Tuesday Could Be a Turning Point...

...or not. As anyone who owns a Playstation 3 probably knows, Quantic Dream's Heavy Rain hits US shelves next Tuesday, February 23rd. When a game so different from the rest of the pack is released, its sales will generally directly affect the likelihood of a game like it ever seeing the light of day.

In an interview, the game's writer and director, David Cage, had an interesting quote regarding this.



Now, while to some, that seems to be a bit of a backhanded remark towards games such as Left 4 Dead and, oh I don't know, Doom (pardon me, I seem to have old-schooled), the guy has a great point. The only other game like it, that I can think of, was Indigo Prophecy (or Fahrenheit, depending on where you're reading this), made by the same people and released in late 2005. That was over four years ago. I wondered, "Everyone I knew who played that game really liked it. Why did it take this long for another like it to be released?"

So I did some research and found that, while the game garnered critical praise and a cult-following, the sales did not reflect this. The game, to date, has only sold 800,000 copies. While this isn't a particularly low number, it's not a head-turning number by any means, especially when you consider the fact that it's spread out over such a long span.

It may be just me, but I am seeing considerably more hype for Heavy Rain than I saw for Indigo Prophecy, leading me to believe that Tuesday could send a shock wave throughout the gaming industry. If it does as well as is currently expected, thus living up to its hype, expect to see copycats in the future, as well as further innovation, taking Quantic Dream's vision and expanding on it.

If you have played the demo, which is currently available on the Playstation Network, and you want to buy the game, you could be helping "the cause" by doing so as soon as possible. If too many people wait for the bargain bin price tag to befall this release, you could see the door slam shut on what could be just a surface-scratcher for future games of the genre.

For me, personally, Tuesday can't come fast enough. The industry needs more innovative games like this, and fewer than four years apart from one another.