David Jaffe
Encyclopedia
David Jaffe is a video game designer originally from Birmingham, Alabama
and currently residing in San Diego, California
. He is divorced and has two children. Jaffe graduated from Alabama's Mountain Brook High School
, located in Mountain Brook, AL, a suburb of Birmingham. Jaffe then attended the University of Southern California
in Los Angeles
. He applied to their film school, but was never admitted. After a few years pursuing his dream of directing movies, he turned to game design.
He is best known for directing the Twisted Metal series and, more recently, God of War
. Jaffe's Twisted Metal: Black
and God of War have both ranked into IGN
's "Top 25 PS2 Games of All Time", with Twisted Metal: Black in ninth place and God of War winning first place as IGN's choice for best PS2 game of all time. In 2007, Jaffe left SCEA to found Eat Sleep Play
; The studio has signed a multi-year deal with Sony to create games exclusively for PlayStation platforms.
Jaffe is also somewhat unique amongst game developers in how directly he interfaces with the public, known for conducting plenty of interviews, regularly posting developer blogs, and communicating regularly through his own personal blog - where he also discusses things outside of the game industry, such as his personal politics.
, Jaffe proceeded to post a vulgarity-laced tirade on his blog against a review author. The action caused Jaffe to stop blogging for over a month, and called into question whether or not it was appropriate for someone from the game industry to put pressure on reviewers.
On January 3, 2010, David Jaffe closed his Twitter account after another member of the site offered an idea for his new game. Jaffe was concerned by potential legal issues with intellectual rights that could come up via open access via Twitter, and deleted his account. However on April 12, 2010, Jaffe returned to Twitter with a new account, asking upfront for people to not submit any kind of game ideas.
On October 12, 2010, Jaffe's Twitter account was again the focus of media attention, as he posted his opinions on fighting as a "Taliban" soldier in the newly-released Medal of Honor
. On June 15, 2011, Jaffe's Twitter posting were again in the news when he took offense to a story posted on Lazygamer.net which raised the question of whether or not Sony were still backing Twisted Metal as they once did. Jaffe has also suggested that Sony should file suit against other companies like Microsoft for a game called Scrap Metal and LucasFilms for the movie War of the Gods because they have similar names.
Birmingham, Alabama
Birmingham is the largest city in Alabama. The city is the county seat of Jefferson County. According to the 2010 United States Census, Birmingham had a population of 212,237. The Birmingham-Hoover Metropolitan Area, in estimate by the U.S...
and currently residing in San Diego, California
San Diego, California
San Diego is the eighth-largest city in the United States and second-largest city in California. The city is located on the coast of the Pacific Ocean in Southern California, immediately adjacent to the Mexican border. The birthplace of California, San Diego is known for its mild year-round...
. He is divorced and has two children. Jaffe graduated from Alabama's Mountain Brook High School
Mountain Brook High School
Mountain Brook High School is a three-year public high school within the city of Mountain Brook, Alabama, a residential area of Birmingham, with approximately 20,600 residents. It is the lone high school in the Mountain Brook School System and is situated on of land.Mountain Brook High School...
, located in Mountain Brook, AL, a suburb of Birmingham. Jaffe then attended the University of Southern California
University of Southern California
The University of Southern California is a private, not-for-profit, nonsectarian, research university located in Los Angeles, California, United States. USC was founded in 1880, making it California's oldest private research university...
in Los Angeles
Los Angeles, California
Los Angeles , with a population at the 2010 United States Census of 3,792,621, is the most populous city in California, USA and the second most populous in the United States, after New York City. It has an area of , and is located in Southern California...
. He applied to their film school, but was never admitted. After a few years pursuing his dream of directing movies, he turned to game design.
He is best known for directing the Twisted Metal series and, more recently, God of War
God of War (video game)
God of War is an action adventure video game for the PlayStation 2 first released by Sony Computer Entertainment's Santa Monica division in March 2005...
. Jaffe's Twisted Metal: Black
Twisted Metal: Black
Twisted Metal: Black is a vehicle combat video game developed by Incognito Entertainment for the PlayStation 2 video game console. It is the fifth installment to the Twisted Metal series and was released June 18, 2001...
and God of War have both ranked into IGN
IGN
IGN is an entertainment website that focuses on video games, films, music and other media. IGN's main website comprises several specialty sites or "channels", each occupying a subdomain and covering a specific area of entertainment...
's "Top 25 PS2 Games of All Time", with Twisted Metal: Black in ninth place and God of War winning first place as IGN's choice for best PS2 game of all time. In 2007, Jaffe left SCEA to found Eat Sleep Play
Eat Sleep Play
Eat Sleep Play is an American video game developer, formed by Scott Campbell, Gene D. Martin and David Jaffe, director of the Twisted Metal series and God of War. Eat Sleep Play has a three game console/handheld exclusive deal with Sony and plans to release its first original game in 2010...
