Jaffe blown away by God of War 3

By Robert Purchese Published 24 November, 2008

"It looks like a painting come to life."

An excitable David Jaffe has said God of War 3 is so visually impressive it resembles a "painting come to life".

"I ain't no fan boy but this mother f***ing game looks like nothing you've ever played, and you can hold me to that when this thing hits and when they start showing gameplay footage," writes Jaffe on his blog.

"It looks like a painting come to life - it's that good looking."

Jaffe's comments coincide with supposed sightings of God of War 3 by sources inside Friday's annual Sony Europe staff meeting.

That report claims the footage shown was so impressive that it wasn't clear whether the action was CGI or in-game.

Incidentally, Jaffe admits that his favourite game this year will probably be Gears of War 2, which he thought "looked about as good as a next-gen game could look".

Jaffe, of course, made a name for himself as game director for God of War 1 and 2, as well as with the Twisted Metal series.

He's not working on God of War 3, mind you, but instead on an unannounced project we think could be Twisted Metal for PS3.

So far all we've seen of God of War 3 is the moody teaser trailer from E3. The game's expected some time late next year.

Pop over to our God of War 3 gamepage for all we know so far.

Picture of Robert.

About Robert Purchese

Bertie is Eurogamer's Senior Staff Writer. When he's not hunting down news stories he's often found playing with his kids or gabbling about fantasy games and strange online worlds. @Clert on Twitter.

Read more articles from Robert by visiting the Robert Purchese archive page.

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Comments (79) Latest comment 4 years ago

Comments for this article are now closed, but please feel free to continue chatting on the forum!

  • the_dudefather #1 4 years ago

    incoming comments rage (if the other PS3 related articles this morning are any indication)

  • Dizzy #2 4 years ago

    "and you can hold me to that when this thing hits and when they start showing gameplay footage"

    Oh dear... setting himself up for crucifixion on the Internet.

  • bodypopper #3 4 years ago

    A painting come to life? So are they 'doing a Prince of Persia' then?

  • hiddenranbir #4 4 years ago

    Woah. It is THAT good looking?!

  • Loser #5 4 years ago

    Moist for this, I must say.

  • Dark_Era #6 4 years ago

    lets see all the haters roll in, lol

  • NotSoSlim #7 4 years ago

    All good and it will be this year as well. Cannot wait...gameplay footage at E3 then!!

  • keyboardmonkey #8 4 years ago

    "It looks like a painting come to life - it's that good looking."

    Yes but a painting by who? 5 year old at the nursery ?

  • RedSparrows #9 4 years ago

    Haha, 'a painting come to life' could mean anything, but I'm sure it'll look tasty enough ^^

  • jack_klugman #10 4 years ago

    ZOMBIE PAINTINGS!!!1

  • drumbaby #11 4 years ago

    If they got a game as good looking as God of War out of the PS2 I imagine that GOW 3 will look similarly astounding for the time on the newer hardware.

  • DrDamn #12 4 years ago

    @retibra
    GameFAQs credits him as the Producer for GoW2 - what ever that entails, probably not "nothing" though. Wikipedia has him as joint designer with Barlog.

  • IronCladChicken #13 4 years ago

    So... it looks like Okami?

  • michaelius #14 4 years ago

    If you can't tell if it is CGI or gameplay it usually means it's CGI :)

    Still GoW 3 is one of the brighter points of 2009.

  • layleeloo #15 4 years ago

    Who cares if it is THAT good looking or not. The PS2 versions were pretty enough for their purpose. I'd rather have a decent game thanks rather than spend the tim emaking it look pretty. I can watch a pixar movie for that thanks.

  • mjhoward #16 4 years ago

    Man who makes games for PS3 excited about upcoming PS3 game.


    I've yet to give the PS2 God of War games a spin. Does that make me a bad gamer?
    Edited by mjhoward at 24/11/08 @ 11:53

  • Triggerhappytel #17 4 years ago

    I like David Jaffe. He's a bit of a twat at times but he actually seems to be a developer who speaks his mind. I respect the fact he works for Sony but has said Gears 2 - the biggest release this year on the rival console - is his favourite game so far this year.

    If Sony Santa Monica can pull a technical performance out of the PS3 anything like what they managed with the PS2, I'm sure this will look phenominal. I expect we'll see some gameplay at E3, so I look forward to that. I don't expect it'll be out in 2009 though; I think it might slip into 2010.

