Do other developers hate Grand Theft Auto?

David Jaffe | Designer |Eat Sleep Play

GamesRadar: There's no denying GTA IV is the most anticipated game of the year on 360 and PS3; what are your feelings about the game from what you've seen so far?

David Jaffe: As a developer, I am crapping in my pants. The game seems so big and so vast and there are so many things you can do that it has not simply raised the bar as to what is expected in a AAA game, but it's taken the bar and hurled it into outer space. And that's just single player. Toss in multiplayer - which seems like it could be huge - and toss in the fact that people who have played the game seem very, very impressed, and you pretty much have a sure-fire cocktail for scaring the crap out of other developers - us included.

Every time a new bit of info leaks out, I send it to the team and go, "Well, they raised the damn bar again, guys!" Nice thing is, it makes us work harder. Sad thing is, without a team of 200 plus people, a never ending vat of money, and the talent of the Rockstar folks, it makes you very, very depressed sometimes. But hell, what doesn't kill us makes us stronger! Right...er, right? gulp...we are so screwed. :(

Above: David 'God of War' Jaffe thinks Rockstar should be "admired, envied and respected"

GR: How many of the other GTA games have you played, and which one did you admire most?

DJ: Played them all, but never finished any of them. I'm not a huge GTA fan, to be honest. I have massive respect for the series both in terms of what it's done culturally and what it's done from a game design standpoint. The series is a major milestone for the industry. But the humor/satire of the series is not my cup of tea and the missions have always been kind of dull to me (go here, fetch that, chase this, etc). Which leaves the whole sandbox thing where lots of people just like to run around and mess with stuff. But I like my games more directed, so I've never been all that jazzed about that either (although I'm stunned by the execution of it). But I hear the missions in GTA IV are much more creative than in past GTA games. And honestly, it's the multiplayer that has me crazy excited for the game. I fully expect to play single player for 1-3 hours and never touch it again. But I expect to be playing GTA multi all summer long.

GR: From a developer point of view, how would you rate Rockstar?

DJ: Well GTA is in a class by itself. The rest of the Rockstar games do a good job of tapping into mainstream, cultural passions, so they are to be admired, envied, and respected for that. That said, I'm a 37 years old geek. I like comic books and action movies and video games. I don't care about street cred or being cool or going to hip clubs, so I'd say I'm not really the target audience for most Rockstar games. That said, the new Midnight Club actually has me pretty darn excited...

GR: Will you be buying GTA IV on day one?

DJ: Hell yeah. Going to Best Buy where I don't gotta preorder a god damned thing and picking it up along with some new Blu Ray flix.

GR: OK, thanks, for your time. Anything you want to plug to GamesRadar readers?

DJ: Just would say thanks for the support over the years on all our games, keep on the lookout for Eat Sleep Play/Sony's newest collaboration, and stop by my blog atdavidjaffe.bizto say hey! See you online for GTA IV!