Heavy Rain - Light info appears and two vague screenshots.

[eternalinferno]

Did SotC sell really well? I thought it was more of a cult hit.

i would think it sold well since its a greatist hits title

 

[Tron Bonne]

Impressions of the E3 demo from Joystiq

http://www.joystiq.com/2009/06/08/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.



This scene seemed longer than the Mad Jack level, so we won't guide you step by step through Madison's adventure at the Blue Lagoon. We'll gloss over the fact that Madison is required to tart herself up and do a sexy dance in order to get invited into the VIP area where Paco is hiding behind his security goon. And that there are sections where a steady hand is required to put on lipstick, eyeliner and mascara -- which left us wondering whether a particularly heavy handed player could leave the poor girl blinded for the rest of the game.

It may sound like a Charm Girls Club title at this point, but this is just a prelude to a far more intense and creepy part of the scene, even moreso than previous levels that have been shown. As Madison and Paco head upstairs to an empty room to "talk in private," it's clear things are about to get unsettling. David Cage verbalized what everyone in the audience was thinking: "Be careful. I want information, but I don't want to get raped." A philosophy worth living by.

Once the two characters are alone we learn that Madison has a tiny firearm in her handbag, so our worry lessens. That is, until Paco beckons her away from her handbag which she just put down on a nearby chair. A dumb move and one that has Madison quickly seeking an exit. Paco's not having any of it, however, and pulls a gun of his own, demanding she strip for him.


So begins Heavy Rain's stripping miniscene. It's pretty creepy and intense, but that doesn't mean we don't expect to see a lot of you playing it through to the end, resulting in Madison's potential rape and death. As Madison dances for the sinister, lip-licking Paco her mind is cloudy and erratic -- thanks to the stress -- so reading her thoughts as they zoom around her head is much harder than normal. Choose the wrong one and Paco will soon request another piece of clothing be removed.

Cage took it as far as is appropriate for what was technically a business meeting, with Madison down to her bra and panties, before selecting the correct option and knocking Paco out with a nearby lamp and tying him to a chair. As we describe it, it sounds more like a movie than a game, but there's input for every option or decision that the player makes. Be it a timed button press, a controlled push of the right analogue stick or using the SIXAXIS motion controls.

With Paco where she wants him, Madison proceeds to interrogate him. Of course, he won't co-operate, so she takes ownership of his most valued possession -- his genitals. Applying some crushing pressure -- "you don't have the whole experience, because it vibrates" the demonstrator told the audience -- she begins to get some information out of him, but not before one of his goons knocks on the door to check everything's ok.


Madisons thoughts are less erratic now and fake sex noises see that the guard gives them some privacy. In case you haven't noticed, this is not a game for children. It's not handled immaturely, either. This is an adult story told in a grown-up way to a post-pubescent audience.

The demo ended around then, but David Cage took some time to answer a few questions. He reiterated that the game is completely grounded in reality, unlike Indigo Prophecy, and that the only thing in the game that doesn't exist in real life (yet) is the ARI gadget used in the Mad Jack scene. The game contains over sixty scenes, each around 15 minutes or so, though depending if your characters die or not, you may see more or less.

Cage also said that he would love for Heavy Rain to be a storytelling platform, which makes sense to us. He can see it being used to tell any story in any genre. We're not sure how plausible that is from a licensing standpoint -- or whether Sony would allow others access to the engine -- but it's definitely something we'd like to see. Before that, though, we're really looking forward to the game itself finally hitting shelves early next year. Lecherous club owners, and all.

 

[TheCorpulent1]

David Cage verbalized what everyone in the audience was thinking: "Be careful. I want information, but I don't want to get raped." A philosophy worth living by.

That part made me snicker.

The thought-based gameplay sounds similar to some parts of Indigo Prophecy, only a bit more evolved. I like how HR is working the controller options into the actual scenes, too. They were all plastered across the top of the screen in IP.

The whole scene sounds very uncomfortable and creepy, but in a good way since the story is supposed to be a crime thriller. I just wish it were closer to being complete. Q1 2010 seems so far away.

