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Quantic Dream's Heavy Rain just got heavier, both in content and in physical package size. Sony has detailed the first of the DLC releases that we confirmed earlier this week, called Heavy Rain Chronicles. The first DLC episode is an expanded version of the "bonus" taxidermist scene shown in 2008 and will be available "after the launch of Heavy Rain early next year" for an unannounced price. More downloadable episodes will be revealed later.

Sony Europe has also announced a Collector's Edition of the game (for Europe), which will include access to the expanded Taxidermist episode day-and-date with the retail release. The limited-edition box will include the DLC episode, along with a downloadable soundtrack and XMB theme, plus a cool "rain-effect" slipcase (pictured above). Sony didn't note a date for the Collector's Edition, so we'll just stick to our best guess: February 26.

While there's no announcement about a Collector's Edition for North America, according to PlayStation Blog, if you pre-order the standard edition, you will gain early access to the first "Chronicle" (or DLC episode). As in Europe, the DLC will be available for non-pre-orderers at an unspecified post-launch date, though the North American episodes have been priced at $4.99 each.


Source – Introducing Heavy Rain Chronicles + The Special Edition Box [PlayStation.Blog.Europe]
Source – Pre-order Heavy Rain and Get The Heavy Rain Chronicles [PlayStation.Blog]

Last month we spoke with Heavy Rain executive producer Guillaume de Fondaumiere about Quantic Dream's upcoming PS3 adventure game. As a game far from the everyday, de Fondaumiere agreed that Heavy Rain has been a challenge to market. "It's a difficult game to market, because it's difficult for people to understand what it is unless they experience it," he admitted in our video interview above. "So we have to show it to them. We probably have to give them a playable demo for them to see and experience for themselves how different and unique this experience is."

We argued that a playable demo would simply reveal how unconventional the controls could be, to which de Fondaumiere responded: "You simply cannot use conventional game mechanisms when you want to create a unique experience. But I think that -- and user tests we've conducted show that -- you get used to it very quickly. It's quite intuitive. I'm not too concerned about this. At all, actually."

Finally, when asked if he had any final words to tell the Joystiq audience, de Fondaumiere advised fans not to sell the game back to GameStop after completing the story. "Buy the game, don't sell it. Keep it to yourself. You'll need it to continue and experience more episodes in the months following the launch of the game." So, DLC confirmed, right?

While Heavy Rain attempts to welcome both serious and more casual players, it's clear that many will find the unique controls and the story's slow burn a bit too jarring, unconventional, and even boring. Sony has already released so much (arguably too much) footage of Quantic Dream's adventure, and chances are that you've already passed judgment on the title. Perhaps more than any other game before it, Heavy Rain hopes that you want to like the experience. Why? It is -- at its core -- a role-playing game.

When people find out I've been playing Heavy Rain, the first question that generally pops up is, "Is it anything but a series of Quick-Time Events?" The problem with that question is that it inherently assumes that a QTE necessitates a lack of player control. While it's true that the majority of player input is done via on-screen indicators, to simply call them quick-time events is a bit derogatory, ignoring the innovations that developer Quantic Dream has made. Not all actions require players to press buttons as quickly as they see them. In fact, most of the commands involve a very deliberate pace: you may need to move the analog stick slowly, or hold down two buttons while transitioning to a third. Some inputs use the PS3's built-in motion controls, while others will use a combination of various inputs. There are many ways of interfacing with the controller, with each QTE trying to simulate its corresponding, real-world action.

However, variety is not Heavy Rain's greatest innovation. Perhaps the most difficult aspect of the game to explain is its integration of inaction. You are often given the opportunity to do nothing -- and counter to your intuition, that can be the most satisfying option to pursue.

European retailers have updated their pages for Heavy Rain, predicting the game will fall on European store shelves on February 26. For those of you keeping score at home, Famitsu said the game is releasing to Japan in February as well, lending some credibility to the proposed February 26 release in Europe.

We contacted SCEE -- who gave us the cold shoulder -- but we also sent word to SCEA, who said: "We haven't announced a release date for North America ... but stay tuned as we will have a release date soon."

Source - GAME
Source - Gamestation
Source - Play.com

Famitsu has apparently given Heavy Rain a Japanese release date of February 8, 2010, reports IGN. Japan is receiving a specific localized version of the title, so it's unclear whether this means the game will be released earlier or later in other territories; however, it's unusual for a Western-developed title to land on Japanese shelves first.

We contacted SCEA and were told the company has not "made any announcements on Heavy Rain's [release] date in North America." Yes, right, we know, that's why we're emailing ...

With Quantic Dream's previous (and very weird) Indigo Prophecy available on multiple platforms, many gamers have been curious as to why Heavy Rain is a PS3 exclusive. PushSquare reports that Quantic Dream's David Cage -- once again -- explained the reasoning behind the game's exclusivity at the Eurogamer Expo. He first noted that any answer he gave would be "suspicious," but further explained that the PS3 hardware is "extremely powerful," adding, "If you make a real PS3 engine, then you can have really fantastic performances." He elaborated that porting to the Playstation 3 from other platforms "becomes difficult" (something we've heard before).

Beyond technical reasons, Cage said that the team at Quantic Dream loves the console. "I play PSOne, PS2, it's really a part of my culture," said Cage. Cage also added that realistic graphics aren't necessary to create emotional characters, but noted that the goal of Heavy Rain was to create truly believable characters. "With this approach," said Cage, "PS3 was by far the best platform."

Given what we've seen of Heavy Rain thus far, we'd be hard-pressed to argue.

