There are few forthcoming PlayStation 3 titles that are quite so keenly anticipated as Beyond: Two Souls, the latest project from Quantic Dream – the idiosyncratic French developer behind acclaimed 2010 adventure Heavy Rain. Following the story of young Jodie Holmes (played by Hollywood starlet Ellen Page) and her mysterious supernatural companion, Aiden, it lit up E3 earlier this year with its stunning reveal trailer.

We’ve not heard too much since, so we caught up with Quantic’s founder, David Cage, at Paris Games Week for a quick progress update.

We’ve not heard too much about Beyond since its E3 reveal back in June. Is development going well?
David Cage: Development is going very well. Indeed, it’s nice to go to all these shows but we also have to make the game! We’re advancing – we’re now a few weeks off the alpha version. It’s always a very critical moment in the development of a game since it’s the first time all the game data is assembled in a complete version. This first version is often not very playable, but it’s the first time you can see the “complete” game as a whole. After that we’ll move onto the beta version, which is when the game really starts to look like the final version.

Just how different is the gameplay and user interface from your last title, Heavy Rain?
David Cage: The game is very different from Heavy Rain, probably much more than people can imagine. The first obvious difference is that there will be two characters to control: Jodie and this entity that is Aiden. We can do some really interesting things with Aiden: fly, walk through walls and interact with matter or characters in a rather peculiar way. What we showed at E3 was in fact a working version based on the same interface as Heavy Rain, but it is not the final interface of the game.

The first elements of gameplay shown were focused on action. What else can we expect?
David Cage: It’s a balance that will be a little different from Heavy Rain, where we really aiming for the atmosphere of a psychological thriller. Beyond, of course, will also have these components of emotion, depth of characters, strong moments, but there will also be a more epic, dramatic dimension.

All this will be part of a story with a logical narrative following the philosophy that each scene must be unique and different. Take the forest scene for example. This is the only scene like this in the game. We will have more epic scenes and other action scenes, but they will be radically different and have nothing to do with each other in terms of environment and the type of action involved.

Our goal is not to release a game that will just please the fans of Heavy Rain and that we could say, “Ah, yes, it’s like Heavy Rain but a little better”. The idea is really to surprise players and show them that we can actually go much further with the concept of Heavy Rain.

Do any elements of Beyond: Two Souls echo your personal life?
David Cage: Absolutely. It’s a phenomenon that I’ve had with Heavy Rain when I became a father and I discovered the unique relationship one can have with their child. On Beyond, I’m drawing on another experience – one that’s less pleasant – because I lost someone very close in my family. This is what started it all – the desire to imagine that there may be an “after”.

Beyond is, of course, about death. But it is also about more positive things, like growth, change and learning to accept ourselves as we are. With Beyond, I really wanted to create a trip – something epic, emotional, and strong that the player will remember long after the end of the game.

Have you had much time to keep an eye on the competition? What games have you been playing recently?
David Cage: I loved a game that has not been discussed much – for anyone who loved Heavy Rain and is seeking different games made ​​by authors trying to express something that goes beyond bam-bam-boom-boom, it really is a game to try. I found it amazing, surprising and deeply moving. You can feel that there is a real author behind it – someone who has something to say. It is a game that really touched me.

Have you ever considered tackling something like this – a smaller scale PSN title?
David Cage: I have a huge problem. Every time I start writing… everything I do turns into an incredible historical epic. It depresses the team – they say they will finally be able to make an “easy” game and at the end they don’t! I dream of being able to make a PSN game, but I couldn’t do it even if I really want to.

Are you ever tempted to try your hand at shooting a movie?
David Cage: Quite honestly this is something that I do not feel capable of, and it’s not something I’m looking for right now, despite the few opportunities I have had. I’m happy to do what I do in video games. I’m not here by chance – it’s been 15 years since I chose to be in this environment. And even after 15 years, I do it with great pleasure, happiness and passion. To get up, go to work and to be with my extraordinarily talented team – year after year it still amazes me!

Do you have a message for prospective players of Beyond? How would you like them to approach the game?
David Cage: I think there should be no preparation for Beyond. You must go into the game trying to learn as little as possible!

Like other game creators, I wish I could say nothing and show nothing, and put a plain black cover on the shelves so that players start the game completely blank, with no information from trailers. This is something that is obviously not possible, unfortunately!

