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Hands-on: Heavy Rain introduces Scott Shelby
I don't think I'm being too cynical or jaded when I say that it's hard for me to get legitimately excited for video games anymore. I love playing video games, and I heartily appreciate the good ones -- but the games that fill me with keep-you-up-at-night anticipation are few and far between. After playing Heavy Rain for the first time on the show floor at PAX, something tells me my slumbers will soon be interrupted by Quantic Dreams' upcoming ... well, for lack of a better term, interactive movie.
Cage: Multiple playthroughs of Heavy Rain could 'kill the magic of it'
In a recently posted excerpt from a GamesCom 2009 interview, Quantic Dream's David Cage told G4TV that multiple playthroughs of the upcoming Heavy Rain could "kill the magic of it." Cage's hope is that players approach the title as they do life -- with no second chances -- but the dev understands (and accepts) that players will eventually attempt to relive the experience. "The right way to enjoy Heavy Rain is really to make one thing because it's going to be your story. It's going to be unique to you. It's really the story you decided to write." While Cage is fine with players going back to experience the title multiple times, we have a sneaking suspicion that Quantic is working on an Inspector Gadget style self-destruction feature for Heavy Rain's retail release. %Gallery-30067%
David Cage explains Heavy Rain's striptease
We were personally scandalized by the Heavy Rain scene that featured one of the lead characters, Madison, stripping as a means to gain information. But Quantic Dream's David Cage explained to Eurogamer that it was all part of the plan. "You need to go through different emotions," Cage said, "and showing this scene in particular was for us a test to see if we can make people feel like Madison, having to get naked to do a striptease in front of this ugly guy, and obviously it worked because people felt very uncomfortable." Cage later added, "Besides, did you see the sales numbers for Indigo Prophecy? Either we added a striptease or space marines with giant guns shaped like John Madden." ... No, no, he didn't say that. But he had to be thinking it, right?
Quantic Dream considering DLC sequels, prequels for Heavy Rain's characters
Don't fret -- Quantic Dream founder David Cage isn't planning on charging you for the ending to the studio's upcoming Heavy Rain. In a recent interview with VideoGamer.com, Cage explained that the game's eight to ten hour story was "a self-contained experience," but that Quantic is "talking with Sony at the moment about having maybe extra downloadable content, maybe with prequels or sequels about the characters." He added that players will most likely "get attached to some of them and will want to know them even better." We don't doubt Quantic Dream's proven ability to tell captivating stories, but we have one qualm with this statement -- what if all our characters get offed by the Origami Killer? Sure, the prequels could ostensibly still work, but sequels starring corpses probably wouldn't be that interesting.
Heavy Rain features 10 voiced languages, subtitles in 6 more [update]
Heavy Rain will be fully voice acted in 10 languages, with subtitles available for all spoken languages, plus six more languages. These details were disclosed during a presentation at GamesCom this afternoon, when Quantic Dream founder David Cage introduced Pascal Langdale (pictured right), the actor playing the English-speaking version of Heavy Rain's Ethan Mars, and discussed the extensive voice work necessary for the game's many branching scenes. Knowing a single Blu-ray disc can store language data in bulk, we were curious about how many language options would be available in the game. As it turns out, if Cage had brought in all of Mars' voices, the room would have gotten pretty tight. Check out the confirmed list of languages after the break. (We're still waiting for official confirmation on a couple -- the Quantic Dream team couldn't name them all off the top of their heads.) Update: Heavy Rain's associate producer and localization manager, Romain Castillos, has given us the official list of languages and subtitles. %Gallery-70367%
Heavy Rain's David Cage wants to set the record straight on QTEs
"No! We don't make Dragon's Lair! This is not Dragon's Lair – do you think I'm crazy? I'm not stupid. Do you think I develop on PlayStation 3 to do Dragon's Lair again? It would be absurd. Of course it's not." We typically lead into quotes with a bit more background than that, but those who've read message board diatribes dismissing the upcoming Heavy Rain as nothing more than a series of Quick Time Events surely understand the frustration of Quantic Dream founder David Cage -- who owns the mouth from which the above quote was uttered during a press demonstration at GamesCom 2009. Cage went on to explain "when there is an action sequence, yes we integrate [these] QTE sequences," but the rest of the time, the player will have full control as they navigate the game's four characters through a deep, choice-riddled story. That actually sounds pretty reminiscent of Quantic's last game, Indigo Prophecy / Fahrenheit. That's great and all -- but we actually wouldn't be disappointed by a new installment in the Dragon's Lair franchise. We admit it -- we're Dirkheads, through and through.
