Games "will die" if industry doesn't do more to innovate, says Cage

E3 wasn't exactly bursting with new IP this year, but one of the few new properties to receive a fair amount of buzz was Quantic Dream's Beyond: Two Souls. After teasing the industry at GDC with his tantalizing Kara demo, showcasing what his next project could do visually and with emotions in characters, David Cage unveiled his new project starring the talented actress Ellen Page.

After a more action-filled presentation than usual from Cage, GamesIndustry International spoke to the developer about the evolution of his game making from Heavy Rain to Beyond, where games and storytelling are headed, and getting past the uncanny valley, among other things.

[StrongMan]

The Genius has spoken.

[Hal0_0_EmElG]

Yes lets have more quick time events , the Genius has indeed spoken ...

[SnakeCQC]

contextual events in non linear games are better than the over saturated copy and paste shooters

[LOGICWINS]

^^Who cares which one is better or worse? I can do without either.

[Outside_ofthe_Box]

So because he said we need more innovation that automatically means he wants more games like the one he makes?

[jetlian]

coming from a guy who made 2 going on 3 interactive movies lol. what hes doing isnt even new

[suicidalblues]

@ jetlian

I need a good laugh. Tell me these interactive movies you speak of.

[Pushagree]

This is the truth. No more military shooters, no more space marines, no more spikey-haired anime rpgs, and lastly NO. MORE. ZOMBIES. It's been done a million times. Take a chance on something new. Be the next Portal or Assassins Creed and the world will love you for it.

[setokaiba]

Assasins creed has had like 10 entries, and even 1 wasnt innovative when you think about it.

Realistic graphics, action adventure, weve seen and done that too. Weve seen stealth, ect

[smashcrashbash]

The golden Age of gaming Sony, Sega and Nintendo took chances with games and innovation was never a problem. Some of the greatest most innovative games came out of that era. Innovation barely exists this gen except in indie games and pointless gimmicks. Sony is one of few companies who still take chances with full retail games like HR, Motorstorm and Last Guardian. Others usually only take chances if it is an indie game or a downloadable one.

[StanSmith]

Thank god for titles like LittleBigPlanet, Ratchet & Clank, Sly Cooper, Mario, Donkey Kong along with games like Portal and Assassins Creed. Without those, I'd have quit gaming long ago due to the ridiculous amounts of First Person Shooters.

I don't mind FPSs. It's the military ones that bore me to death now days.

[NonApplicable]

You can have Zombies, Military Soldiers, Space Marines and Spikey Haired anime characters without creating something conventional. The Mario related(including spin offs) games are excellent examples of providing drastically different experiences while maintaining the same franchise characters.

[ABizzel1]

I think the problem is very few developers are putting the time in to make something new and unique, because new and unique doesn't sell unless it has mind blowing graphics.

Gamers claim they want something new, but when its dropped the sales don't show the developer making something new is worth their time.

At the same time developers need to find a balance between familiar and new, so they can pull gamers into the world with something they know, but surprise them with something different.

Shooters are great. There's nothing wrong with the genre, but the same type of shooter has been done to death WW2, Modern War, Post Apocalyptic, and Space Marine. A new setting and new enemies and new A.I. goes a long way in making a game feel different and refreshing.

REFRESHING is what we're looking for. There was a shooter that got cancelled that was set in a Fantasy world, with giants, ogers, dragons etc... It's the same shooting mechanics, but a new world that has never been explored, and possibly a new story.

Also there are other genres out there. Shooter and Action (guns) seem to have become the biggest genres this generation. Bring back horror, develop more hack and slash, new platformer, fighting, good JRPG's etc... VARIETY is also what we're looking for.

REFRESHING - VARIETY is what we want next gen.

[setokaiba]

No offense, and I dont mean to stur trouble but shouldnt he take his own advice?

I mean lets break down his game in terms of innovation.

Is realistic graphics innovative? Not really

Are Visual novels, where there is more story than gameplay innovative? Not really, thats been around for 20 years.

So what exactly is the innovative part of his new game?

Ok so she can talk to dead people......did anyone see 6th sense?

[Moncole]

Games doing stuff never done before like Scribblenauts and Portal that is innovative.

