David Cage rants about quick-time events

By Tom Bramwell Published 20 August, 2009

Heavy Rain man: "This is not Dragon's Lair - do you think I'm crazy?"

Quantic Dream's David Cage pleaded with journalists earlier today to help him shake off the stigma of quick-time events and get the message across that Heavy Rain is properly interactive.

"From what you've seen, you're in control second to second, so please help with me this because some people on the internet just make me crazy," he said at the end of a demonstration in a hotel in Cologne.

"No! We don't make Dragon's Lair! This is not Dragon's Lair - do you think I'm crazy? I'm not stupid. Do you think I develop on PlayStation 3 to do Dragon's Lair again? It would be absurd. Of course it's not.

"So we work on this thing, it's fully controllable, you do what you want. When there is an action sequence, yes we integrate this QTE sequences. We've done it really in a new way, we really started from a blank page again to try to take the best out of this type of interface and find the thrill and excitement and make you feel at the heart of the action.

"Out of four scenes, this is one third of one, so that's the kind of balance we have in the game."

The scene Cage gathered journalists to witness was the first glimpse of Ethan Mars, a single father who blames himself for the death of one of his sons, Jason. In the scene, Mars picks up his other son, Shaun, from his ex-wife, and then looks after him for the evening. This involves getting him something to eat, helping him with his homework and then putting him to bed.

It's fully interactive throughout, as Cage said, with opportunities to behave like a responsible dad or to be severe or to just do nothing, really. After seeing it play out one way Cage showed a video of other possible outcomes. It was all rather poignant.

Although the bit with Mars juggling fruit looked a bit like a QTE. Just saying.

Picture of Tom.

About Tom Bramwell

Tom is Operations director of Eurogamer Network and Editor-at-Large of Eurogamer.net. He joined the company in February 2000.

Read more articles from Tom by visiting the Tom Bramwell archive page.

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Comments (61) Latest comment 2 years ago

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  • Coughthulu #1 3 years ago

    Think he needs to relax a bit. I think the problem is that what's been seen so far has mostly only shown the QTEs off.

    If it's modelled on Fahrenheit (which it looks to be), then it'll all work out fine.

    Of course, some of the QTEs in that went on a bit. Just saying. :)

  • MeBrains #2 3 years ago

    QTE - no QTE - I still am not excited about this game... why?

  • ukslim #3 3 years ago

    Is it "press X to not die"?

    Simple question.

  • Domovoi #4 3 years ago

    For all I can see, the only difference with Dragon's Lair is that you can also walk around and that there's not just one non-lethal option. If David Cage wants to prove me wrong, he should do so by showing what the difference is instead of going on an angry rant.

  • schnide #5 3 years ago

    @MeBrains

    Becaus Cage is talking and talking this game up then getting frustrated, because people don't believe him as he's still not let them play anything?

    What's more likely:

    - that he's cracked the problem of interactivity and strong narrative, but it's so special and advanced that we're just not capable of understanding it?

    - or that the game's not that good which is why he doesn't want anyone to playtest it and explain how it (doesn't) work?

  • Progguitarist #6 3 years ago

    Its anything like Fahrenheit it will be a great game.

  • des #7 3 years ago

    Well then remove QTE stuff and give full character control...problem solved

  • stoopidgreg #8 3 years ago

    Sorry Mr Cage but simply having to press the right button quick enough throughout the whole game is NOT gameplay. it's not fun, it's not original, it doesn't provide the player with any freedom, it's repetitive and it's unrealistic.

    I'm not hating on the game or anything, it could well be very good like Fahrenheit, but I personally would rather have more physical control over my character than having to press a random button and see how the animation plays out.
    Edited by 1 at 20/08/09 @ 11:58

  • M_of_the_sys #9 3 years ago

    @MeBrains

    We get it. You're not excited about this game. You keep saying. Maybe you're not excited because it's not your type of thing? Only you know the answer. Why ask us?

  • Beek4257 #10 3 years ago

    @UKslim

    From what I gather it's more like "press X to maybe die, maybe not/press O to maybe die, maybe not", etc., etc. ...
    Definitely context sensitive. QTE? Depends on your definition, I guess. But if it is, then it's done in a different way than before.
    It may still suck offcourse, but I'm hoping for the best.

