Heavy Rain Creator Says Content More Important Than Controls

[Heart of Darkness]

Wait, weren't they the ones who said they'd abandon all future DLC in favour of motion control support? What?

You're probably tired of being quoted on this, but bah, ninja'd by the first post. This seems to be a case of damage control, considering QD is sacrificing content for controls.

Either way, I think it's just idle talk on Cage's part. I mean, using 3D graphics in games seemed to be a significant jump in controls rather than content, and no one seems to mind. Like it or not, if we want gaming to evolve as a medium, we need to spend just as much time on the controls as the content to create games.

 

[squid5580]

Wait whaaaa? Heavy Rain was a clear attempt at what now? Did I slide into a dimension where everything is the same but Dragons Lair and Space Ace didn't exist? It must have happened last night because I clearly remember seeing a copy of both those games at Gamestop yesterday.

 

[Jared]

I agree. They need to work on content, and the quality of that content.

The problem though is trying to make something everyone else has done before, and, still be original

 

[Tolkienfanatic]

Damn you, Sony, for killing my Heavy Rain DLC.

 

[Riobux]

I can't help but wonder "duh?". I figured the news the Heavy Rain creator is bringing to us is old news and incredibly obvious. I think different controls may help to create new and interesting ways to play a game, but the actual game play is what counts. I thought this was blindingly obvious.

 

[Outright Villainy]

Wait, weren't they the ones who said they'd abandon all future DLC in favour of motion control support? What?

Ninja'd. So much. Nonetheless, he's talking content in terms of innovation, therefore in his eyes this is not ironic/hypocritical. He's speaking types of content rather than quantity (e.g. more DLC) here.

Oh I know, but new DLC would have been a chance for him to say "Oh hey we got these great ideas, we can add to this game to make it more interesting and try them out", but they didn't, they cut it for controls.
So it's still pretty hypocritical.

 

[Royas]

A shame that Sony isn't allowing QD to act on this very statement. Motion based controls are still a gimmick at this point, and I don't see them adding anything to Heavy Rain at all, yet we aren't going to get more content just so Sony can say "See, devs are using this for serious games!". Time for Sony to just accept the fact that the Wii is giving the world all the shovelware gimmick games we need for this generation, and concentrate on making and publishing real games instead.

What a waste of time this whole "motion based revolution" is.

 

[ZippyDSMlee]

UUmmmm no less film'centric games that are more shallow style over substance and FMV games of any type(glares at heavy rain) and more games with some depth and option in its mechanics and controls............Without depth in mechanics and controls its a film....and I am not spending 50$ on a a god damn film............

 

[SeventySeven]

I will use Metro 2033 as an example

brilliant atmosphere, interesting story, sucky controls.
becuase o fthe controls it picked up terrible reviews despite the game achieving an amazing amount of immersion.

 

[KEM10]

A shame that Sony isn't allowing QD to act on this very statement. Motion based controls are still a gimmick at this point, and I don't see them adding anything to Heavy Rain at all...

The way Heavy Rain had you use the controller begs for motion controls. You are literally attempting to move the analog sticks to mimic the movement you would naturally make if you were in the character's place. After a short while, I didn't need to see what the prompts told me to do because it was rather intuitive (except for the fight scenes).

 

[Jumplion]

Bunch of hypocrites if you ask me. Then again, nobody asks for my opinion.

Bioware is my all time favourite regarding immersion//story//characters//emotional connection. So hah!

It was more Sony's fault for wanting Heavy Rain to have Move support, not Quantic Dream's decision. And good for Bioware, now to get a couple more companies that push boundaries of gameplay (Hint: Quantic Dream is one of them)

UUmmmm no less film'centric games that are more shallow style over substance and FMV games of any type(glares at heavy rain) and more games with some depth and option in its mechanics and controls............Without depth in mechanics and controls its a film....and I am not spending 50$ on a a god damn film............

Who said anything about film centric games?

The Creator of Heavy Rain said that? Are we supposed to be surprised?

And I disagree. Yes, it's nice to have a cinematic element, but essentially making a slightly interactive film is not worth the price of a game.

Who said anything about interactive films?