    We've got a God of War group - please join here.

    EDIT - retibra, Jaffe did play a role in the GoW II development - I believe he was a producer, as well as the writer or one of the writers. If I'm not mistaken he'll be doing the same for GoW III - I saw a video of him on YouTube a while back where he said he's just started writing the third game.
    Edited by Triggerhappytel at 24/11/08 @ 12:02

  • Gearskin #18 4 years ago

    It looks like Prince of Persia!?!?!

  • sonmi451 #19 4 years ago


    CGI or in-game? it's all CGI (computer generated imagery)

    you mean pre-rendered CGI as opposed to real-time/in-game CGI.

  • SliderNL #20 4 years ago

    For me God of War 3 is the reason to buy myself a Blue-Ray-player I mean a PS3......

  • Vice.Destroyer #21 4 years ago

    As long as it doesn't look like something done by Max Ernst, I'll be happy. I'm still waiting for a game that is done in the style of Carl Banks?

  • ianegg #22 4 years ago

    Ah, looks like The Wind Waker then?

  • darkphoenix #23 4 years ago

    like Braid, I guess...

  • BobsUncle #24 4 years ago

    So then, by some simple logic.

    1) He thinks Gears 2 "looks as good as a next gen game could look".
    2) Which must mean that God of War 3 cannot look any better than Gears 2.
    3) He also thinks God of War 3 looks like CGI.
    4) By which proof, so must Gears 2.

    But it doesn't. So he's talking shit then.

  • Aggesan #25 4 years ago

    @BobsUncle

    He thought that Gears of War 2 looked as good as it gets in the current generation consols, up until now that he has seen God of War 3. Isn't that obvious?
    Why the hatred?

  • kangarootoo #26 4 years ago

    "So then, by some simple logic.

    1) He thinks Gears 2 "looks as good as a next gen game could look".
    2) Which must mean that God of War 3 cannot look any better than Gears 2.
    3) He also thinks God of War 3 looks like CGI.
    4) By which proof, so must Gears 2."


    Simple being the operative word.

  • oxymoron #27 4 years ago

    How about a painting done in the stlye of Hieronymous Bosch?!?

    that style and espicially if the subject matter are Gods (and Devils).

  • Triggerhappytel #28 4 years ago

    @oxymoron - isn't that the guy from many of Michael Connelly's novels; aka Harry Bosch?

  • Gradius #29 4 years ago

    Wasn't there an elephant that could paint? Anyway, I have no doubt GoW 3 will look pretty nice but I'd really rather they'd release some (in-game) screenies so we could make our own decisions as no-one, not even headbog is going to believe him given the past claims of Sony and their devs.

    Actually, scratch that, headbog would believe him, I'm sure.

  • BobsUncle #30 4 years ago

    @aggesan and Kangarootoo

    My logic makes sense when applied to the EG article, which reads like " I think God of War looks like CGI, but Gears 2 looks as good as next gen can get".

    So I had a look at his blog post and after struggling to understand the shit that he writes, I realise he means Gears 2 is the best this year, but GoW3 is out next year. Some better grammar and punctuation might have made that clearer.

    However, I now hate this guy. Any professional game dev who writes stuff like "GEARS 2 is the SHIT....this year. Dudes and dudettes, fucking WAIT till you see the amazing graphics...just fucking wait. And yes, Xbots [snip]" is a retard.

    He said Xbots, dudes and dudettes, and swears because he thinks it makes him cool.

  • Evolution #31 4 years ago

    They should change the name of one of those series or add a subtitle, because it's very confusing with all this GoW and GOW and the inevitability of a 3rd game for both games.

  • anomagnus #32 4 years ago

    dont fuck it up, this is the ONE game that could tempt me into buying the over priced blu ray player that is the PS3

  • SpaceMidget75 Verified Senior Software Developer, Minerva Computer Services #33 4 years ago

    I've said it before but Gow3 and Trico are the only Sony games I'm possibly envious of.

    Gow3 should look awesome. The gameplay for these sort of games isn't very taxing at all so you should be able to chuck lots of programmer/artist resources and CPU cycles at making it look fucking great.