  • waynenot #11 3 years ago

    "This is not Dragon's Lair - do you think I'm crazy? Fuck you, English pig-dogs ..... eets Space Ace, innit?"

  • Eraser #12 3 years ago

    Maybe someone should point him to Zeropunctuation :-J
    Edited by 1 at 20/08/09 @ 12:02

  • Sunyavadin #13 3 years ago

    Press X to BANG YOUR HEAD OFF THE SCREEN AT THE FACT THAT DEVELOPERS STILL USE QTEs......

  • el_pollo_diablo #14 3 years ago

    I quite like QTEs.

    I know I'm alone in this. That's ok too.

  • tomkuryakin #15 3 years ago

    Didn't Resident Evil 4 have QTEs in it? I don't remember too many complaining about them then.

    If only Heavy Rain had zombies in it...
    Edited by 1 at 20/08/09 @ 12:09

  • Bigglesworth #16 3 years ago

    Some people need to give game designers a little credit for being able to come up with new mechanics, or even variations on a theme, that these armchair pundits personally aren't able to conceive. If the game comes out and it *is* Dragon's Lair, *then* slam him.

  • Mooglepies #17 3 years ago

    Can't understand the hate for QTEs. I assume most of it (and I say most, I recognise there can be general "Meh" at the concept) comes from naive idiots who have to insist on every single scene of a game using the most complicated control system known to man to accomplish actions otherwise impossible or at best incredibly difficult using the gameplay mechanics. This isn't a rant against people moaning about overuse of QTEs in certain games; it's aimed purely at those who see QTEs and make the sign of the cross like it's some entirely stupid concept that should be wiped from gaming forever.

    See Ken's Ultra attack in Streetfighter 4? Would you like to be forced to actually pull that off with individual button presses for each hit? Because to be honest, from my perspective that's exactly what you're asking for when you demand full player control when you see a QTE.

    Sure, you get the lazy developers where the whole game is made up entirely of QTEs and that's bad, but blindly demanding that all QTEs be removed from gaming forever when they clearly have a proper time and place for use is just stupid.

    Edit: -1 Already? Hah. Clearly I hit a nerve somewhere. I'll admit the analogy is trite but it's still valid.
    Edited by 1 at 20/08/09 @ 12:24

  • Domovoi #18 3 years ago

    Domovi: He has shown plenty of different scenes where you can handle them in many different ways, releasing multiple playthrough videos. There are never an instant death but rather it comes in steps.

    Like I said: the only difference I see with Dragon's lair is that there's more than one non-lethal option. And the fact that you can walk around.

  • chubster2010 #19 3 years ago

    Good on him.

    I'm quite sick of people moaning about Heavy Rain being nothing more than a series of quick time events. Yes, Cage is promising a lot, but let's give him the benefit of the doubt, and wait until we've had a chance to play it before damning it as Dragon's Lair for the noughties.

    There's enough 'traditional' gaming experience available right now and on the horizon - it's nice to have something that (at the very least) is trying to do something different.
    Edited by 1 at 20/08/09 @ 12:59

  • Slipstream #20 3 years ago

    I quite like QTE's if they;re well implemented. God of War (I pretty much play the game for the boss QTE segements)

    Shenmue, the founder of the more refined and aknowledged QTEs and still arguably the best at them, giving you a chance to recover if you fail, or just keep going if you missed them completley in some cases.

    Ninja Blade is good if you're not very good at QTE's because it rewinds when you fail and maintains the pattern so you can learn it, good if you're unfamiliar with them.

    Kingdom Hearts 2: lol mash Triangle for advent children style attacks, 'nuff said.

    Ninja Gaiden 2: The enemy has to be in a dazed mode first sure, but it completly changed the animation of the attack, this could probably be the way forward, more subtle QTEs that happen when certain battle conditions are met.

    Heavy Rain: Oh this might be the way forward...

    Edited by 1 at 20/08/09 @ 16:12

  • Progguitarist #21 3 years ago

    Well said chubster. Theres enough out there to keep everyone happy.

