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Life on mobile just as pressurised as on console, says David Jaffe

Quick game development rather hectic

Life on mobile just as pressurised as on console, says David Jaffe
Game designer David Jaffe has claimed he finds working on smartphone games just as hectic as developing games for console, citing the quicker development time as the main cause.

Speaking to Gamasutra, Jaffe said the pressure to move on to something news after each game is ramped up on mobile, namely because they take less time to finish.

Pressure play

"Sometimes I think it's easy to knee-jerk, and think things are going to be so much easier, because there's less pressure to make bleeding-edge graphics and tech [on smartphones]," said Jaffe, perhaps best known for the God of War series.

"[Those pressures] aren't there with the vast majority of people who are consuming those games. But you better make sure your gameplay is really well-designed and that you're executing on the code and on the design. There's still a great deal of pressure, but it's just a different kind of pressure.

"The other stress is 'Oh no, our game's coming to an end, I need to find work.'

"You have that in consoles every two to three years, and now it's like your game's coming to an end every five months or eight months, so there's always pressure. As with anything that you want to do well, there's going to be pressure."

Mobile mix

It's Jaffe's view that the pool of developers working on mobile is also "bigger and more varied."

"You have a lot of traditional publishers who want to be in these new spaces, as they should," he added.

"You have a number of companies that would never have thought of being video game publishers who are now trying to get into the space, whether it's mobile or social or tablets. The landscape is definitely different than the last time I did this."

Jaffe said his next project is likely to hit iOS, though he's currently still at the fundraising stage.

[source: Gamasutra]

With a fine eye for detail, Keith Andrew is fuelled by strong coffee, Kylie Minogue and the shapely curve of a san serif font.