Heavy Rain developer calls for more maturity, fewer shooters
The industry can't keep making first person shooters if it wants to progress, says Heavy Rain and Indigo Prophecy director David Cage.
Cage, who has been an outspoken advocate of more mature subject matter in games for years, expounded on his views while presenting his latest game - Beyond: Two Worlds - in a Gamescom session reported by Gamasutra.
"I think we should have more courage in our industry and take more risks, because I think this is what the industry needs now," said Cage.
"I mean, how many first person shooters can you make? How many monsters/aliens/zombies can you kill in games? There's a moment where we need to grow up.
"I often think that the industry suffers of the Peter Pan syndrome. It's the fact that we don't want to grow up, so we stay kids. But there is a moment where you need to grow up as an industry.
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"And you cannot keep up with the Peter Pan syndrome. You need to grow. And I think this is the right time.
Beyond: Two Worlds follows the life of a girl (acted by Ellen Page) from age eight to 23 who can see "beyond" this world and into the spiritual realm.
Not this 'grow up' crap again. This guy is beyond tedious.
Each developer is free to develop/release whatever they want - if they want to do 'mature' that's fine, or shooter or anything else.
Ultimately the market decides all this anyway, not some boring pretentious guy who thinks he is much more interesting than he really is.
Contrary to the first comment, I believe this kind of statements are extremely necessary.
On the one side we have games like Heavy Rain, Farenheit (known as Indigo Prophecy in the US) and countless others that try to evoke an emotional reaction from players besides "LOL noob".
On the other side we have games such as CoD, Battlefield, Medal Of Honor that have zero interest in captivating a player besides saying "Look, we added 5 new weapons, yes, 5" every year.
And while yes, I agree with you that each developer is free to develop/release whatever they want, that doesn't mean that all developers should strive to copy the latest market tendencies.
Think about what would happen if the industry decided "let's ALL copy DOOM" and games like Minecraft, AC or new concepts such as Watch Dogs were never even thought of.
Lastly, try creating an argument based on serious points not on "David Cage thinks he's so interesting, pfff", especially when all of Quantic Dream's games have been critically acclaimed.
The first commenter has a point. The expansive collection of 1st person shooters exists because there is a market for them and they are wildly popular. While they do not have the most "mature" subject matter, they sell.
All this talk about maturity is also incredibly subjective. I do not see the need for theoretical talk about the industry "growing up." When you come up with something innovative that breaks from what the industry is doing and people like it, you are rewarded. Players will gravitate towards the experience they want, whether this is a Drake's Deception type game or a Battlefield 3.
Not sure about everyone else, but I don't turn on a video game after a long day at work with intentions to feel like a grown up.
It's true while I woudn't say grow up I'd say there's really only room for 5 or 6 franchises in FPS & those slots are fill already there's not much more that they can do that hasn't already been done.
Cage makes a valid point about repetition and that our "AAA industry" should take more risks to have a more varied offering.
But his conclusion that the problem is childish "themes", and not the risk aversion syndrome that he himself mentioned, is at least strange.
Making more adult themed games would certainly make our industry more diverse, but it will not solve the risk aversion issue by itself...
While Cage does make a point I do agree with, I've learned to be wary of these kinds of statements. It feels like the all to common, "Everything will be free to play soon, and everyone else is doomed!" speech. In essence, question a statement by someone who speaks in absolutes. (Totally not a Star Wars reference there)
If he had worded his point a little more tactfully, it wouldn't come across as being self serving and petulant. I agree that we could use some more mature content, but it will come! The beauty of our medium is the fact you can find almost any type of game, different strokes for different folks they say. More or less, this is just an attempt at self promotion.
...what games I'm writing so long as there's a market for them and I get paid. The best thing about the games industry is the job security. Oh wait...
-Sarcasm ON-
Quantic Dream has developed along the same trend of games for over 14 years.
That is hardly a good spot to ask for people to grow up a bit and let go the Peter Pan Syndrome is it ?
In fact, complaining about not being as appreciated and recognized than other game standards does seems to me a little immature.
-Sarcasm OFF-
Branding a game with "maturity" and "emotional experience" is one thing I would not link with the notion of "helping this industry to grow up":
Such type of games are merely one trend of possibilities, nothing more, nothing less.
Whether "grown-ups games" can compete in success with FPS will mainly remains Mr Cage business for the time being because it is simply not trendy enough for most developers and consumers.
With that in mind, asking why such genre is not as successful/sexy than a FPS or any other standard in developers AND consumers mind would be far more interesting, considering that Mr Cage's games certainly received far more marketing muscles to push sales than most of the FPS he is complaining about.
At present, it seems easier to me to pitch adult games featuring, cooperative gaming, re playable values or short game play sessions.
This is extremely limited I agree, but it speaks more to the adult I am, with the adult spare time I do have.
Now, experiencing through games different sorts of emotional turmoil: okay that's cool but is that what adults gamers want or should be wanting ?
That being said, everybody will agree with the symptoms: it is nearly impossible to get a major game developers taking significant creative risks.
But...the cure proposed by Cage is not valid: it is time for game to become again what it was always meant to be: a laboratory for both developers and gamers.
Unfortunately this approach is neither acceptable for an industry or for the way we are consuming such products.
Cage, go back to your pretentious, poorly written disasters that you claim are 'revolutionary' game concepts. Heavy Rain was boring and the plot twist was SUCH a cop out, I can't believe more people don't speak up about it. Cage needs to learn how to make a proper game that is entertaining and contains a solid plot before he goes wagging his finger at others. How dare he, the ballsy schmuck. And anyone who says FPS have no adult quality or mature subject matter hasn't played Bioshock. Go back under your bridge you 'Peter Molyneux' of fail trolls!