  • samaran #22 3 years ago

    it's good to see that after fahrenheit allowed us to play as the easy-to-relate-to everyman LUCAS KANE, now we can control refreshingly average father ETHAN MARS

    has david cage ever been to an english-speaking country?

  • curtlikesmeat #23 3 years ago

    I think there's definitely room for QTEs when done right. I liked them in God of War and Clive Barker's Jericho.

    The thing I notice about this game (and maybe the poor quality of the vids is at work here) is that it looks a long long way from that 'Casting' video we saw a couple of years back. Very reminiscent of Killzone 2....

  • Rubarack #24 3 years ago

    He made Fahrenheit. OF COURSE we think he's crazy. I mean Fahrenheit was awesome at the start and strong enough reason for me to be interested in Heavy Rain but after playing to the end I'm in no doubt that he's a complete loon.

  • ParanoidZombie #25 3 years ago

    I'm not a big fan of QTEs, the big problem with fahrenheit was all the trial and error involved by QTEs: failing meant dying, and having to restart the whole sequence, which is bad in a story-driven game because your cut scenes and story sequences lose their impact because you have to see them too many times if you don't manage to succeed. This is boring, and a proper gameplay section works better, provided that the game design is open enough to allow you to experiment and try a different approach after you failed.

    I like a good challenge, but I think Bioshock and Fable2 really nailed how a story-driven game should play: get rid of the game over screen, by doing that you are sure that your story elements stay fresh, and the player is more aware of what's going on simply because he knows that every event/cutscene/twist is unique, he won't have to replay it 50 times before he moves on to the next bit. Letting the player live, but making him face the consequences of his failure is a much better "punition".

  • The-Bodybuilder #26 3 years ago

    This game will be sony's "Too Human" imo...
    Just saying.

  • matrim83 #27 3 years ago

    Is it "press X to not die"?

    Simple question.

    Exactly. Either its there or it isnt. And he already says its there so its just a matter of how much. If its as much as Indigo Prophecy I will pass.

    Nothing against the game its just that I am really, really shit at QTEs.

  • Mashum #28 3 years ago

    Dragon's Lair hero 'Dirk the Daring' had a more believable name than Ethan Mars... Ethan Mars???? FFS???

    QTE events aside this guy's storytelling pretentions turned out to be a bit questionable last time.
    Edited by 1 at 20/08/09 @ 13:23

  • jefranklin18 #29 3 years ago

    I am going to get this game if for no other reason than mature-content games don't have to be gore-fests. Anything different should be supported.

    And as for QTEs, meh - if the developers want to include them and I am enjoying the game enough, I will do them. If the game is starting to bore me, they won't get played. It's not a hard decision really...

  • PlugMonkey #30 3 years ago

    Fahrenheit started off with complex interactive scenarios, like the opening scene in the diner bathroom, and rapidly descended into non-stop QTEs, nonsensical plot twists and necrophilia.

    If he can somehow make a game that maintains the interaction of the first bit, then I look forward to it. However, given the absolute mess that Fahrenheit degenerated into, he can't be surprised if people are a little more sceptical about his claims for his new game.

  • RexRunti #31 3 years ago

    I think the problem a lot of people have is that he seems to keep bigging up this game like it's the second coming and talking like no game designer has ever thought to put a decent story into a game before. Then when he actually shows off the game it appears to be an updated point and click adventure with a lot of QTEs (and whilst clearly not the entire game it still appears to be that QTEs make up a significant proportion of the game).

    Also some of his lofty goals don't appear that grounded in reality, for example the whole "When you're in an uncomfortable position in game, we've made it so you have to hold the controller in an akward way to increase immersion". Sorry, that doesn't increase immersion, that gives me sore fingers which then distract me from the game. Why not take it further? When your character gets shot why not have a bullet come out of the screen and kill you?

    All that said I'm hoping Heavy Rain will be a great game, kind of like Blade Runner on the PC (old adventure game based on the film and book with branching paths, a good story and different every time you play) but I am definetly waiting for the reveiw as I have no idea if it's going to be 10/10, 3/10 or any where inbetween.

  • bad09 #32 3 years ago

    What's wrong with Dragons Lair anyway I LOVE that game - only got the DVD version though :(

    I'm not worried QTE in HR, haven't got that far in but I really like Fahrenheit. So more of that and it's all good.

