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Beyond: Two Souls dev diary features a kingly Dafoe
Behind-the-scenes footage, production notes, and mocapped kisses await in this brief developer diary video for Quantic Dream's upcoming PlayStation 3 adventure game Beyond: Two Souls. As a bonus, you'll also get to see Willem Dafoe perched on a stately throne. An extended version of this video will be featured in the GameStop-exclusive Beyond: Two Souls Special Edition.
Beyond: Two Souls puts on its warpaint
The Beyond: Two Souls demo I played at E3 featured protagonist Jodi Holmes as a CIA operative, undergoing a perilous mission in the war-torn streets of Somalia. Quite how Jodi and her accompanying supernatural entity 'Aiden' came to this point is unclear, and that's fine; Quantic Dream has a curious life story in mind for its unusual heroine, and this was a mere portion of the game's ten or so hours. Still, it was jarring. Heavy Rain often placed itself in the more normal, human situations that games tend to avoid. While it had its share of action, those sequences were smaller parts of bigger scenes, and not necessarily what defined them. In contrast, Beyond's Somalia demo offered 20 minutes of war-based intensity, and at times it outwardly resembled the medium's bevy of military shooters. It was weird. %Gallery-191353%
Beyond: Two Souls takes possession of UK retail on October 11
Beyond: Two Souls hits UK shelves on October 11, three days after the US launch on October 8, SCEE confirmed to Video Gamer. Sony announced the US release date in March, and a television ad in the UK this month featured the launch date across the pond. Beyond is the next game from Heavy Rain creator David Cage, and it stars Ellen Page and 160 other actors in a serious motion-capture setting. Yes, one of those actors is Willem Dafoe, and yes, Cage looked deep into our eyes and lied about that fact at San Diego Comic-Con last year. Nice try, Cage. Nice try.
New Beyond: Two Souls trailer premieres at Tribeca Film Festival [Update: Gameplay video]
Quantic Dream showed off its upcoming mysterious action-adventure game Beyond: Two Souls in a two-hour screening at the Tribeca Film Festival in New York on Saturday. The latest trailer for the game shows a young Jodie Holmes and her encounters with an unseen being she calls Aiden, which sets the tone for her struggles into adulthood.The game stars Ellen Page and Willem Dafoe, the latter having been officially revealed as part of the game's cast in March. Beyond: Two Souls will launch on October 8 for PS3.Update: GamesHQMedia has the 35-minute gameplay video from the film festival, which can be found after the break. Be warned: the video contains some spoilers. %Gallery-186984%
Beyond: Two Souls out Oct. 8, and Willem Dafoe's in it
Beyond: Two Souls, Quantic Dream's PS3 game about a superpowered Ellen Page, will be out October 8, Sony announced today. Joining the stable of actors to have their faces Uncanny Valleyed into the game is Willem Dafoe, who will play scientist Nathan Dawkins.Dawkins works with Page's character Jodie, studying her strange supernatural abilities for the government. While details of his role in the story have yet to be fully revealed – like whether his interests lie in helping Jodie or in capturing her – we'd venture to guess that Willem is da bad guy.Quantic Dream also revealed that GameStop (or EB Canada) pre-orders will get an extra "30-minute playable scene DLC, continuing the model that worked out so well for Heavy Rain. And all pre-orders, "while supplies last," will be upgraded to the "Special Edition" in a steelbook, with a soundtrack, extra video content, a dynamic theme, and avatars.Update: What's really interesting about Dafoe's presence in this game is that David Cage led us to believe Dafoe would not be in the game. Now that's acting.
Heavy Rain composer Normand Corbeil passes away, aged 56
Normand Corbeil, the celebrated screen and video game composer, has died at age 56. Corbeil, twice nominated for Emmy awards for his work on Hitler: The Rise of Evil and Human Trafficking, composed the award-winning music of Quantic Dream's Heavy Rain. He also co-composed Indigo Prophecy, and was working on the studio's next project, Beyond: Two Souls. After being diagnosed with pancreatic cancer in August 2012, Corbeil passed away on January 25.One of the key components of Heavy Rain, a game Joystiq doled out five stars to, was its powerful, often deeply melancholic music. As our reviewer put it, Corbeil's "superb" accompanying score drew you into the experience because it fit the situation so well.Our thoughts go out to his family, friends and colleagues. Gaming has lost a great composer, but Corbeil's work lives on, and we hope you take the time today to enjoy it.
