Inty Jaffe Trinity: Heartland, movie Kratos, and Loco Roco

Nope, there’s nothing here about confirming if/when the PSP gets hit by God of War. On the other hand, Entertainment Weekly’s interview with David Jaffe reveals what that cancelled PSP title, Heartland, ought to have been about. And why Jaffe’s shifted gears to Calling All Cars. And who ought to play Kratos in a God of War movie (oh, man, that’s going to be debated).

Heartland hits where it hurts: the heart

Meant to be a dark and very real-world emotional roller-coaster on a UMD, “Heartland was the story of China invading America… a first-person shooter where you played a soldier debating whether to stay and fight for America or go AWOL to meet up with your family.” You can say the decision Jaffe took in deciding not to pursue the title is also his own Heartland story.

Hearing myself talk about it now makes me a bit sad [that we didn’t finish it]. But I wasn’t incentivized to make it, in a way that I could go to my family and say, ”You’re not going to see me for 90% of the time, but there’s a pot of gold at the end of the rainbow.” There isn’t a pot of gold at the end of the rainbow, at least the current way the industry is set up.

In the end he picked family. Moving on to Calling All Cars… And because he has a heart: the Light of Loco Roco:

There, Jaffe sees the future: PlayStation Network, downloadable casual titles, “It’s exactly what I want to be doing – a small, sub-million-dollar game.” In the time he took off from post-God of War work in order to concentrate on family, friends, and The Light (TM):

There was something during that period that became very tangible to me when I saw people playing games like Loco Roco or titles on the [Nintendo] DS. I saw the straight-up fun in games and I realized I wanted to explore that… For a while I thought I was doing something that’s important to push the industry forward. And then you realize, no, you’re totally cool — go make stuff that makes people happy and laugh.

The good stuff: celluloid Kratos? (and the necessary  naughty bits bar …)

Jaffe also reveals to EW a few details of the God of War movie project (hey, EW is, after all, a movie/TV/music mag; video games is just kind of “brave new world” for them). He mentions “a really good script” by “Thirteen Days” screenwriter David Self, and that they’ll be sending it out to a “huge-name director.” Who wants to play guessing games as to who he is?

And now the money shot. Who does Jaffe think is best to play Kratos? ANSWER: Djimon Hounsou, Maximus’ African friend in “Gladiator,” and most recently seen in (if you’ve watched this damn good movie) “Blood Diamond.” Okay, there’s the “he’s not Greek” part, but Jaffe thinks that in terms of physique and acting ability, Djimon’s the perfect fit.

I don’t know what PSP Updates is going to say, but you got my vote on that choice, David.

Nope, there’s nothing here about confirming if/when the PSP gets hit by God of War. On the other hand, Entertainment Weekly’s interview with David Jaffe reveals what that cancelled PSP title, Heartland, ought to have been about. And why Jaffe’s shifted gears to Calling All Cars. And who ought to play Kratos in a God of War movie (oh, man, that’s going to be debated).

Heartland hits where it hurts: the heart

Meant to be a dark and very real-world emotional roller-coaster on a UMD, “Heartland was the story of China invading America… a first-person shooter where you played a soldier debating whether to stay and fight for America or go AWOL to meet up with your family.” You can say the decision Jaffe took in deciding not to pursue the title is also his own Heartland story.

Hearing myself talk about it now makes me a bit sad [that we didn’t finish it]. But I wasn’t incentivized to make it, in a way that I could go to my family and say, ”You’re not going to see me for 90% of the time, but there’s a pot of gold at the end of the rainbow.” There isn’t a pot of gold at the end of the rainbow, at least the current way the industry is set up.

In the end he picked family. Moving on to Calling All Cars… And because he has a heart: the Light of Loco Roco:

There, Jaffe sees the future: PlayStation Network, downloadable casual titles, “It’s exactly what I want to be doing – a small, sub-million-dollar game.” In the time he took off from post-God of War work in order to concentrate on family, friends, and The Light (TM):

There was something during that period that became very tangible to me when I saw people playing games like Loco Roco or titles on the [Nintendo] DS. I saw the straight-up fun in games and I realized I wanted to explore that… For a while I thought I was doing something that’s important to push the industry forward. And then you realize, no, you’re totally cool — go make stuff that makes people happy and laugh.

The good stuff: celluloid Kratos? (and the necessary  naughty bits bar …)

Jaffe also reveals to EW a few details of the God of War movie project (hey, EW is, after all, a movie/TV/music mag; video games is just kind of “brave new world” for them). He mentions “a really good script” by “Thirteen Days” screenwriter David Self, and that they’ll be sending it out to a “huge-name director.” Who wants to play guessing games as to who he is?

And now the money shot. Who does Jaffe think is best to play Kratos? ANSWER: Djimon Hounsou, Maximus’ African friend in “Gladiator,” and most recently seen in (if you’ve watched this damn good movie) “Blood Diamond.” Okay, there’s the “he’s not Greek” part, but Jaffe thinks that in terms of physique and acting ability, Djimon’s the perfect fit.

I don’t know what PSP Updates is going to say, but you got my vote on that choice, David.