    If highly praised games like God Of War, The RE reboot crap, Shenmue can do QTE why not this?

  • chubster2010 #33 3 years ago

    @ RexRunti
    re. '"When you're in an uncomfortable position in game, we've made it so you have to hold the controller in an akward way to increase immersion"' '

    Hideo Kojimi did a similar thing in MGS5 (the bit when you're crawling up the tunnel, mashing the x button for ages) - i thought that worked rather well. It kind of simulated the sense of exhaustion.

  • RexRunti #34 3 years ago

    @chubster2010

    Yeah I forgot about that. To be honest though it annoyed me a bit at the time and I certainly wouldn't choose to do it again if I had the option. Games shouldn't cause physical pain (with the posible exception of EA Active/Wii Fit) and should never feel like work or a chore.

    Edit: Speelong
    Edited by 1 at 20/08/09 @ 13:54

  • chubster2010 #35 3 years ago

    @ Rex
    'I certainly wouldn't choose to do it again if I had the option'

    Neither would Solid Snake...neither would Solid Snake...

    See - it worked didn't it? It was an ordeal for both you and Snake.

  • JahB #36 3 years ago

    "This is not Dragon's Lair - do you think I'm crazy?"

    then why do you keep showing only the QTE segments? from everything that i've seen from heavy rain it looks like a giant QTE corridor, and no matter how many different outcomes a scripted button prompt has, it is still a QTE.

    what i don't get is why everybody has a problem with that - wasn't this game advertised as a sort of "interactive movie" (that's what got me interested) in the first place?

  • chubster2010 #37 3 years ago

    @ Jahb
    Watch this:
    [link url=http://www.gametrailers.com/video/gc-09-heavy-rain/54440
    ]http://ww w.gametrailers.com/video/gc-09-...[/link]

    There looks to be a fair amount of freedom in this scene.

  • robg #38 3 years ago

    Each game is one long QTE, just with multiple, branching outcomes and lots of (sometimes simultaneous) buttonpresses/stick movements..

  • MeBrains #39 3 years ago

    m_of_th_sys: ok. ok. it'll be the last time I said that. did it more to see how downgraded it would be.

    -13 as it is. just for asking a question. strange how ratings are given. (+1'd you btw).

  • JahB #40 3 years ago

    @chubster2010

    i'm not too sure; you get to move a character around until you hit a trigger, and then the QTE starts. i'm really on the fence on this game, if all these "big huge QTE" assumptions are true, it will be an epic fail, but the concept in itself has the potential to make a for an absolutely fantastic game.

    here's hoping for a demo

  • kangarootoo #41 3 years ago

    People keep talking about QTEs as if they are this magical entity, divorced from anything else we ever see in games. They are one of many mechanics that get used all the time.

    Like all the other mechanics that get used all the time, if they are used badly the result is not fun. If they are used well, the result is fun. Its that simple really.

    We have a history of games associating QTEs with poor signposting resulting in immediate death. That isn't the fault of QTEs as a concept any more than badly placed checkpoint are the fault of all checkpoint systems everywhere.

    We can apply the same rule to QTEs that we can apply to most other game mechanics. If they are done well you probably won't notice, and if they are done badly you will (and will probably have something to say about it).

    I suggest that we simply hold fire and see what they come up with. If it works well and it is fun, it frankly doesn't bloody matter what it is or what we call it, does it? And if doesn't work and the result is frustrating and fun-removing, then we can send DG poo in the post. Deal?

  • Drakron #42 3 years ago

    "No! We don't make Dragon's Lair! This is not Dragon's Lair - do you think I'm crazy? I'm not stupid"
    And
    "When there is an action sequence, yes we integrate this QTE sequences."

    So you are either crazy, stupid or think we are stupid ... QTE is Dragon's Lair but the thing is Dragon's Lair was a Arcade game and so designed for us to lose coins playing it.

    "We've done it really in a new way, we really started from a blank page again to try to take the best out of this type of interface and find the thrill and excitement and make you feel at the heart of the action."

    Now were did I heard THAT before?

