Ben-DutkaAs Heavy Rain continues to rake in prestigious awards, the fans are all asking the same question: "what's next, Quantic Dream?"
They've already ruled out the possibility of a Heavy Rain 2 and we're just fine with that. The industry is constantly inundated with sequels and franchises and Quantic's last effort was so evolutionary and innovative, we'd actually prefer that it continues to stand alone. So what is the talented developer's next triumph? In speaking to the PlayStation Blog , Quantic boss David Cage reiterated their refusal to produce a sequel: "I wanted to show that this is a new genre that you can use to tell any kind of story, in any style," Cage said. As for their next project, which we can't wait to hear about:
"For our next project, we’re going to build on what we have discovered with Heavy Rain. We own this genre of Interactive Drama, and we want to show that Heavy Rain was not a coincidence; it is something that makes sense and we can build on it.
We’re going to be exploring a different direction, which will still be very dark and still for adults, but completely different to Heavy Rain. Our challenge is to satisfy our fans and also surprise them."
Now, Superannuation's Twitter page reveals a URL registration, a LinkedIn new hires page and a SCEE trademark registration that hints at a possible title: "Fiv5." The Quantic artist in question also seems to be working on a game called "Infraworld." It's only a matter of time before we learn more but for now, we're satisfied with Cage's hints; it's enough to know he will continue to push the envelope in the realm of interactive storytelling.
We're just all the more happy that Heavy Rain was a huge success. It means these guys will take the next step.
Whatever they are making I'm buying it.
Indeed.
It will be intriguing to see what Cage comes up with, no doubt!
Q!
"play.experience.enjoy"
Agreed. Heavy Rain was an incredible experience. Would love to see what they're planning to do next.
Agreed World!!
They're going to take the next big step in the Interactive Drama Genre!
Sounds good. Though for their next game I would like more control and incentive for exploration. Allow us to take further control of the characters and explore the environments as we see fit. Felt a little restrained in Heavy Rain.
I am so tempted to get me Playstation Move just to try it out on Heavy Rain. It'll be like playing for the first time all over again, except I'll still know the ending.
Whatever David Cage makes next, I'm in from Day 1. His adult-oriented titles that are mature and realistic in nature are exactly what I love. A mixture of great story-telling, emotional conflicts, innovative or different control schemes, it feels so fresh and new.
I hope he continues with that idea about the couple exploring their relationship and the truth about each other's past, or at least incorporate it into whatever game he's making next.
And Cage, please, PLEASE keep the multiple paths and multiple ending structure. It just makes the game feel alive and decisions far more important to the player.
Anyone else itching to see some screens for his next project? Or incredibly impatient for a teaser trailer? Oh Cage, you tease! Toying with your fans hearts like this. Whatever you release, you got my money (unless it's terrible and rushed, but that's not Cage's style, man!!)
I highly, highly recommend buying PS move and playing heavy rain with it. I started Heavy Rain with my DS3 when I got HR for Christmas. About 5-10 minutes in I decided to try it with move and never stopped. It's far more enjoyable, and adds so much more depth to the game. Can't say enough about it. It's gotta be the best example of how move should work and be implemented!
Last edited by bigrailer19 on 3/21/2011 9:54:27 PM
Indeed Bigrailer!
Dance, I bought Move at launch just to replay Heavy Rain with it. I loved every minute of it. It's like that game was made for Move.
Well, you won't really know the ending, just who the killer is.
Actually, I've platinum trophied Heavy Rain. Took ages and that driving scene against traffic took nearly 30 tries to get right for that final trophy!!
Judging by your responses, I think a PS Move is a must buy for me now. Also got Killzone 3, LBP2 and Dead Space Extraction to use it with. Virtua Tennis 4 looks amazing as well.
I'm really starting to regret wasting my money on Kinect. Only game I play on it is Dance Central, which is fantastic for parties and even family gatherings!! But if Dance Central came out on PS3 with or without Move functionality, I'd trade straight away.
Have you checked out that video of the guy who rigged a Kinect to work with PS3 with a simple code or patch? Booted up Killzone 3 with it. Could be rigged, but still, cancels out the 360 once again.
