“Kara” is Not Quantic Dream’s Next Game (But You May Wish it Was)

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“Kara” is Not Quantic Dream’s Next Game (But You May Wish it Was)

Head-turning videogame tech demos are a dime a dozen at Game Developers’ Conference, but developer Quantic Dream might have this year’s crop beat. Watch the full tech demo video for “Kara” below to see how the creators of Heavy Rain are looking to expand virtual performances in video games.

And just to be extra clear: No, “Kara” is not Quantic Dream’s next game.


“Kara” is Not Quantic Dream’s Next Game (But You May Wish it Was)

Director David Cage was on-hand at GDC to debut the new video to the press, and his presentation touched on the origins of “Kara” — we’ve selected a few choice quotes below. Check back tomorrow to hear our full interview with Cage on the Official PlayStation Blogcast. It’s one interview you won’t want to miss!


After Heavy Rain, we wanted to push the envelope in terms of quality, starting with the visuals. We wanted to improve many things — things that were not possible with the Heavy Rain engine. So we had to develop a new engine from scratch.

We also wanted to improve the quality of the acting. With Heavy Rain, we did what many games do — split performances, recording a voice on one side and a body animation on the other, putting everything together and crossing your fingers that you get a consistent performance. It worked okay for Heavy Rain, but you lose a lot of a performance by splitting into two and rebuilding it artificially.

We wanted to do what Avatar did by having one full performance where we capture everything at the same time. And we wanted to demonstrate these new performance capture techniques and the new engine before going into production, so we developed a short showcase that would allow us to test these ideas and technologies. This is how “Kara” was created.

“Kara” is not our next game. It’s not the character, it’s not the world, it’s not the story. …We do things in a very strange way here, things that have nothing to do with the games we make. But I think that’s a part of the DNA of the studio, and hopefully something that people like about us – they never know what they’re going to get!

Heavy Rain – The Casting

“Kara” is Not Quantic Dream’s Next Game (But You May Wish it Was)

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123 Comments

  • For the love of Thor, make this a game!

  • Wow, that was fantastic. The leap to that from the Heavy Rain casting (facial animation wise) is damn impressive too.

  • This is so freaking amazing. God.

    David Cage, you beautiful bastard. You bastard of a man. Why must you tease us like this? I want this to be the game! Augh!

    I almost cried D:

  • This movie was real-time on a PS3? Well a PS4 announcement can wait at least another 2 years IMO.

  • i am extremely impressed

  • Unbelievable

  • Got supper exited at the possibility and potential this has. Still wish it was there new project. :(

  • Quantic Dream

    KARA = AMAZING!!!

  • oh my god!! please make this into a game!! why tease us like this? :(

  • I want game.
    You want money.
    I think we can make some sort of deal here.

  • please… please… please… please… make this a game………

  • That’s a rough first day for a sex robot.

    (No, seriously, I applaud them for addressing this very obvious, inevitable, and totally sad application of high robotics in a professional manner. The topless teasing was pretty hilariously done, too.)

  • Where can I buy one of those robo-chicks; seems like my ideal woman.

  • felt like it was a movie i want moreeee

  • I wonder if Kara was ugly (unattractive) and was not fit (chubby or fat), would you feel the same for her? food for thought.

  • Man, David Cage might be one of the only authors that can get me hooked to a story in 7 minutes. I actually want to know what will happen with Kara. I hope he will read our comments and turn this awesome tech demo in a real game. I would buy it day one for sure (It’s sure I’ll buy Quantic Dream’s next game on day one after seeing the kind of awesome games thay can make. Heavy Rain got me so hooked to the story that I completed it twice in a row)

  • KARA! KARA! KARA! KARA! KARA!!! That pretty much sums it up…

  • I didn’t follow anything to do with Heavy Rain leading up to it’s release, and didn’t even buy it until more than 6 months after it came out, but when I did, I LOVED it. The reason I’m saying this is because when I looked at this post originally, I didn’t watch the bottom video, But now I have.
    My girlfriends name is Mary Smith, so I decided to post an embedded version of that video to my facebook, and when I went to do that, I noticed that people had that posted 4 or 5 years ago, So I looked into it a bit further, and apparently, that casting video was originally a Tech Demo.
    Needless to say, that greatly increased my amount of hope that this new video will be turned into a game, because seriously, that 7 minute video had me more hooked than Heavy Rain, and I LOOOVED Heavy Rain.
    Seriously, Make that game.
    No Seriously, Do it.
    Sony, Make this Happen, Double their budget for them, see if that entices them, ANYTHING, just make that fricken thing into a game, I’ll buy 3 or 4 copies for your trouble. Seriously, Please.

  • There will be hell to pay if this doesn’t become a real game, I reached into the screen to try and keep those arms from unplugging her, “Let her live!”
    That made no sense.
    I’m a grown man Sony… 31yo ,you don’t do that to me then say its just a tech demo .
    I will throw money at this youtube screen until it becomes real.

  • I’m glad it’s just a tech demo. Reminds me of the video game N.U.D.E. @ Natural Ultimate Digital Experiment.

    The idea of robots being partners to satisfy humans in more “R” rated concepts is very disturbing. There’s already enough human trafficking (see the movie The Whisteblower) — obviously Quantic Dream created something a little controversial to gain more attention.

    I love Indigo Prophecy and Heavy Rain — but hopefully for their next game that theme won’t be in it. It’s a darkness of humanity that is uncomfortable to play in a video game. Hopefully video games will never become that reality.

