When I first downloaded God of War creator David Jaffe"s PSN game, Calling All Cars, I didn"t quit playing until my thumbs literally grew too sore to continue. The game borrowed heavily from NBA Jam despite its cops & robbers aesthetic, and like that arcade classic, my friends and I fought down to the wire in every round. Though Jaffe has in the past referred to the game as a "mistake," I would place it above the original God of War as my favorite game of his. I know it seems strange to value a forgotten PSN downloadable title above one of the best PS2 games of all time, but I"ve come to a point where I prefer experiences that don"t aspire to tell a grand story, and I"m thankful that game creators like Jaffe feel the same way.

Jaffe explained his feelings to other game makers in a presentation recorded by Gamespot at last week"s DICE summit, "My talk is actually a warning about why we shouldn"t tell stories with our video games. I think it"s a bad idea. I think it"s a waste of resources and time and money and more importantly I think it actually stunts, and has stunted over the last ten years or so, the medium of video games."

When I first downloaded God of War creator David Jaffe"s PSN game, Calling All Cars, I didn"t quit playing until my thumbs literally grew too sore to continue. The game borrowed heavily from NBA Jam despite its cops & robbers aesthetic, and like that arcade classic, my friends and I fought down to the wire in every round. Though Jaffe has in the past referred to the game as a "mistake," I would place it above the original God of War as my favorite game of his. I know it seems strange to value a forgotten PSN downloadable title above one of the best PS2 games of all time, but I"ve come to a point where I prefer experiences that don"t aspire to tell a grand story, and I"m thankful that game creators like Jaffe feel the same way.