PS3 Fanboy

Ready for another episode of Qore? This one is not to be missed as it will have footage and info from two of 2009's biggest PS3 exclusives, Killzone 2 and Heavy Rain. Veronica does some globetrotting as she visits the developers from these games (situated in Amsterdam and Paris, respectively). There's also some info on FEAR 2 and a look at what Street Fighter fans do to each other behind closed doors.

If you enjoyed your free Christmas episode last month you can pick up the latest episode on Thursday when it releases on the American PSN Store. It will cost you $2.99 for a single episode or $24.99 for an annual subscription (13 episodes). Check out the trailer for episode 8 above for some more footage of Veronica Belmont in a motion capture suit.

In an interview with GamesIndustry.biz, the senior vice president of Sony's Worldwide Studios Europe Michael Denny disclosed his desire to see Heavy Rain "appeal to the core [audience] and then the consequence-based gameplay can appeal to a newer audience, a more casual audience as well." The exec then goes on to explain how Quantic Dream's PS3 exclusive will do just that. "It's trying to do something very new, whether you call that the adventure genre, action adventure, we're calling it interactive drama ... It's really not played on the control pad, as much as in your head. It's about making choices and consequences, it's not about twitch gaming and how good you are."

Is Denny correct? Do you think a plot-heavy, mature title like Heavy Rain can appeal to the same audience who plays Buzz! and Singstar? Fire away in the comments below.

Gamekyo recently got a second helping of Heavy Rain at the Micromania Games Show 2008 in Paris. At the show, David Cage showed off the same level seen in the debut Leipzig trailer earlier this year. This time, Cage took the MGS crowd through the level, showing them Heavy Rain's Sixaxis controls, fully interactive environments, multiple story paths and no load screens.

Gamekyo recorded over 20 minutes of the demonstration, which you can watch right after the break. While Cage may be explaining everything in French in the video, it's not too difficult to figure out what's going on. Besides, the in-game dialogue is in English.

[Thanks Andy and SolidOtacon!]

I wrote a few weeks back about the uncanny valley and Hideo Kojima's possibly telling observation that war machines of the future may exploit the creepiness of robotic simulations to instill fear in their prey. I want to turn my attention now to a discussion of the valley as it applies more directly to us as gamers - overcoming the creepiness of computer generated people. Quantic Dream has already boasted of successfully traversing the valley with its upcoming (and secretly acclaimed) PS3 exclusive Heavy Rain. While realistic graphics are one thing (and it's up to interpretation whether they succeeded in the tech demo almost two years ago), is there more to escaping the valley than mere realistic modeling?

What happens when you get an opportunity to go eye-to-eye with Heavy Rain? Wet, mostly. But you also get spooked, shaken, and shocked (thought not necessarily in that order). Joystiq experienced it all at the Leipzig Games Convention, when they were given a demonstration of the game by developers Quantic Dream. If you've seen the teaser trailer from Sony's Press Conference, then you were probably as intrigued as we were. From what Joystiq is saying, we ain't seen nothing yet.

If Quantic Dream want to build hype for this game, they should release a walkthrough video of this creepy bonus level, pronto. We knew there was a reason Playboy named it their E3 Game Of The Show. Check out the full eyes-on piece over at Joystiq.

Quantic Dream president David Cage has confirmed there will be playable demo of Heavy Rain. He indicated that he "wouldn't want to spoil the story" as it will surprise people due to its unusual-for-a-video-game nature. Eurogamer speculates that the demo will therefore most likely focus on the game's mechanics.

Apparently, the video that was released yesterday is a separate episode that is unrelated to the main plot, which prompted the question of whether there will be DLC episodes in the future. Cage agrees its a possibility, but concedes that it is simply too early to talk about. The interface of Heavy Rain is "entirely contextual" and therefore open to the possibility of other stories.

Our very own Jem Alexander just got some hands-on time with Heavy Rain at LGC, so stay tuned for more details about this PS3 exclusive!

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At the end of the new Heavy Rain trailer, a vague (but nonetheless reassuring) release date was mentioned: 2009. Slowly, but surely, Sony's 2009 killer apps are being revealed. With MAG, Killzone 2, inFAMOUS and now Heavy Rain, gamers will have a lot to look forward to in 2009.