[Via VG247]

It's not often we tell you not to click after the break. But this time around, you're going to have to make a choice: will you watch the ten minutes of unedited gameplay footage of Heavy Rain from G4TV, or will you restrain yourself? Let's not forget that David Cage believes multiple playthroughs of the game "kill the magic of it." This scene, which takes place in the Blue Lagoon nightclub, has some revealing moments you may want to enjoy during your own playthrough.

Should you refrain from taking a look, we'll reassure you that the game looks absolutely gorgeous. Heck, even the load screen is beautiful!

Remember the scene in Heavy Rain that we told you about at E3? The emotional roller coaster in which private investigator Scott Shelby does his best to thwart a convenience store hold-up? Remember how we noted the plentitude of ways that players can tackle this single scene, using a variety of context sensitive inputs and quick time events? Try to remember that as you watch off-screen footage of the same scene after the break, which has the players rather amused at making Shelby repeatedly run into walls and, ultimately, getting him shot.

It's a bit silly, but it does prove one thing: It's fun to watch Heavy Rain even if you're only trying to see how bad the situation can get.

It's not every day that Quantic Dream's Guillaume de Fondaumiere decides to show off four minutes of gameplay from the developer's upcoming PS3 adventure Heavy Rain. This video, shot for Japanese audiences, goes into great detail about Ethan -- the character of focus in the last trailer for the game. [Spoiler Alert!] After a car accident kills one of his sons, you'll take control of Ethan as he deals with his grief and takes care of his other child.

"I obviously need to take care of my son. There is nothing that I have to do. This is really a free choice scene. If I want, I can just sit down or do nothing, or not take care of my son," Fondaumiere explains. Whether or not you choose to be a deadbeat dad, you'll have to deal with the repercussions. "Actions in Heavy Rain always have consequences. You can see consequences of your actions in two, three scenes after they occur. Some other consequences can be dramatic and completely change the story."

I don't think I'm being too cynical or jaded when I say that it's hard for me to get legitimately excited for video games anymore. I love playing video games, and I heartily appreciate the good ones -- but the games that fill me with keep-you-up-at-night anticipation are few and far between.

After playing Heavy Rain for the first time on the show floor at PAX, something tells me my slumbers will soon be interrupted by Quantic Dreams' upcoming ... well, for lack of a better term, interactive movie.

In a recently posted excerpt from a GamesCom 2009 interview, Quantic Dream's David Cage told G4TV that multiple playthroughs of the upcoming Heavy Rain could "kill the magic of it." Cage's hope is that players approach the title as they do life -- with no second chances -- but the dev understands (and accepts) that players will eventually attempt to relive the experience.

"The right way to enjoy Heavy Rain is really to make one thing because it's going to be your story. It's going to be unique to you. It's really the story you decided to write." While Cage is fine with players going back to experience the title multiple times, we have a sneaking suspicion that Quantic is working on an Inspector Gadget style self-destruction feature for Heavy Rain's retail release.

We were personally scandalized by the Heavy Rain scene that featured one of the lead characters, Madison, stripping as a means to gain information. But Quantic Dream's David Cage explained to Eurogamer that it was all part of the plan. "You need to go through different emotions," Cage said, "and showing this scene in particular was for us a test to see if we can make people feel like Madison, having to get naked to do a striptease in front of this ugly guy, and obviously it worked because people felt very uncomfortable."

Cage later added, "Besides, did you see the sales numbers for Indigo Prophecy? Either we added a striptease or space marines with giant guns shaped like John Madden." ... No, no, he didn't say that. But he had to be thinking it, right?

Don't fret -- Quantic Dream founder David Cage isn't planning on charging you for the ending to the studio's upcoming Heavy Rain. In a recent interview with VideoGamer.com, Cage explained that the game's eight to ten hour story was "a self-contained experience," but that Quantic is "talking with Sony at the moment about having maybe extra downloadable content, maybe with prequels or sequels about the characters." He added that players will most likely "get attached to some of them and will want to know them even better."

We don't doubt Quantic Dream's proven ability to tell captivating stories, but we have one qualm with this statement -- what if all our characters get offed by the Origami Killer? Sure, the prequels could ostensibly still work, but sequels starring corpses probably wouldn't be that interesting.

Heavy Rain will be fully voice acted in 10 languages, with subtitles available for all spoken languages, plus six more languages. These details were disclosed during a presentation at GamesCom this afternoon, when Quantic Dream founder David Cage introduced Pascal Langdale (pictured right), the actor playing the English-speaking version of Heavy Rain's Ethan Mars, and discussed the extensive voice work necessary for the game's many branching scenes.

Knowing a single Blu-ray disc can store language data in bulk, we were curious about how many language options would be available in the game. As it turns out, if Cage had brought in all of Mars' voices, the room would have gotten pretty tight. Check out the confirmed list of languages after the break. (We're still waiting for official confirmation on a couple -- the Quantic Dream team couldn't name them all off the top of their heads.)

Update: Heavy Rain's associate producer and localization manager, Romain Castillos, has given us the official list of languages and subtitles.

"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." We typically lead into quotes with a bit more background than that, but those who've read message board diatribes dismissing the upcoming Heavy Rain as nothing more than a series of Quick Time Events surely understand the frustration of Quantic Dream founder David Cage -- who owns the mouth from which the above quote was uttered during a press demonstration at GamesCom 2009.

Cage went on to explain "when there is an action sequence, yes we integrate [these] QTE sequences," but the rest of the time, the player will have full control as they navigate the game's four characters through a deep, choice-riddled story. That actually sounds pretty reminiscent of Quantic's last game, Indigo Prophecy / Fahrenheit. That's great and all -- but we actually wouldn't be disappointed by a new installment in the Dragon's Lair franchise. We admit it -- we're Dirkheads, through and through.