Quantic Dream reveals new prototype, serves as the foundation for studio's future [Update: Now with video!]
Update: The PlayStation Blog has uploaded some video, which we've conveniently embedded above.
Developer Quantic Dream has revealed a new tech demo, which showcases how the company has progressed since launching its 2010 PS3-exclusive Heavy Rain. Cage named the demo 'Kara.' The new technology is meant to serve as the foundation for his company's future but is not itself an announcement of a new game. The studio revealed its technology for Heavy Rain in 2006 with a similar video dubbed 'The Casting.'
Quantic Dream founder David Cage revealed the demo moments ago during his ongoing GDC 2012 panel focused on the subject of virtual actors, performance capture, and art direction.
With its new technology, Cage says his team can scan anyone and create them easily within their development pipeline. The demo featured a robotic woman being assembled and quizzed by an offscreen voice as her body was being pieced together. Her directives enable her to be used as a cook, cleaner, sexual device or more.
When her assembly is completed, she is told that she is a product. Her questioning leads the offscreen voice to deem her a buggy model and orders her to be disassembled. Kara begs for her life, screaming that she was only "just born." Tears fall from her face as machines rip her apart before she makes one final, whimpered plea. The man stops the machines, reassembles her, and asks her to behave. Kara survives and is placed on a conveyer belt with other models that look identical to her.
The entire demo was running in real time on a PlayStation 3, Cage said, who also called Sony an important "partner." Near the end of his talk, Cage admitted that the Kara demo shown was one year old, based on version one of the technology. Currently, the tech is at version three. Cage said that when asked if games using this technology would look like the demo, he responded that "it will look much better."