  • Bigglesworth #43 3 years ago

    Seeing the post above immediately follow the one above it makes me feel the same way about humanity as I would after being forced to watch a Jeremy Kyle show.

  • Ryze #44 3 years ago

    If it's modelled too far after Fahrenheit, then there'll be too much button bashing crap, and simon says QTE nonsense.

    I hope it's modelled after fahrenehits on foot (NOT STEALTH!) sections with exploration, dialogue and interactivity.

    Also, this type of game seems like the perfect fodder for Natal / PSPenis wand control.

  • kangarootoo #45 3 years ago

    @Bigglesworth

    I honestly don't know whether that is an insult or a compliment (or something else).

  • Mashum #46 3 years ago

    @roo2

    ..wise comment as always and I wouldn't disagree that if it's fun I don't give a hoot if it's QTE!

    That said, I do have a problem with QTEs as a concept.

    If I'm playing motorstorm (for example) I know it that leaning the thumbstick left and right isn't the same as driving really, but in the moment it feels like it is and that's the whole point.

    With a QTE it doesn't feel like anything more than what it is, an arbitrary series of control inputs. edit: I don't know if that can be fixed
    Edited by 1 at 20/08/09 @ 17:02

  • Diomedes #47 3 years ago

    David Cage ,welcome to the hate-filled Internet !

    PS:Specially if you are a PS developer of course.

  • Widge #48 3 years ago

    I think they should abandon this concept and just move back to the tried and tested mouse based point and click adventure... it seems what everyone whats. THATS WELL INTERACTIVE.

  • kangarootoo #49 3 years ago

    @Mashum

    "With a QTE it doesn't feel like anything more than what it is, an arbitrary series of control inputs. edit: I don't know if that can be fixed"

    I agree that QTEs are more abstract than directional and predictable control (the two things that I think make QTEs distinct, in that they give you neither). And I don't suppose that can be "fixed" without it not being a QTE anymore. Whether this is a bad thing depends on the application I guess. I do think though that a diet heavy with badly implemented QTEs (often with sudden death consequences) has coloured us against them as a concept.

    An RTS for example doesn't give you direct control over your troops (as in press left to make them walk left), but we accept that particular abstraction because it is generally made to work well in most games in which it appears.

    Full Spectrum Warrior also threw out the normal "here is exactly where (and when) I want you to put the bullets" convention of shooters and turned it into something else, but we accepted it because in that example the way they put it all together worked pretty well.

    If having specific DIRECTIONAL and PREDICTABLE control over a character's movements in real time is what a gamer demands as a matter of principle, QTEs are never going to satisfy them. However, if someone is willing to accept a degree of abstraction in the name of immersion or fun or a more versatile result (QTEs do allow you to do whatever you want with a character in response to player input - this lack of consistency is their one main advantage, though this is often abused as a lazy workaround for bad design and a desire for epic set pieces that can't be handled by the core mechanics) or whatever, then maybe they have their place?..
    Edited by 1 at 20/08/09 @ 17:38

  • HandOfBeadle #50 3 years ago

    Well said ktoo. This game is not meant to be about direct control over the player; it's about direct control of the story.

    I think we should be doing everything we can to encourage this sort of game, especially looking forward 5-10 years to the controls we'll be using on our PS4's, X720's, Wiii's etc. I'm far more interested in seeing what Quantic Dream could do with such technology than Epic.

  • Sunyavadin #51 3 years ago

    I think they should abandon this concept and just move back to the tried and tested mouse based point and click adventure...
    DAMN RIGHT

  • Sunyavadin #52 3 years ago

    Also: Screw this crap and just bloody well give us Nomad Soul 2. We've been waiting a decade for that now.

  • napalm68 #53 3 years ago

    Yeah, QTEs are crap. They were crap in Dragon's Lair, and they have been crap in every god forsaken game since that has inflicted them on players.

  • peak_performance #54 3 years ago

    Even if the story is anything above direct-to-DVD-thrillers that it seems to mimic right now and even if they allow the story to branch more than in Fahrenheit, in the end you're mostly playing Simon Say's with some options. Now I've had some enjoyment out of games that are similar in structure (Masq comes to mind), but it's often novelty fun in one half hour long games.