  • WOW! Man, it feels like we have just touched the tip of the ice burg in gaming when I see things like this. Think about it, gaming can only get better from here…..

  • Ho, lee, cow… that was amazing.
    At first, the quality blew me away. Then when the tech guy started taking her apart, and she screamed “I’m scared!”, I realized my eyes were watering and I had been holding my breath. I’m simply amazed that a tech demo has touched me in such an emotional way, when 99% of games never come close. Seriously, QD, you may not have planned for this to be a game, you may not know what you’re going to do for your next project. But please, pay heed to the comments here. This situation is emotionally engaging and needs to be a game. You cannot let this fade away as just a tease. Make it happen. Our money is waiting for you.

    @Tarheel_Mark: Nooooo! No disassemble! Kara 5…is alive!

    Haha, that thought totally crossed my mind as well, especially when you see all the cases have a big number 5 on them. :)

  • David Cage, you’re a genius.
    I nervously await your next game. Heavy Rain was superb.

    Thank you

  • this = the reason why I’m Playstation side, these guys want to do something different, to make things better

  • WTF?!?!?!?!? This has to be made into a real game?!?!?!? COME ON! DO IT PLEASE! ! ! :P

  • You know? I think I do wish this was their next game.

  • please for the love of all things sacred, incorporate this as the main storyline into Something!!! a movie, a videogame, a motion comis, even a regular comic… this kind of story is the one that dreams are made of, PLEASE i’m begging you with every fiber of my nerd infested soul!!!!

  • Make it happen or i will kill your dreams, Quantic Dreams….

  • very good! deserves its own movie. more so then tester deserves to be a show. an more then home deserves to take up space

  • MP_is_for_Chumps

    Mass Effect sucks

    Assassins Creed sucks

    Call of Duty sucks

    Battlefield sucks

    Skyrim sucks

    Crapcom sucks

    and GTA sucks along with all the other lame watered down xbox ports.

    THIS is what my PlayStation 3 is for biatch! PS3 EXCLUSIVES TILL THE DAY I DIE!!!!!!!1111!!!!!!

  • WOW for only 7mins & I felt for Kara. Damn make this into a game. That is what a story in all games should feel like.

  • ^I approve of this post (above). Although I like some of the stuff Capcom does (while not enough to compensate for all the greed and lazy sequelitis/milking) , and I’d rather include rockstar and bioware instead.

  • If Sony have balls, they will release this tech demo on PSN — remember the real time trailer for Killzone 2? This would build some huge momentum for QD’s title.

  • Amazing. This is the king of thing that makes me want to keep my ps3 for another 2 years, but on the other hand, if this is what the next gen can do early in the lif cycle, then im all in. The ps3 is such a powerhouse, when used to its potential. I love 1 console only games. They stand out almost everytime. Between The last Of Us/ The Last Guardian and Starhawk, I think the ps3 will be going out with a massive BANG !!!

  • Very toucing piece, I hope you guys have Quantic with a ps4 dev kit already or the moment it’s ready if it doesn’t exist.

    Can’t wait to see what these guys could do with a little more horse power. Heavy Rain was one of the most enjoyable games I’ve played this gen.

  • hey… lemmie poke your brain with this:

    Kara virtual assistant for ps3/ pc/ psvita

    … just an idea on where you could take this…

  • Most impressive.

  • I agree with the many who would love to see this turned into a game. If your next game is indeed not this.. Consider it for the ps4. The emotion left me literally holding my breath and wanting to yell at the same time. Kara would be a refreshing protagonist in a medium that tends to go with the same tired old tropes.

  • If it’s not going to be a game, they really threw away a GREAT oportunity. If it was a game I would buy it right away.

  • Amazing trailer and very sweet game engine. But I do not think this needs to be a game. This is basically iRobot with a female and without Will Smith ha.

  • Why do they do it to me every time. Never a dry eye. wonderful concept for a game. Reminds me a bit of Asminof or Bradburry conceptually wise.

  • I think this is going to be some sort of movie. Which is why they compare it to Avatar.

  • OMG that would have been an awesome game, we would have had 2 Will Smith movies!

    I Am Legend – The Last of Us
    I, Robot – Kara

  • While this was a very enjoyable video, the facial animation is still no better than Half-Life 2 back in 2004. Because the voice acting was so good, I actually expected some stress-related capillary blood flow simulation in the face and skin, but they cleverly worked around this by quickly dissolving the skin and showing us the beating heart instead.

    But again, just like The Last Of Us, nothing we’ve seen is actual gameplay. With these creative outputs, we’re heading further into the “interactive experience” space. It will be interesting to see what happens next.

  • The same just like Final Fantasy VII PS3 Demo Techno4 or 5 years ago (no remember). Pointless honestly. Ok its a great demo of what is ti capable of the PS3 and so what…… no next game.

  • Yeah, playaplus, I was surprised to get so teary-eyed myself! Nice performance, but people are not accepting that this will remain as only a tech demo. Some things are meant to remain as mere flashes of power. Like runway models or cars that drive themselves. But I too understand the desire. There are several movies and books that cover this subject quite well already, I think. So…Kara will be missed, but she is not a necessity.

  • Just saw this on IGN and wow truly amazing, wish it was a game!

  • This needs to become a reality. Do it Sony.

  • I remember when Gamespot showed the screen shots of Heavy Rain before it came out. I asked my friend what is this game have you heard of it. Heavy Rain is another special game to me. Quantic Dream that Kara video was superb.

  • Wow, that had me scared for her, my eyes were watering, I wanted her to live.
    Very creepy at the same time. TT~TT

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