Hey all! I wanted to drop by PlayStation.Blog to help celebrate the one-year anniversary of Twisted Metal for PS3!

“What?!?” I hear you say, “The game’s already been out for a year?!?” Indeed it has! Crazy how time flies, huh?

Seems like only yesterday some of y’all were telling me I was an idiot for focusing the new game on three characters versus a larger cast like we did in the earlier TM games. Ah, good times, good times.

But seriously, on behalf of myself and the amazing Twisted Metal teams from Eat Sleep Play and Sony, please allow me to say thanks to all of the Twisted Metal fans who showed up to support this latest explosion of carnage and meaty gameplay.

While our online community is by no means the biggest in gaming, it’s so exciting to see that it’s very much alive and kicking. It’s easy to find games, and new players are hitting the scene each and every week. We’ve gone through a number of post-launch tuning passes, and other than a handful of annoying glitches we just can’t address (remote bomb transportation, anyone?), we feel the multiplayer in this new Twisted Metal (both online and 2-4 player local splitscreen) is the best it’s ever been!

So jump online this week a-…huh? What’s that you are saying now?!? You haven’t even tried the new Twisted Metal yet?!? And you! Yeah, the one wearing the Battletoads sweatshirt standing in the back trying to ‘blend in’. You say you’ve never tried anyTwisted Metal game?!? Well land sakes alive, you’ve done come to the right Twisted Metal PS3 Anniversary post! Check this out:

Starting later today, February 12th and running for only one week, PSN is running the following Twisted Metal sale:

So there you have it. I hope you agree: PSN is throwing Sweet Tooth and the gang one hell of a birthday party! I hope you’ll be there to help celebrate some of the best car combat the biz has to offer (if I may say so myself!) And I hope to see you online with Twisted Metal PS3! It’ll be fun to kill you!

Oh and don’t forget: go to TwistedMetal.com to create your very own custom vehicle skins to take into your online battles and to download from the countless skins the community has already created and uploaded!

Stay Twisted y’all! And thanks so much – as always – for all of the amazing support you’ve given the series over the years!

Hey everyone, I wanted to make a special announcement for all of my Twisted Metal fans. Because I love each and everyone of you I am making this announcement exclusively to the PlayStation Nation.

Hope you enjoy!

Hey all! David Jaffe here with some good news and bad news on behalf of myself, my Eat Sleep Play partner and Twisted Metal co-director Scott Campbell, the entire Eat Sleep Play team, and Sony Santa Monica.

First the good news: Eat Sleep Play and Sony Santa Monica are cranking like mad to get a fantastic Twisted Metal build ready for both Gamescom and PAX Prime! For those not in the know: Gamescom is August 17th-21st in Cologne, Germany and PAX Prime will take place here in America August 26th-28th in Seattle, Washington. Both shows are open to the public but PAX – I believe- is already sold out. If you’ve got PAX Prime tickets, I can’t wait to see you there! I hope you’ll swing by the Twisted Metal booth and give our game a try!

At Gamescom and PAX we’ll be showing off a brand new level called Thrills & Spills Amusement Park! It’s one of our favorite all time Twisted Metal levels and it’s filled with the over the top destruction, strategic level choices, and twisted humor that fans of the series have come to love and expect. Players at both shows will also get hands on with TEAM HUNTED, a brand new mode that we’ll be unveiling – for the first time ever – at Gamescom. We’ll also be premiering the new Dollface story trailer which delves into just what makes that nutty-but-sexy pink-haired freak tick.

And at both shows we’ll be handing out some super cool, super creepy Sweet Tooth masks! Halloween will be here before you know it and we want Twisted Fans to be able to represent their favorite slasher in style!

Ok, so now…the bad news. Or at least the ‘news that seems bad at first but after you read the rest of my post I’m sure you’ll agree that it’s actually fantastic news’ news. So here it is:

We’re not shipping Twisted Metal October 4th, 2011. We’re going to miss our date. We’re going to be late.

Ugh! I know, I know. A lot of dedicated, supportive, passionate Twisted Metal fans have been waiting for the return of Calypso’s demented contest for a long time but the truth is: we’re just not ready yet.

Sony has been – and remains – a super supportive champion and collaborator on this title and all of us at Eat Sleep Play are so grateful that their patience and generosity will allow us the extra time needed to polish our demented baby until it shines. NOTE: I don’t actually think that qualifies as a mixed metaphor… just a bad one. But the ‘demented baby’ part was really cool to me, and it felt very Twisted Metal-y, so I’m keeping it in this post.

Anyway – it sucks bad when games miss their announced launch dates. We’re gamers too and we know how annoying it is. It’s disappointing and frustrating and it really takes the wind out of your sails if you’re a fan that has been looking forward to playing a title for a long time. Thing is, you gotta trust me when I tell you that – with this extra time for tuning and polish – the game is going to be so much better than it already is. And if you played Twisted Metal and liked it at E3 or Comic-Con, or if you get to play it (and you enjoy it) at one of the August shows, just imagine how much more fun the final game will be with some extra time, polish, and love.