I got the driving trophy the first time, but I had it on the easy difficulty 🙂
I agree man, PS Move is a MUST for anyone who wants the FULL Heavy Rain experience! Not to say the DS3 isnt good, but the Move? Cant be topped…..
@Dancemachine55 LBP2 is the only peculiar case….it has Move functionality (according to the box art and LBP prehistoric moves) but there are NO levels or material to create levels with the "pink move stuff" (you'll understand if you play LBP Preshistoric moves)…thats the only thing that bugs me!
Well he just needs to hurry up on this next project. My girlfriend keeps asking me when it will be coming. Only game she has ever liked.
Whatever David's next project is, its a D1p. I want him to go all out on the PS3, squeeze every ounce of potential in the PS3 and make your next game the best as possible.
It kinda felt like he did that already with Heavy Rain. Production quality was amazing!! AND he created a whole new genre in the video game market himself!!!
Now that he has more money from Heavy Rain's success, hopefully financial and time constraints won't hold him back on his next vision. I hardly ever get excited over games these days, but Cage's games since Fahrenheit (Indigo Prophecy) have made me giddy like a teen in an adult bookshop.
If it is anything like Heavy Rain, it will be a day one purchase for me.
Maybe the story will catch me this time around. I'm willing to give it another try.
However they do need to make some changes to the concept for me to become "christened". Add more space, more exploration, make room for personal initiative to do things (I'm talking about real things, not putting plates on a table or tie your boss tie), let the player fumble about a little, investigate, figure things out, less hard-coded scripting.
After all, if the intended audience is adult, then we can do this without getting bored.
Last edited by Beamboom on 3/21/2011 10:47:07 PM
What do you mean by real things? Throwing the plate at your wife? lol
Haha! Thumbs up 🙂
No I mean things of some relevance to the story, in Heavy Rain that would mean things that investigators do in real movies or tv series to solve the case. Things that are "on topic" if you like.
You never see diaper change or tie knotting there, and for a reason: It's dead boring to watch, and something we usually don't even want to do! I'm amazed about how many who seem to think it's so much fun once you have to do it in a video game…!
I think there was way too many trivialities in Heavy Rain. It was not used simply as an effect to illustrate time passing by, or "a dull moment", or something like that, it was used too often as the "main attraction". And that's what made the whole experience so wrong to me. It turned out to be like a movie completely spoiled by one horribly poor editing job.
Directing a movie is a craftmanship, it's something that requre studies and loads of experience to get right. Now I don't know mr Cage's background, but I would be utterly surprised if he has any education at all as movie director. And since Heavy Rain is so much crossing boundaries into the realms of movies, that is a requirement if you want to get things 100% right.
Last edited by Beamboom on 3/22/2011 12:10:07 AM
Those trivialities were in there to make it feel more real, and to gain some sort of emotions for the characters. Sure, changing a nappy, and taking care of that baby may be boring, but it shows the compassion of that character, in that he actually takes the time to help out the mother, and the child as well. I would never say that it was fun, but I felt that most of those slower, more boring sections were indeed an integral part of the game, as it made you think about these characters as potentially real people.
That was the goal of Heavy Rain, not just entertainment. On the other hand, I do agree that there probably were too many of those kind of moments, but if I remember correctly, a lot of them were earlier in the game, as if to try to let you get a handle on the control scheme and get your reaction time up to scratch before throwing the more action packed sequences at you.
Not really disagreeing, not saying you're wrong. Just my opinion.
Peace.
I think you are right in that this was the intention of the "director", I just disagree in that way of solving the challenge of getting the audience tied to the characters.
Let's use other games as comparison. Especially RPGs: Think of three other titles where you got emotionally tied to the characters. Lately that's happened to me in both Mass Effect (multiple times) and Dragon Age. You may have other titles you want to use as examples.
But did they have *any* "dull moments" like the ones we talk about here, at all? So why did we get attached to those characters?
With a good story, told well, and with well crafted characters my claim is that we do not need the kind of activities we find in Heavy Rain. They are obsolete. Digressions. To be edited.