 

[Tron Bonne]

http://kotaku.com/5294831/lots-of-work-still-needed-for-heavy-rain

Satisfied with how upcoming thriller Heavy Rain looks? Don't be. Not one to be complacent, developer Quantum Dream says the eagerly awaited game still needs lots of work.

"We're still at the alpha stage and there's a whole lot of work to be done," said Quantic Dream's David Cage. "There's so much fine-tuning in the game left to do. Everything has to be perfect. If there's one thing wrong in a scene, it's the only thing you'll see. There are many things that don't work right now. We need to have everything in place, from facial animations, to score to work out the final result."

This is exactly the kind of stuff you want to be hearing from Quantum Dream. PS3 exclusive Heavy Rain: The Origami Killer has a release window of early 2010.

Looks like QD is really fine tuning this, can't wait

 

[TheCorpulent1]

Heh, Kotaku got their name wrong. Twice.

Good to know, though. If those demos and trailers are HR at the "alpha stage," I'm practically wetting myself thinking of how it'll look when it goes gold.

 

[Tron Bonne]

Hah, they did, I didn't even notice

 

[TheCorpulent1]

Sounds like Sony knows what they're in for as far as Heavy Rain's unusual gameplay and actually welcome it:

Michael Denny, Vice-President of Sony's European studios is the person who decided to give Heavy Rain a shot on PlayStation 3, talking on the subject he said:

"Heavy Rain is a game that can appeal to different audiences, I can’t wait until the industry gets a chance to see more of it and consumers get to play it. It’s a title that is played in your head; it’s not about skill, twitch gaming or controlling the pad, it’s about decision-making, and the right choices. It’s designed to draw players in."

So Heavy Rain require gamers to think carefully about decisions, and provides a different style of gameplay than any other game available. The reason he decided Sony should publish Heavy Rain, and other titles such as LittleBigPlanet was also mentioned:

"...within Sony what we want to do is allow for disruptive products, differentiators, and something that’s innovative."

http://www.ps3center.net//news/3254/heavy-rain-a-game-that-can-appeal-to-different-audiences/

 

[Tron Bonne]

This doesn't mean much to us lowly consumers, but I thought it was interesting:

http://www.developmag.com/news/32209/Heavy-Rain-dev-to-sell-mo-cap-packages

Quantic Dream’s famed mo-cap studio is launched the Motion Kit Collection, an “evolving library” of animations and captured motions.

Motion Kit Collection Vol 1 will feature 2 motion kit libraries (one for both sexes), each comprising 84 generic motion animations, which totals 2 X 7 linear minutes of animation data.

Quantic Dream – the French studio behind Fahrenheit (Indigo Prophesy) and the upcoming Heavy Rain – say that the new Motion Kit Collection is “the industry’s first high-end, off-the-shelf solution for real-time 3D character animation”.


With each humanoid animation captured using Quantic’s 28-camera Vicon MX-F40 system, the motions can be used for building motion kits for both playable real-time characters and NPCs. Quantic has said this process will “reduce time and budget outlays for prototyping, pre and full productions.”

The animation package is available in .fbx format, which are linkable with 3D software pipelines such as MotionBuilder, Maya, 3DS Max or XSI.

The animations were recorded at Quantic’s Virtual Actor Studio in France.

 

[TheCorpulent1]

Cool. I have no idea what a linear minute is, but anything that makes developing good-looking games easier is good.

 

[Tron Bonne]

The delay to 2010 has been made official

http://www.1up.com/do/newsStory?cId=3175148

For adventure aficionados, Heavy Rain is one of the most anticipated games in recent memory. And while a GamesIndustry.biz interview confirms development is coming along smoothly, it won't hit this year due to an overcrowded holiday season. Quantic Dream co-CEO Guillaume de Fondaumiere said that the project is "on time, on budget," but says the decision to release it in early 2010 was made for a few reasons. "Most publishers today realize that it's not ideal to release a new IP or a new genre just before Christmas," he says. "It's a very crowded place to be, and certain games need more space to live their life." He also points out that they've always known their release window stretched into 2010, and calls it "important for the game to be polished up until the last minute."

