Hi everyone – Alex Pavey here, with some exciting updates on Heavy Rain – the dark thriller from Quantic Dream where your choices can have dramatic consequences.
Hopefully many of you will have seen some of the great first impressions of the game that are popping up all over the place. This is the first time that journalists have been given the opportunity to get to play through an extended series of scenes in sequence, so it’s really exciting to see all the positive responses. Look out for the previews (though if you’re trying to avoid even minor plot spoilers, be careful out there!).
The Heavy Rain Chronicles
First of all, I’m pleased to confirm that Heavy Rain will be supported by some very interesting downloadable content – The Heavy Rain Chronicles.
These are a series of additional, fully-playable scenes, where you’ll learn more about the backstory of some of the characters you’ll meet in Heavy Rain itself. The first episode will centre on Madison – and the setting will be familiar to those of you who have been following the progress of Heavy Rain closely…
Heavy Rain: Chronicle One – The Taxidermist sees Madison Paige investigating a suspicious and reclusive taxidermist, and finding herself unexpectedly in grave danger.
The episode is an expansion and update of the original ‘Taxidermist’ demo that received such a positive response when shown at E3 and gamescom last year.
Chronicles One and Two will be available for download from the PlayStation Store after the launch of Heavy Rain early next year – although there will be some opportunities to get hold of the episode a little earlier. Which brings me on to…
Heavy Rain – Collector’s Edition
I’m excited to announce the Heavy Rain Collector’s Edition…
The Collector’s Edition is packaged in a special ‘rain-effect’ slipcase – thanks to special embossing and other manufacturing tricks, it gives the impression of being streaked with 3D rain-drops (something that has confused a lot of people when they’ve seen it lying on my desk recently!).
But cool as that is, that’s not all. The Collector’s Edition also contains a voucher to download the following additional content from the PlayStation Store:
- Heavy Rain: Chronicle 1 – The Taxidermist – Experience Madison’s dangerous investigation in full, before it’s available on the PlayStation Store
- The Heavy Rain Official Soundtrack – Recorded at the legendary Abbey Road studios, and filled with the powerful orchestral themes that form a key part of the experience of playing Heavy Rain
- Dynamic XMB theme – Lend a little Heavy Rain ambience to your XMB
The ways in which you can get your hands on the Collector’s Edition will vary across Europe, so keep a look out for more info on this soon.
That’s all for now, but I’ll be around in the comments section for a while to answer any questions you might have – and keep your eyes open for more Heavy Rain updates soon.














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118 CommentsAdd Yours
1
Posted on 18 December, 2009 at 5:02 pm by HazelAM
ooh nice.
and the game looks fantastic too.
2
Posted on 18 December, 2009 at 5:04 pm by JPKooper616
That box art looks amazing… I cant wait to see it in person!
3
Posted on 18 December, 2009 at 5:05 pm by Wollan
A non oversized collectors edition? Yes please.
4
Posted on 18 December, 2009 at 5:05 pm by Gavin_Rozee
Can’t wait to get this. I’ll be ordering this edition as soon as it’s on the GAME website.
5
Posted on 18 December, 2009 at 5:05 pm by Bonyman
Any chance of a HD video of the original “audition” demonstration on the disc as an extra? that was stunning.
6
Posted on 18 December, 2009 at 5:06 pm by Stipey
Can’t wait for this
Hopefully the special edition will be made available in norway as well.
7
Posted on 18 December, 2009 at 5:06 pm by TrulyALie
Getting it. I’ve been hoping that I’d get to play the Taxidermist demo it looks really fun/creepy. I cannot wait for HR, and I shall be pre-ordering the special edition as soon as the opportuinity presents itself.
8
Posted on 18 December, 2009 at 5:06 pm by niall077
Day 1 DLC?
yeah….. wooo…..
I hate this generation of gaming sometimes
9
Posted on 18 December, 2009 at 5:06 pm by YobRenoops
I never say this but Day One for me on the collectors edition
10
Posted on 18 December, 2009 at 5:07 pm by Higaneer
I hope it doesn’t cost too much.
Looks cool though
11
Posted on 18 December, 2009 at 5:07 pm by DaveyJam
Want. Special. Edition. Now.
Any news on a confirmed release date?
