David Jaffe’s Hypocrisy and GTA IV’s Problem
November 24th, 2008 | Written by Anthony Perez | Topic: Industry News
In a recent interview with Play UK, David Jaffe expressed his disinterest with the Grand Theft Auto series after the direction in which it was taken with GTA IV.
”I was enthused by games from Atari. I loved the old Atari 2600 games like Adventure. Raiders of the Lost Ark and Combat were also great and I the game boxes framed on my wall. Nowadays, I play MGS4, Bad Company, COD4, stuff like that. I’ve lost interest in GTA now, it’s become more artistic.”
I don’t know what game Jaffe played, but Grand Theft Auto IV is far from “artistic.” More cinematic? Yes. More serious than previous entries in the series? Definitely. In fairness, that’s probably what Jaffe meant, but it’s also a discomforting and odd statement from Jaffe.
Jaffe is one of those industry figures whom I love and hate depending on which quote of his I hear. He’s candid and his outspokenness is actually refreshing in an industry where you likely hear PR spin and corporate jargon spit out endlessly as if anyone gives a shit about how a companies “portfolio” is shaping up.
What confuses me is how his reaction to GTA IV differs from statements he’s made in the past. In an interview with GameSpot in March, Jaffe was asked, “What do you want to do before you die?” Jaffe ended his response with the following:
“I want to try to make a quirky game that really is about emotion and pushes people’s emotional buttons. I don’t wanna do it now, I want to do it after I make a lot of money, you know, because I don’t think anybody will buy it. But I want to try to make that game, because I want to go to my grave knowing that I took a swing at that. Is this medium capable of that at the level I want it to be? I don’t know, but I want that to be my goal.”
In some respects, GTA IV aspires to do the same minus the “quirky” element. It is true that GTA IV did take the series in another direction from its typically over-the-top origins to a more serious world with more limitations than we’ve previously seen from the house the Housers built, but considering Jaffe’s interest in “pushing people’s emotional buttons” you would think he would admire what Rockstar attempted to accomplish.
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It’s debatable whether GTA IV accomplished that goal with its attempt at a deeper story. In my opinion – and mine alone – I believe it just missed the mark. The middle of the game is loaded with unnecessary and quite dull missions that halt the story’s progression, and the game suffers for it. Where I agree with Jaffe is that while GTA IV dances with mediocrity towards the middle of the game by not offering the same amount of unrestrained mayhem as in previous games. There was also a ton of optional activities missing that were not replaced by adding kind of boring minigames like billiards with Little Jacob or darts with Roman.
Still, it shouldn’t be scolded for trying to push the series into a more serious world with a darker story that at least attempted to explore character development within its protagonist, even if it didn’t quite achieve that. As someone who loves gaming, and wants to see the medium move forward toward something greater, I at least applaud Rockstar’s attempt.
For a time, I though Jaffe believed the same…
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Comment by Dude Huge on the November 25th, 2008 at 7:14 am
Dude, disinterest usually means indifferent.
Comment by JayTee on the November 25th, 2008 at 8:34 am
More artistic? Your right, he totally missed on that one. For the record I feel Saints Row 2 has the upper hand this year, Rockstar tried to make GTAIV too real and it cost them in the fun factor..