New Heavy Rain trailer is all about love
Fresh from Gamescom comes a brand new trailer and screenshots for Heavy Rain, PS3's exclusive "psychological thriller." This latest trailer reveals a brand new character on his quest, one in which everything was done out of love. "How far will you go to save someone you love?" the trailer asks. We'll all find out when the game debuts next year. %Gallery-70367%
Heavy Rain producer talks characters, story, deaths
If your thirst for information regarding Quantic Dream's upcoming psycho-killer drama, Heavy Rain, has yet to be slaked, you may want to check out the above video. It features an interview with the game's executive producer, Guillaume de Fondaumiere. No OMGMegatons are dropped during the duration of said interview, but Fondaumiere does explain the inspiration behind the game's story, and gives a few more details into the two out of the four characters the developer has chosen to reveal. Try not to get too attached to these protagonists -- Fondaumiere also reminds us in this video that any of them could die at the drop of a hat. Or rather, a knife, assuming said knife drops into one of their more vital locations.
Heavy Rain's David Cage to deliver keynote at GDC Europe
Administrators of the European version of the Game Developers Conference just revealed yet another keynote speaker for the event -- not at all shockingly, the speaker is Quantic Dream CEO and founder David Cage, whose company has released titles such as Omikron: The Nomad Soul and Fahrenheit (or Indigo Prophecy, as it was known in the States), and is currently hard at work on Heavy Rain. Considering said studio is based out of Paris, we suppose Cage is European enough to keynote the conference.Cage's address sounds pretty interesting -- it's titled "Writing Interactive Narrative For A Mature Audience." Considering what we've seen of Heavy Rain, he's probably the right person to deliver such a speech. However, considering what we remember of Indigo Prophecy, the first half of the speech will likely be gripping and insightful, and the second half will be nigh-incomprehensible. We fully expect to hear Illuminati conspiracy theories spoken in Esperanto. Backwards. [Image] [Via Edge Online]
Quantic Dream selling motion capture libraries
One look at Heavy Rain, and you'll know it was an expensive, expensive game to make. Looks like Quantic Dream is already thinking up new ways of recovering the costs of the enormous project. The developer of the upcoming PS3-exclusive adventure game is selling its motion capture data in library packages. The offering will be what Quantic Dream calls "the industry's first high-end, off-the-shelf solution for real-time 3D character animation," according to a report by Develop.Considering the developer spent nearly a year doing motion capture work on Heavy Rain, it's no wonder why the developers are touting their work.
Impressions: Heavy Rain
Heavy Rain is not your typical game -- the experience promises to change and morph throughout the different scenes. While the Taxidermist and Mad Jack scenes are reasonably similar, with our protagonists infiltrating areas for clues and then making their escape after being discovered, the new scene shown off at E3 by Quantic Dream's David Cage illustrated how situations and gameplay styles will differ throughout. This new scene does exactly what it says on the tin. Named "Madison At The Blue Lagoon," it follows the exploits of our female protagonist, Madison -- who you may recognise from the Taxidermist scene -- at a busy club called the Blue Lagoon. Madison has gone in search of the club's owner, Paco, in order to get new information regarding something. As usual, Quantic Dream's David Cage is appropriately cagey about giving away too much of the story. In contrast to the other scenes we've been shown, which have involved only a couple of characters at a time, the Blue Lagoon is packed full of people. Madison weaves through them naturally and realistically as she makes her way through the dancing throng towards the bar. This game's graphical fidelity tends to range from "incredible" to "a bit iffy," but this scene looked great, despite the relatively large number of characters on screen. With a Q1 2010 release date and with the game 70% done, there's still time to iron out any graphical kinks. %Gallery-30067%
Overheard@E3: We're here to learn
"We're not here to have sex. We're here to learn something." -- Quantic Dream's David Cage on the objective in a new Heavy Rain scene debuted during a breakout session today.We quietly chanted the mantra as the character, Madison, was forced (by consequences in the game demo) to strip down to her bra and thong, bend over, and shake it, shattering the fourth wall and our tolerance for dark rooms packed with strangers.
Heavy Rain keeps it 'real'
Remember that old lady that's actually an evil AI in Indigo Prophecy? Or the part where nanomachines bring you back to life, and you start running on walls as helicopters chase you? Yeah, Heavy Rain ain't going there. "That's absolutely not the case with Heavy Rain," explained Quantic Dream's David Cage, director of both the aforementioned Indigo Prophecy and forthcoming Heavy Rain, when questioned during an E3 breakout session about the very real possibility of "fantasy" elements in the studio's new game. The ARI (Advanced Reality Interface) technology, pictured in action above, is "the only liberty we took," Cage assured. "It's not a sci-fi game; no magic; no alien nothing; just reality." So, we guess that rules out having undead sex again?