12
Posted on 18 December, 2009 at 5:07 pm by vicheous
Oh yeah! I’m gonna get this!
Looks like a great game!
Best gfx 2010??
13
Posted on 18 December, 2009 at 5:09 pm by BiosNova
Cool, cool and more cool! Well done guys this looks amazing!
14
Posted on 18 December, 2009 at 5:09 pm by Gavin_Rozee
Is the DLC already on the disc? Will we just be buying and/or downloading an unlock key for the Chronicles?
15
Posted on 18 December, 2009 at 5:10 pm by designheadache
really good to see this isnt a giant sized collectors edition with something useless i dont care about, but adds value to the core product.
Any word on pricing , such as, would it be better to buy the collectors edition if you want the DLC for example rather than buy the standard edition and get the DLC separately?
16
Posted on 18 December, 2009 at 5:11 pm by Joe382
mmmm looks good.
17
Posted on 18 December, 2009 at 5:11 pm by aat08
Hello,
Heavy Rain has been my number one most awaited video game since its public revelation. I am not the type of customer who spends money on DLC and purchases a game day-one , but be certain that i will purchase each and everyone of the supplemental content you will be delivering to Heavy Rain.
I will support Quantic Dream, and i sure hope that many will do so as well. This is a title everyone must absolutely experience.
Yours truly,
aat08
18
Posted on 18 December, 2009 at 5:13 pm by V_Ben
oh snap. day freaking one. good job on these collectors editions sony! they are 100% awesome!
19
Posted on 18 December, 2009 at 5:14 pm by nutbear96
Its sounds good that a CE of a game is including DLC (which most devs are just finishing off at the time of release anyway). But what is Heavy Rain? Isn’t it just a much longer version of Linger in Shadows?
20
Posted on 18 December, 2009 at 5:14 pm by aat08
Oh i do have a question: Could David Cage send me an invitation to visit your headquarters
21
Posted on 18 December, 2009 at 5:14 pm by Shin-Ra
Bought! Should go nicely with ICO and Shadow of the Colossus.
22
Posted on 18 December, 2009 at 5:20 pm by onlineatron
Is the case cardboard of metal?
Cardboard cases tend to fray and annoy me after a while.
23
Posted on 18 December, 2009 at 5:21 pm by Emiel
Nice one.
24
Posted on 18 December, 2009 at 5:22 pm by addyjones1234
how much is the special ed and where is it available from?
25
Posted on 18 December, 2009 at 5:32 pm by onlineatron
Also… i’m confused.
Are the chronicles free or paid for?
Are these instead of or including the demo.
26
Posted on 18 December, 2009 at 5:38 pm by EpicMcDude
Is it free? Are you going to say something about the price?
Thanks.
27
Posted on 18 December, 2009 at 5:40 pm by LockIeys
I have an idea which could be good.
For the limited edition, put some instructions on how to make an origami in it. And with that, put like some piece of paper with the playable character’s faces on, so when the origami is correctly finished on each face of the origami, you can see their faces.
Yay or nay from anyone?
28
Posted on 18 December, 2009 at 5:41 pm by Polypinoon
Is this a limited edition or not?
29
Posted on 18 December, 2009 at 5:43 pm by Cutz0r
Awesome box art!
30
Posted on 18 December, 2009 at 5:52 pm by wardragon989
Wow that looks good =D
I take it the Special Edition will cost a bit more?
31
Posted on 18 December, 2009 at 5:55 pm by xKillerMonkeyx
Whens this game out again? Looks awesomely awesomesauce
32
Posted on 18 December, 2009 at 5:55 pm by RoyalWelsh99
The box art looks amazing!! I cannot wait until I get my hands on this game!
33
Posted on 18 December, 2009 at 5:59 pm by Apnomis
SE package looks awesome, and having a dynamic theme is a nice bonus. I’m really looking forward to this game and will definitely be getting the SE package and I’m really glad the story will be continued with episodic content too…
34
Posted on 18 December, 2009 at 6:11 pm by vonhammer
Been looking forward to this since I watched the casting vid at E3 07 (i think) can’t believe it’s almost time,and media blackouts FTW
35
Posted on 18 December, 2009 at 6:15 pm by Alex Pavey
Hey everyone! Great to hear such positive comments, and really glad that you’re excited by all this news (and especially that you like the box art!)