Cage: Using a new engine for Beyond is crazy but 'we want to take risks'
Quantic Dreams boss David Cage admitted going with a newly developed engine for Beyond: Two Souls is "absurd," but defended the decision as one of passion and risk-taking. Speaking to Shacknews, Cage said that not re-using the engine Quantic toiled over for Heavy Rain was "absurd," but it's clear 'coulda' excites him much more than 'shoulda.'"We're just crazy people," Cage said. "We don't do this for money or fame. We want to take risks because we enjoy trying to push the envelope. Does it make sense from a company point of view? Not really, to be honest. Being the CEO of the company, I can tell you that it's totally absurd. But we enjoy it so much. We're a team of passionate people. This is 'what we should have done,' but we've done something else."Cage spoke to the Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences in our Hit List feature last month, noting Apocalypse Now and the works of Kubrick as the two greatest filmic influences on his creative process. Whether or not the creative channels he's chosen are Paths of Glory for Beyond remains to be seen.
Hit List Q&A: David Cage, founder of Quantic Dream
In the "Hit List" from the Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences, the video game industry's top talents describe their current gaming addictions, their most anticipated releases and more. This week: Quantic Dream's David Cage. David Cage founded Quantic Dream in 1997, with the ambition of using interactivity as a new means of expression. He developed a creative vision based upon emotion, innovation and immersive storytelling. After his first video game Omikron featuring famous singer David Bowie, the game Fahrenheit (Indigo Prophecy) received great critical acclaim and won several awards worldwide. In 2010, Heavy Rain, a dark thriller produced by Sony, met critical acclaim and commercial success, selling over 2.3 million units to date. Heavy Rain was the winner of three Interactive Achievement Awards in 2011 (now called the D.I.C.E. Awards) - Outstanding Achievement in Visual Engineering, Outstanding Innovation in Gaming, and Outstanding Achievement in Original Music CompositionIn 2012, Cage launched a new tech demo called KARA, featuring an android girl with an actress who delivered a stunning acting performance. Quantic Dream is currently in production of Beyond, a game written and directed by David Cage, starring actress Ellen Page. The game, produced by Sony exclusively on PlayStation 3, will be released in 2013.In his forthcoming 2013 D.I.C.E. Summit session, Cage will be speaking on "The Peter Pan Syndrome: The Industry that Refused to Grow Up." In a significantly changing landscape dominated by franchises, where new devices with 89c games get more and more of consumers' attention, the video game industry is confronted with a massive challenge. A new console cycle is about to start, new business models and platforms appear while creativity and risk taking has never been lower.The game industry, having always refused to grow up, is now confronted with a new dilemma: evolve or stagnate. The first and most important revolution to start is about content. Based on his experience and fifteen years in the industry developing original content, David Cage will explain in a passionate, thought-provoking presentation (with a French accent) his vision for content in the future and why he believes it is the key to expanding our market and finally become a mature industry.
Beyond: Two Souls discussion with Ellen Page and David Cage
There was a lengthy panel on Beyond: Two Souls back at SDCC, which revealed Kadeem Hardison will also play a starring role in the game. Immediately following the panel, both David Cage and Ellen Page sat down with the PlayStation Blog for the video interview above.Within, Page discusses her own relationship with games and how Heavy Rain really got her on board with what Cage is trying to do in Beyond: Two Souls. There's also a good deal of mo-cap footage, giving us a glimpse at some of the more physical acting Page has done so far for the game.
How Ellen Page is transported into Beyond: Two Souls
You can get a behind-the-scenes look at the complicated process of turning Ellen Page into virtual Ellen Page for Beyond: Two Souls, in this footage from yesterday's Comic-Con panel. It involves prop suitcases! And prop supine bodies!
Beyond: Two Souls features 160 actors, Ellen Page in a submarine
Watching a video of herself in a full performance-capture suit and reclined in a bucket seat on the set of Beyond: Two Souls, Ellen Page announced to the audience at Quantic Dream's San Diego Comic-Con panel, "And that's the submarine. Oh, shit."Quantic Dream founder David Cage laughed off the flub and Page continued to describe her experience with Beyond as "incredible" and "completely fulfilling.""My brain didn't even know how to process this opportunity," Page said. Once she met Cage at a bar in L.A. to read his script, however, her mind was made up, and filming turned out to be an incredible experience, she said. "It completely exceeded my expectations and was completely fulfilling as an actor."Beyond took 10 months and 160 actors to film, and that's after Cage spent one year writing the script. During that year, he referenced a photograph of Page with a shaved head from Mouth to Mouth, a movie she did when she was 16, for the main character, Jodie Holmes. He ended up using Page in later movies as models for Jodie as she aged through the game. By the time he finished writing he said he couldn't picture another actress in Page's place.Page seemed satisfied with Cage's decision as well: "What David has written is so powerful and so beautiful," she said. Beyond: Two Souls is due out in 2013 for PS3.
