Games Thrist News Gamers Thirst For

David Jaffe has explained what most of the press have a hard time doing, and it’s defining the E3 demo of Battlefield 3 as unimpressive, adding it was only “Battle Zone HD”. He contended that the media people should be ashamed of themselves for hyping up the game after seeing the demo, pointing out that “If the game medium really is capable of expressing amazing thoughts and ideas (or even just amazingly fresh entertainment) then we need to push those who make the games (including myself) to deliver on the gameplay front as well as the graphic front.”

There’s much more where that came from. A very interesting read below the break.

Jaffe was responding to a Battlefield 3 fan who thought he was too harsh on DICE’s shooter because he wasn’t impressed with it. At least not yet.

Here’s the full response:

“.@DougButabiJTV 100% correct. But see, this is what I meant the other day: the issue for you and others like you may very well be a) you are doing too many things at the same time to actually read what I write beyond the headlines or b) your reading comprehension skills are not where they should be. Did I say the press and gamers should applaud and celebrate the amazing visuals (and the folks responsible for them) of the E3 build of BF3? Yes I did,” said Jaffe.

“But did I ALSO SAY that we as gamers- and the gaming press- need to be able to tell/appreciate (and report on) that amazing visuals do not equate to amazing gameplay? I did! And I also said that until BF3 shows more of its gameplay, that everyone saying BF3 was AMAZING and was GAME OF THE SHOW was both damaging and juvenile and- on the part of journalists who said such things- damaging.

My point was not negative- as you accuse me of being- but more passionate about the idea that IF the game medium really is capable of expressing amazing thoughts and ideas (or even just amazingly fresh entertainment) then we need to push those who make the games (including myself) to deliver on the gameplay front as well as the graphic front. To me, BF3 MAY be GAME OF THE YEAR (and I want to play the beta cause I’ve liked the other BF games and am eager to see what they’ve done to evolve the series) but UNTIL they show that they are an amazing game and MORE than just amazing graphics, that tank scene WAS BATTLEZONE HD.

And to NOT agree with that- if you are a gamer or journalist who said BF3 was an amazing GAME and should get GAME OF THE SHOW while at the same time you like to play the ‘games can be art/games are important’ card- well that just means you are either full of shit or not very bright. NOTE: SOME games can be art while other games can be pure fun entertainment, by the way.

There CAN and they SHOULD be a mix (and some games- most games?-should strive to be both!!!)…but if people were hyping the gameplay of BF3 then they sure as hell didn’t explain why…and all I saw (from that tank sequence) was- at a mechanics level- BattleZone (aim and fire)…in fact, could you even move the tank’s position in the E3 tank demo from BF3 or were you just controlling a turret? If THAT’S the case, unless the turret mechanics have gotten super amazing, then it’s LESS of a play experience than BF3,” he concluded.

Here’s the Battlefield 3 E3 “Run The Tank” Demo

Thanks, Gamingirresponsibly.