He addresses tent pole releases and their differing sales models too. "One shooter could shoot another shooter out of the charts to a certain degree," he points out. "For innovative titles that stand out, that are different and have almost no direct competition to a certain degree, then you can see a longer lifespan." He calls Little Big Planet "hugely successful" for its slow steady sales, and it sounds as if he hopes Heavy Rain will follow suit.

 

[Electro UK]

That's good news I think. Gotta clear up this year's schedule a little.

 

[TheCorpulent1]

I actually thought it was already scheduled for 2010. It just seemed like they still had a long way to go before it's complete, based on the sparse bits and pieces we saw of it at E3.

 

[Tron Bonne]

Most people assumed that, but I don't think there was ever any official confirmation of it from Sony or QD until now

 

[TheCorpulent1]

Eh, no big deal either way. As they mentioned, given that it's basically attempting to reinvigorate the entire adventure genre for modern audiences, it's gotta be polished to a blinding, cornea-melting gleam of perfection.

 

[The Squirrel]

It gives me more time to actually have the money for it.

 

[Soapy]

Double post.

 

[Soapy]

Yeah, I always assumed it was a 2010 title as well. But even if it was scheduled for 2009, a delay wouldn't really be a big deal for me. Nowadays, because of the packed release schedule, I'm almost always glad to hear about delays. Haha.

 

[Timstuff]

So begins Heavy Rain's stripping miniscene. It's pretty creepy and intense, but that doesn't mean we don't expect to see a lot of you playing it through to the end, resulting in Madison's potential rape and death. As Madison dances for the sinister, lip-licking Paco her mind is cloudy and erratic -- thanks to the stress -- so reading her thoughts as they zoom around her head is much harder than normal. Choose the wrong one and Paco will soon request another piece of clothing be removed.

I was just reading in my latest edition of Playstation Magazine that in the European work build, it's possible for her to go totally nude during the dancing scene.

Of course, they were quick to remind readers that this doesn't necessarily mean it will be in the final version-- or at least, it might not be in the American one.

 

[TheCorpulent1]

It'd better be in the final product. I don't care if they censor it or whatever, but I don't want them to start cutting out whole chunks of the game to appease idiotic soccer moms who shouldn't be letting their kids play games like Heavy Rain in the first place.

 

[Timstuff]

Nudity in M-rated games isn't anything new, but full frontal, specifically within a sexual is still a touchy subject. I'm pretty sure they're not going to show the full monty, but hopefully by way of "artistic" camera angles rather than something as gawdy as black bars or Sims-style pixelation. I'd be surprised if the option for her to go all the way was completely gone though.

 

[Nathan]

Yay to nudity.

 

[TheCorpulent1]

Nudity in M-rated games isn't anything new, but full frontal, specifically within a sexual is still a touchy subject. I'm pretty sure they're not going to show the full monty, but hopefully by way of "artistic" camera angles rather than something as gawdy as black bars or Sims-style pixelation. I'd be surprised if the option for her to go all the way was completely gone though.

However they do it, I'm sure we'll get the inevitable b****ing about how devs are marketing porn to "the children." Even though it'll almost certainly be an M-rated game.

 

[ChrisBaleBatman]

Here's hoping the ESRB will get her killed before getting to that part, thus never knowing of that potentially awesome scene.

The use of stress on the characters to dictate how hard it becomes to keep up...is extremely interesting to me, gotta say.

 

[ChrisBaleBatman]

btw...a rape scene?

Gotta say...that sounds like it's got no chance of happening at all.

Unless they cut away before we see anything happen. But, has any gamer ever done that? Still seems like it's in uncharted waters either way.

 

[TheCorpulent1]

I doubt it's really a rape "scene." They'll probably just have a lot of quick, frantic camera cuts or imply it somehow.