For people who trust us and who loved Heavy Rain – we will surprise you, we will give you something you expect without even knowing that you were expecting it! I think it will be a real experience. We believe in it and we’re working hard for it. We are really surprised every day to see the game being born on the screens; it’s a real treat and a real surprise. I hope it has the same effect on the players.

The creators of Heavy Rain didn’t come empty handed to this year’s Game Developers Conference. The celebrated studio debuted a powerful new video called “Kara” to show off their new animation and performance-capture technology. If you’ve seen Kara, then you know that the results speak for themselves. Rendered in real time on PS3 hardware, Kara chronicled the activation of a self-aware synthetic organism, but this making-of feature is impressive in its own right as it shows how Quantic Dream assembled several different performances to create a seamless, believable virtual character. The future is now, you guys.

Once you’ve watched the video feature, let us know what you think in the comments! And as a reminder: Kara is absolutely, positively not Quantic Dream’s next game.

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

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

Heavy Rain: Director’s Cut starts shipping on November 8th in the US. Here is a list of all the great content fans can look forward to:

• Complete, original game, Heavy Rain
• Heavy Rain Chronicles: Episode 1 – The Taxidermist DLC
• Heavy Rain Original Videogame Score by award-winning film and television composer, Normand Corbeil (16 tracks)
• New front-end menu and interface with built-in Move support
• A series of 8 “Making of” Bonus Videos
• Three Dynamic Themes (Heavy Rain, Heavy Rain ARI Forest, Heavy Rain ARI Mars)
• 15 additional pieces of new concept art
• 2 bonus Trailers (Thank You Trailer, Love Trailer)

As a thank you to all current (and future) Heavy Rain fans, SCEA is making the Heavy Rain Crime Scene Dynamic Theme available FREE through the PlayStation Network (PSN) to commemorate the release of the Heavy Rain: Director’s Cut. Starting November 8th, PSN members can download this visually stunning dynamic theme, depicting one of the game’s most chilling crime scenes visited by FBI profiler, Norman Jayden, in his frantic search for the Origami Killer.

We hope you enjoy the new Director’s Cut!

BAFTA recognises video games and has done since the late 90s, which not only means that we get to wear tuxedos once a year and attend an opulent awards ceremony, but also that the British games industry gets support and acknowledgment from a highly respected institution.

You can read my report from the 2011 ceremony over on PlayStation.Blog.EU, but the summary is that Heavy Rain won the awards for technical innovation, original music and best story, while God of War III collected the gong for artistic achievement.

Just as the after party threatened us folk working the next morning with full swing, I had a chat with Heavy Rain’s writer and director David Cage about what these awards mean and what Quantic Dream has planned for the future.

What are your initial feelings after collecting three BAFTA awards this evening?

I’m very proud to have collected three awards. We came here with no expectations and I’m proud for my team who all worked so hard during those three years of development. I’m also proud for Sony, because they took a big gamble on this game and showed faith and support throughout, which not all publishers would have done.

Which is the most gratifying to you personally: winning awards, critical acclaim or lots of sales?

Definitely sales, and not because of the money. When you create games, you don’t create them for journalists or awards panels; you create them for real people – for gamers. To have nearly two million people paying good money to play Heavy Rain is a really great feeling for me.

Which of tonight’s awards is the most pleasing?

I’m proud of all of them but, from a personal point of view, it has to be best story. I worked so hard on this aspect of the game, inventing rules for the world; trying to be creative and emotional while all the time thinking about the technical aspects like structure and the different variables that were necessary to make it all work. I spent a year writing for 12 to 15 hours a day and there have been many personal sacrifices. As I said on-stage, I want to dedicate this all to my family, especially my two sons, who I didn’t see much of during that time but they shared my passion.

Can the auteur theory be applied to games, with development teams getting bigger all the time?

It must be applied to games – there is no other way. If this industry wants to mature and evolve then we need to talk about emotions and work on stories that appeal to all people, not just hardcore gamers between the ages of 15 and 17. We have a much wider market out there just waiting to interact if we can go to them with the right ideas.

I know no good stories written by 50 people. A story is something emotional; something personal that you want to share and it is strongly linked to your own life and experiences. We need auteurs and the biggest problem in this industry is that we don’t trust them – we trust programmers instead. Auteurs are scary because they come back with ideas, but that is exactly what this industry should be about.

Is this recognition of Heavy Rain the culmination of your work on Indigo Prophecy?

