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You may have missed this behind-the-scenes video of Heavy Rain on the PlayStation Network last week. This very revealing, spoiler-filled video highlights some of the deleted scenes and concepts for Quantic Dream's adventure game.

#women Joking that women "love two things in life, queso dip and true crime," Epic Games' Cliff Bleszinski told a podcast that he felt Heavy Rain missed out on bigger sales by not marketing itself more to the fairer sex. More »

#playstationmove Next week, September 22 to be exact, Quantic Dream's psychological murder mystery Heavy Rain magically transforms from vanilla PlayStation 3 game to thrilling, motion-controlled PlayStation Move game. More »

Free downloadable patch hits on Sept. 22nd.

Greetings psychological thriller fans! We are extremely excited to announce that Heavy Rain will be available to play on PlayStation Move motion peripherals starting on September 22nd.

Utilizing the extreme precision of the PlayStation Move motion controller (as well as the PlayStation Move navigation controller and the PlayStation Eye camera), players can become completely immersed in the search for the Origami Killer through controls that mimic real-world motions.

For those of you who already have a copy of Heavy Rain, we will be releasing the Heavy Rain Move patch on Wednesday, September 22, 2010. Just boot up Heavy Rain (assuming you also have an internet connection) and it will automatically download to your PS3. This FREE patch will allow current owners of Heavy Rain to play the game with the new PlayStation Move controls and experience a whole new way of playing Heavy Rain.

In addition, we will be releasing the Heavy Rain Move demo on the PlayStation Store during the following week on Tuesday, September 28, 2010. This is a completely FREE standalone demo that features two of the early levels from the game, Sleazy Place and Crime Scene, and is fully playable with the PlayStation Move (note: you will need the motion controller, the navigation controller, and the PlayStation Eye camera).

Heavy Rain has been given a PlayStation Move makeover so expect to be drawn into the action more than ever. Now, your every move will make a difference!

Enjoy playing Heavy Rain again with the PlayStation Move, or for the first time!

#playstationmove A free patch will allow Heavy Rain players to control the game with a PlayStation Move wand in one hand and either a Navigation controller or DualShock 3 in the other. So how will you find Jason? Watch. More »

For most developers, creating a game is a constant struggle between the design-based decisions of the creative team and the marketing-based decisions of the business team. Not at Quantic Dream, where David Cage's role as both CEO and lead designer means that "game design guides everything" at the company. So when Cage says "the game designer decided this, and I fully agree with it," he's actually referring to himself both times, as he pointed out at a talk at GDC Europe this week.

Cage said developing a game like Heavy Rain just wouldn't work in a more democratic development environment, where everyone on the team has equal power and the majority rules on major decisions. "When you want a strong vision, you need a vision holder, you need someone who has the final cut," Cage said.

We already knew Heavy Rain was an immediate success in the UK and a moderate hit in Japan. But with the game's quick disappearance from the NPD's monthly top ten in the U.S., we've been wondering whether the game's sales on this side of the ocean (which NPD pegs at just over 400,000 units so far) have lived up to expectations.

Well, "lived up to expectations" might be a bit of an understatement. At a GDC Europe talk this week, Quantic Dream CEO David Cage said Heavy Rain ended up selling "four times as many copies" as publisher Sony expected. "They were shocked. 'Oh my god, what happens?'" Cage said in his charmingly stilted English.

These unexpected sales presented a bit of a problem, Cage said, because the marketing spend for the game was based on the lowball expectation, not the surprisingly strong actual sales numbers. Still, Cage said Sony did a great job pushing the game in the States, especially considering the game's unorthodox concept and lack of a big franchise name, which led to some reluctance from distribution channels.

Cage said Heavy Rain has already sold 1.5 million copies (up from one million in April) worldwide and the game is on track to sell two million units by the first anniversary of its February release.

The little psychological thriller that could surprised them all.

How well do you know the name "David Cage?"

With the chances of further downloadable episodes of Heavy Rain's "Chronicles" DLC looking all but nonexistent, we wondered how Quantic Dream CEO and creative head David Cage felt now that his game has been folded up like an origami crane. We caught up with Cage after his talk at GDC Europe today to find out.
"I understand why the decision was made," Cage said of the cancellation of the planned DLC. "From a creative point of view it was not my choice. I would have really preferred a thousand times developing the Chronicles. I thought we had a lot to say about these characters, about their background. Things that were just mentioned in the game that had a true explanation in the background, and it's a little bit unfortunate that we won't be able to tell you the full story."
But at the same time, Cage said he's looking forward to working on something new. "I didn't want to do everything, I wanted to move on," he said. "I didn't want to spend another two years on Heavy Rain developing Move and Chronicles and stuff. ... So a decision had to be made and it's a decision I respect. Honestly, it's not like I'm upset about it, I would have preferred to do it differently but, you know what, it makes sense."

So, to sum up, Cage says he really want to finish the story through DLC, and that it's unfortunate that he didn't get to. But he also says he didn't really want to spend all that extra time on the game, and that he's happy to be moving on. So... that clears that up, yeah?