There’s a great, classic industry saying by legendary Nintendo designer – and personal hero – Shigeru Miyamoto that goes a little something like this:

‘A late game is only late until it ships. A bad game is bad until the end of time.’

Now, if we shipped Twisted Metal tomorrow – going off the response from folks who have played it – I assure you, it would never be a bad game. Not even close. But we’re aiming for a heck of a lot more than that! With Twisted Metal we plan to ship a multiplayer classic. We plan to ship the best Twisted Metal ever made. We plan to convert a lot of folks who think vehicle combat is a relic best left to 90′s nostalgia. And we plan to explode the belief that the only relevant kind of shooter is a first person one (or a 3rd person one, where you play a human… with a tee shirt not all the way tucked in :)…).

Most importantly, we plan on treating you – the kind folks who play our game (and pay our bills) – like the VIPs that you are. You only deserve our best and we appreciate your understanding as we take a little more time to guarantee that our best is what we deliver.

Twisted Metal for PS3 will ship early 2012. Stay tuned for more details.

E3 was a blast this year! It was really cool to connect with fans at the booth while they went tried out Twisted Metal’s signature Nuke mode. It was also fun showing off our newest level: New York City during the holiday season. The very first Twisted Metal game – released back in 1995! – takes place at Christmas time as well and I guess we wanted to pay a little homage. Also, I just love the idea of chaos and destruction centered around what is usually one of the happiest, warmest, most fun times of the year! Does that make me bad?!? So check out the video- hope you dig it!

And next up is Comic-Con in San Diego July 21-24 so hope to see ya’ll there. Thank you again for the support, thanks so much for stopping by to play our game and say ‘hey’ at the show, and please stay tuned for more announcements about the game over the next few months!

P.S. In the video, I also explain why – for the campaign mode only – we’ve limited the selection to three playable human drivers (versus the usual 10-12). Campaign still lets you drive and battle in 15+ vehicles but we have limited the driver roles. I know focusing on just three character stories for the campaign has been a bit controversial for some of our Twisted fans and I’m curious to see – in the comment section below – if you agree or disagree with our decision after you hear me state our reasoning in the video.

Hey ya’ll- David Jaffe here, co-director/co-lead designer of the PS3 exclusive, Twisted Metal! Totally jazzed about the new gameplay we’ll be showing at this week’s E3! We’re giving the press their first ever detailed look at Iron Maiden, the biggest and most complicated boss we’ve ever had in a Twisted Metal game! She’s from the game’s campaign mode (single player and local/online co-op supported) and she’s a total blast to battle!

We’re also giving show goers some hands on with Twisted Metal‘s signature Nuke mode, our Twisted take on Capture The Flag. E3′s Nuke demo takes place in a brand new level: NEW YORK CITY DURING THE HOLIDAY SEASON! The level is classic Twisted Metal, allowing players to bring destruction and chaos to a relatable location! This isn’t a fight on a space station or in some foreign war. This is hell in your own backyard! Destroy skyscrapers! Bring down The Statue of Liberty, then play soccer with her head! Battle inside toy stores! Race under the streets of the city, fighting and chasing on underground subway tracks as you try to avoid being smashed by the deadly trains! Plow into the history museum and smash giant dinosaur bones, dropping the massive statues down onto your enemies! Hell, you can even run smack dab into a dude dressed as Santa Clause and send him ho-ho-hoing over the hood of your car!

So…if that sounds like your cup o’ tea… please check it all out in the video above!

This second video is our new Twisted Metal trailer, REVENGE. REVENGE goes into a bit of Sweet Tooth’s back story and gives some details about Sweet’s Ice Cream Truck attacks! If you’ve not seen it yet, please give it a watch and let us know what you think in the comments!

Ok, that’s it for now. By the time you read this Scott Campbell (co-director/co-lead designer) and I will be knee deep in E3 press mode, talking up our baby to every and anyone who will stop to listen! We’re super proud of the team and the game and we’re doing all we can to get the word out!

Oh, and if you see myself or Scot at E3, stop by and say hey! We’re looking forward to seeing you at the show!

David

ps. Before you ask- and a lot of folks already have! :) – Twisted Metal has not become a mech game. It’s still 95% a vehicle/car combat game. Remember, you don’t have to fight IRON MAIDEN using Sweet Tooth. That’s just what we’re showing in the video. There are lots of other vehicles you can bring into battle. But just like past Twisted Metal games, every vehicle has pros and cons and the vehicle you take onto the battlefield will require unique strategies to emerge victorious!)

I know we’ve been kind of quiet about the game since our super secret E3 press conference surprise, but all that ends now! GTTV just launched our latest trailer on last night’s episode on SpikeTV. Did you see it?!? If not, click here. The trailer – called BROKEN – has brand-new gameplay footage as well as a first look at some shots from our live action, in game-cinematics!

