David Jaffe Defends "Misogynistic" Statement on Twitter

David Jaffe is in the news a lot today. Not only is Joystiq reporting that he is leaving the developer he helped found, Eat Sleep Play, but he also engaged in a war of words on Twitter with some industry journalists and fans. More on that later, but first; The Twisted Metal developer is reportedly laying off eight people and according to the report, will be focusing on iOS and mobile games from now on. Co-founder Scott Campbell confirmed Jaffe's departure. We have reached out to Jaffe on Twitter, but he is yet to comment. He has hinted in the past that he does not like the cinematic direction most games are headed and wants to focus purely on gameplay. It will be interesting to see where he goes in the future.

However, that isn't the only reason he is in the news today. Yesterday, GameTrailers posted an interview with Jaffe speaking about Twisted Metal. The game looks phenomenal especially for fans of the franchise, but when asked about the odd Valentine's Day release date, Jaffe responded with an off color explanation too vulgar for us to quote. To paraphrase, he explained that if guys let their girlfriends beat them in the game, they will receive oral sex.

This was clearly a joke, (seriously, how many women play Twisted Metal?) but a lot of people aren't laughing. Freelance writer Matt Clark tweeted overnight that the statement was, "A horribly misogynistic, infantile, never-should-have-been-said joke." He continued to defend his stance to other industry journalists and angry fans who saw it as an attack on the famous developer, until Jaffe Joined in on the conversation himself.

Jaffe responded first by explaining that it was meant as a joke, but was in no way misogynistic. Wrote Jaffe at around Midnight PST:

"Uhm, on the whole GT BJ thing, if I may: I like vulgar but the way that was edited came off more vulgar than even I like. There actually was some context to that conversation as I recall but the edit only showed the last part of a bigger discussion. Granted the overall discussion was intentionally juvenile and over the top but with that as context-especially given the entire REST of the GT piece had NO indication the interview was gonna be so vulgar, at least I think you'd see more where it was coming from."

You can read the entire exchange on Jaffe's Twitter page. This statement came after several interactions back and forth between Jaffe and others on Twitter. To be clear, the definition of misogynist on Dictionary.com is someone who hates, dislikes, mistrusts, or mistreats women. Jaffe's vulgar marketing ploy certainly is immature, and isn't necessarily a great way to represent our industry, but it's not misogynistic. Besides, it's Twisted Metal we're talking about here! It's clearly not a game that's meant to be taken too seriously. After-all, This is a game where a homicidal clown enters a tournament solely for a chance to murder a woman. Hmm, on second thought that does sound pretty misogynistic.

This is clearly a very contentious topic, so we want to know what you think. Leave comments below and tell us how you perceive Jaffe's comments. Is it sexism or just a poorly edited misstep by GT? Stay tuned to The Game Effect for more about Twisted Metal when the game releases February 14 for Playstation 3.