Cage hints at motion control reveal

By Oli Welsh Published 16 February, 2010

Heavy Rain creator has plans for Arc?

Heavy Rain's creator David Cage has said that he may have an announcement to make about the PS3's motion controller soon.

"I have a lot of interest in Sony's motion device and there is a good chance that we announce something about it in the coming weeks," Cage told Norwegian site Dagbladet, according to MTV Multiplayer.

Could he be considering adding support for the motion controller, which may or may not be called Arc, to Heavy Rain when the controller is released towards the end of this year? Will it factor in the Heavy Rain: Chronicles downloadable content? Or is Cage talking about his studio Quantic Dream's next project?

Cage pointed out that he initially considered a motion control scheme for Heavy Rain and although it wasn't feasible, "all the controls of the final version of Heavy Rain are still based on motion".

Eurogamer had an actual fireside chat with the outspoken French writer-director yesterday, so come back soon for his thoughts on this topic and many others. Heavy Rain is released next Friday, 25th February - and it's "unlike anything else you will play this year".

Picture of Oli.

About Oli Welsh

Oli is Eurogamer's acting deputy editor and reviews editor and likes to take things one word at a time. He is among the best dressed people in South London.

Read more articles from Oli by visiting the Oli Welsh archive page.

You may also like...

Comments (19) Latest comment 2 years ago

Comments threads automatically close after 30 days, but please feel free to continue chatting on the forum!

  • altitude2k #1 2 years ago

    As if shaking your controller to dry off a naked man wasn't bad enough...

  • Negotiator #2 2 years ago

    Now you just know Cage would love to use Natal for this game.

  • Murton #3 2 years ago

    It looks like we might be seeing even more from this working partnership of Quantic and Sony, I'm really hoping that Sony can bring Cage and his team into the fold full time and make them a fully fledged first party studio.

    Dare I hoe that this partnership turns to Omikron 2 for its next project? (assuming it's not a wand game)

  • Doctor_What #4 2 years ago

    Now there's a designer I would love to see using motion control. I can imagine he might do something much more than a waggle-a-thon with it. Exciting stuff!

  • smirny #5 2 years ago

    I have to agree with negotiator, from everything I've seen from both Natal and Heavy Rain (and having recently played through fahrenheit again), Natal seems like a perfect fit for the type of interactivity Quantic are striving for.

  • Negotiator #6 2 years ago

    smirny, I thank you.

  • Murton #7 2 years ago

    Quantic aren't going for interactivity though, they're going for immersion and Natal, from what I've seen, isn't really that immersive. I get the whole excitement surrounding Natal but in order to take full advantage of that body tracking you'd have to stand and be moving at least your arms around a lot, something that really wouldn't work well in a lengthy story driven epic like Heavy Rain.

  • FeralGamer #8 2 years ago

    So instead of pressing triangle, square, and rotating the thumbstick to shimmy behind the dumpster, you get to wave your hands around?

  • curtlikesmeat #9 2 years ago

    Yes, hopefully some news about The Nomad Soul to come please!

    Edit: Uhh, everyone keeps mentioning Natal... that's the Microsoft thing guys? Unless I'm having a senior moment myself.
    Edited by 1 at 16/02/10 @ 11:23

  • jag10 #10 2 years ago

    @smirny

    how are you going to move about in first person view on natal? walk into the TV?

  • Verminox #11 2 years ago

    How would Natal work with Heavy Rain? There's no way to get the character to walk using Natal.

  • funkateer #12 2 years ago

    Heavy Rain with motion control sounds like a perfect fit to me. And yes, I agree with Negotiator that Natal could have been very interesting for this.

  • Murton #13 2 years ago

    farticus: rather than just reading the words and trolling try thinking about what the words mean.

    The controller doesn't create immersion no, but it plays a massive part in it. The standard controller is second nature by now, I can pick up and play virtually any game and instantly know or figure out the controls for myself, the same wouldn't be true of a gesture based system like Natal, I'd need to think what movements I need to make to produce the results on screen would break that immersion immediately, as would the inevitable aches and pains of a lengthy session using a gesture based control system.

    You ask me to understand what I'm talking about yet you think Natal is capable of full body tracking on someone who is sitting down. I feel you need to practice what you preach and make a better attempt to understand what other members post before you attempt trolling them less they'll make you look foolish.
    Edited by 1 at 16/02/10 @ 11:42

  • funkateer #14 2 years ago

    "How would Natal work with Heavy Rain? There's no way to get the character to walk using Natal. "

    how about pushing the stick forwards? :-)
    I mean, there's no law saying that Natal may not be used in combination with a controller.

    "As if shaking your controller to dry off a naked man wasn't bad enough... "
    LOL :-D
    ...and then imagine doing so with a vibrating Wand in your hand...

  • jag10 #15 2 years ago

    @ funkateer

    what's the point in natal then if it's going to be used in combination with a controller? may aswell just use a motion controller.

  • Verminox #16 2 years ago

    Well then I might as well use the Sony wand.

  • funkateer #17 2 years ago

    "what's the point in natal then if it's going to be used in combination with a controller?"
    how about having the game react to gestures/motion/etc in addition to controls that fit a controller better? :-P
    It's obvious that Heavy Rain has been designed with motion control in mind, and many events are triggered by moving sticks in a certain motion (in combination with sixaxis) that mimic real world motion. Having that replaced with real motion control such as Natal (or of course the Wand) might make things even more immersive.

    "Well then I might as well use the Sony wand. "
    Well, yes, to some degree. And luckily the wand will be availble for the PS3 ;-)
    Heavy Rain isn't really the kind of game that requires super-quick reactions so Natal's latency is likely not much of a problem here, while it's added flexibility (compared to Wand) might especially benefit a game like Heavy Rain.
    As such, Heavy Rain could have been a nice showcase for Natal if it wasn't a PS3 exclusive.

    But of course this is all just speculating, though

  • seanthejackal #18 2 years ago

    @Negotiator no he wouldn't lol

  • funkateer #19 2 years ago

    "Could turn HR in to a full-on point-and-click adventure."
    come to think of it, a remake of the Blade Runner game would suit HR?s format quite nicely