  • Triggerhappytel #34 4 years ago

    @Evolution

    God of War doesn't need to change anything. It reached the market over 18 months before Gears of War, and thus can claim the acronym GoW. Gears of War is Gears for short. It does get confusing though, so please spread the word.

    God of War = GoW
    Gears of War = Gears

  • Ryze #35 4 years ago

    I'm happy to wait the year+ it'll take to actually see and play the game itself.

    Not interested in smoke and mirrors and silly hype.

    Release some footage or put a sock in it.

  • Razorus #36 4 years ago

    A painting come to life, indeed? If it's oil-based, I'm not interested.

  • Gradius #37 4 years ago

    I must agree with BobsUncle that any person who uses the word "XBot" is a bit of a spaz. Also Jaffe saying ""I ain't no fan boy" did make me laugh, I mean that's always the first thing the worst of the tards come out with before they go on to call other people "XBots" and tell us all about the untapped power of the Cell and how f***ing amazing PS3 games will be 'next year'.

    On another note, if the game truly does look like 'a painting come to life' they must have completely reworked the style since they released the E3 teaser trailer, as even though that's pre-rendered CG it looks more like a 3D game intro than a painting that has 'come to life' (unless he means it looks like a painting of a 3D game intro?)

  • Gradius #38 4 years ago

    @_Nick_

    "I own a 360 , I love it, but I don't think its going to be able to keep up graphic wise with PS3 for much longer"

    Why on Earth not? Both systems are very equally matched when it comes to putting out fancy visuals (with the 360 seemingly being the easier to develop for). From now on it really comes down to clever artistry and clever use of the systems resources, not the systems power as they seem pretty much on par in that respect.

    It honestly baffles me that some people still seem to believe that one magical day the PS3s performance will somehow progress in a way that the 360s won't. I mean, we all know the 360 has the more advanced GPU and the PS3 a more advanced CPU which pretty much even the systems in terms of horse power. What do you think will happen next year? Magical Sony pixies will sneak into your room and exchange your PS3s GPU while you sleep and suddenly it will have 'teh uber graphicz'?

    Games will look better on both systems as time goes on as is the natural progression of things but that's all you can expect, I'm afraid. There is no untapped power, they lied to you. The sooner people accept this, the less disappointment will come their way later.
    Edited by Gradius at 24/11/08 @ 15:01

  • Yaz #39 4 years ago

    Zero_cool wrote "God of War 3! MS you ain't getting it. lol"

    Ouch, somehow that sounds so geeky. Did you 'snort' after you laughed out loud? ;)

  • Yaz #40 4 years ago

    Gradius wrote "Games will look better on both systems as time goes on as is the natural progression of things but that's all you can expect, I'm afraid."

    Exactly. Well said.

  • chris_ace #41 4 years ago

    Post deleted at 11:55:13 13-12-2011

  • JHuxley #42 4 years ago

    Say what you like about Jaffe, personally I think it's refreshing to see a developer that speaks his mind. If his game isn't as good as something else, he'll say so. And I'm sure there's a bit of self-promotion going on here (even if he didn't have much to do with the game) but I'm also willing to believe him more than most developers.

    @Gradius

    So...uhh...why is he a fanboy now? Is it normal for PS3 fanboys to say that their favourite game this year was Gears of War 2?

    Wow...they must be a much more impartial and unbias bunch than I first imagined! :S

  • Yaz #43 4 years ago

    Point taken Zero_cool, but I was waiting for that response. :)

    The days when people thought just participating on forums and playing computer/video games made someone a geek has long since passed, except perhaps for certain groups of non-gamers.

    Shame to see you agree with those old fashioned stereotypical opinions of gamers. ;)

  • Yaz #44 4 years ago

    chris_ace wrote: "the untapped power imo comes from blu ray drive"

    Storage space has nothing to do with power chris, sorry. But yes, let's leave that can of worms closed for now. :)
    Edited by Yaz at 24/11/08 @ 15:23

  • Gradius #45 4 years ago

    @chris_ace

    There's no problem with speculating but at the end of the day blu-ray hasn't shown that it gives any real advantages to gaming bar perhaps you may have had to swap a disc were the title in question on the 360, but even that's a double edged sword as it comes at a cost of forced installs or slow load times.