; The studio has signed a multi-year deal with Sony to create games exclusively for PlayStation platforms.
Jaffe is also somewhat unique amongst game developers in how directly he interfaces with the public, known for conducting plenty of interviews, regularly posting developer blogs, and communicating regularly through his own personal blog - where he also discusses things outside of the game industry, such as his personal politics.
Works
- Twisted Metal (2012) (PS3)
- Twisted Metal Head On: Extra Twisted EditionTwisted Metal: Head-OnTwisted Metal: Head-On is a video game developed by Incognito Entertainment and released by Sony on March 24, 2005 for the PlayStation Portable and February 5, 2008 for the PlayStation 2...
(2008) (PS2) - Calling All Cars!Calling All Cars!Calling All Cars! is a downloadable game on the PlayStation Store created by David Jaffe, creative director of God of War. It was released on May 10, 2007...
(2007) (PS3PlayStation 3The is the third home video game console produced by Sony Computer Entertainment and the successor to the PlayStation 2 as part of the PlayStation series. The PlayStation 3 competes with Microsoft's Xbox 360 and Nintendo's Wii as part of the seventh generation of video game consoles...
) - God of War IIGod of War IIGod of War II is an action-adventure video game released for the PlayStation 2 by Sony Computer Entertainment's Santa Monica division in March, 2007....
(2007) (PS2) - God of WarGod of War (video game)God of War is an action adventure video game for the PlayStation 2 first released by Sony Computer Entertainment's Santa Monica division in March 2005...
(2005) (PS2) - Kinetica (2001) (PS2)
- Twisted Metal: BlackTwisted Metal: BlackTwisted Metal: Black is a vehicle combat video game developed by Incognito Entertainment for the PlayStation 2 video game console. It is the fifth installment to the Twisted Metal series and was released June 18, 2001...
(2001) (PS2) - Twisted Metal 2Twisted Metal 2Twisted Metal 2 is the second and most successful game in the vehicular combat Twisted Metal series...
(1996) (PlayStationPlayStationThe is a 32-bit fifth-generation video game console first released by Sony Computer Entertainment in Japan on December 3, .The PlayStation was the first of the PlayStation series of consoles and handheld game devices. The PlayStation 2 was the console's successor in 2000...
) - Twisted MetalTwisted MetalTwisted Metal is a series of vehicular combat video games published by Sony Computer Entertainment, and developed by various companies during its tenure. The series began on the PlayStation in 1995 and currently features seven games, with an eighth installment currently in production...
(1995) (PlayStationPlayStationThe is a 32-bit fifth-generation video game console first released by Sony Computer Entertainment in Japan on December 3, .The PlayStation was the first of the PlayStation series of consoles and handheld game devices. The PlayStation 2 was the console's successor in 2000...
) - Mickey ManiaMickey ManiaMickey Mania: The Timeless Adventures of Mickey Mouse is a 1994 video game released for the 16-bit Sega Mega Drive/Genesis, Sega CD, and Super NES. In the game, the player controls Mickey Mouse, who must navigate through various side-scrolling levels, each designed and based from classical Mickey...
(1994) (Super NESSuper Nintendo Entertainment SystemThe Super Nintendo Entertainment System is a 16-bit video game console that was released by Nintendo in North America, Europe, Australasia , and South America between 1990 and 1993. In Japan and Southeast Asia, the system is called the , or SFC for short...
/Sega Mega Drive/Genesis/Sega CD)
Controversy
After some negative press over Calling All Cars!Calling All Cars!
Calling All Cars! is a downloadable game on the PlayStation Store created by David Jaffe, creative director of God of War. It was released on May 10, 2007...
, Jaffe proceeded to post a vulgarity-laced tirade on his blog against a review author. The action caused Jaffe to stop blogging for over a month, and called into question whether or not it was appropriate for someone from the game industry to put pressure on reviewers.
On January 3, 2010, David Jaffe closed his Twitter account after another member of the site offered an idea for his new game. Jaffe was concerned by potential legal issues with intellectual rights that could come up via open access via Twitter, and deleted his account. However on April 12, 2010, Jaffe returned to Twitter with a new account, asking upfront for people to not submit any kind of game ideas.
On October 12, 2010, Jaffe's Twitter account was again the focus of media attention, as he posted his opinions on fighting as a "Taliban" soldier in the newly-released Medal of Honor
Medal of Honor (2010 video game)
Medal of Honor is a first-person shooter video game and remake to the original Medal of Honor. Developed by Danger Close, a team within the EA Los Angeles studio, and DICE, it is the twelfth installment in the Medal of Honor series and was released for Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360...
. On June 15, 2011, Jaffe's Twitter posting were again in the news when he took offense to a story posted on Lazygamer.net which raised the question of whether or not Sony were still backing Twisted Metal as they once did. Jaffe has also suggested that Sony should file suit against other companies like Microsoft for a game called Scrap Metal and LucasFilms for the movie War of the Gods because they have similar names.