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I WILL Play Heavy Rain More Than Once
David Cage has a big mouth. Or at least it would seem so, considering all the publicity he’s been garnering lately with the hype over his upcoming game, Heavy Rain, exclusive to PS3. Like his previous game, Indigo Prophecy, Heavy Rain is slated to change the way we look at video games by daring to do things differently.
One of the key features that distinguishes Heavy Rain from most other games is its place as an interactive story in which various player choices (or mistakes) can alter the course (and story) of the game, so that, in theory, no single player will have the same experience. (Sounds a little like the way Silent Hill: Shattered Memories is being billed, but that’s another story.) However, the key point here is a serious attempt to explore narrative in games, what it means to be a game, and how the player fits in to all this. Cage recently made headlines with a particularly controversial statement: namely, he doesn’t want anyone to replay his game.
“I would like people to play it once . . . because that’s life. Life you can only play once.”
A risky move for someone plugging an already risky game, considering how many gamers judge a title’s value based on its re-playability. Strip that away, and you make it even more difficult to rip that $60 out of our grubby little fingers.
So where is Cage going with this outrageous command? Without delving into the horrendous debate about games as art, I’ll simply say that in many ways Cage seems to me very much an artist, but one who, despite his ironic specialty in games that give the player so much choice, is frankly, a control freak. He wants Heavy Rain to be like life - no resets, no continues, no do-overs.
This reminds me of the (satiric) film Adaptation, in which the screenwriter is trying to make his film so true to life as to make it undesirable - he wants to write it without any real dynamism because (he feels) in real life, people don’t change. Life is unexciting, so his screenplay (and thus, the film of it) should be also. But people don’t want art to be life, they want it to imitate life (aka, verisimilitude).
The same holds true for games as well. Even with a game that is very realistic, it is still a game, and part of the reason we play games is to have different experiences. The fact that Heavy Rain gives us this opportunity is all the more reason to play through more than once. After all, isn’t that the true allure of the (as yet) unrealized interactive movie, or the “choose-your-own-ending” books? The fact that you can watch it or read it several times and never have the same experience twice is what makes them so entertaining.
Playing through a game like Heavy Rain only once (assuming it truly lives up to the hype) is like reading Julio Cortazar’s Hopscotch only once, from start to finish. Frankly, in my opinion, you’re doing the creators a disservice by ignoring the hard work it took to craft these alternate options and branching storylines.
Furthermore, part of the joys of literature, film, and video games is enabling us to fulfill the fantasies we cannot experience in real life. How many of us wish we did have that “reset” button? How often have you longed for a way to start over from the beginning to see how things could have turned out differently?
I can see what Cage is going for with his statement, but frankly, I think he’s only serving to sell the experience short. I know I won’t be the only one to ignore his plea and play through Heavy Rain more than once.
[Inspired by an article on Destructoid]
While I definitely appreciate what Cage is shooting for here, I do have to agree that it’s something of an asinine stance to take and one that people will fully ignore.
Not that I expected anyone to listen to him, mind you - the statement elicited an eyeroll from me and not much else.
While I definitely appreciate what Cage is shooting for here, I do have to agree that it’s something of an asinine stance to take and one that people will fully ignore.
Not that I expected anyone to listen to him, mind you - the statement elicited an eyeroll from me and not much else.
Hm only play the game once huh? alright, guess im just going to rent it instead of buying it because hey thats life, if i can only play the game once, then its not worth 60 dollars. Thats some real life there mr.cage, saving money in these tough economic times.
This guy’s an idiot *_*
Hm only play the game once huh? alright, guess im just going to rent it instead of buying it because hey thats life, if i can only play the game once, then its not worth 60 dollars. Thats some real life there mr.cage, saving money in these tough economic times.
This guy’s an idiot *_*
(still laughing) Exactly.
(still laughing) Exactly.
I totally agree with you, especially with the comparisons you made to film and literature. Not to mention an individual should have the right to enjoy a game/movie/whatever over and over again if they paid out of their own pocket for it.
@Mr. Kenny LOL I’ll probably rent it, anyway. xD Hahaha
I totally agree with you, especially with the comparisons you made to film and literature. Not to mention an individual should have the right to enjoy a game/movie/whatever over and over again if they paid out of their own pocket for it.