  • Gradius #46 4 years ago

    @JHuxley

    Saying you've enjoyed a game on the 'opposing' console in no way excludes you from being a fanboy. It's the same as saying "I own all systems so I can't be a fanboy", which as I'm sure you know is not the case and is in fact one of the first comments a fanboy is likely to come out with.

  • Rash' #47 4 years ago

    Gradius, So they actually lied? You were there when they made that executive decision? It's hard to prove they lied or were being stupidly over enthusiastic. Whatever the case, the lied theory is exactly that, a theory.

    As for Blu-ray, there have been more than a few developers commenting on the limitations of a 6.8GB DVD going forward to no longer except that the format doesn't hold some obvious advantages.

  • chris_ace #48 4 years ago

    Post deleted at 11:55:13 13-12-2011

  • Yaz #49 4 years ago

    @chris_ace who wrote: "@yaz dont be a dick"

    There's no need to be rude chris, I wasn't rude to you.

    "increased storage on one disc can often mean (hopefully) bigger games, more content, more textures/more assets"

    Which can ALL be achieved using multiple DVDs. Hence storage space has nothing to do with POWER, which is the point I was making.

  • Rash' #50 4 years ago

    Yaz, Come on now. We all know that your arguement against Blu-ray doesn't hold much weight when you develop games that require access to all content at all times, like a GTA or LBP.

  • Gradius #51 4 years ago

    "Gradius, So they actually lied? You were there when they made that executive decision? It's hard to prove they lied or were being stupidly over enthusiastic."

    Sorry but that really made me laugh (honestly). It's like a guy telling a bird down the pub that he possesses 17" of throbbing manhood, in an attempt to bag her, only for her to go back to his place and find he's only got a 4" wiener....but no, you're right. I'm sure if he explained to her that he was just a bit "over enthusiastic", she'd be fine with it.

    Anyway, I guess you're right. I can't prove it was a lie, it may have just been 'stupidity' as you put it. Neither is really acceptable though, as GAME won't give me a £300 refund if I head in there and tell them that Sony 'stupidly' told me this PS3 is more powerful than it really is...

  • Yaz #52 4 years ago

    Rash, the point here was about untapped POWER in the PS3, not the pros and cons of various technology. Whatever advantages you can list for Blu-ray, and I am aware of them, they have nothing to do with power.

  • Rash' #53 4 years ago

    Gradius, We're all guity of being stupid, as you say, buying into their "lies" is one such form of stupidity.
    Edited by Rash' at 24/11/08 @ 16:25

  • Rash' #54 4 years ago

    Yaz, Yeah, but it's all about technology... be it Blu-ray or The Cell, both offer technological advantages that make the system more capable.

  • Yaz #55 4 years ago

    Correct Rash, just as the 360's faster DVD compared to Blu-ray and more RAM available for it's games (thanks to OS requiring less RAM) offers advantages too, but like storage space on Blu-ray, none of those has anything to do with untapped power.

    The point is, both consoles have their advantages and disadvantages, however we can't generalized any advantage as meaning more power, because that's not the case for most of them.

    And if you're reading this Zero_cool, yeah I know, I'm about to take a left turn into Geeksville. :)
    Edited by Yaz at 24/11/08 @ 16:01

  • Petulant_Radish #56 4 years ago

    Tick tock, tick tock… it’s only a matter of time…tick tock, tick tock.

  • Gradius #57 4 years ago

    "Gradius, We're all guity of being stupid, as you say, buying into their lies is one such form of stupidity. "

    So now you're admitting they lied? Well, either you believe they did or they didn't, make up your mind. I know what I think on the subject. Also, I don't think a company lying to a consumer can be blaimed on the consumer, the fact that you do implies that you may have an unhealthy loyalty to said company.

    If I buy a car and the dealership tells me its a 2L, that's what I expect to get. No reason consoles should be different. The only reason that people who believe Sonys lies are a bit silly (or new to gaming) is because the company has a poor track record in regards to telling the truth about the power of their consoles...

  • Yaz #58 4 years ago

    (Ok... extended tea break over... time to get back to work :))

  • chris_ace #59 4 years ago

    Post deleted at 11:55:13 13-12-2011

  • JHuxley #60 4 years ago

    @Gradius

    "Saying you've enjoyed a game on the 'opposing' console in no way excludes you from being a fanboy"

    Yes, but he didn't just say he 'enjoyed' Gears of War 2, did he? He said it was his favourite game this year and he'd vote for it as such given the chance. That is a unwavering endorsement of a 360 exclusive from a developer who's worked almost solely for Sony systems. And why? Because it's a great game, he enjoyed it and it deserves the accolade. To accuse him of being a fanboy because he used the term 'Xbots' is well...reactionary and slightly paranoid in my view.

