GDC Europe: Quantic Dream studio boss says the market is ready for emotionally-sensitive titles
Sony did not expect the PS3 exclusive title Heavy Rain to be as successful as it was, claims the game’s writer and director David Cage.
Addressing a packed crowd at this year’s Game Developers Conference Europe, Cage explained that the Heavy Rain’s commercial success was a foretoken to a maturing games market that ready for new paradigms.
”Today we are a very conservative industry,” he said.
“Few take risks. The game industry is technologically innovative, but not conceptually innovative. But I think the market is ready for new paradigms. I think the industry is ready for new ideas.”
The polemic PS3 title Heavy Rain – a game which saw the studio win two Develop Awards this year – was described by Cage as a breath of fresh air for game-playing adults.
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”Games are today based on violent actions,” he said. “They are defined by what you see and what you destroy. You always do the same things whether you drive or shoot or jump on platforms. They are based on the same rules [that have existed] for 25 years.
Cage said that the majority of today’s games are based on similar emotions; adrenaline stress, frustration, competition.
”And few games try to explore the wide range of emotions out there,” he said.
Presenting a characteristic image of a lacerated zombie NPC, Cage said that all games “are pretty much the same things, and this [violence] targets a young audience.”
Cage described much of Heavy Rain’s competition of shop shelves as popcorn action movies.
“That’s not necessarily a problem, but [with those types of action games] you lose out on all the emotions. What do you learn, what do you feel?”
He went on to describe Heavy Rain as a game centred on love and sacrifice – two themes the game regularly drew praise for – despite occasional criticisms of the game’s script and plot.
”Games should be art and not toys,” he concluded. “If you are uncomfortable with the word ‘art’, then ‘entertainment’ is fine.
”Toys are disposable, art is poignant.”
I have forwarded this article to Gary Penn, just to see how angry it's possible for him to get. :)
Also, it's worth mentioning that Art can also be toys too.
Tracy Emin's 'My Bed' makes a great trampoline, Duchamp's 'Fountain' can be used as as a basketball hoop, and anything by Warhol can easily double up as a dartboard.
He's completely missing the point. The art of games is not in pretending to be films. It's in interactive design. Emotion, also, should flow from interactivity, not from high-tech mocap and the standard elbow-in-the-ribs BE SAD NOW responses. This is why my building my Pokemon team was a deeper emotional experience than any 'interactive movie' could ever hope to be.
I very much missed the point of Heavy Rain. I found it clumsy, frustrating, hackneyed, shallow and pretentious (which at least provided some unintentional humour) in every way: its characters, story, play, entertainment value...
In all honesty, I envy those capable of willingly suspending their disbelief to enjoy Heavy Rain - as much as I envy (and respect) its sales. I also appreciate Dave's blend of aspiration, arrogance and ability. We need more characters like him.
But the fact that we make toys is inescapable. Games aren't toys. Toys are the tools of play (and games). It's what we do with the toys as makers and players that matters most.
The problem doesn't lie with the fact that we make a new generation of toys - it's that we are still so self-conscious and uncomfortable about it. If pretending for a living under the guise of "acting" can be considered art, there's no reason why toys (and play and games) can't be too.
This is why Gary and David Cage's dev budgets should be swapped.
When a child plays with a cardboard box and a couple of toilet rolls glued to a tinfoil hat, they are expressing themselves through play aren't they? Using their imaginations.
When a child plays with the latest star wars toy, they are still expressing themselves through play, but this time their play session usually has context.
When a child picks up a videogame, set in a fantasy world, they are experiencing directly the results of other peoples imaginations and ideas (the cardboard box builders), but they will still express themselves through discovery and choice through gameplay.
Games are made up of tiny semi-random microexperiences, that are sometimes difficult to reflect why they actually were so good (scoring a last second goal, or achieving what you though was the impossible). Experiences unique to every player.
It's easy to judge linear media like movies and books, with a good/bad rubber stamp, trying to shoehorn certain games into this category is pointless, it's all about the second-to-second user experience.
You'll want to keep coming back to a good toy, personally, I traded Heavy Rain in as soon as it was over.