@Mr. Kenny LOL I’ll probably rent it, anyway. xD Hahaha
Screw all of you this has been the motivation for me to buy a PS3 since E3 2006! SOISOISOI
Screw all of you this has been the motivation for me to buy a PS3 since E3 2006! SOISOISOI
LOL. Well, I just hope it turns out to be great and not disappointing. I’m excited about it, but there is this little elf living in my ear that keeps whispering “Don’t get your hopes up.” I don’t know why, but maybe it’s just better to lower my expectations and be thrillingly surprised rather than get really hyped and be devastated when it doesn’t live up to its claims…
LOL. Well, I just hope it turns out to be great and not disappointing. I’m excited about it, but there is this little elf living in my ear that keeps whispering “Don’t get your hopes up.” I don’t know why, but maybe it’s just better to lower my expectations and be thrillingly surprised rather than get really hyped and be devastated when it doesn’t live up to its claims…
I was a bit thrown aback by Mr Cage’s comment as well, as the very reason I justify a full purchase of the game is to see as many of those story arcs as possible. The game will be about 8 hours, which is not enough to justify a purchase, but I were to spend over 32 hours with Heavy Rain, to explore every sequence, that would absolutely justify a purchase. I want to also see the “Bad Ending,” so I really plan on playing this game 5-6 times. Mr Cage, while I admire what he’s going for with that approach, is absolutely selling himself short for the 2,000 page script he wrote for it. Doing justice to his work would be to view every possible scenario and every possible narrative sequence and to fully explore every possibility within HR.
I was a bit thrown aback by Mr Cage’s comment as well, as the very reason I justify a full purchase of the game is to see as many of those story arcs as possible. The game will be about 8 hours, which is not enough to justify a purchase, but I were to spend over 32 hours with Heavy Rain, to explore every sequence, that would absolutely justify a purchase. I want to also see the “Bad Ending,” so I really plan on playing this game 5-6 times. Mr Cage, while I admire what he’s going for with that approach, is absolutely selling himself short for the 2,000 page script he wrote for it. Doing justice to his work would be to view every possible scenario and every possible narrative sequence and to fully explore every possibility within HR.
You can’t call something a form of art and then go right back and say you can only enjoy it once ever. Art is something that stays with us forever. Something that comes by and gives us a quick bit of enjoyment and then leaves forever is called a circus.
You can’t call something a form of art and then go right back and say you can only enjoy it once ever. Art is something that stays with us forever. Something that comes by and gives us a quick bit of enjoyment and then leaves forever is called a circus.
If the game has trophies which require playing through multiple times (which I have a feeling it won’t) then people will of course attempt it again.
I myself would love to play it over and over just to see the different consequences that decisions result in.
If the game has trophies which require playing through multiple times (which I have a feeling it won’t) then people will of course attempt it again.
I myself would love to play it over and over just to see the different consequences that decisions result in.
David’s statement has been misinterpreted (as usual by the media). He wants you to live with your choices. He meant he doesn’t want someone to redo their choices in game. Once you finished the game, of course, he doesn’t care if you play the game over again and again with different choices. Excuse David’s french…
David’s statement has been misinterpreted (as usual by the media). He wants you to live with your choices. He meant he doesn’t want someone to redo their choices in game. Once you finished the game, of course, he doesn’t care if you play the game over again and again with different choices. Excuse David’s french…
*_*
*_*
Yeah, I kinda see what he’s getting at. To put it simply, if you make a choice in the game, he doesn’t want you to turn off your console, turn it on again and then try again, he wants you to lump the consequences and continue.
Yeah, I kinda see what he’s getting at. To put it simply, if you make a choice in the game, he doesn’t want you to turn off your console, turn it on again and then try again, he wants you to lump the consequences and continue.
Very well said.
Very well said.
Actually, the ironic thing is that he DID say that. He said he doesn’t care if you reload your save, but he does care if you replay it again from beginning to end. Unless it was a mistranslation, that just doesn’t make sense to me.
“I’m fine with [people reloading saves to avoid bad endings], but the right way to enjoy Heavy Rain is really to make one thing because it’s going to be your story…”
Actually, the ironic thing is that he DID say that. He said he doesn’t care if you reload your save, but he does care if you replay it again from beginning to end. Unless it was a mistranslation, that just doesn’t make sense to me.
“I’m fine with [people reloading saves to avoid bad endings], but the right way to enjoy Heavy Rain is really to make one thing because it’s going to be your story…”
Your quote can easily be interpreted as what I said. He’d prefer if you live with your consequences. No where is he saying not to play the game again.
Your quote can easily be interpreted as what I said. He’d prefer if you live with your consequences. No where is he saying not to play the game again.
Lol - Trust me, this is a day-one for me too. I loved Indigo/Farenheit and I’ve been waiting for this one for a long time too.
Lol - Trust me, this is a day-one for me too. I loved Indigo/Farenheit and I’ve been waiting for this one for a long time too.
I personally plan on watching my wife play it and then play it myself many times through. Mr. Cage, I will be playing the game that you toiled over at least 2 - 3 times - sorry to disappoint.
I personally plan on watching my wife play it and then play it myself many times through. Mr. Cage, I will be playing the game that you toiled over at least 2 - 3 times - sorry to disappoint.
So then how do you explain this statement that prefaces my quote in the comment above?: “I would like people to play it once … because that’s life. Life you can only play once … I would like people to have this experience that way…” Unless it’s a total mistranslation or something, he says “I want you to play it once.”
So then how do you explain this statement that prefaces my quote in the comment above?: “I would like people to play it once … because that’s life. Life you can only play once … I would like people to have this experience that way…” Unless it’s a total mistranslation or something, he says “I want you to play it once.”