Whatever console you might own, we as gamers still share one common battle against those pesky little nutters in court who start slapping everyone for too much violence and mature content in video games. Sigh. It's an unending crusade, I tell you. Here's Quantic Dreams (Heavy Rain) boss David Cage commenting on the nature of mature content in video games. It's an argument I've heard before, one which I've also used as well. But it's different coming from an actual developer, right?

In an interview with David Cage, writer and director for Heavy Rain, he explains that it isn't necessary to save the world just to tell an exciting story. In Heavy Rain, you won't be a superhero or a gangster. Instead, you'll be someone normal, someone real.

Unfortunately, keeping it real also means the game will only be a single-player experience. Details after the link.

Heavy Rain made an appearance late in this year's E3, but the PlayStation 3 exclusive made sure that it left an impression by wowing  the crowd. Unfortunately, the devs made sure everyone who saw it kept their lips zipped with an NDA in effect. More details in the full article.

What comes to your mind when you hear the words "Adults Only?" Chances are, you're thinking what we're thinking. There are, however, certain things you should know about what makes the rating and what the actual number of games with this kind of rating is. The latter point is especially important. Find out why after the jump.

If you were impressed by Mass Effect's smooth mix of the RPG and third-person shooter genres, Obsidian Entertainment and Sega's upcoming title is right up your alley. Enter Alpha Protocol, a stealth action RPG in the v as Jeins of secret agents suchames Bond. Instead of just fixing your hair, however, you'll do a lot of skill learning and shooting in this game. Head over to the full article to learn more.

  

Some devs want their games on the PlayStation 3, claiming that Sony's machine has unparalleled power. Quantic Dream, makers of PS2 game Fahrenheit: Indigo Prophecy, also believe that the scale of their upcoming title will only be possible on the PS3.

Info on everything Heavy Rain have been sparse since its E3 '06 display, save a couple of months back when a search for talented folks to fill in some vacancies came up. A few days ago, Sony Computer Entertainment Worldwide Studios announced partnership with Quantic Dream to develop a game that will "redefine cinematic realtime entertainment; setting a new benchmark in delivering emotionally compelling experiences to gamers."

All signs lead to Heavy Rain, but we can only hope. Fortunately, website Overgame.com were able to sit down Quantic Dream's Guillaume de Fondaumière to squeeze out a few things. 

According to the interview, finding the right moment to reveal the title have proven to be quite difficult. Thus, we won't be seeing anything on E3, but the game should surface after that. Good thing is, it's confirmed that Heavy Rain development is going real well.

Of course, the ambitious title with much promise can only be achieved using PS3's full potential, said Guillaume. Ideas of having a Xbox 360 version of this are currently out of the window, as the devs want to deliver the best experience - porting a game would require compromises, something they don't want.

 

Warren Spector of Thief and Deus Ex fame delivered an hour long address at GDC 2007 criticizing the state of storytelling in today's videogames.

His address, entitled "The future of Storytelling in Next-Generation Game Development – repeatedly emphasized how compelling, player-driven narratives are key to reeling in those who make up the sizable "non-gaming" population.

Spector stated that he was less than impressed with linear narrative models in games, and though he does truly enjoy games with linear narrative, he says that he feels that it has to go, even though he admits that it won't. He emphasized that a shared authorship model – where developers give players limited freedom - could be best. Examples of the shared authorship model include games like Grand Theft Auto.  Bottomline: he wants more player involvement in today's video game's story lines.

Some of us here at QJ agree with this. For one thing, multiple game endings as a standard instead of a bonus would be nice. What else would all the extra space in next-gen formats be for?

Spector also takes time to note that creating more believable characters, and not just prettier character graphics and designs should also be a goal for next-gen games. He cites the characters from Indigo Prophecy, Final Fantasy XII, Mass Effect, and the lovable Alyx Vance from Half-Life 2.

Spector urged video game developers to "Tell stories with players," to let them have part in the creation experience, and to push storytelling forward. Spector explains: "How can we be satisfied with just letting players jump from cover point to cover point so they can kill somebody. ...How can we settle for that?"

He also goes on to say:

The best way to do this is to get over yourselves. It doesn't matter how cool or creative you are--don't tell your story, work with players to tell our story. Let players off the rails. And let them explore the inner life of their characters

...If you think that story has no place in games, you're crazy. If you think story is everything in games, you're just as crazy. It's all about balance.

 

Quantic Dream may not be a very familiar name to you, but for avid, open-minded gamers that just won't settle for one game genre, we know them to be the creators of Omikron: The Nomad Soul and Indigo Prophecy. Heavy Rain is slated as their next release for the PS3, and like Omikron, it's bent on redefining the game experience.

Games usually have a good amount of drama and emotion involved. Unfortunately, they're often limited to vengeance, anger, sadness, rejoicing and love. Quantic Dreams pulls out all the stops to emotions by promoting a trailer based on an emotion engine for Heavy Rain on the PS3. It has been received with mixed feelings, although many have found it disturbing that some mimics of human reactions are close enough to the real thing.

Quantic Dream is still developing the game, but with support from publishers and the result of their work on breaking the emotion barrier, they hope to further their ambition for their media. If the technology on their emotion engine matches the video and audio technology for the game, the results can certainly be blockbuster.

The acceptance of virtual human beings may not be welcomed fully, but it is a step to creating a full game experience. Interacting with characters that not only think, but feel, generates a new phase of games that no longer will be breezed through, but lived through.

While a bunch of you FPS junkies are trying to hold back the Chimera threat in Resistance: Fall of Man, a more ominous evil is surfacing from behind the curtains of PS3landia. Is this a possible R:FoM-killer? Only time will tell. Or maybe these screenshots could.

As of the moment, Indigo Prophecy is hard at work with their upcoming WarDevil but we're glad that they've released a new bunch of pics to send shiver down our spines. It's one thing trying to hold back a couple of aliens. It's quite something else if you're up against creatures of the Netherworld in hi-tech armor and high powered artillery.

One interesting factor of this game is that it's going to use the WarDevil RTE 1080 Engine developed by Digi-guys Studios. This engine will bring the game some graphical depth and complexity for their WarDevil project. The goal here is to achieve in-game graphics that are comparable in quality to pre-rendered cinematic sequences.

If that's true, then the screenshots below are gameplay screens. Not cinematics. Yeowza!