Quantic Dream boss David Cage has informed Examiner today that the studio (most recently known for Heavy Rain) is already at work on not just one, but two new games, though no clues were given as to what these games might be.

“We currently work on two very different projects,” Cage explained. “Often, after a long and challenging project like Heavy Rain, it is difficult for the team to get excited again about a new idea. This is absolutely not the case at the moment at Quantic and all the team seems enthusiastic about the possibility of other projects.”

“The team and the company continue to grow in experience, confidence and talent.”

Read the rest of this entry »

Speaking to Joystiq during this the SXSW event this week, gaming luminary and all round nice bloke Peter Molyneux spoke highly of the PS3 exclusive Heavy Rain, seeing the game as an important step forward for the industry.

“I recommend anyone who wants to start to see the first glimpses of the future of video games to go out and buy it,” Molyneux stated

“But there’s no question in my mind that games like Heavy Rain — games that have a new fidelity in the way that they present their experiences; obviously made with cinematography and motion capture in mind — can really show the way forward to a new form of entertainment, which is evolving the story and choices and consequences.”

“But, personally, I could not bring myself to play more than 90 minutes, because the world that was there was so dark and so emotionally involving I felt emotionally beaten up,” Molyneux explained.

The man speaks wise words. If you haven’t played Heavy Rain, go out and buy it. Right this instance! You’re only denying yourself, you know?

There’s a rather big update to the European PlayStation Store this week, and the biggest highlight of this one is pretty obvious – the Heavy Rain demo is finally available for everyone to download!

If you haven’t already, be sure to check out our Heavy Rain demo impressions. We were certainly impressed, and you hopefully will be too.

There’s also… Frogger HD. Yes, really.

PS3 PlayStation Store

Downloadable Games

Frogger HD (£3.99/€4.99)

Switchball (£6.29/€7.99)

Demos (free)

Heavy Rain

Read the rest of this entry »

With access to the Heavy Rain demo coming to us earlier than expected, this gamer took it upon himself to download it as soon as he had the chance. My personal conclusion? It works, and it works far better than many cynical gamers thus far have been willing to believe it could.

The demo gives you three different segments to play through; a tutorial to guide you through the basic controls, an action heavy scene set in an run-down apartment block, and the crime scene of a murder committed by the Origami Killer, the character at the centre of Heavy Rain’s dramatic story-line.

The first part of the demo, the tutorial, begins with retired detective Scott Shelby making his way down a rain soaked alley, on his way to question someone in regards to their sons death at the hands of the Original Killer. Why he couldn’t just park his car in front of the apartment itself is never mentioned, but that’s a question for another time. For now, lets focus on the gameplay.

Read the rest of this entry »

We’ve often joked about funny ESRB ratings for certain games, but the description of Heavy Rain is far from it. In fact it’s quite the opposite, painting a picture of a very mature and incredibly dark game.

I’m just going to let the game’s description speak for itself. If Heavy Rain isn’t the game that comes through as the game that finally broke the “video games are for children” standard, I dunno what will.

*Spoiler warning*

Read the rest of this entry »

SCEA has just revealed the US box-art for Heavy Rain. The box-art shows the four main characters in the title – Ethan Mars, Madison Paige, Scott Shelby and Norman Jayden.

I don’t know the rest of you, but I find this cover really poor in comparison to the classy and understated PAL boxart. It simply tries too hard.

Heavy Rain hits store shelves in the US on February 23rd, on February 24th in Europe, and in the UK on February 26th.

Read the rest of this entry »

Quantic Dream’s long-awaited interractive fiction Heavy Rain will be released on February 26th, according to CVG. This is the UK release, which probably coincides with the general European release.

CVG sites “watertight retail sources” that Sony has penned in the date for the upcoming game, but Sony would not comment on this.

“That’s the date we’ve got and as far as we’re concerned they’ve committed to it,” said one of CVG’s sources.

WHAAAAAT?! Awww, come on guys!

Unfortunately, it’s true. According to GTTV (watch around the 19 minute mark) and the Heavy Rain’s producer, Quantic Dreams’ thriller will be released “next year”.

Until recently, the game was penned for a 2009 release. Sony has so far declined to comment on the delay, only to say only that the PS3 exclusive has no fixed date.

Looks like we’ll be waiting a while yet for this one then…

Gametrailers was recently updated with a massive Heavy Rain gameplay blowout, providing gameplay details from one of the levels from the game, as well as two interviews with the game’s director David Cage. The gameplay video introduces one of Heavy Rain’s four main characters, Norman Jayden, an FBI agent investigating the origami killer.

