Thursday, March 22, 2007

IT MAY NOT BE FOR YOU...

Joel- in one of the comments from the last post- pointed me to the Kotaku post where they showed some gameplay footage from CALLING ALL CARS!

A few things about this:

#1- I don't know where they got the music from but it ain't from our game :) The CALLING ALL CARS myspace page (www.myspace.com/callingallcarsgame)has the music that will ship with the game and it sure as hell ain't the stuff they were playing in the clip.

#2- Joel asked what I thought about the comments on the Kotaku(http://kotaku.com/gaming/clips/clip-calling-all-cars-246107.php) page. Well I liked the ones who said: hey this looks like fun! There were a handful of comments that were like: what the fuck is this? This looks like Cel Damage/Shit/etc...

As for what I think about those, well look: as it should be clear from the interviews I've been doing as of late, right now in my work, I'm no longer interested in going head to head with the likes of Halo, Mass Effect, Resistance, Devil May Cry 4, etc. Hell, I don't even want to go head to head against our own GOD OF WAR. I just want to do smaller, simpler games that focus on the fun.

So regarding those comments, if they come from folks who have never even thought- and never will think- about giving arcade and casual games a shot, then I really don't care that Calling All Cars is not floating their boat. I mean, sure, I'd love to get all of our games loved by EVERY gamer, but that is not realistic. I let go of that fantasy long ago.

To make it clear- and to put some pics in this post, as I love blog posts with pics- the following games are the ones I look at now as our new competition; the following games are the ones that have players who I want to win over and make love our stuff. Games like these:













So if any/all of these games- or games of this type- float your boat, then we are going to work our butts off to make you love our smaller, downloadable stuff. We look at the above games as both our competition and our teachers. And if you dig these kinds of games BUT STILL don't like what you see with CALLING ALL CARS! then we have much to learn and hope to please you and excite you by our next game, if not this one.

But if these are not your kind of games, fair enough. You prob. won't dig the stuff I'll be directing these days. And that's cool, maybe we'll hook back up in the future.

I think the biggest issue I have is when people act as if I don't know I have a new mountain to climb here. I KNOW you are only as good as your last game; I KNOW people are sick of seeing me all over the net/mags/tv and just looking for me to fuck up. I get it, I understand it. And I am actually cool with it. I think all those responses are natural. And I am willing to work my butt off- along with the team- to make sure we earn your respect. I am looking forward to having to win folks over again; I'm also looking forward to winning over a whole new audience who would have never have looked twice at God Of War. I'm not looking for a free ride.

But when I hear the question- and I often do- of: 'do you think if it wasn't for your name, anyone would care about CALLING ALL CARS' it makes me annoyed a bit I guess. Cause I'm like, look: I'm not trying to pull a fast one here. This is the stuff I like to make now, if YOU don't like it, that's fair. But at least give me a bit of credit for trying to branch out and do new stuff. Isn't it what we ALL complain about that games are too predictable and corporate? Well how do you think it gets that way? People get safe and secure and never branch out.

Now maybe I am branching out in a direction you think is lame or stupid. That's fair. We can have that discussion. But at least give me a little credit for reaching...and give us a shot if you like the kind of games pictured above. We're gonna do our best not to let you down.

But again, if all you like is BATTLEFIELD and HALO and DEAD RISING, then keep on walking. Calling All Cars! may not be a game for you...

David