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Jaffe's Calling All Cars Coming Soon

Posted by Zonk on from the downloadable-but-high-polish dept.

Via Joystiq, the news on David Jaffe's blog is that Calling All Cars will be released soon via the PlayStation Network. The first downloadable title from one of Sony's AAA developers, this marks the start of what should be a string of high-profile games for the service. The initial post about the game 'going gold' appears to have been taken down but Jaffe reviews the reviews that have been released so far, and gives PS3 owners an idea of what they can expect. "Has it been worth the wait? Reviews are slowly coming in, but IGN is calling it 'Sony's first truly original, must-have title on the PlayStation Network' and claiming it bests just about everything on Xbox Live Arcade. Strong words; we'll see for ourselves [this] week."

17 comments

  1. 1st Party devs - the Nintendo route? by ZaMoose · · Score: 3, Interesting

    I find it interesting that Nintendo, the ostensible "loser" of the last gen of gaming platforms, relied heavily upon first part offerings in order to keep the Gamecube afloat. To date, they are continuing this trend, but with other companies noticing the Wii's popularity, even holdouts like EA are pitching in to the Nintendo camp. Will this leave Sony at an impasse similar to Nintendo's previous one?

    Here's to hoping the Sony 1st parties at least come up with a decent sequel to Twisted Metal Black. The absence of another TM game for the PS2 remains one of the head-scratchers of that platform, at least in my mind.

    --
    I wish I had a kryptonite cross, because then you could keep Dracula and Superman away.
  2. Sigh...Looks Like We've Got Another John Romero by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Insightful

    There are a bunch of really bright and talented people who have worked on games like God of War, Warhawk, and Calling All Cars, Jaffe wasn't one of them...

    When you aren't one of the people who actually makes games like an engineer or artist and are essentially filling an overhead position like producer or 'desiginer' aka level monkey you pretty much have enough time on your hands to milk the hard work of others to fuel your own self promotion.

    If you want someone to do the busy work of deciding things like health or ammo powerups in crates in a level, Jaffe is your guy...Anything else and you might as well ask the guy behind the counter at the local EB games.

    It is nice to see how serious Sony is about original downloadable games on PSN. Free online play, dedicated servers, a large and steady stream of original IP, and the amazing Home stuff a few months away. Sony is showing the rest of the console world how to do online right.

    1. Re:Sigh...Looks Like We've Got Another John Romero by SuperKendall · · Score: 1

      Sure, but guys in the position Jaffe is in can learn, and possibly become quite good designers in their own right. So while it's good to be dubious of the hype, it's also good to leave the mind open to his possibly being able to create a pretty fun game.

      I don't own a PS3 (or 360) myself but I really see a much brighter future for games in smaller downloadable forms that are cheaper to produce and can bring more fresh design ideas to the table since not as much is spent creating them.

      --
      "There is more worth loving than we have strength to love." - Brian Jay Stanley
    2. Re:Sigh...Looks Like We've Got Another John Romero by xero314 · · Score: 2, Insightful

      When you aren't one of the people who actually makes games like an engineer or artist and are essentially filling an overhead position like producer or 'desiginer' I'm not going to defend Jaffe since I don't even know the guy, but I will say that your idea of what a designer does is a little off. Take all the best engineers and artists in the world and unless one of them has good design skills any game they make would be a steaming pile of crap. Don't get me wrong I think quality artist and quality engineers are just as important as quality designers, but it takes all three, and a few others, to make really good games. There is a reason top designers are sought out and well paid, and it's not their looks. Designers are responsible for Playablity, game balance, and the over all enjoyment of the game. With out designers there is no story, and no saying that a game will appeal to a wide audience.

      I'm just saying, open your eyes, a good designer is certainly far more than a "level monkey."
    3. Re:Sigh...Looks Like We've Got Another John Romero by cjp · · Score: 1

      Kudos on a successful troll. :)

    4. Re:Sigh...Looks Like We've Got Another John Romero by heinousjay · · Score: 1

      I assume you've heard of God of War. That's Jaffe's game, so I'd say it's more than possible that he can create a pretty fun game.

      This is the danger of feeding trolls...

      --
      Slashdot - where whining about luck is the new way to make the world you want.
  3. Did anyone pay $600 to buy cheap games? by ConfusedSelfHating · · Score: 1

    If you are going to pay six hundred dollars for a game console, you are probably willing to buy eighty dollar games. If you want cheap games, why not stick with your PS2 and buy some used games for $15 to $20 each. The Wii is being sold as the cheap alternative, so cheap downloadables make a lot of sense.

    Sure you can add downloadable cheap games as an extra. But is it a good idea to use your AAA developers when you're already hurting for exclusives? All three console makers will depend heavily on their first party games to persaude the public to buy their systems.