The only RPGs I've played so far as VC, FFXIII and Demon's Souls. The only of those that I felt any real engagement to the characters was VC. But, you bring up a point. I felt an emotional connection with Snake in MGS4. At the end, in that cemetery… I cried. I also felt some degree of the same in Uncharted 1 & 2. But I see your point in that none of these required almost tedious activities to attain that connection, but at the same time, none of them were aiming for the same sort of realistic atmosphere, and I think that that is why Heavy Rain has to viewed differently from most games.
Most games have an unrealistic plot. I don't necessarily mean in terms of the dialogue, but in the way that it's presented, as, in many of them, you're supposed to be the world's saviour. That wasn't the goal of Heavy Rain. It was a game in which you're simply trying to save a guy's son. It requires a much different method of getting to know the characters, particularly since most of it is through gameplay, rather than cutscenes.
Yes the stories may be of different genres, but the connection we feel is the same.
Although, there *are* movies where we do see plates being put on the table, nappy change, etc. My girlfriend watch those everyday dramas. But I don't. So why would I want to see that in a game?
Personal preference I suppose. I rather enjoyed it, and it helped me to connect with the characters in a 'real' way. With you not so much. That's all.
Peace.
Good call. Peace. 🙂
Does craftmanship not take study and experience?
Also, "trivial" things you mention are pretty damn important to character building. In good movies and stage plays, the "trivial" blocking is often the most important. That diaper changing was imperative to the development of Scott Shelby's character.
That's why I think Heavy Rain is so stellar. Not -every- action has a cause-effect relationship that gets you points or some sort of ribbon or advancement. It's meant for adults who love drama… who know how to look for the "trivial" nuances that dictate something about a character a million words could not.
Without that diaper scene, Shelby's character would not be nearly as 3 dimentional as it is.
I dunno… I guess you either appreciate drama or you don't at the end of that day. But those pointless actions are rarely pointless. An absolute ton can be told about a character with something as little as a glance at an iconic prop. Likewise, the lack of these pointless activities can force a character to be unbelieveable.
In my opinion, when an audience member fails to pick up on the importance of the mundane amongst action, they aren't interested in the characters. Only the action or the overall synopsis.
I agree, that if it were simple blocking without importance, it could be annoying, but that was rarely done in Heavy Rain. Setting a table nicely and calmly establishes the characters mood, while slamming dishes around clearly indicates their tempermental state. Either way, it's pretty important to establishing a starting point for that characters state, and sets the tone for the start of the scene or production. It may seem mundane, but it's obviously important.
These trivial acts NEED to happen to add importance to the peak moments. Without a properly set tone, an incredible moment often lacks power. If everything that we interact with is crucial gaming moments, then we aren't playing an interactive drama. We're playing an action game. How can they expect us to be fully engaged with the characters if we aren't placed inside their emotion? If you ask me, we need to be apart of every scene. Just watching a set up is not engaging, and being only involved in high stress moments is not interacting with the drama. It's taking action within the game.
I really would hate to see them remove that feature. I don't want them to role play us where we just go shopping in a way that doesn't develop the character, of course, but I would like them to do things the way they did with Heavy Rain. Every action was important, and I want to interact with the characters in their entirety.
Last edited by Underdog15 on 3/22/2011 8:49:19 AM
I think that was pretty much the conclusion we came to as well. But to repeat myself: You do not need trivialities like the mentioned to gain a connection to the characters and their mood. However I guess you *can* use such trivialities if it's part of a soap opera/everyday drama, and if that is your kind of movie then Heavy Rain is your kind of interactive movie too. No offense, we're all different.
But this is why I gained no connection whatsoever with the personalities involved, because I simply do not like those kind of movies. But it didn't help that the acting *sucked* in large parts of the movie either.
And let me just add that I'm not this "twitch"/action movie dude. I watch a lot of movies and can enjoy a good movie anyday. It's just, in my opinion Heavy Rain has very little in common with a good movie. Let me just use one single example that I think is so grimm that it really spoils the entire movie: The scene where that guy were supposed to select what instrument to cut off his own finger with. A horrible setting, right? Very emotional, very traumatic.