[BitbyDeath]

Cinematic gameplay is still fresh

[NonApplicable]

Maybe Mr.Cage doesn't innovate as much as he would like to think, but... he does push the medium forward. Developers will incorporate/improve certain aspects of their games because of Quantic Dream influence.

[Tonester925]

Innovation =/= graphics.

That's why I respect the Wii U and the innovative game play abilities that it's bringing to the Gaming world. To be honest, look at all the Nintendo system controllers. The only thing missing from the Nintendo catalog is different AAA quality Exclusives other than the norm. I'm not a Nintendo fanboy just speaking the truth.

I believe that if Devs listen to gamers, there will be a huge diversity of titles. Maybe have an open Poll or forum just for game ideas and have people from all over the world help contribute to the ideas and creation of the game.

I can't wait to take my college classes this semester for Video game storyboards, design, etc... Hopefully I like it.

[D3mons0ul]

No, people will eventually grow tired of Call of Duty and seek out the more obscure games. I think this stagnation problem will fix itself. Nobody's just gonna let gaming die. The idea is ridiculous.

[StanSmith]

As much as I hate Call of Duty, if it died it would leave a massive dent in Sony & Microsoft's pockets. Sony and Microsoft need Call of Duty to keep selling 20+ million a year. The royalties are huge on the franchise.

[Tonester925]

It's not "gaming" will die but specific game titles. Such as COD, Mario, Pokemon, Halo, Madden etc... Just games that release and have little change to them. Or the change that they implemented in the game isn't relatively game changing. Without this factor, the games will become stale and graphics will not be able to cover this up.

[dkp23]

Games not going anywhere, genres will die, others will rise. There will always be a demand for games.

[setokaiba]

All I know is this gen I am playing the opposite of the main stream innovative less hits

While other people are playing COD, I am playing catherine.

Some might be playing assasins creed, I am playing the world ends with you

Some might be playing Halo/mario/uncharted, I play valkyria chronicles baby

[NonApplicable]

Your so cool /s

That hipster attitude will cause you miss some the best experiences this generation.

Your last example is atrocious! Uncharted is innovative in terms of cinematic game play and motion capture. So many companies are trying to match Naughty Dog's set pieces and engaging characters. Halo is responsible for many of the concepts we see in multiplayer today. Mario is arguably the most innovative franchise ever. Your comment is prefaced by saying "This Gen", which makes no sense. This implies that once a new generation begins, the games that have previously innovated no longer deserve credit.

Valkyria Chronicles may have had some innovative ideas but over the span of the franchise those innovations have stagnated like the games I have mentioned. You have been playing a revamped version of the first Valkyria Chronicles with every sequel, yet you bash Halo/Mario/Uncharted?

[CanadianTurtle]

There has to be more innovation and less gimmicks.
And I agree with the above poster, screw the ideas of zombies. There are far too many zombie video games out there and a lot of them have nothing special to offer rather than blowing off heads of dead people which gets old fast.

[Yangus]

"This industry will die if it doesn't try more to be innovative... How many first person shooters can we create per year?...."

Sad,but absolutely true...next-gen more FPS/TPS action very cool visuals....6-7 hours long SP.Multiplayer,multiplayer...

[OneAboveAll]

Games will never die. Let's take movies for example. Another great form of entertainment yet they are running out of idea and keep re-booting old franchises.

Then something new does come out and it's great.

[kevnb]

His games don't even innovate at all. They are just point and click adventure games translated for console, oh and with hundreds of qtes. Mind you his games are good, innovative is the last thing they are.

[BitbyDeath]

Yes and no, he is still pushing the barriers on a long forgotten genre. Which can be considered as innovating. Everythings been done before we just need more devs to use old ideas and find ways to make them more interesting.

Like what Cage is doing for example.

[Hicken]

People need dictionaries.

Innovation doesn't have to be something no one's ever seen before. It can also be for doing something old in a new way. The assembly line Henry Ford added to his factories wasn't a new idea, nor was building a car. But he combined the two: innovation. Computers aren't really anything new; they're just complicated calculators. But the way they go about those calculations keeps getting better: innovation.

I don't see any games out there doing what Heavy Rain does. And Beyond is already taking what Heavy Rain did and changing it, so I'd say the innovation is already present.