Sony forecasts Heavy Rain for Q1 2010
A Sony representative has confirmed to us that Heavy Rain won't start pouring until the first quarter of 2010. Quantic Dream's David Cage told us that Heavy Rain would most likely get lost in the shuffle, among the Modern Warfare 2s and the Assassin's Creed 2s and that a Q1 2010 release suits the game much better. For those anticipating the game's release this is undoubtably a disappointment, but a release during this period may mean better sales figures, which may mean more games or DLC for the series. See? Every rain cloud has a silver lining.
Heavy Rain: No game over, just game endings
Heavy Rain's got four main characters. All of them can die. So, it's essentially four "lives," and then, game over, right? Not quite. Quantic Dreams is challenging the ingrained notions of game endings. Sure, if your clumsy button presses manage to kill off all four of your characters, the game's mysterious antagonist, The Origami Killer, gets away. But this is simply one of many potential outcomes in a player-created story, director David Cage explained during an E3 breakout session for the game. Even if all four die, there will still be "a sense of closure." Speaking to this design, Cage confirmed that during a single playthrough, "you never get to come back to scenes you've visited before." The save system is "transparent" and records data any time something significant happens. "You don't need to bother about saving," Cage insisted. "I would like people to play this game without playing too much with the saving system." In all, the game contains roughly sixty, 15-minute "scenes" (levels), but Cage encourages players to weave their own complete dramas from the potential pieces. He suggested that everyone play the game from start to a finish once, "and maybe never play it again." Cage's advice is to not attempt to progress to a "right" ending or play out every scene, but for each player to create a "unique story that they have written themselves."
Video: Meet the various faces of Heavy Rain
Pole dancers, zebra suits and hanging crosses, oh my! These are just some of the sights to spot in this new Heavy Rain trailer from E3. Take a very close look at some of those new faces; any one of them could be one of the four mysterious playable characters that were hinted at previously. We've already met Jayden, Mad Jack and Madison, but who are all the others? %Gallery-30067%
Interview: David Cage of Quantic Dream and Heavy Rain
We recently had our precipitation-sodden paws all over Heavy Rain: The Origami Killer, and then chatted with David Cage, a man who wears plenty of hats at developer Quantic Dream. In addition to founding the studio, he's also the head game developer, writer, co-CEO, director, and chief bottle washer. So, who better to walk us through the trippy thriller that goes where Indigo Prophecy feared to tread? Read on to find out some new tidbits about the game, how Fight Club inspired the interface system and why his favorite ending to the game is when all four characters die. Plus why, like Guillermo del Toro, he believes that the interactive entertainment industry is long overdue for a Citizen Kane (or in Cage's case, a Slumdog Millionaire) of games. %Gallery-30067%
Hands-on: Heavy Rain
click to enlarge Everything we'd seen up until the point we finally got to play Heavy Rain: The Origami Killer wasn't actually Heavy Rain. It was either an early tech demo ("The Casting") or a gameplay proof of concept ("The Taxidermist"). The one thing present in every version: emotionally charged situations. Quantic Dream says it set out to tell a gripping story, so it developed the technology needed to create game characters that players could actually see as real people -- and environments that look as lifelike as they do dreadful. Before we played an all-to-brief scene from the game's total of around 60, designer David Cage dropped a couple of major details on us. First, players will assume the role of four distinct characters in the game, each with their own scenes and whose paths never intersect as they attempt to answer the game's tagline -- "How far are you prepared to go to save someone you love?" –- and solve the mystery of the titular Origami Killer. %Gallery-30067%
Heavy Rain footage surprisingly light on precipitation
The fine folks at 1UP managed to secure some face time with Heavy Rain game director David Cage and picked his brain on the upcoming title from Quantic Dream. Cage talked about the game's four main characters, and how they can each actually die in the game, and how such a catastrophe would affect the other playable characters. They talk about other things as well, but the thing to point out here is the plethora of gameplay footage, which we know is really what you're after. It's okay, feel free to use us for our embedded video past the break. We'll just be in the corner, crying, while you enjoy the gameplay. %Gallery-30067%
Supposed Heavy Rain pics give sneak peek at new characters
We're not entirely sure if these new images of Heavy Rain are real assets from the game, but they do look eerily similar to what we've seen of it before. Are these photos part of an upcoming feature (or video content) in the European mag PSM3? Quite possibly, since its watermark is plastered on all the images. If these pics do prove to be legit, then we're looking at some of the most realistic facial renders ever seen. Just look at the attention to detail. And, is that Mexican bad-ass Danny Trejo (NSFW link) as a design inspiration? (Check the image after the break.) Wow, this game just got ten times more interesting. See the rest of the images here.