I think people are missing the point of what Cage is trying to say here. He's saying that while motion controls and party games are all flashy and keep someone's attention for a bit, they will not hold on to people for long and it won't evolve gaming past that. If we explore the actual game itself, trying different things, going into the game itself, then gaming can evolve past party games and shallow, money-grabbing games and start exploring what games can really do.

I respect Cage and Quantic Dream since they tried something different. Call Heavy Rain whatever you like, it's something different and unique, especially risky when every other game is either a sequel or a standard FPS. I'm looking forward to whatever new game that Quantic Dream is developing, and I can't wait to see what they come up next.

 

[ZippyDSMlee]

Bunch of hypocrites if you ask me. Then again, nobody asks for my opinion.

Bioware is my all time favourite regarding immersion//story//characters//emotional connection. So hah!

It was more Sony's fault for wanting Heavy Rain to have Move support, not Quantic Dream's decision. And good for Bioware, now to get a couple more companies that push boundaries of gameplay (Hint: Quantic Dream is one of them)

UUmmmm no less film'centric games that are more shallow style over substance and FMV games of any type(glares at heavy rain) and more games with some depth and option in its mechanics and controls............Without depth in mechanics and controls its a film....and I am not spending 50$ on a a god damn film............

Who said anything about film centric games?

The Creator of Heavy Rain said that? Are we supposed to be surprised?

And I disagree. Yes, it's nice to have a cinematic element, but essentially making a slightly interactive film is not worth the price of a game.

Who said anything about interactive films?

I think people are missing the point of what Cage is trying to say here. He's saying that while motion controls and party games are all flashy and keep someone's attention for a bit, they will not hold on to people for long and it won't evolve gaming past that. If we explore the actual game itself, trying different things, going into the game itself, then gaming can evolve past party games and shallow, money-grabbing games and start exploring what games can really do.

I respect Cage and Quantic Dream since they tried something different. Call Heavy Rain whatever you like, it's something different and unique, especially risky when every other game is either a sequel or a standard FPS. I'm looking forward to whatever new game that Quantic Dream is developing, and I can't wait to see what they come up next.

The style in which the game is made small level layouts limited and or unpolished mechanics Gears of war 1,Heavy rain, DOOM 3,BIoshock,Fallout 3,Dragon age,FF13 are more a film experience than a game Damnation,Jedi knight 1-3,Balders gate 1-2 and Final Fantasy 4-6 are more a game than something made with todays film centric or cinemagaic design themes.

There are 2 different styles of game design emphasis one where the game and its mechanics are dealt with first and foremost and the other that treats the project as a visual work where gameplay it sloped on loosely and lastly.

 

[FinalHeart95]

As long as the controls aren't clunky, then yeah, I suppose. The thing is that you can't just focus on content or controls, you have to put enough focus on both so that your controls don't suck and you have good content. If either of those are bad, it actually brings the other one down anyway.

 

[Jumplion]

The style in which the game is made small level layouts limited and or unpolished mechanics Gears of war 1,Heavy rain, DOOM 3,BIoshock,Fallout 3,Dragon age,FF13 are more a film experience than a game Damnation,Jedi knight 1-3,Balders gate 1-2 and Final Fantasy 4-6 are more a game than something made with todays film centric or cinemagaic design themes.

There are 2 different styles of game design emphasis one where the game and its mechanics are dealt with first and foremost and the other that treats the project as a visual work where gameplay it sloped on loosely and lastly.

Cage didn't say anything about making games more film centric. All he's saying is to explore what games can give. There's a huge amount of potential that games can create but nobody is going for them. Blurring the line between game and film is just one of the ways that games can evolve and experiment with, and there's nothing wrong with that.

This makes me think that gaming needs it's Orson Wells. People try to see what game could be considered the "Citizen Kane" of gaming, but you can't have "Citizen Kane" without an Orson Wells.

 

[ZippyDSMlee]

The style in which the game is made small level layouts limited and or unpolished mechanics Gears of war 1,Heavy rain, DOOM 3,BIoshock,Fallout 3,Dragon age,FF13 are more a film experience than a game Damnation,Jedi knight 1-3,Balders gate 1-2 and Final Fantasy 4-6 are more a game than something made with todays film centric or cinemagaic design themes.