Did you notice the voice on that part? The actor must not have known the scene he were supposed to read the text for. The actor read the lines like he were considering what fork to use for dinner, or plate to use for dessert. Absolutely *no* emotion. Trivial, everyday manuscript reading.
The thing that was good about Heavy Rain is that it tried to be different. But as anyting that has to do with movie, it failed. I'd like to see the rating at imdb, to put it that way.
Last edited by Beamboom on 3/22/2011 11:31:46 AM
That's because it was his "thoughts" not actual wording coming from his mouth. You had complete control of the outcome of the game. If you think you should've been able to do what "real" investigators do then I think you missed out on many parts as Jayden.
You had complete control over every single thing. Fumble about more? Well you could do that. Figure things out? That was essentially the entire point and also why there are 22 endings.
I respect your opinion though. Just seems that what you want was already in the game…maybe just overlooked..because..Heavy Rain was one game I legitimately had no gripes or complaints about.
I get your points except for the soap opera bits. Soaps are entirely about dialogue, and only dialogue, so the trivial would seem to be evident, I suppose. I'm personally not into Soaps because I find them shallow. I just feel that good works of art should be about more than the dialogue. Personal tastes, I suppose.
But any… ANY good work of stage or movie art will pay attention to the apparently trivial. I can assure you of that. I've seen and been apart of many professional productions on stage. I even got to work with Christopher Plummer as an assistant director when I was in university for my theatre arts degree! (Admittedly, I only got to work with him for a weekend, but still… the guy's an acting genious!)
And I gotta tell you… his attention to detail is what makes his characters pop. One thing I'll always remember, is on stage, there was a prop that was a white scarf draped over a chair far upstage left. That scarf once belonged to his character's now deceased daughter. During a scene where he got in a heated argument with another character, he moved about the stage, raving out his lines, and with perfect timing right at the conclusion of his final sentence, he moved near the scarf, looked at it for a brief moment, and allowed his character to break down from anger to grief. There was a lot of other things going on, but the apparent meaninglessness of another character placing the scarf there earlier in the scene (which the director made a point of making time for), made the ending of the scene SO much more potent. Even the character who placed it there… the care she took in putting it neatly on the chair showed her compassion for the girl that died and the father despite the fact she never knew her. It sounds about as meaningless as changing a diaper, if you ask me.
You can argue this type of attention to detail has no place in games, fine. But it's not comparable to a "soap opera" or meaningless drama. There are lots of incredible drama's that pay attention to detail like this… see the million examples in Forest Gump, for example. And this is a drama… it's called an interactive drama. There's going to be elements of drama.
But I WANT this type of thing in a game like Heavy Rain. If it's to be an interactive drama, i don't just want to be apart of the climax. I want to be involved in the set up and development, too. This doesn't mean you're a twitch gamer, at all, nor was I implying that. It simply means I'm looking for something more/different due to the preferences I'm predisposed to.
Lastly, I know acting can sometimes hinder a performance, FOR SURE! But don't forget you can't always judge acting by the tone of voice. Sometimes it's not realistic for characters to have a vocal reaction to ALL emotions. And the biggest disadvantage we have in video games is a limited visual in the faces of characters. Pixels simply can't show a deep and distant look you can see in a person's eyes. But you're right. Some areas had poor voice acting.
Yeah you are right about the soap opera, that comparison sucked. I just struggle with placing these scenes where they belong, cause frankly I don't think they belong anywhere other than on the floor after the editing.
Your example with the scarf is very classic, often used effect (Spielbergs Schindler's List comes to mind, the little girls red coat) and all this is fine enough, had it only been used in Heavy Rain with some sort of soberness. But to use your scarf example, if this had been Heavy Rain they'd all be standing in a ring around that scarf, crying at it, shouting at it, tearing it apart. If you catch my drift.
It simply is *not* good craftmanship, this "movie/game".
Last edited by Beamboom on 3/22/2011 1:38:26 PM
Apparently it's subjective.
"Yes…you do own it, Mr. Cage!!!!
I'll buy ANY game he makes!
And I hope he also goes forward with that military FPS he stated that he'd love to do after his 2 projects are done, just to turn the whole military FPS world up-side down.