    If you actually read what the guy says (not just this post), he comes across to me as someone who's just very enthusiastic about playing and making games. I don't think he has any hidden agenda at all.

    Anyway, this thread is dissolving in to a mess of pointless technical one-upmanship. Sigh. :(

  • Rash' #61 4 years ago

    Gradius, Lack of quotations marks and a big misunderstanding...

    FYI "lied"...

  • Rash' #62 4 years ago

    Yaz, I'm not sure about that. Offer more space to devs and most will come calling. Lets just disagree on this one as I'm not that concerned with it.

  • Gradius #63 4 years ago

    @chris_ace

    Emotion Engine?

    @Rash

    I'm not going to get into a silly argument about whether it was a lie or stupidity, it's hardly important as both are just as bad as each other, "who shall I buy my console from, the company that lied to me or the one who're so incompetent they don't even know the spec of their own system", not much of a choice really...

    I have no problem with folks adoring their PS3s and enjoying the games, I enjoy many of their titles myself. What I do have a problem with/not understand is people still expecting their console to magically become more powerful than the 360. It won't happen. Not unless you believe in some kind of magical force upgrading your hardware while you sleep.

    @JHuxley

    My understanding of what Jaffe has said is basically that 'yeah, Gears 2 looks awesome but JUST WAIT TILL YOU SEE GoW 3 then you XBots will be sorry, LULZOR". I'm exaggerating, but you get the drift. It would be suicide for him to deny Gears 2s prowess, it is an extremely impressive game visually. Come on, the guy is basically working for Sony, I'm sure that's where his loyalties lie, that's not a problem but he shouldn't deny it and then go on to call people XBots, it makes him look a bit silly IMO. I mean, does he refer to Sony fans as 'the SDF'? I doubt it tbh.
    Edited by Gradius at 24/11/08 @ 16:58

  • Yaz #64 4 years ago

    Ok, just a quick one...

    @Rash, yes, let's agree to disagree.

    @JHuxley who wrote "Anyway, this thread is dissolving in to a mess of pointless technical one-upmanship. Sigh. :("

    Well, I deliberately tried to stay away from that 'can of worms' when first responding to chris, but surprisingly got a rude reply from him for doing so. Hence the can is open and there are worms everywhere. :p

  • Frandroid #65 4 years ago

    @Triggerhappytel
    Yes, Michael Connolly's detective is named after the painter Heironymous Bosch.

  • Frandroid #66 4 years ago

    @Triggerhappytel
    Yes, Michael Connolly's detective is named after the painter Heironymous Bosch.

  • chris_ace #67 4 years ago

    Post deleted at 11:55:13 13-12-2011

  • Rash' #68 4 years ago

    Gradius, I think the "stupidity" from Sony as well as those that believe in their systems stems from the fact that even today, two years after the console's original release, not many can quantify the power of the CPU and the exotic architecture of PS3. I think with that in mind, it's understandable. It certainly can't be factually discredited. At the end of the day any claims directed at the strenght of Sony's architecture, can only be theory. I suggest making judgements at the end of the current hardware cycle, because by then devs (both first and third party) will have had sufficient time to prove their credentials on the platform.

  • tonynibbles #69 4 years ago

    Damn good track record, you'd expect nothing less really.

  • Gradius #70 4 years ago

    @chris_ace

    Have a quick Google on the Emotion Engine, there were quite a few false claims made as to its capability. I'm not sure what relevance the Wii has here though. The Wii is not designed to be a graphics powerhouse. Also, as far as I remember RE4 on the GC or Wii was visually more impressive than any PS2 game I ever played although that's probably debatable . The Cube (and obviously XBox) where definitely more adept at producing fancy visuals than the PS2 though. Whether you preferred the visual style of some of the PS2 games you've mentioned is a very different debate.

