Jaffe thinks having a story in a game is like having a chef in McDonalds

I disagree completely. Games like Bioshock & Heavy Rain, System Shock, Dues Ex, Fallout, Mass Effect have all shown that is possible to tell great & deeply personal stories. IMO his chef analogy only holds water if think games nothing more than a quick bite rather than an exquisite meal.

Sure the medium has, and still, struggle to get there plot/narrative wise but just because we haven't succeeded fully yet why should we stop trying?
 
I'm kind of in agreement with his first paragraph (the bit about the publishers needing to catch a clue), but the second bit I whole-heartedly disagree with.

If gaming wasn't good (or using his words "historically the worst) at telling stories, some of the most epic games I've played over the years would never have existed. I don't personally think games are great at getting philosophical points across, but in terms of story a lot of games do very well; it only becomes an issue where story is over-emphasised to the point where mechanics and general gameplay are ignored.

Seriously though - RPGs wouldn't exist if games/story-telling didn't mix.
 
I heard him talk about this at the Pax panel with Ken Levine and Todd Howard, was quite an interesting well worth watching if you are interested. Suffice to say I got where he was coming from in that for him game play was the prime focus and purpose of gaming and to emphasize story at the cost of game play was silly. Of course his views are a little stronger and he's not much for story in games but I can't really fault him for holding to those beliefs.
 
His view is very shortsighted.

Sure, some games don't need stories. DotA, FIFA 20xx or Sim City are examples of games don't really need stories at all.

But to say that stories are completely redundant across all games is just plain stupid.
 
Jaffe needs to stop smoking whatever he's smoking and realise that games are not just there to entertain on the most basic level, but they can be so much more than what we define as "games".
 
MyGamingTheJoker


So what he is saying is publishers shouldn't be focused on stories in game??? That is probably the most retarded thing I have ever heard. You can see he comes from a no name brand company. I wonder how the Witcher 2 would have been without its epic story..Wait I know...It would have been a pile of shit.

He should learn to rather keep his
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+10 to myself lol
 
The Joker said:
+10 to myself lol
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Heh. You guys should check out the Gametrailers panel with Jaffe, Todd Howard and Ken Levine. He was trying to get the same point across as to why games don't need stories. At one point he was pretty much put in his place by Mr. Howard when he explained the importance of at least a semblance of story in games.

Here's a link to that panel.
 
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I find it ironic that he has this view, considering he's worked as Director on games like God of War & God of War 2 :/

Maybe someone should tell him to re-release God of War, but take out the story. Since it's like ... not important or something.
 
Isengard said:
Heh. You guys should check out the Gametrailers panel with Jaffe, Todd Howard and Ken Levine. He was trying to get the same point across as to why games don't need stories. At one point he was pretty much put in his place by Mr. Howard when he explained the importance of at least a semblance of story in games.

Here's a link to that panel.
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Two posts back, we find this...

MOnk said:
I heard him talk about this at the Pax panel with Ken Levine and Todd Howard, was quite an interesting well worth watching if you are interested.
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:)

Thanks for finding the link though.
 
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