In the lead up to the release of his studio’s upcoming game Beyond: Two Souls, David Cage has been in Australia, taking part in a live forum this week with movie industry experts in a discussion focused on how games and cinema are beginning to converge.
A few of the movie industry folk seemed a little naive and uninformed on video games in general, but I found it particularly interesting to hear how cinema had responded to the last 20 years of video games. We frequently explore how games are influenced by movies, but the discussion rarely flows both ways.
David Cage was there to represent the gaming end of things, and was the focal point of much of the discussion. Perhaps the most interesting part of the discussion was the idea of how technology might increase the level of creativity and how big budgets can restrain creativity in larger studios. It’s a common theme for folks like us who are engaged in video games on a day-to-day basis, but it was still interesting to hear David Cage discuss the issues, particularly since he’s been such a major proponent of cutting edge technology in his games.
David Cage has previously been very forward in his support of the idea that tech can allow us to tell better stories, but this time round he seemed more restrained.
“It’s great that we have more power,” he began, “but if it doesn’t change the experiences we create then what’s the point? My hope is that we’re going to use this great power we have on next-generational consoles to create experiences we’ve never had before, break away from the traditional paradigms and invent new ideas.
“I want to see games that are meaningful, games that have something to say and not just games where there is someone to kill.”
Cage was also keen to note the efforts of other studios involved with Sony, and their attempts to make unique video games.
“I’m not saying we are the only ones. There are many people trying very different things in very different directions. And that’s what’s so exciting about this medium. We are story driven, we like stories and we want to explore these possibilities, but there are other people trying different things. Sometimes they aren’t story driven but they are still very emotional. I’m a big fan of thatgamecompany, who created Flower and Journey. I also like the Japanese developer Fumito Ueda — he is a fantastic creator with a real sense of poetry. They are both very different but they are doing great things.
“Big AAA titles with big budgets, big teams, a lot of marketing money, they’re not taking many risks because there is so much money invested. They can’t take risks. On the other side of the spectrum we see small companies, indie developers. They don’t have money, they don’t have big marketing budgets, so they have to be creative. This is what’s exciting now, these indie developers.”
We also had the chance to chat to David Cage yesterday. Check Kotaku for the results of that conversation in the coming days.
Comments
9 responses to “David Cage Is A Fan Of Fumito Ueda And Journey, Wants Tech To Be Used For New Experiences”
How can he like Journey? The character models weren’t highly detailed and you couldn’t feel the emotions.
Haha, we told you you should play Journey @dc ^^
Despite his shortcomings coming off his promises though (in my eyes at least), I do love what this guy has to say. I think it’s a shame we don’t see more of what he’s talking about really.
I’ve got a lot of respect for Cage. I didn’t “get” Fahrenheit immediately so I gave up on it (regrettably), but I spent the entirety of Heavy Rain in a state of intense engagement. The fact that it was super pretty certainly helped, but it was the story that had me hooked. I’ve not played anything quite like it since. It goes without saying that Beyond: Two Souls is on my must-have list.
I like what Cage says about modern games, I like how he contextualizes his work without being exclusionary, and – most of all – I like what he creates.
I think casting Ellen page was a mistake for this game. All I see is her from that pregnancy movie, rather then the character she’s ment to be.
that’s probably a reflection on you rather than Cage. I like the choice of Page in the role, she has done some great movies (Juno was not one of them IMO) and I am looking forward to seeing what she can bring to the medium.
Ellen Page is an extremely good actor and you have a prejudice. It’s not anyone else’s fault.
I’m not her biggest fan, but you’ve got to treat Cage’s games as a bridge between film and games. In the end Quantic Dream’s works tap into the movies-only audience with actresses like her; and gotta give points for going with a female lead these days, not enough of that.
Why do people listen to Cage? He writes the most idiotic stories with such awful dialog. He tries to emulate films with some of the most laughable results. It’s telling that The Walking Dead was game of the year when it was basically – mechanics wise – a cheap Heavy Rain but with infinitely better storytelling woven into the fabric on the gameplay. The choices actually mattered; the brilliance of TWD can be measured in how many people claimed the choices didn’t matter because these people are ignorant to the ways game and story work together. Telltale chose to give you moral choices as opposed to plot-defining choices, which to me is always more interesting. I hope Cage actually practices what he preaches this time and instead of copying a bunch of movies garishly duct-taped together in a melodramatic crockpot; he does something moderately creative.
While I am not a massive fan of David Cage, this pretty much sums up the current state of video games. I know not everyone will agree with me, but this is my experience with games today.