    @Rash

    You sound like you're talking about an athlete or a race horse.The power of a processor (a man made component) is totally quantifiable, how devs work with said power in the future is not quantifiable but that's a totally different argument. The simple fact of the matter is, people expecting 'untapped' power will be disappointed, there's none to be had unfortunately. People expecting developers to improve their skills over time (on any platform they choose to work with) will not be disappointed.
    Edited by Gradius at 24/11/08 @ 17:55

  • Rash' #71 4 years ago

    Gradius, No I'm talking about understanding hardware as we have conventionally understood them. PS3 isn't such a platform, which is why there continues to be this discussion.

  • Les #72 4 years ago

    "how devs work with said power in the future is not quantifiable but that's a totally different argument. The simple fact of the matter is, people expecting 'untapped' power will be disappointed, there's none to be had unfortunately."

    Those two sentences contradict each other...

  • chris_ace #73 4 years ago

    Post deleted at 11:55:13 13-12-2011

  • celery7 #74 4 years ago

    I hope he's talking about one of those paintings of dogs in hats playing poker or billiards while smoking cigars.

  • CunningLinguist #75 4 years ago

    I showed some of my mates (exclusive xbox360 owners) the motorcycle section from MGS4, including the cutscene that sets it up. Towards the end one of them said, yeah it looks good, but what does it look like in game? At which point the camera sways behind snake, the HUD fades in and I start shooting left and right.
    Don't bash the PS3, if anything compare 360 games that came out in its second year with todays PS3 games. Gears 2 should be compared with whatever PS3 exclusive comes out at the end of 2009. But I have a sneaking sensation that will not happen due to reasons...

  • Gradius #76 4 years ago

    @Les

    "Those two sentences contradict each other... "

    Not at all. Saying a developer has the potential to better him/herself and become accustomed to working with a certain piece of kit is very different from people expecting the PS3 to 'magically' gain more horse power overnight through some kind of mythical 'tapping' of this elusive extra power. The systems power will always stay the same, it's true that over time the games will gradually get better (as with any and every console ever created) but to use a buzz word like 'untapped power' as if it is some how something 'new' and exclusive to the PS3 is ridiculous and those who believe it are just a little bit naive in my opinion.

    @chris_ace

    "as the ps2 has aged it has definitely reached is graphical potential sony 'claimed' "

    Eh? So it managed to push 3D graphical data nearly fifty times faster than the Dreamcast, did it? It managed to put out visuals comparable to Toy Story, did it? You see, I don't remember the PS2 ever doing those things but a Sony spokesman seemed to think it did?

    Here's a <a href=http://terror.snm-hgkz.ch/mirrors/thegia/sites/www.thegia.com/news/n990228b.html>link</a>. Here's <a href=http://i38.tinypic.com/2gyd381.jpg>another</a> just for lols, and wasn't the PS2 supposed to support REAL Player and a full network browser among other things? Didn't Sony claim PS2 was twice as powerful as XBox? Seriously, Chris, if you wanted to find out about these things via Google, it really wouldn't be hard, I just don't think you want to hear it tbh...

    Edit - Also, sorry but comparing the Wii and PS2 is pointless. The Wii was not designed for high end graphics, from what I can gather it's roughly the same power as the first Xbox and it was designed that way on purpose. Your comparison is like me saying "heh, my 1999 Porsche is faster than your 2008 1L Ford Fiesta", well duh, of course it is, the fiesta was not designed to out-perform a Porsche was it.
    Edited by Gradius at 25/11/08 @ 08:33

  • Les #77 4 years ago

    "Not at all. Saying a developer has the potential to better him/herself and become accustomed to working with a certain piece of kit is very different from people expecting the PS3 to 'magically' gain more horse power overnight through some kind of mythical 'tapping' of this elusive extra power."

    But nobody is claiming such a silly thing. What people are claiming is that, with the PS3 having a non-traditional (and therefore more difficult) architecture, it's more likely that it will take developers more time to make the best of the power available which leaves plenty of room for improvement in the future. Whether or not this is/was a smart route to take is up for debate.

  • SpyroViper #78 4 years ago

    Perhaps he was looking at Prince of Persia by mistake.

  • Picnic #79 4 years ago

    Looks like I'm the only one who objects to his use of a certain swearword when he is making a public statement. I'm not saying he's necessarily a bad person as a result but I question his intellect and if there are questions about the intellect of anybody in his position, those are serious questions.
    Edited by Picnic at 25/11/08 @ 22:36