    If Fahrenheit had turned out better I could have been hyped for this, but right now Cage just seems full of himself. He talks about learning from Fahrenheit but doesn't seem to actually do it.

  • kangarootoo #55 3 years ago

    @HandOfBeadle

    "This game is not meant to be about direct control over the player; it's about direct control of the story"

    That is a very good way of putting it.

  • kangarootoo #56 3 years ago

    "He talks about learning from Fahrenheit but doesn't seem to actually do it."

    Surely it is a little early to be making that sort of judgement. We haven't even seen a detailed preview yet, let alone a full review, so all we have right now are soundbites and chti chat, with no real sense of what the balance of various activities will be in the final game.

    Its ok to say "I don't know yet" and not form an opinion you know.

  • peak_performance #57 3 years ago

    I mostly take the route of believing-when-seeing when designers talk about things like narratives reacting to hundreds of outcomes and similar features. I was expecting Fahrenheit with the anticipation many seem to look at Heavy Rain with and I was burned when I realised that the different ways you played scenes out in didn't affect the story at all. There could be one or two mayor things that changed, I don't really remember now, but mostly they were minor details. It didn't really make the most of interactive storytelling. (Mind you, some parts of the game were very good, I really liked the claustrofobic archives passage, there was never a danger present in that scene but I was on my toes until I was out of there)

    Perhaps Cage will make it this time, but I haven't seen him adress the issue of Fahrenheits choices and consequences in interviews, just that he agrees that the story went balls up in the last third - hence I don't think he has learned and will fail.

    It doesn't help that he has shown scenes of putting on makeup as fully interactive, that really just comes of as pretentious to me.

  • kangarootoo #58 3 years ago

    I tend to take talk of "hundreds of outcomes" with a big pinch of salt. So I treat some of what DG says with the same caution I reserve for Peter Molyneux.

    That isn't to say though that we can only have 2 outcomes, mass success or complete failure. I wholly expect that Heavy Rain won't be the profound life changing experience that DG says it will be, but that doesn't at all mean it won't be a wholly involving and entertaining game (assuming he learned from Fahrenheit).

    If you believe the hype, disappointment will usually follow. Better to keep a clean slate and judge the final game on its own merits, rather than how someone promised you it would make you feel.

  • peak_performance #59 3 years ago

    Yeah, that's right. I kinda did that with Fahrenheit when I returned to complete it a couple of years after it disappointed me and it was an OK experience after letting go of the hype. Heavy Rain probably won't be worse.

    Edit: Hey, this latest GC footage actually looks pretty good. Some inconsistencies but way better than the very mediocre E3 footage.
    Edited by 1 at 21/08/09 @ 11:39

  • bratmandu #60 3 years ago

    OBLITERATE QTEs FROM ALL GAMES!

    Any game that uses em is slackness and will not be bought by me.

    I didn't mind Fahrenheit, but the QTE bits could have been done another, better way.

    For example, the bit with all the books and bits of apartment flying at you in Fahrenheit - should have had the analogue stick to avoid objects, and maybe alternate trigger tapping to climb up things, like Infinity Ward are gonna do with the ice pick climbing bit in COD:MW:2.

    QTEs are lazy, redundant and cheap.

    **edit - I know it's a stretch to compare this to MW:2, but I'm citing a bit that could have easily been a QTE made into something more IMMERSIVE. After all, when you're in an RTS or something, you are ok with the god view controls because it's more of a management sim, and you don't play an individual on the battlefield. Whereas adventure games where you are a person should do as much as possible to keep you feeling immersed - and random arbitrary button presses don't do it!
    Edited by 1 at 21/08/09 @ 16:32

  • Demiath #61 2 years ago

    The QTEs in Fahrenheit were stupid, period. If there had been a greater amount of actual adventure game elements (puzzles, investigating environments etc.) in the game and if the story hadn't consisted of such derivative mythological bullshit (really, the Purple Clan is only the tip of the iceberg here) I would be more forgiving. As it stands, however, Fahrenheit is a sequence of dramatic camera angles in desperate search for some actual content to be dramatic about...
    Edited by 1 at 27/08/09 @ 23:09