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Peter Molyneux is like my “aww” developer. Sometimes he’s so silly he makes me laugh and sometimes he says something serious and I grow more fond of him. I think it may have something to do with how much I enjoy Fable.

Recently on Gamasutra, Peter (Molyneux) talked about how the game design industry has failed in being able to open up gaming for everyone. We’ve made huge leaps, he says, but we’ve gotten stuck here. He uses a controller as an example–how hard it is for the average person to wrap his or her head around the idea of a controller. While it’s true that a ridiculous amount–how many people? There’s statistics–of people play video games, games nowhere close to matching, for example, the number of televisions in the world. The number of computers. How many consoles have we sold? Millions. But how many televisions have been sold? The average American household is bound to have at least 2.73, and 2.55 people [source]. That’s over 300 million televisions. Molyneux refers back to a time when Clive Sinclair boasted people would play the Spectrum instead of watch television in every home in Britain.

We haven’t achieved that–I don’t think the Wii will achieve it either. It may be motion-sensing technology, but it’s still a controller. We’re still making high-technological-knowledge games for the Average Joe.

We need to make the things people know how to use–their hands, their fingers, their eyes–the controllers for the worlds they wish to interact with.  In that sense, I think the Wii a step–if only one step–in the right direction.

“But Andres,” I hear you say, “you’ve always expressed your distaste for the Nintendo Wii! Surely you’re not an utter hypocrite?” I am, in a way, because I think that the Wii’s innovative pointing system is a nice idea. However, I do think visual graphics play a huge part in the advancement of interactivity and mainstream acceptance. Not everyone can identify equally with creativity and imagination. I come from a town where the majority of boys play soccer when they’re kids–not with Legos and action figures. In a way they could certainly imagine themselves as soccer stars, but all this requires very vivid imagery as seen on television and in magazines. Unless those kids, now older, can get a good visual representation of what it is they’d like to be, they’ll have a very hard time suspending their disbelief and enjoying the game because it’s just not what they actually want to do. It’s not an experience. It’s still just a game. I think that gap needs to be bridged, just as much as the innovative controls need to be.

Going back to the Wii, if you’ll notice, I never say anything bad about the Nintendo DS. This is because I have one, and I think it’s an absolutely great console. I love its touchpad and dualscreen technology. But the thing that separates it from the Wii is that it has far more visual capacity than the Game Boy Advance. The Nintendo Wii isn’t capable of a lot more than the Gamecube is. I give a nod of approval any time I see something improving the capacity for visual quality–hence why I’m so enamoured with the PS3. Sure, the Wii can have nice graphics, and we all saw Mario Galaxy and how effectively good looking that was using Nintendo’s secret recipe that nobody else seems to have. But when you compare the difference between an Advance and a DS and you try to match that up from Gamecube to Wii you fall incredibly short. As for the Wii versus the PS3, the Wii doesn’t even come close, while the Nintendo DS comes rather close to the PSP. And while the PSP has nicer graphics, it’s more of a luxurious gadget, and I didn’t get a PSP until relatively recently because I knew Sony had had no experience making portable games. They’ve started getting some rather decent and exciting titles (instead of PS2 ports), however, and that’s certainly pushing their market out.

In the end, Peter is right. We haven’t reached enough people. There’s so much more we could do. If only we could get our technology far enough to where it’s not only stunning but incredibly simple to handle.

Then we’ll be in business.

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!![Edit: This article is so old but people keep reading it. For more new news on Heavy Rain, please check my recent posts, such as this one.]!!

A while ago, it was plastered all over my Netvibes that co-founder of Quantic Dream, Guillaume de Fondaumière, announced that the uncanny valley which had so plagued the game “Heavy Rain” when it was in technical demo stages (still magnificent stages, but understandably somewhat awkward and at times unappealing) is now no more.

To recap for you readers who aren’t huge on clicking my alluding links, the Uncanny Valley is a phenomenon, predicted by the roboticist Masahiro Mori in 1970, that occurs when a viewer becomes unsettled as they watch something attempt to be too human and fail. I’ve heard it being presented as a viewer interpreting something as being “too real,” but I’ve come to learn that this is a misnomer. Were game developers to make a game that looks absolutely and perfectly true to life, people would have no trouble enjoying it. The problem comes in when something is attempting to be real, and cannot attain the ultimate perfection. Humans will be thrown off by the tiniest hints–no blemishes, unnatural skin tone, perfect teeth… those things will hint to you that what you’re seeing isn’t real, and you will be not only discomforted but repulsed by it.

To illustrate, I present to you the original tech demo from way back in 2006.

[googlevideo=http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=9133667929405103814]

It’s beautiful, but a bit unnerving, right? The lip animations and almost too-perfect teeth and tongue are what throw people off when they watch this. The motion capture technology and the well-rendered eyes is what really makes the visuals so impressive. When the actress in the video isn’t speaking, and is simply making faces, I become entranced by how lively she looks, how full of personality. When she speaks, and her mouth and lips move irregularly, I becomes rather turned off by the visuals.

Well, French company Quantic Dream, the fellows behind a beautiful and key game dubbed Fahrenheit also known as the more-popular-titled The Indigo Prophecy, which I loved. Understandably, I was dying to see what de Fondaumière was talking about when he said that they had done what was previously expected to be, if not impossible, highly unlikely until at least two or three years have passed, but no more demos or revelations came, and I spent December in relative misery while I waited for further news on this much-anticipated game. Of course, good things come to those who wait: with the new year, we’ve received new screens.

There’s not a lot to gawk at, to be honest. There’s two close-up screenshots of a woman’s nose and eyes, with a bit of hair visible and a wonderful focus effect to the camera. Mostly what impresses me is the sheer amount of detail and realistic imperfection in the skin. I’ve always found it hilarious that many women worry so about their skin and wearing makeup in order to hide imperfections, when often those imperfections make them all the more interesting and alluring. Then again, I love skin details because I’m into game design and textures. I may just be a freak of nature.

Still, as it stands, these screenshots are frighteningly beautiful and I’m ecstatic to see in-game shots or a trailer. If Quantic Dream has indeed bridged the Uncanny Valley, Heavy Rain: The Origami Killer marks an entry into video games that had previously existed only in imagination: the perfect visual representation of life.

Virtual Reality to soon follow.

Also, this game has not yet been declared as to which consoles it will appear on. Most people seem to readily assume it’s a PS3 exclusive, as previously stated by Quantic when they released their tech demo. Later on, however, Quantic revealed they were considering releasing it for every console, including the Nintendo Wii. I’m not certain if that’s even possible, but let’s assume for now that Quantic has an idea of what they’re doing when it comes to consoles. My verdict: PS3 owners, I guarantee you this game. Xbox 360 owners, pray for ports. Wii owners, you’re getting a different game.

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