talk at the DICE event for developers to create games with soul. From Next Generation's coverage: "He then made clear that the game industry had to adequately compensate those with talent in order to attract them, saying the industry must provide 'financial incentive for more creative people to come join us instead of working with TV and cinema.' Jaffe appeared to debate the issue of the industry's future within himself. 'Maybe it's all bullshit. Some days, I think games can be something else, the next great entertainment media. And then other days, I feel it's just like porn or motion rides, where there's no capacity to reach high emotional levels.'" Update: 02/10 05:44 GMT by Z : More views on Jaffe's talk are available at 1up and Gamespot.

Comments

Aping cinema

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"Almost every game pitch I hear has to be like a movie," Jaffe said. "Developers come and say, 'It's like a Tarantino movie' or a 'Spielberg picture.' It makes me frustrated, sad, embarrassed and annoyed that we have to look at other media in order to ape them."

must..resist...King Kong joke...

Despite corny puns, it's utterly true. Though all art forms have to draw on more established ones at the beginning, (movies have long since stopped drawing much from theatre, though that was painfully true in the beginning,) video games do have to learn to draw from their own strengths. As long as they're the reflection of movies, they'll always look bad.

That being said, I have a big beef with this article. He's calling for "Games with Soul," eh? Oh yeah? How so? That's a pretty broad statement, there, feller. And whatever Jaffe meant by it, we can't figure out from this article.

Re:Aping cinema

[Lisandro]

That being said, I have a big beef with this article. He's calling for "Games with Soul," eh? Oh yeah? How so? That's a pretty broad statement, there, feller. And whatever Jaffe meant by it, we can't figure out from this article.

    I think he meant in the same way good music is the one with soul, regardless the style. The one made with passion and love for what you do. Not the one tailored to sell X copies by a commitee.
    And if it's that, he'd be right. Damn right.

Soul?

[Anonymous Coward]

I had no idea that 'soul' was a synonym for 'tits.'

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[account_deleted]

Comment removed based on user account deletion

Well, there is roleplaying...

[QuantumG]

If you want to read a vision of hope sometime take a look at Bartle's Designing Virtual Worlds. He provides deep insight into why people get so obsessed with role playing games - what they get out of it, and why they keep coming back. If you buy into his theories the designer of a role playing game is more a therapist than an entertainer. Of course, most people who play "role playing games" these days don't actually do any role playing as such. They just run around and kill stuff. So there ya go.

Required VGCats linkage

[PaganRitual]

KRATOS AWAY!!!

Great video games.

[ElleyKitten]

>>Some days, I think games can be something else, the next great entertainment media. And then other days, I feel it's just like porn or motion rides, where there's no capacity to reach high emotional levels.'"

Video games are the next great entertainment media. And anyone who says games can't reach high emotional levels needs to play Final Fantasy VI. Right now. Go!

I recently discovered FF6 (yeah, I know, little behind) and it's amazing. I never cry during video games or movies, but this game's got me a couple times.

Just like movies took time to be recognized as having the potential to be great, video games will as well.

Re:Great video games.

[bVork]

Try games from this side of the pond, too. You must play Planescape: Torment. I think it's the best story-focussed RPG ever. Yes, even trouncing Final Fantasy 6.

What can change the nature of a man? You'll find out if you play the game.

Re:Pot calling kettle...

[PaganRitual]

1. derivative != lacking in soul.

Games can take existing genres and either improve upon them or simply be entertaining in their own right. They dont have to be new ALL the time, otherwise there would be about 20 games in total, ever. 'Games with soul' means a game where you are in awe of the experience the game provides you. Where the controls are so streamlined, the interface so clean and the gameplay so pure that you forget that you are playing a game and just get immersed in the experience, and the game does its best to never knock you out of that feeling. Its a game that, as you play it, you feel as though the game has been made by GAMERS, who would be proud to put their name to this game, and who would love to play their own game, instead of just shovelling crap out the door to meet financial quotas. Personally i think GoW fits that bill. FEAR is another recent example.

2. I happen to like gore and titties in my games. So sue me.

To get a soul...

[Ekarderif]

... you need an Orb of Thesulah (not to be mistaken with a paper weight) and a powerful gypsy or wicca.

Another way of saying down w/ flashy graphics?

[Parallax Blue]

I can kind of understand what he's saying, but it seems like he's too vague on his idea. What IS a "game with soul"? I think this is just another way of saying "we need to stop making games that are all about realism but fail to succeed at anything else."

Re:Heavenly Games?

[Alien54]

A video game tie-in to The Passion of the Christ.

Actually, the game would be something like:

You have been assigned by the emperor to rule over a far-away province, and to make it managable. Your pay is a cut of the proceeds you send back to empire central. The province is unruly, for the population is a stiff necked people. It is your job to keep the peace, put down rebellions, and eliminate the usual troublemakers. The Emperor is sending you in because it needs more taxes collected for massive expansion projects, and to maintain the borders. Do well, and you'll retire a rich man. Your Name is Pontius Pilate. Good Luck.