The creator of Heavy Rain thinks so.

#playstationmove Last week Stephen Totilo told us how Heavy Rain played on the PlayStation Move. Now let's see how it looks. More »

#screengrab If only more cosplay involved characters and a user interface. As seen on DeviantArt. Thanks Alexis! More »

Holding your breath for new Heavy Rain DLC? Well, stop. Game Informer has learned that the "Heavy Rain Chronicles" have been put on indefinite hold, with creator Quantic Dream saying they were urged by Sony to redirect their focus on an upcoming Move patch for the game. It's not been canceled completely, mind, but it's not looking good.

No one's chalking the holdup to low interest, but one would imagine that if the first chunk of DLC -- which was free to those who purchased the game new, but on sale to those who didn't -- was moving like thickly-accented hotcakes, we'd already be playing the second episode.

This year's "love it or hate it" control scheme gets a motion update.

#imperialhot Thriller Heavy Rain has a fan in Yoichi Wada, the guy who runs Square Enix. That company churns out Final Fantasy games. In a recent interview with game magazine Famitsu, Imperial Hot says he's recently played the thriller. His thoughts? More »

We know it's supposed to be a moving moment in Heavy Rain, but we can't get enough of parody tributes to the game's true protagonist, little lost Jason. First there was the hit Flash game Press X to Jason and now the Dead Workers Party brings us "Press X to Jason," a bubbly, melodic retelling of the story of the boy who touched America's heart as America touched its X button. You can find it right after the break.

We're intentionally being pretty vague about the content of the scene here, since you really shouldn't be watching the clip unless you've already played Heavy Rain. Like, you really shouldn't. Trust us.

[Thanks, Spencer]

Heavy Rain continues its slow progression from "like a movie with lots of button inputs" to "just a movie." Deadline reports that Unique Features is in the process of acquiring the film rights to Quantic Dream's game. Unique Features is a production company started by Bob Shaye and Michael Lynne, who used to be with New Line, the studio that had optioned the rights to the game in 2006.

Shaye and Lynne are apparently so interested in the project that they bought the rights with their own money. Maybe the game was too hard for them and they just wanted to see how it ends.

[Via Dread Central]

#ps3 PlayStation 3 serial killer game Heavy Rain may be bringing its tale of suspense, child abduction and wet tank tops to a theater near you. A deal to secure screen rights to the Quantic Dream game is reportedly wrapping up. More »

What Quantic Dream can do with DLC to bring us back.

#toys Baker009's custom Ethan figure, from Sony's PS3 thriller Heavy Rain, looks great. Sounds great, too, since he never opens his damn mouth. More »

If you've played through Heavy Rain, you know that most problems can't be solved by shooting a dude in the face. For GTA IV's Niko Bellic, that's very much a real problem solver -- a tactic he has no problem using. So it's a pretty odd juxtaposition to see the two games spliced together like they are in the video past the break.

It's a pretty great video, but we feel we should warn you that you probably won't get it if you've never played Heavy Rain. Unless you're watching this part, which we're pretty sure is funny no matter what game(s) you've played.

[Via Kotaku]

#clips Heavy Rain can be a drag sometimes. It's so bleak! And serious! What we need to lighten the mood is an unofficial spin-off title. Something with a little more Niko Bellic. And ass-grabbing. More »

#weekendreader Ultimately, the challenges the "uncanny valley" poses to motion capture and animation will be overcome by technology. But suspension of disbelief is just as important to a game's storytelling, writes the actor who portrayed Ethan Mars in Heavy Rain. More »

#republished This post contains spoilers for Heavy Rain. Although Heavy Rain is set in a nameless American city, David Cage has been forthright about Philadelphia's strong influence on game. When members of the development team visited the city, it inspired the dark, gritty world players would ultimately explore: More »

SlickDeals tipster DJ3xclusive recently unearthed a handful of handsome discounts currently being offered by Gamestop. Anyone who enters the coupon code "15NEW" while checking out from the retailer's online storefront can save 15 percent on a few games, such as Final Fantasy XIII ($43 after coupon), GTA: Episodes from Liberty City ($28), and BioShock 2 ($38). In addition, these three games come with an additional $10 credit to be used on future purchases. Better still, the code works on pre-orders of Super Mario Galaxy 2 ($42.50), which comes with $20 credit.

The discount also applies to the BioShock 2 Collector's Edition ($68), Demon's Souls ($34) and Heavy Rain ($45), though these three don't come with the appended, complimentary 10-spot. Still, those are some pretty great deals. Or, if we could be so bold -- pretty slick deals?

#ps3 I liked Heavy Rain! Really liked it, actually. Funny thing is, I enjoyed the three short cartoons found within the game a lot more. More »

#ps3 Motion capture actors might be gaming's unsung heroes. Film director Guy Ritchie (Sherlock Holmes) might have something to sing about, though. More »

Cracking the Origami Killer case isn't for the weak of heart.