Feel free to not recognize it because your thoughts are too narrow, though.

[baodeus]

so then every game that added some changes also mean they are innovative?

Like a different story, added multiplayer, changes perk, etc also mean it is innovative because they all take the old and make it different based on your assessment of innovation?

[from the beach]

I would go as far as to say there isn't a jot of innovation in Heavy Rain.

You have a supremely awkward mash up of quick time events (which simulate boring, mundane actions), a choose-your-own style story progression (nothing new there), wound together with the kind of plot you would expect to see on on Sunday afternoon crime serial on ITV4 (maybe even ITV5 or 6, which don't exist).

It's sort of like an adventure game with the puzzles or mystery-solving element taken out.

Add in atrocious controls, constant immersion breaking character swaps and at times hilariously bad voice acting and you have one of the worst atrocities of this generation.

But maybe my thoughts are just too narrow to appreciate this art-game, indie 'genius', lol.

[Dualshockers_Carlos]

to those who hate on cage...get a job, buy a ps3, buy heavy rain and beyond and shut the fuck up.

[NastyLeftHook0]

exactly

[Walker]

Games "will die" if Cage creat titles like Heavy Rain !

[xyxzor]

JASON!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! !!!!!!!!!!!!

[JBSleek]

Who is he to even say games will die if they don't innovate. How has he innovated the entire gaming industry.

Wow you made a quick time even movie video game. Now the gaming industry is saved. Give me a break.

[BitbyDeath]

He's basically saying devs are too stuck in their comfort zones and people will eventually get bored.

It's true, games like COD won't be popular forever.
Who else is making interactive dramas?

[RockmanII7]

It's not devs, it's publishers who don't want to sink a ton of money into a game and watch it flop. There are an abundance of FPS's because FPS's sell the most. When FPS's start selling less than all the other genre's then publishers will focus their devs to make games in whatever genre takes over the throne.

[chukamachine]

The thing is, men will never grow tired of war. That's why war rages on and on.

COD might die someday, but they'll be some other game to take over.

[RockmanII7]

"This industry will die if it doesn't try more to be innovative"

That's the actual quote, saying Games will die is just stupid. I disagree with this quote also though, the industry won't be killed by lack of innovation but it could be severely hurt by it. If you're looking for innovation check out indie games, they are less risk/less reward for the developer so they have more room to try new things out.

[MadMen]

This guy and article are lame

[NastyLeftHook0]

calling a person you never met lame? thats selfish and childish.

[360ICE]

You're right, games will die if they don't innovate.
I mean, just look at all the innovation coming from movies... wait.
Music... no.
Maybe books? Oh right, they're dead.

Innovation = instant death
Hands off, buddy.

[NastyLeftHook0]

i agree

[Killman]

Some of you that are so against Cage here are f*cking hilarious, and I mean that in a 'You are so stupid it is funny' way.

[Gaetano]

Who made Cage the moral spokesperson for the industry?

""How many can we play each year?"

That's insulting to fans of shooters. There are lots of shooters because gamers want them. There's a big market for them.

"I mean this industry will die if it doesn't try more to be innovative and to come up with new ideas and to talk a bit more - not necessarily serious, but deeper things at some point. It's great that you can shoot at monsters, and that's great and it will always be there and it will always be successful, but at the same time, what about giving the choice to people? Even from a business point of view, does it make any sense? I'm not sure.”

Wait a minute: is this guy really, REALLY trying to lecture the industry on business models? Really?

Cage is an artist, first and foremost, but he is surely no business spokesperson, nor should he try and be one.

The guy is a frickin' genius, but it's quite clear he has an agenda. There is hostility towards CoD primarily because it's "mainstream", because it makes so much money, and because it's so aggressively competitive. The "left" hate that.

Innovation is really relative to the designer: they take one thing and evolve it their own way.

David Cage is a fantastic designer, but he should pipe down with his pretentious douchy hipster comments about how immoral the industry is, and how it will "die" unless there are more games like Journey that 10 people play.

The guy's recommendation for saving the industry is to stem the flow of shooters. Idiotic comments.

"Hey everyone! The industry is dying...so let's limit the amount of games we make for the biggest market...and make more niche games like Journey!"

Hurr durr.