At the BAFTA ceremony two days ago, Spong spoke to Quantic Dream’s David Cage about the studio’s future and further development of games in the interactive storytelling genre. Cage did not hold back, claiming outright ownership of the entire genre.
"We created the genre. We own the genre, and we want to show that Heavy Rain was not a coincidence or a lucky shot - that it was really something that makes sense and that we can build on,” said Cage. "But at the same time I didn’t want to make a sequel. I made that very clear before knowing whether the game would be a success or a failure, because I want to show that it’s really a genre. Which means that you can use a similar drama to tell any type of story in any genre and in any style.”
"So, we are going to explore different directions. Still very dark, still for adults, but completely different from Heavy Rain. We want to satisfy our fans, but we want to surprise them too. That’s our challenge,” he added.
Yes, Heavy Rain was a refinement of previous gameplay mechanics, but it seems a bit outlandish to say Quantic Dream owns the genre as a whole. Do you feel Quantic Dream created interactive storytelling?
5 Comments
March 18, 2011
It's hard to say whether they created the entire genre, but they didn't start with Heavy Rain. Omikron: The Nomad Soul and Indigo Prophecy laid a baseline for where they would go in Heavy Rain. Regardless of genre invention, I hope more companies follow the path of Quantic Dream in making different sorts of interactive cinema - there's a lot of potential in it.
March 18, 2011
There's a lot of potential here, agreed. But also a lot of room for gameplay failure. HR has seriously problematic and repetitive GP elements that were a letdown for a game that touted itself as being truly revolutionary.
March 19, 2011
Not to disparage their accomplishment, but...Monkey Island? C'mon guys...don't throw our your shoulders patting yourselves on the back or anything.
March 25, 2011
What about Alan Wake?
April 1, 2011
PFFT. A long time ago there was a game character called Tex Murphy, and THEY created the interactive storytelling with games such as "Under a Killing Moon" and "The Pandora Directive". To take credit for something that YOU DIDNT INVENT is cheap and low.