The game designer tells the Guardian, “Developers are fed up – they want to talk about their families, politics, whatever – why not in a game? Why not?! There is no reason.”
Cage most recently designed Heavy Rain, which he based on his relationship with his first son and how the kid changed his life. At a shopping centre a few years back, his son wandered away for five minutes – the longest five minutes of his life. “It was something really strong,” Cage told Wired back in February 2010. “I guess the story of Heavy Rain comes from these five minutes.”
For him, the game was about how it felt to love someone without expecting anything in return.
“There should be more people trying this,” he says. “Don’t write about being a rookie soldier in WWII, because you don’t have a clue what that’s like. Talk about yourself, your life, your emotions, the people around you, what you like, what you hate – this is how the industry will make a huge step forwards. I’m fed up with space marines.”
But, is he fed up with bald space marines?
Heavy Rain creator: I am fed up with space marines! | Technology | guardian.co.uk [Guardian][Pic]
Jo
Tuesday, March 22, 2011 at 8:03 AMA good point to be sure but many people play games to do things impossible in real life.
Reality is boring and games about things you can do irl may be more realistic but not necessarily more fun.
Will Higgins
Tuesday, March 22, 2011 at 8:10 AMI like this guys attitude.
Rocket
Tuesday, March 22, 2011 at 8:11 AMThe only true space marines are the ones that inhabit the 40k universe, all the others are just just pretending.
Jim Cameron
Tuesday, March 22, 2011 at 9:48 AMWhat about Aliens? They moulded the stereotype.
Snacuum
Tuesday, March 22, 2011 at 9:05 AMWhile this man is clearly very smart and we should all pay close attention to him as a pioneer in this new ‘maturation’ of video games, I hope he doesn’t forget one important aspect of his work… You’re making VIDEO GAMES man!
5footassasin
Tuesday, March 22, 2011 at 10:36 AMWhat? Expand the very nature of the genre and create something new and interesting which changes people’s perceptions? NO! you shouldn’t draw something abstract out of cubes, you need to remember one very important aspect of your work: you’re making PAINTINGS man! Paintings are ONLY landscapes and portraits dammit.
Space Monkey
Tuesday, March 22, 2011 at 9:33 AMI agree with what he says. It’s not so much that games with space marines suck though, just that the range of games available is far too narrow, a little bit as if we only had the choice between crappy quality action movie with Jean-Claude VanDamme, or high quality blockbuster Indiana Jones, but never anything like “The son’s room”. The movie industry is healthy because if you don’t like a genre, you just don’t go and watch it, but it’s there for whoever likes it. Video games should be the same. Heavy Rain sold 2 millions of copies, that’s enough to say that there’s a crowd out there interested in it. Beyond that, game designers will argue about what’s best just as movie directors or writers will, there won’t be a consensus but that’s healthy.
Fenixius
Tuesday, March 22, 2011 at 10:09 AMAAA gaming will never be the same in regards to genre depth as movies: The economics don’t work out.
The difference is that every single videogame is a summer blockbuster and costs seven digits to make. You can, in theory, bash out a movie with your friends and only a few thousand in capital.
Imagine if every movie was Avatar, and therefore needed to be 100% guaranteed of a large return. That’s what gaming is like. And it’s really sad.
Camilo Cayazaya
Tuesday, March 22, 2011 at 12:47 PMWell there’s always indie game developers. I disagree that everything has to be a blockbuster, there is a huge market for things like Live Arcade and PC indie games.
StudiodeKadent
Tuesday, March 22, 2011 at 3:46 PMFenixius,
You’re correct when talking about the big “blockbuster” games with high development budgets.
Investors like consistent returns. Thus, investors are risk-averse. Risk-averse media results in media that sticks with what is tried and true, or only evolves incrementally, rather than radically different and novel ideas.
There are, of course, exceptions. Still, you’re right about the nature of the situation.
Adam Ruch
Tuesday, March 22, 2011 at 10:07 AM+1
Its also not to say that you have to make quotidian everyday stories to explore real human concerns. Star Trek TNG was a space show, but it wasn’t based around combat and violence. They explore the galaxy, but also more importantly what it is to be human. So you can do both, appeal to the imagination and desire for fantasy, and also present meaningful truths through your fiction. So just to be clear, the problem with Space Marines isn’t the “space” bit its the “marine” bit. Soldiers are boring when that’s ALL we get to play with.
Aidan Dullard
Tuesday, March 22, 2011 at 8:48 PMAgree with this. The best fantasy/sci-fi/[insert genre] writing can discuss meaningful human experiences (directly or through analogy) while involving the player in great gameplay.
That gameplay doesn’t necessarily have to be combat, mind.
Matthew Dive
Tuesday, March 22, 2011 at 12:12 PMI’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: when this guy makes a game that doesn’t have an absurdly arcane control system, whose first hour or two isn’t less interesting than watching paint dry, and doesn’t have a story whose twist creates plotholes the size of 747s; THEN we can start talking.
Jason Oliver
Tuesday, March 22, 2011 at 12:17 PMI like hearing about how these guys come up with the idea of their games – I don’t own a PS3 – but having watched that whole “Press X to Jason” sequence on YouTube my heart was in my mouth the whole time which is an unusual impact for a video game.
hateDRMcrap
Tuesday, March 22, 2011 at 5:16 PMThere goes my hopes of pitching to Quantic Dream “Utimate Space Marine” – a time traveling saga of a rookie soldier in WW II. ;)
Thomas Fulton
Tuesday, March 22, 2011 at 7:16 PMThe only space marines I’m interested in for the foreseeable future are the ones in the long-overdue Aliens: Colonial Marines. The entire industry has been aping that film for decades now. I want to get a dose of the real thing!