Heavy Rain is a "dark, immersive and emotionally-engaging experience" expanding upon the ideas of Quantic Dream's previous adventure game, Fahrenheit (Indigo Prophecy). Once again, the promise is that "every action has a consequence" with a constantly evolving story based on the way you interact with others and the choices you make. SCEE is promising it will talk about topics unheard of in gaming, "making it a genuinely mature game for a new world of adult gamers."

The lid on Heavy Rain will be blown off this week at Leipzig Games Convention. To get you ready, check out this newly released interview from Gamereactor TV, taken after Sony's secret behind-closed-doors showing at E3 earlier this year. The interview doesn't reveal much: it shows the same screenshots that were leaked a few weeks ago, and all video footage is of the game's very early tech demonstration. It's interesting to see how confident Quantic Dream is about their upcoming project, saying games like Uncharted only managed to get "some" things right. Other than that, they promise that Heavy Rain has "no competitors."

Working with Sony Computer Entertainment seems to be very beneficial for the team, especially because Sony has offered them a chance to create "the best game possible." He's definitely getting the hype engine revving ... and it won't be long until we can judge for ourselves whether or not the hype is warranted.

[Thanks, shak h.!]

Did those new screenshots of Heavy Rain impress you? Well, you haven't seen anything yet. Breaking the oath of secrecy journalists took at E3, Playboy proudly proclaims that this it-was-there-but-in-secret game of E3 took top honors, beating out other titles, including R2 and LittleBigPlanet. "I will simply say it's by far the most impressive thing I saw at E3," said Playboy's Scott Alexander. However, he notes that "Sony ninjas will hit me with poison shurikens before I can type the words to describe it," Guess we're not going to get details out of him.

While we're certain the public will see more of Heavy Rain in the coming weeks, it appears the game may be very far off into the future -- "This isn't coming for a while yet," Alexander added.

[Thanks, Gambit07!]

Looks like Quantic Dream is about to break their silence about their upcoming PS3 game, Heavy Rain. Little is known about this title, although expectations are high from the team that brought us the wildly innovative PS2 adventure game, Fahrenheit (aka Indigo Prophecy). Two new images have surfaced from the upcoming game, and they look incredibly lifelike. It appears the team has come a long way since they last showcased some renders earlier this year.

Make sure you check out the high resolution images here to appreciate this breakthrough tech. We hope it won't be too long until we find out more about this elusive game.

[Via NeoGAF]

David Cage likes to talk a lot -- especially when 'Uncanny Valleys' are involved. So, it shouldn't come as surprise to see a seven page discussion with the Heavy Rain developer over at Gamasutra. Cutting down to the most relevant bits, Cage solidified Quantic Dream's decision to develop solely for PS3: "Honestly, working on one platform is the best thing we could dream of, and it's a choice."

This little bit of news is a nice reassurance that Heavy Rain will remain a PS3 exclusive, as recent mentions of other 3rd party exclusives have been found to have their exclusivity in question, or outright gone. Further backing up his adherence to PS3, Cage had this to say: "You say it's a limited audience -- yeah, it's true at the moment, but by the end of the PlayStation 2, I think there are 120 million units in the world, so I don't call that a limited market. There's no reason why the PlayStation 3 can't reach these numbers."

In other news, the rest of the interview is a good read if you want to get a piece of Cage's mind. Here's one interesting quote where he praises Uncharted but also criticizes game development structure: "[Uncharted] gives you a bit of story, then action, then a bit of story, then action -- like porn movies, when you think about it. Porn movies are structured in exactly the same way, except that the action is not the same (laughter), but it's the same structure. Most video games are done like that." Read the rest of it here.

Previously, the developer had plans to work on Omikron 2: Karma and some new IP called Infraworld. Development on Omikron 2 was stopped two years ago due to shifting all resources onto Heavy Rain. Infraworld was canned before that because publishers wouldn't bite. However, now, both these titles might be taken out of the trash bin and put back on the drawing board, if Fondaumière is serious about starting work on a second title. A second title would be great for Quantic Dream fans, especially if that title were to be the Omikron sequel.