We are working with a young medium and there is no pre-existing language with which to tell an interactive story. Everyone needs to learn and I’ve had 15 years of learning, starting with Omikron: The Nomad Soul. Nobody knew what the story was about in that game because it was so messy and poorly told, but then I had the chance to work on Indigo Prophecy and the story was kind of OK for two-thirds of the game, but got a bit messy at the end. So I progressed some more as a writer and, with Heavy Rain, I feel that there were many stories in there and they were all good from start to finish.

Heavy Rain is the result of those 15 years of fighting and struggling with this new language. Receiving this award is undoubtedly one of the highlights of my career but I don’t see it as an achievement, more like the first step – it’s like I’ve finally got something that works. Now, I can build on it and continue learning. I’m a student and I’m still at the beginning.

For our next project we’re going to build on what we have discovered with Heavy Rain. We own this genre of Interactive Drama and we want to show that Heavy Rain was not a coincidence; it is something that makes sense and we can build on it.

At the same time, we will not make a sequel and I made that very clear from the beginning, regardless of whether the game was a success or a failure, because I wanted to show that this is a new genre that you can use to tell any kind of story, in any style.

We’re going to be exploring a different direction, which will still be very dark and still for adults, but completely different to Heavy Rain. Our challenge is to satisfy our fans, and also surprise them.

ModNation Racers
My choice would have to be ModNation Racers. I played that game all night long, collected all the outfits, stickers, and whatnot, and made a ton of characters. I also posted a few tracks online – “A Night On Bald Mountain” and “Alice In Wonderland.”
-Giac Veltri, Engine Programmer

Rock Band 3
I really enjoy the challenge of playing songs in pro mode. The new keyboard, cymbals, and pro guitar are great additions to a game that was already amazingly fun.
-Herman Miller, Senior Programmer

MineCraft
The experience it gives you, you can’t get anywhere else.
-Joe Valenzuela, Engine Programmer

Super Meat Boy
It is unforgiving, unrelenting and unapologetic. It’ll grind your nose to the ground and make you feel insignificant. It does all this while staying fair to the player, no cheap deaths, and the feedback system showing the player where they jumped, landed and were mutilated by massive-death-blades(TM) creates a comforting and addicting “no, I can do this” feeling in the player.

It not only revels in a past era of super hard games, it refines it to near perfection. Super Meat Boy is everything anyone could ask for from a pure run-and-jump platformer.
-Chaz Wilke, Scripter

Starcraft II
I’m kind of embarrassed that it’s so mainstream, but Starcraft II. This was a surprise for me, since I’d always considered myself no good at RTS games, but apparently that’s all changed as I continue to charge through the Platinum 2v2 league 6 months after its release. It’s definitely an intense yet enjoyable challenge for me, and I love playing Zerg! (I chose to play Zerg for a highly strategic reason: they are adorable.)
-Lisa Brown, Designer

Bejeweled Blitz
My favorite game of 2010 was Bejewelled Blitz on Facebook. Despite a weekly @$$ kicking by my wife I keep coming back for more. (Lead Designer Jake) Biegel bows before me.
-John Fiorito, Chief Operating Officer

Bayonetta
Bayonetta, easily. The game really surprised me with its amazingly fast combat and unique (and kickass) soundtrack. It also had some of the best boss battles I’ve seen this entire generation.
-Scott Michalek, Engine Support Technician

Heavy Rain
Although other games like Mass Effect 2 and Red Dead Redemption captured me for longer periods of time this year, Heavy Rain is the game that most stands out in my mind. I really loved its depiction of fatherhood, a rarity in games. Heavy Rain gave me a new type of experience I hadn’t had before in any other game, and it made me really excited about the possibilities for interactive fiction in future games.
-Joel Bartley, Gameplay Programmer

If you guessed that our writer’s favorite game from 2010 would be the game where you played a writer… well, you’d be right:

Alan Wake
My favorite game of 2010 was Alan Wake. It was dark, atmospheric, with a compelling narrative and a really unique combat mechanic. It also satisfied my insatiable hunger for lumber mill-centric gameplay. As an added bonus, Alan Wake brought to light the gritty truth about writers: that we are all badass action heroes you want to align yourself with should possessed beings ever invade your tranquil summer burg. Unless you’re married to one of us – then you should probably run.
-TJ Fixman, Senior Writer

Sometimes we don’t get to play new games during the holidays, and they slip to the next year. That’s the case with the next couple of selections:

Uncharted 2
I liked the platform/parkour aspects of the level design. If Uncharted 3 has more of the platforming and jumping around I’ll be calling in sick until I complete it.
-Frank Lafuente, Lead Programmer

Dragon Age: Origins
Primary reason is that on my list of favorite game titles it was one of the only new titles, the others being sequels/new installments of a previous franchise.

