The Strange Claim of David Cage: Did Quantic Dream Create a Genre?

Game Podunk editor, Marcus Estrada writes "The founder of Quantic Dream, David Cage, recently spoke about his company and Heavy Rain at BAFTA awards ceremony. Among everything he said was a very interesting line about the video game developer: "We created the [interactive storytelling] genre. We own the genre, and we want to show that Heavy Rain was not a coincidence or a lucky shot - that it was really something that makes sense and that we can build on.”

Immediately, this seems like a spurious claim. Developers have had grand ambitions and talked up their products before, but have they gone so far as to claim ownership to any one genre? People in the industry such as Peter Molyneux hype up their games to grand proportions, but eventually admit they didn't quite reach the peak. Developers might often talk a big game but at points will show they understand their products are not absolute perfection. That's why it strikes me as so entirely odd that David Cage is making such strong...

[Solid_Snake-]

this kinda game has been around for years ( with better controlls )

but....heavy rain was an amazing game ill give it that.

EDIT: why the disagree's

[thebudgetgamer]

i think we're to far in to create whole new genres.

simpsaons did it!!!

even gta was a mish-mash of other genre's

[Ducky]

Portal and Mirrors Edge can argue against that.

... and what exactly does a game like Flower or Minecraft fall under?

[thebudgetgamer]

i disagree.

portal is fps + puzzle

mirrors edge is fps + platforming.

things that have been thrown together.

[Solid_Snake-]

portal and mirrors edge falls under puzzle/platform fps.

flower and minecraft come under "why even bother"

if you wanna play a game that resembles a master system game with good graphics by all means play them.

if you wanna roll with the big boys buy big titles NOT MINECRAFT.

[dragonyght]

nah more like reviving and evolve a genre that die several generation ago

[BISHOP-BRASIL]

Adventures never died. But I agree that Quantic Dream brought back a serious take on the genre, more with the Drama/Detective/Thriller plot of Heavy Rain than with the plot in Indigo Prophecy (which take what was, in my opinion, a bad turn half way though - I won't spoil it any further).

The gameplay itself isn't anything new. But QD made a great game regardless. I got all ends and still find myself playing it.

[Dr Face Doctor]

Ignoring all of those point-and-click adventure games from the early 90's...

[Kon]

Dragon's Lair comes to mind... This David Cage is just too arrogant

[CrescentFang]

Hm, I wouldn't say they created a new one, but they did make a unique game and from what I know the only game to use its kinds of controls etc.
Like the above user stated I think it is similar to those point-and-click adventure games and maybe visual novels? (which has become a genre of its own, however I have never played any of them and they all seem to involve romance as its primary game element from what I have seen)
Well it's not that I don't like this guy's opinion, but sometimes I think GR does stuff just for the hits and to attract more people...

[Rikan]

Great game,although I enjoyed Alan Wake's story more. Cage did Indigo Prophecy, which was essentially Heavy Ran for last gen consoles and it was also very good. Looking forward to Heavy Rain 2!

[SeraphimBlade]

You could really argue either way. Indigo Prophecy was still very "gamey" ("health meters," game overs) and many consider it an adventure game. If HR is a progression of IP, then does that make it an offshoot of the adventure genre?

Still though, there's no other games quite like them. (that I know of) No arguments there.

[Corrwin]

Of course it did, it's the the:

"Half the internet love it, the other half haven't played it" genre.

[Sugreev2001]

Heavy Rain is nothing but an evolution of the old Graphic Adventure genre.Decent game,but a genre maker...not.