    1. Re:Did anyone pay $600 to buy cheap games? by kannibal_klown · · Score: 2, Insightful

      With few exceptions, I spend more time on my XBox 360 playing XBox Live! Arcade games than most of my "expensive" boxed games. I like Live! and the ability to impulse-buy some neat little game for a couple bucks and not have to worry about swapping out discs. There are some real gems out there, granted many of them are already cheap downloads for the PC but I've all but given up on PC gaming.

      Now, that's not to say that's all I play. I still play a bunch of 360 games as well as regular XBox games on my system, but Live was one of the selling points for me (after playing some games at a friend's house).

    2. Re:Did anyone pay $600 to buy cheap games? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Your logic would make sense, if it weren't for the fact I can already hear PS3 owners screaming "$10 is too expensive when we already bought a $600 console, we should get them for free!"

    3. Re:Did anyone pay $600 to buy cheap games? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      that's a fact, huh? who exactly is saying that, or are you just trolling?

    4. Re:Did anyone pay $600 to buy cheap games? by oGMo · · Score: 3, Insightful

      If you are going to pay six hundred dollars for a game console, you are probably willing to buy eighty dollar games. If you want cheap games, why not stick with your PS2 and buy some used games for $15 to $20 each. The Wii is being sold as the cheap alternative, so cheap downloadables make a lot of sense.

      I am willing to pay $80 for a game if it's worth paying $80 for. It doesn't matter what platform it's for. Guitar Hero II (with guitar controller) goes for $80 on the PS2 ($90 on the 360), and I don't see anyone complaining about that. Why? Because it's worth the $80.

      Off-the-shelf PS3 games are $49-$59, not $79. But $10 more than "last-gen" games isn't a whole lot more (certainly not the $30 you're claiming), especially since there aren't a whole lot of games at the moment, anyway. And before you go "ha ha! not a lot of games!" this applies to every console. At least on the PS3, there's been about a game a month.

      The PS3 also has a decent list of cheap, solid downloadables; even some of the demos have a lot to do:

      • GT:HD concept (free)
      • Motorstorm demo (free)
      • Gripshift; 720p, 125 levels, 5 cars, online play: $9.99
      • flOw: $7.99
      • Tekken 5 DR:HD; $19.99
      • Ninja Gaiden demo (free)
      • Various minor game incremental content (free to $1.99 for some level packs)

      There is also Lemmings ($4.99) and some other things I haven't tried. There are some demos and games that suck (Blast Factor). But the only game on this list I found a bit high was flOw; it's cool, but it's essentially an interactive screen saver. Gripshift was the best $10 I've spent on a game in awhile. Tons of levels with tons of things to do. Tekken is "a lot", at least compared to other things on the list, but come on, $20 for a top arcade fighting game that's $40 in the store? You're complaining? I'm not.

      In short, if a game costs a lot, and it's worth it, then no, there's no problem getting it.

      (Apparently people don't remember the much less uniform pricing structure of games back in the NES/SMS days. Super Mario Bros 2 went for $120 at Toys'R'Us.)

      --

      Don't think of it as a flame---it's more like an argument that does 3d6 fire damage

    5. Re:Did anyone pay $600 to buy cheap games? by Jarlsberg · · Score: 1

      Lemmings is a solid download, and it's easily the best new Lemmings game since Lemmings 2 on the Amiga (though I've yet to try the new Lemmings game for PSP). Its only problem seems to the save feature. I've played through the entire "Fun" section, but every time I boot the game I have to start at the beginning. ;/

  4. Obligatory Penny-Arcade link by manekineko2 · · Score: 2, Insightful

    From today's news post: Penny-Arcade

    And here is the relevant quote, "I'm sick of people claiming parity between the online offerings of these systems so that they can appear above the fray. One of them is awesome, and one of them is dogshit. I don't know why they should ever improve it if you fuckers have already given them the Gold Star." Good points I think. Just because Sony is making online free doesn't mean that it's good, and they have no real incentive to improve it with their faithful already enraptured.

  5. "we'll see for ourselves [this] week" by MMaestro · · Score: 1

    That about sums it up for me. Theres been so much hype around the game, since its by the people who made God of War, that I'm simply reluctant to buy into anything Sony or the developers claim.

  6. Oh by SuperKendall · · Score: 1

    Actually, I had no idea he produced God of War... no wonder there's all the hype! Yeah, I'd say he can produce a good game. Thanks for the heads up, we really need game producer baseball cards or something so we can all keep track of them.

    --
    "There is more worth loving than we have strength to love." - Brian Jay Stanley
  7. Calling All Goats! by metamatic · · Score: 1

    So will Calling All Cars have a launch party with a slaughtered goat?

    --
    GCHQ Quantum Insert installed. If only our tongues were made of glass, how much more careful we would be when we speak
  8. Calling all Comments... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Judging by the lack of comments for this game in the last couple of days, methinks this one's gonna be huge!

    From all accounts this is the first game on the Playstation Network that is worth downloading. Whilst this game might be good value, it's not the type of game that 99.9 percent of gamers bought a PS3 for... please wake me up when the PS3 releases Lair or Metal Gear Solid 4.