Willem Dafoe not starring in Beyond: Two Souls, Kadeem Hardison is
Actor Willem Dafoe is definitely not starring in Beyond: Two Souls, Quantic Dream's David Cage confirmed to Joystiq after a panel at San Diego Comic-Con. "Nice try," Cage said, shaking his head.Dafoe was previously rumored to be co-starring in Beyond alongside Inception's Ellen Page, who made an appearance at the Quantic Dream panel. Kadeem Hardison, best known for playing Dwayne Wayne on A Different World, was also at the panel to reveal his own role: a paranormal investigator who "raises" Jodie Holmes, Page's character.Video at the panel showed off Page with another actor, Eric Winter, both in full performance-capture suits and in a range of scenarios, from conversing around a dinner table to maneuvering in what appeared to be an earthquake. The identity of Winter's character has not been disclosed.
Rumor: Willem Dafoe co-starring in Beyond: Two Souls
Willem Dafoe is slated to co-star alongside Ellen Page in Quantic Dream's Beyond: Two Souls, BroGamer reports, citing an anonymous source. Dafoe is known for his roles in movies such as Platoon, The Boondock Saints, Spider-Man and Antichrist.We reached out to Sony for clarification, and received the following response: "We don't typically comment on rumors or speculation about our products so nothing to share at this time."Quantic Dream announced Page's leading role at E3 this year and showed us an action-packed demo that highlighted the studio's performance-capture technology. During the demo, Quantic Dream's David Cage didn't hint at Dafoe making an appearance, though he did recall fondly his first experience in snagging a high-profile celebrity for one of his games:"I was fortunate enough to have worked with David Bowie on my first game," Cage said. "When you've done that in your career, you say, 'I can get anyone.'"Cage also confirmed that the police officer in Beyond's E3 trailer is portrayed by the same actor who played Paco, "the man with the strange jacket in the club," in Heavy Rain.
Beyond: Two Souls puts the 'act' back in 'action' with Ellen Page
Quantic Dream snagged actress Ellen Page for its new PS3 game, Beyond: Two Souls, and premiered a trailer during Sony's E3 press conference to show off her high-profile, performance-captured video game debut. Naturally, the video Quantic chose featured Page's character sitting absolutely still, not talking and looking like Sinead O'Connor's reaction gif to Two Girls One Cup.The demo Quantic Dream mastermind David Cage showed the press the following day went a long way to demonstrate Page's proficiency in a video game world, though it still didn't highlight any deep dialogue or empathetic scenes.Executive Producer Guillaume de Fondaumière played a half-hour action sequence filled with train-top rain battles, stealing motorcycles from cops and exploding helicopters -- but Beyond is much more than a single demo can contain."There is also emotion," Cage said. "We just showed you one walkthrough. But you could have played it in many different ways. In the entire scene, there are scenes inside the scenes that we didn't show you."Sceneception.
Here's that Beyond - Two Souls trailer you were waiting for [Update: Now with gallery!]
Quantic Dream's next project, Beyond – Two Souls, is looking just as good as we'd hoped. What's that? You wanna see for yourself? As it turns out, we've got the trailer just above. You should probably watch it a few times and tear it apart and then let us know about all the cool stuff you saw. Not that we're suggesting you do that or anything.%Gallery-156993%
Quantic Dream's next game is 'Beyond - Two Souls.' heading to PlayStation 3
Heavy Rain development studio Quantic Dream unveiled its next big PlayStation game tonight during Sony's press conference, dubbed "Beyond – Two Souls." for PlayStation 3. Studio head David Cage says it follows a young lady named Jodie Holmes across the course of her life, and she'll be played by actress Ellen Page.The gameplay clip shown off has the characteristic look of Quantic Dream's past work, except the gameplay seems to be far more action-heavy than past titles. We'll have the first look up as soon as its available, so keep an eye out!