He also said that he would show the war interactively from the eyes of individual people in the game along with the war's horrendous cause & effects.
And IMO, if Cage finally decides to make this FPS, he'll truly have one hell of a "shock & awe" game on his hands
Not an FPS war game. A War-based interactive drama, with FPS sections. Now that would be something truly spectacular.
I'm thankful for his approach. As much as I'm going to love on White Knight 2, Infamous 2, Uncharted 3, I still look forward to new IP's that are innovative.
I can't say I look forward to them more, but as much as, just in a different way. I have enjoyed Heavy Rain a lot and I look forward to whatever Quantic Dream puts out.
Hope their next project isn't too over dramatic like few instances in Heavy Rain. And why did that dumb boy run away from his dad only to end up outside the mall across the street only too…well you know? Me and my brother never understood this part and thought this scene was handled poorly. I bet many won't agree with me on here, but whatever.
Haven't spent much time with children have you? Children don't do things for sensible reasons. They are easily drawn to things and often run without looking where they are going.
Well I don't know any child dumb enough to run away from their parents inside a crowded mall only to end up on the other side of the street then end up shocked their Dad was looking for them. I know kids do dumb ish, but this was just beyond retarded and shows the kid had no respect for his Dads presense. I would never do this and when I was this age, I didn't know anyone who would do such a thing. I have broke windows, randomly been hit by a car on my bike without supervision…but never in my life have I ran away from my parents in a mall, themepark, etc. I'm not stupid. This kid clearly was and irked me to see it…lol
Never known young children to wander away from their parents in crowded places?
Like I said you must not know children.
HA…I'm black, not to put race into this, but black kids know not to run away from their parents especially in a crowded place…call it streets smarts if you will. I am not saying blacks kids are smarter, but black kids don't disrespect their parents like that because they know the punishment isn't worth it unless their an a**. That kid in Heavy Rain was clearly stupid. Anyone who thumbed me down for saying this kid is stupid must either be very defensive towards Heavy Rain or must clearly believe his actions were justified b/c was a kid. That boy wasn't some little 2-5 year old, he was old enough to know better. Again, if you don't agree…then you don't know where I'm coming from.
I don't think color has anything to do with it, I think it would have to do with parenting. Most parents these days aren't great parents.
Most parents now want to be their kids friend instead of disciplining them and laying down the law. Regardless of color, any parent who teaches their kid not to run off would most likely not have this issue, but most parents don't parent.
That's true…bad parenting does lead to this, but I still stand by what I said.
Oh yeah, and I'm not saying black parents are the best parent or even practicing good parenting…just most black kids know not to cross their parents. I'm from LA and I know alot of bad parents and kids who do bad things…but these kids never run away from their parents (mother in most cases) and most of these kids know not to run in the street when a car is coming and that is why I say this kid in Heavy Rain is stupid. I didn't base that observation on race. Alright, enough about race…it doesn't matter right…lol
no you dont!
there are heaps of other developers out there that do just as good a job, if not better!
it would be like Ferrari saying we own the supercar market, where they clearly dont, have Lamborghini, Paganini, Maserati, ect ect nipping at there heels!
What other devs are working on Interactive Drama games, as they are described? Answer me that and I might be able to agree with you.
LA Noire?
plenty of games out there that have the same sense of drama as heavy rain.
L.A. Noire has elements of it in the engaging, and chaging storyline, but it is more like a detective action game. The sandbox style seems to take away from the linear focus on the story. That's the way it seems to me anyway, we'll find out in just under two months if that's true.
Peace.
QD doesn't just own the style. QD IS the style. I mean, what other devs are doing similar things? None that I can think of. So it's good to hear that they'll continue to support it, and create different narrative styles within it. I can't wait to see the direction that the next title from them will take. Fiv5 makes sense, so long as it comes after Infraworld, as to date they've only had three releases. Kind of makes me think that it's just a codename for now though. And Infraworld sounds like some SF type deal.
Bring it on Cage, and for God's sake, STAY SONY EXCLUSIVE!
Peace.
Can't wait to hear more! Loved Heavy Rain. Hopefully this next game is right up the same alley.