There are 2 different styles of game design emphasis one where the game and its mechanics are dealt with first and foremost and the other that treats the project as a visual work where gameplay it sloped on loosely and lastly.

Cage didn't say anything about making games more film centric. All he's saying is to explore what games can give. There's a huge amount of potential that games can create but nobody is going for them. Blurring the line between game and film is just one of the ways that games can evolve and experiment with, and there's nothing wrong with that.

This makes me think that gaming needs it's Orson Wells. People try to see what game could be considered the "Citizen Kane" of gaming, but you can't have "Citizen Kane" without an Orson Wells.

Well directors and staff that understand they are making a game IE something interactive and that interactiveness and control is as important or more so than story telling would be nice. But gaming is stuck in disposable media mode now morose than ever so I dunno. There seems to be little balance between deep and polished mechanics and the flash and shiny that make up 80% of a game.

IMO games went from gaming to film in the early 2000s pushing aside mechanics and polish to get the core essence of the project out as fast as they can so they can start on another project its all so antiseptic and predictable. I think we really need to get back to basics and thats game play,mechanics and control as from there any good game can be born but if you start with quasi experiences you want to adept into a film...er game...its just putting the cart before the the dead rotting horse........

 

[Jumplion]

Well directors and staff that understand they are making a game IE something interactive and that interactiveness and control is as important or more so than story telling would be nice. But gaming is stuck in disposable media mode now morose than ever so I dunno. There seems to be little balance between deep and polished mechanics and the flash and shiny that make up 80% of a game.

That doesn't make Gears of War 1, Heavy Rain, DOOM 3, BioShock, Fallout 3, Dragon age, or FF13 any less of a game. Like I said, there's nothing wrong with exploring the extremities of games, and one of them is trying to find out where the line between game and film come together. I personally loved Heavy Rain and I still consider it a game.

IMO games went from gaming to film in the early 2000s pushing aside mechanics and polish to get the core essence of the project out as fast as they can so they can start on another project its all so antiseptic and predictable. I think we really need to get back to basics and thats game play,mechanics and control as from there any good game can be born but if you start with quasi experiences you want to adept into a film...er game...its just putting the cart before the the dead rotting horse........

That's really what Cage is saying, at least to an extent. Explore every possible aspect of gaming, whether it's reinventing the basics of games or adding on top of that.

 

[ZippyDSMlee]

Well directors and staff that understand they are making a game IE something interactive and that interactiveness and control is as important or more so than story telling would be nice. But gaming is stuck in disposable media mode now morose than ever so I dunno. There seems to be little balance between deep and polished mechanics and the flash and shiny that make up 80% of a game.

That doesn't make Gears of War 1, Heavy Rain, DOOM 3, BioShock, Fallout 3, Dragon age, or FF13 any less of a game. Like I said, there's nothing wrong with exploring the extremities of games, and one of them is trying to find out where the line between game and film come together. I personally loved Heavy Rain and I still consider it a game.

IMO games went from gaming to film in the early 2000s pushing aside mechanics and polish to get the core essence of the project out as fast as they can so they can start on another project its all so antiseptic and predictable. I think we really need to get back to basics and thats game play,mechanics and control as from there any good game can be born but if you start with quasi experiences you want to adept into a film...er game...its just putting the cart before the the dead rotting horse........

That's really what Cage is saying, at least to an extent. Explore every possible aspect of gaming, whether it's reinventing the basics of games or adding on top of that.

eerrrr... I had more fun with damnation because it was more of a game than gears was, thus why games should not be made like films different mediums need different styles in the way they are created......... 0-o

 

[Jumplion]

eerrrr... I had more fun with damnation because it was more of a game than gears was, thus why games should not be made like films different mediums need different styles in the way they are created......... 0-o

Well that's fine, play Damnation for all I care. But just because you didn't enjoy apparant "film-esque" games like Gears of War or Heavy Rain does not mean that games should not experiment with other styles.

We already have enough games that are "just games", why shouldn't games be made with different styles? You say that games should not be like films because they need different styles of creation, so what are those styles of creation? There's a million and one different possibilities that games have yet to explore, we should not limit ourselves to just 100 or so.

 

[Jumplion]

Sorry, though I didn't post the original post, please ignore.