I think that Dragon Age is an excellent example of bringing old school DnD style RPGs into the current generation. It was refreshing to see them revamp many of the traditional RPG standards while maintaining many of the same themes. It’s also one of few games that really delivers on content and epic story telling.
-Josue Benavidez, Associate Designer

Despite the wide variety of selections, as the response continued to flow in, it was clear that a vast number of Insomniac’s favored one game above all others during 2010: Red Dead Redemption. As our own (in?)famous cos-playing Senior Animator Ben Van Dyken writes:

• It was an emotional experience. You had real empathy for the character over the course of the game…. And not just in the main storyline, but I also got very attached to my horse, and when he died, I felt real loss…had to go through almost a mourning period before getting another. And these were never ‘canned’ experiences either…they usually happened so dynamically, that it never felt like an event ‘forced’ upon me by the designer….which gave it that much more impact.
• I also remember back when the game came out, each morning people would gather in the kitchen and tell their “RDR stories” from the night before. “…and right after that, I was wrestling this bear with only my bare hands…when all of a sudden, a cougar jumped out and mauled my horse…” It was great.

-Ben Van Dyken, Senior Animator

Other praise for Red Dead Redemption:
As repetitive as many of the quests could be, they created a world I enjoyed being in. They nailed the visuals and sound design of the west, from the time crickets swap with grasshoppers as the primary insect noisemakers to the way dawn casts nearly white light over deserts. The Morricone-esque soundtrack made me feel like I was in a western movie; It just felt good to ride around and experience that world.

Add to that the sheer number of things to do (skill rankings, outfits, primary story missions, mini games, bounty quests, etc) and amazingly entertaining ambient behavior (watching people get mauled from their horses by mountain lions, hearing the prostitutes around town say things like, “I hate to see a dry pecker” and trying to line-up the perfect sniper shot when suddenly being attacked by a Grizzly…) and you had a game that truly defines an era. Would anyone even want to try to make another western game?

Oh, and their “Undead Nightmare” DLC kind of ruined DLC for the rest of us. Best $9.99 I’ve ever spent!
-Marcus Smith, Creative Director on Resistance 3

My love of Spaghetti Westerns was beautifully recreated in this game. I loved the story lines and the fire fights felt like a cross between the Magnificent Seven and The Good, the Bad and the Ugly. John Marston, the main character is well defined and carries all the emotion needed to connect with him. Rockstar did an amazing job and they continue to set the bar for sandbox games.
-Carlos De La Torre Jr, Tester

From cattle rustling to coyote wrestling to bandit killing, this game really drew me into its world. Playing co-op with some fellow Insomniacs is also a blast.
-Chris Edwards, Engine Programmer

The level of difficulty in making a Western game of the year is epic – yet they managed to nail it. The level of immersion and gorgeous environments leaves me awestruck – it’s a world that I love just being in.
-Joel Goodsell, Senior Designer

My favorite game of 2010 would have to be Red Dead Redemption. I expected it to be GTA4 with horses, but it turned out to be a sprawling, profound, emotionally moving experience centered around one of the absolute best characters in video games (John Marston). Easily the greatest Western video game ever made, and possibly the greatest Western ever made, period.
-Josh Leman, Tester

Sounds trite, but I loved, loved, loved Red Dead Redemption. I love the desert. I love hiking in the desert, camping, and driving through it. I think the Red Dead team nailed the feeling of the lighting, the topography, and the natural plants and cacti. I’m also a huge fan of westerns, and to me, this was nothing less than the definitive western video game–besides Boot Hill, of course. :)

I’m not sure I’ve seen better looking horses in a game either. It’s the kind of game I like playing just so I can ride around watch the sunset… before I smoke some outlaw gang from their shack. It’s truly a world I feel like I can escape into.
-Steve Ratter, Environment Artist

I loved the openness and the fact that you could finally be a bad-ass gunslinger. First western game to really capture that and it was awesome. And let’s face it, who didn’t always want to skin a bunch of bears.
-Tim Salvitti, Web Developer

So Red Dead Redemption is definitely the favorite pick of Insomniac Games for 2010. Congrats to everyone at Rockstar: San Diego for making such a fantastic game, that sucked up so much of everyone’s time here at Insomniac Games. If you haven’t played it yet, we can’t highly recommend it enough.