Just like Quantic Dream’s previous title Fahrenheit (Indigo Prophecy to you Yanks), the emphasis of Heavy Rain is on story. According to Cage this game is “an adult experience based on interactive storytelling. You make the decisions and these decisions affect the story”. Cage goes on to explain that all characters will each have their own strengths, skills and weaknesses. One of Jayden’s strengths is his ARI glasses, or “Added Reality Interface”. This device analyses his environment in real time and reveals hidden clues like tire tracks, blood, washed away paint, etc.

Those who have played Fahrenheit will obviously be curious to know if Heavy Rain features the same amount of Quick Time Events. The answer is a bit of a maybe. Instead of an obvious scripted outcome of each sequence, you can choose what happens in each sequence. Unlike most QTEs in current gen games, the player is often given more than a single button prompt, all of which offer different outcomes. Cage promises you will always be in control of your character.

Interesting to note about Heavy Rain is how it treats the deaths of its various characters: “In Heavy Rain we wanted to get rid of that, because it goes against the idea of interractive storytelling,” says Cage in an interview with GT, “A story is something that cannot go back”. In Heavy Rain the story will continue in spite of a character dying, and when a character does die it’s never because you did something wrong. It’s because you put that character in a death-only situation.

The videos are not pre-rendered, the game is currently in a playable Alpha-stage and will, according to Cage be on time.

Sony seems to be giving PS3 fans a lot to be happy about this years, and they’re more than willing to let us know about it, proudly (and rightfully) boasting about the PS3′s strong exclusive line-up for the year ahead.

“I think we had a very good line-up in 2008, especially for the holidays, but in 2009, it’s an absolutely amazing line-up,” SCEA VP Scott Rohde told Edge today. “It’s one of the best line-ups that we’ve ever put out in a single calendar year, so it’s very, very exciting.”

PS3 exclusives planned for this year include Heavy Rain, InFamous, Uncharted 2: Among Thieves, MAG, and God of War III. And apparently, there’s more that’s yet to be announced.

“There are several titles that are in the works that we have yet to announce,” said Rohde.

If that doesn’t get PS3 owners excited, nothing will!

The concept art below comes from the very talented pen of former Quantic Dream employee, Morgan Yon, containing some sketches as well as rendered scenes from within the game.

The pictures can be found after the cut

Read the rest of this entry »

Quantic Dream’s David Cage sat down with 1UP to talk about their upcoming PS3 exclusive, Heavy Rain. The game will utilize the SIXAXIS controls, mainly to interact with the environment or selecting an option during a conversation.

Cage expanded upon this idea stating that the SIXAXIS control will be used for “violent actions requiring you to push, hit or kick in general”. The face buttons will only be used during PAR (what Cage calls QTE sequences), not outside them.

As many have already deduced, the plot-heavy and emotionally driven game will be primarily offline, a single-player title. Cage confirmed this but again mentioned about forms of download content could be in the works. “The game will support the Trophy system and may offer some kind of extra content online, but Heavy Rain is a single-player experience.”

Read the full interview here.

Quantic Dream’s David Cage, in an interview with 1UP, confirms that the upcoming “Heavy Rain” will be single-player only, without any online play component.

“Heavy Rain’s an experience about interactive narrative and emotion, and we really wanted to focus on making these core elements right,” said Cage.

“The game will support the Trophy system and may offer some kind of extra content online, but Heavy Rain is a single-player experience.”

But that’s not all! Cage also said the game will not be using the controller buttons in-game after all. A preview of the game at at GC08 showcased QTEs not unlike those seen in previous Quantic Dream title, “Indigo Prophecy”

“We don’t feel the need for them at the moment,” said Cage.

There’s a full interview through the link.

We all know Heavy Rain is unique, nor least because its story continues even if your character dies. So what does that mean? Do you get the chance to re-play sections if things don’t go your way? And just how does a game carry on if you die?

Quantic Dreams founder, David Cage, explained things a little to CVG. Apparently there will be a checkpoint system so you can retry, but Cage implores you not to rely on it.

“Yes, there will be the opportunity for players to replay as much as they want from where they want, but we would really like to encourage them not to do so – to continue to play with one story bearing with the consequences of their actions,” he said. 

“This is what’s exciting about it,” he added. “This is a story that you told. It’s pretty unique. So why would you want to do everything perfect and change what you’ve done. You will be able to redo what you like but we recommend not to.”

David Cage, boss of Quantic Dream, confirmed that the scene from Heavy Rain shown was a bonus level – not part of the main plot at all. The scene showed a journalist being chased through a house by a murderer, and it now appears it has nothing to do with the main story.

Cage did say that the level was likely to appear in the retail version of the game though, for those who still want to find rooms full of stuffed ladies.