Quantic Dream just announced Detroit, which is based off of the Kara short that they made back in 2012:

Can't wait to see what they do with current-gen tech. Beyond was one of the best-looking and technically (and narratively) ambitious games of last-gen, so I'm super hyped...

Quantic Dream just announced Detroit, which is based off of the Kara short that they made back in 2012:

Quantic Dream. Lol.

Quantic Dream. Lol.

You laugh, but they epitomize "interesting / valuable failure". Every game they do gets better.

Honestly, I'd love to see them get it right. Sadly I don't think that's possible with David "Emotions" Cage at the helm.

Credit where due, they're doing something different. They're just not doing it all that well, and I put Cage's poor "directing" (as he calls it, because he's desperate to be in the film industry instead of games) skills fairly high on the list of reasons.

Best of luck to them though. I'd love to play the "good" version of what they've been trying to do. And I mean that sincerely, with only minimal snark.

Quantic Dream. Lol.

Hey, I really, really enjoyed Heavy Rain, and absolutely loved Beyond. Sure, I'm the first guy to knock people who focus on "feelings" and such, but in the gaming medium, that's territory that very few others have ever even tried to explore.

So your bias seems to be against Cage, which I guess affects how you see the studio's games as a whole, but they are unique experiences that stand out for doing so much right, and they do get better and better, so that's why I'm pumped for Detroit.

I love me some narrative.

Detroit is hip in Europe right now. I have clothes from C&A I bought in Luxembourg on a recent trip there that say Detroit all over them. One even says "Detroit, Minnesota."

In my experience in western Europe, they don't care about Detroit. They do think it is "cool" though. One time in France a guy was asking me where I was from. "Detroit." "Wha?" "Detroit. Vroom vroom *car mime*." "Oh, DAYTWAH! Very cool. You are a tough person!" "Yes."

And that's basically what I get in Europe. They associate the rough economic shape the city is in with something cool and authentic. They don't get that it's a ghost town, with literally most of the city's population gone. They don't get the attitude.

Here in the US, it's worse.

I've seen about a dozen documentaries, in depth reports, etc. about Detroit over the past 5 years. They're all the same.

Act 1: death of auto industry
Act 2: the city government's failures
Act 3: Hipsters squatting in the Packard plant and their art that is bringing Detroit back.

Fuck that shit. I hope this game shows Detroit WELL. The residents are tough, needlessly violent and territorial, non AAVE speakers exhibit the northern cities vowel shift and love coney island hot dogs. I will settle for no less.

I know I'm going to be pissed off at this game when I play it on my friend's PS4.

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Where did you get groceries?

Because he treated her like a person the whole time. The idea was that the "assembler" and presumably society too thought of her as a toy or creation. A fun object to own. But half of his lines are written like he thinks of her as a product ("bad module" etc.) and then the other half is him directly talking to her like a person. It comes off really forced and fake. The line "You Think?!" really broke the immersion for me. It's like the writers were trying to say "See, he is SO unbelieving that this toy could think!" but he spends so much time talking to her nicely that it comes off as completely out of character.

My bias is against bad direction and scripts. I have no issue with emotions in games, the David "Emotions" Cage name comes from the fact he talks about them so much while also apparently having no idea how they work.

Beyond had potential but the script was so stilted and artificial it ruined it for me. I have to assume it was the script because Paige and Defoe are normally good at their jobs, but it could have been them. I'd say probably a bit of both. The jumping around through time was odd for me too. Going from just meeting a guy straight into having been together for years is no good for character development - simply telling me that I care about someone doesn't make me care about them.

Credit where due, they're doing something different. They're just not doing it all that well, and I put Cage's poor "directing" (as he calls it, because he's desperate to be in the film industry instead of games) skills fairly high on the list of reasons.

I can't say I disagree with that assessment.

Because he treated her like a person the whole time. The idea was that the "assembler" and presumably society too thought of her as a toy or creation. A fun object to own. But half of his lines are written like he thinks of her as a product ("bad module" etc.) and then the other half is him directly talking to her like a person. It comes off really forced and fake. The line "You Think?!" really broke the immersion for me. It's like the writers were trying to say "See, he is SO unbelieving that this toy could think!" but he spends so much time talking to her nicely that it comes off as completely out of character.

I have a feeling that I'm inevitably going to compare this effort to something like Ex Machina. I am kind of tired of stories about robots finding emotions / humanity. But that's why Ex Machina was interesting. It wasn't really about robots. It was about women.

https://www.google.com/maps/place/Indian+Village+Market/@42.3540611,-82.9907351,18z/data=!4m2!3m1!1s0x000000000000000...

I lived a few blocks up on jefferson ave, across from erma henderson park. The apartment building used to be a super ritzy hotel back in the day. It was an interesting and life-changing experience.

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Detroit is hip in Europe right now.

I thought this was because Detroit is the "birthplace of techno". A lot of Europeans visit for the Movement electronic music festival (very fun btw) as kind of a pilgrimage.

I don't think that's it. It has a bit to do with it, like that fedde le grand sing or whatever, but there's an immense difference between this past year or two and 2008, 2009, 2010, etc. It's something else.

I have a feeling that I'm inevitably going to compare this effort to something like Ex Machina. I am kind of tired of stories about robots finding emotions / humanity. But that's why Ex Machina was interesting. It wasn't really about robots. It was about women.

Ex Machina was a parallel for women in society? I never saw it.

I mean, I'm all for stories like that, but a movie about robots with the title "Ex machina" seems like an odd place to explore that topic.

I have a feeling that I'm inevitably going to compare this effort to something like Ex Machina. I am kind of tired of stories about robots finding emotions / humanity. But that's why Ex Machina was interesting. It wasn't really about robots. It was about women.

Ex Machina was a parallel for women in society? I never saw it.

I mean, I'm all for stories like that, but a movie about robots with the title "Ex machina" seems like an odd place to explore that topic.

Oh goodness Cody's comment makes so much sense now! When I read "Ex Machina" originally, my brain recalled the rest of the phrase accidentally and I was thinking of Deus Ex, the video game. I kept thinking, "Wow, I don't remember that theme!"

And on topic, Short Circuit 2 kind of perfected the robots-finding-emotions story, so there's really no need for anymore of that.

Also, every time I see Quantic Dream 'pushing the limits' it feels like it involves naked ladies, but I really don't know anything about them or their games, so I'm an idiot on the matter...

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I have a feeling that I'm inevitably going to compare this effort to something like Ex Machina. I am kind of tired of stories about robots finding emotions / humanity. But that's why Ex Machina was interesting. It wasn't really about robots. It was about women.

Ex Machina was a parallel for women in society? I never saw it.

I mean, I'm all for stories like that, but a movie about robots with the title "Ex machina" seems like an odd place to explore that topic.

Not really. In fact 'woman as robot' is kind of the perfect metaphor for how men see women as the 'other'.