After you’ve added the Dead Rising 2 items to your collection, be sure to shoot on over the Estates store to pick up the newest addition in our line of luxury personal spaces – the Lake House. This spacious, extravagant, and modern waterfront estate comes complete with awe-inspiring views and is arguably the hottest space on the proverbial block for hosting your next party. Check it out for yourself in this quick fly-through video we made for you.

 
If you want to take your personal space into the 22nd century, our friends over at Lockwood are offering you a full-on teleportation device that you can place at will in the personal space(s) of your choice. With the Sodium Telepad, you can zap yourself hither and thither with ease. Pick up this next generation relocation device come this Thursday from the Sodium store.
 

 
AlphabeTees fans will be stoked to learn that new additions to this wildly-popular social trivia game will be released later this week. The CalculaTees expansion pack includes numbers from 0-9 (plus a decimal point) and will add more options for the ongoing AlphabeTees/CalculaTees contests where PlayStation Home users and their friends answer daily trivia by spelling out the answer with their clothing, taking a group photo, and then uploading directly to the AlphabeTees competition entry portal (located under the Central Plaza Jumbotron). The winning entry is then shown on the Central Plaza Jumbotron screen the following day. You can grab the CalculaTees expansion pack this Thursday, September 23rd from the Threads store (just look under the VeeMee tile).

In other news, the PlayStation Home Theater will be hosting a behind-the-scenes/making-of Heavy Rain video starting this Thursday. Visit this screen to watch this awesome video and unlock a special Heavy Rain reward. When you’re done, head to the Costumes store in the PlayStation Home Mall and load up on our new, all-original costumes (the male and female 8-bit costumes are personal favourites).

See you in Home!

Utilizing the extreme precision of the PlayStation Move motion controller (as well as the PlayStation Move navigation controller and the PlayStation Eye camera), players can become completely immersed in the search for the Origami Killer through controls that mimic real-world motions.

For those of you who already have a copy of Heavy Rain, we will be releasing the Heavy Rain Move patch on Wednesday, September 22, 2010. Just boot up Heavy Rain (assuming you also have an internet connection) and it will automatically download to your PS3. This FREE patch will allow current owners of Heavy Rain to play the game with the new PlayStation Move controls and experience a whole new way of playing Heavy Rain.

In addition, we will be releasing the Heavy Rain Move demo on the PlayStation Store during the following week on Tuesday, September 28, 2010. This is a completely FREE standalone demo that features two of the early levels from the game, Sleazy Place and Crime Scene, and is fully playable with the PlayStation Move (note: you will need the motion controller, the navigation controller, and the PlayStation Eye camera).

Heavy Rain has been given a PlayStation Move makeover so expect to be drawn into the action more than ever. Now, your every move will make a difference!

Enjoy playing Heavy Rain again with the PlayStation Move, or for the first time!

Hi everyone, I’m pleased to announce that since its launch in February, Heavy Rain has hit is millionth mark in sales worldwide! Congratulations Quantic Dream!

Praised by media for its gripping storyline, thought-provoking themes, innovation and engaging example of non-linear storytelling, it’s no surprise that more than a million gamers agree.

Don’t believe us? If you haven’t played Heavy Rain yet, then take a look at the following trailer highlighting the award-winning, critically-acclaimed, and one million unit-selling Heavy Rain!

In addition, the only true way to experience what makes Heavy Rain so unique is to download and play the PSN demo for Heavy Rain straight from the PlayStation Store.

We hope you’re enjoying Heavy Rain, and the newly released Taxidermist Level (available on PSN for $4.99). But, if you’re looking for more, continue to check back here on the PlayStation.Blog for the latest updates!

Another great offering from the Quantic Dream crew, The Taxidermist chapter provides an additional backstory to Heavy Rain and features one of the main characters from Heavy Rain, journalist Madison Paige, on one of her early leads from her investigation into the Origami Killer. In a similar manner to the unique, cinematic gameplay style of Heavy Rain, you will play Madison, and be presented with a number of tense situations and decisions, as she digs further into the case, which of course, will determine one of many different outcomes.

To give you an idea of what we’re talking about, check out the trailer here:

Also, check out what IGN had to say about The Taxidermist right here.

There is definitely more to come on Heavy Rain here on the PS.Blog, so continue to check back in with us!