David Cage Thinks Heavy Rain Can Be Seen as Art

As the videogaming world matures, a lot of people, most of them outside the industry, have been asking whether videogames can be seen as art with the implication that they are just a form of entertainment for the masses.

Of course, there are others who point to titles like Braid and Fahrenheit and call them art. But David Cage, the creator of Fahrenheit and the current lead developer on Heavy Rain, is saying that it does not matter how videogames are labeled but only if they manage to make players feel something beyond the immediate “fun” factor.

Cage told the crowd during a meeting at the Eurogamer Expo that “My personal belief is there are two ways of thinking about games. You can think of games like toys or entertainment, where you want to spend some time having fun. That's fine and there's nothing wrong with that. On the other hand you can start to think about games and interactivity as an art form, at least a creative platform... In this situation the goal is not fun, it's to make you feel something, even if it's not fun.”

When asked directly if Heavy Rain is art, Cage said that “Honestly, I don't care... I'm just trying to do something different.” Well, from what gamers have seen until now, Heavy Rain seems to be something special. Players will get to control four very different and human characters all affected by the killing rampage of the so-called Origami Killer.

The entire game is presented as a sequence of scenes that can have very different outcomes and the result of each influences the way the narrative evolves. Cage is saying that players can even complete the game if three out of the four main characters die, although the experience will be much more complex and engaging if all of them are alive.