I gotta be honest with ya’ll: I had NO IDEA how the live action stuff was gonna turn out, but MAN am I super amped! I think it’s pretty sweet! Take a look, let us know if you agree. And the fresh Twisted Metal news doesn’t stop there!

In a few days we’re meeting with press from all over the world to unveil two brand new levels of the game. At that very same press event, we’re letting folks go hands on – for the first time! – with Twisted Metal‘s super-unique NUKE mode. We’ve made some core design changes since we last talked about NUKE (at E3) and we’re very eager/anxious/excited to see what people think.

But wait – there’s more! Next week we’ll also be unveiling BATTLEWAGON! What/who the hell is Battlewagon? Just the coolest, baddest-ass vehicle ever to dominate the car combat landscape! This is a vehicle that myself, Scott Campbell (the game’s other co-lead designer/game director) and Kellan Hatch (Eat Sleep Play’s Creative Director) have been wanting to put in a Twisted Metal game since we made the very first one back in 1995. I think it’s gonna give Sweet Tooth’s ice cream truck a damn fine run for its money!

“Holy cow, Jaffe,” you say, “that’s amazing!” Yes…yes it is! But wait…there’s EVEN MORE! Wha?!?! Really?!?! HAI!!!!! Because ya see: a few days after our press event, we’ll drop the EXTENDED cut of last night’s TWISTED METAL launch trailer! This new trailer dives a bit deeper into the character stories of Sweet Tooth, Dollface, and Mr. Grimm. The new cut also gives a bit more info on just what that creepy tower at the end of last night’s trailer is all about. And we may even get our first glimpse of Calypso, the sinister mastermind behind all the pain, suffering, and chaos of the Twisted Metal contest. And that is JUST in the next week!

From now until our launch date – OCTOBER 4th, 2011 – we’ll be showing more and more of our hand in hopes that ya’ll are going to be just as jazzed and excited for this new Twisted Metal as we are! We can’t wait to hear what you all think! Thanks for reading and giving our game your time! David ps. oh yeah, watch the video. You’ll get an update on that Sweet Tooth action figure give away from last Christmas.

Didn’t even mention one of the coolest parts! We’ve just announced our launch date: October 4th, 2011! See…I TOLD ya’ll we were hitting this year! :)‬

And I ESPECIALLY love E3 surprises!

Thing is, in this day and age, it’s super rare for a game to surprise anyone at E3 anymore. There are just too many leaks. And the Internet makes sure those leaks travel fast and furious. From the moment the info first gets out to the time when the hardcore gamers know about it, you’re talking 12, maybe 18 hours tops. Many publishers have simply given up trying to surprise gamers at E3 because they know it’s just not possible anymore. But back in the day – when E3 first began – you’d walk onto the show floor and have no idea what new games and new ideas you’d find as you traveled from booth to booth. That sense of wonder, of discovery, of sheer surprise…it was total gamer joy. But these days that sense of surprise and discovery has all but vanished from the E3 experience.

Which is why when Sony asked if we wanted to close out their E3 press conference by announcing the new Twisted Metal AND asked if we wanted to try to keep it a surprise…well, we were thrilled! An attempt at a good, old fashioned E3 surprise? Hells yes, baby! Sign us up!

Not sure if you missed the press conference but if you did, you can check out the surprise announce right here:

We know this is going to be the best Twisted Metal ever released. 16 players online, 2-4 player split screen, amazing new game modes, helicopters, motorcycles, sports cars, all battling it out in highly interactive levels with all the skill, speed, and strategy you could ask for! It’s been a long while since the last console Twisted Metal was released, but we think the wait will have been worth it. We’re crazy proud of the new game and are looking forward to entertaining all of the loyal TM fans as well as earning many new Twisted Metal devotees with this title.

But the game is not done yet. We’ve got a ways to go so we could really use your help. The game is playable on the show floor starting now. So if you’re able to get into E3 this year, please come to the Sony booth and give Twisted Metal a play. And then please hit us back on our brand new Eat Sleep Play forums with your likes, dislikes, issues, changes, fixes, etc. Whatever feedback we can get, we are grateful for. Early user feedback is one of the key things that turns a game into a classic. And we want this baby to be classic!

Ok, so that’s that. Twisted Metal is coming on Playstation 3! And we could not be more pleased! Now we’re off, into the bowels of the Los Angeles Convention Center to see the sites, play the games, and hey, who knows, perhaps discover a few surprises along the way! Stranger things have
happened!

Great to be back ya’ll! We missed you!

David Jaffe & Scott Campbell
Co-Founders Eat Sleep Play, Inc.

The game hits tomorrow and we’ll be back with more videos (both from gameplay and some cool behind the scenes bonus clips) to get you all as excited as we are about our latest game!

Click on the link and check it out!