To try and answer a couple of queries:
I can’t confirm an exact release date yet, but it’ll be early next year (so not too long to go!)
The Chronicles are additional, paid-for DLC episodes (unfortunately I can’t confirm the exact pricing yet) – but you get the first episode as part of the Special Edition.
Chronicle One isn’t included on the Special Edition disc – you’ll be downloading it from the PS Store using the voucher code that comes in the packaging.
The pricing and availability of the Special Edition will vary across Europe, so I can’t give a definitive answer right now – but more information will follow.
Oh, and LockIeys? Interesting idea you’ve got there… You know what they say about great minds thinking alike? Well, you’re not the only person who’s suggested that idea…
Have a great weekend guys! I’ll try and pop back on here later.
36
Posted on 18 December, 2009 at 6:15 pm by Amherst_Wind_4
I really hope this isn’t a play.com exclusive, buying games from there is terrible, you never get them anywhere near the launch date. They’re the reason I didn’t bother with Assassin’s Creed Black Edition.
37
Posted on 18 December, 2009 at 6:21 pm by Carl-G
Cool looking Box that ;P
38
Posted on 18 December, 2009 at 6:26 pm by Apnomis
According to the US blog they are valued at $4.99 each episode – so based on previous exchange rates used I would estimate between £3.19 to £3.99 per episode.
According to the US Blog
“Each Chronicle will offer unique, stand-alone, playable short stories featuring one of Heavy Rain’s main characters, and a storyline taking place either before or after Heavy Rain’s original narrative. Similar to Heavy Rain, each episode will offer a unique journey and different outcomes based on the players’ decisions and actions.”
So they are not directly related to the main game’s narrative, so no need to think you’re going to have to pay so see the end of the game or anything like that. Heavy Rain as a concept really suits this type of episodic narrative IMO…
P.S. I think it would be a cool little extra to have some origami instructions included with the game as well…
39
Posted on 18 December, 2009 at 6:28 pm by wardragon989
Just to jump on the comments; having origami instructions would be very cool. Of course i would just create the one that’s on the box =P
40
Posted on 18 December, 2009 at 6:40 pm by DaftMav
Nice for a “special edition”, not exactly so for a “collector’s edition”. I mean, no soundtrack on cd, just some downloadable extra’s and a fancy slip-on cover? At the very least a concept-art book would be nice for a collector’s edition. There have been quite a few amazing concept art pics from this game so why not? Or a making-of DVD, it’s well known that Quantic Dream has their own motion capture studio, I mean this has to be freakin’ hilarious to see how some of the scenes were put together: http://i50.tinypic.com/2mnmywj.jpg (from the Quantic Dream website).
Also, I really do hope “available in Europe” will actually mean “Europe” and not just the UK as is often the case. Collector’s/Special editions are rarely available here in the Netherlands, while the UK has often multiple stores offering all sorts of bonus stuff.
41
Posted on 18 December, 2009 at 6:40 pm by tomsau
Definitely purchasing this
like the paper crafts killzone 2 did
and yes, extra physical content is amazing
im all for having instructions for the origami killers origami
42
Posted on 18 December, 2009 at 6:41 pm by hamildan
I’m seconding a request for an HD version of the audition. This is a day one purchase for me. The only game I’m sure to buy in 2010.
43
Posted on 18 December, 2009 at 6:53 pm by Presskohle
DLC and CE announcement before clarifying a fixed date for the actual game = FAIL.
Exception: God of War, because..its GoW
44
Posted on 18 December, 2009 at 6:55 pm by Galvanise_
Fantastic collectors edition.
I’ve been looking forward to this game for years. If Quantic Dream pull this off, this will be my GOTY.
45
Posted on 18 December, 2009 at 6:58 pm by JCtheMC
Can’t say i’m very impressed with the special edition. No art book, no making of DVD, No in-game prop brought to life, No figurine. Just a bunch of repackaged content you could easily get elsewhere/at a later moment.
Disappointing :-/
46
Posted on 18 December, 2009 at 6:59 pm by chimnino
SOUNDTRACK DIGITAL OR COMPACT DISC?
This is always left out of this kind of news, but essential to most buyers. Most collector’s would love the soundtrack to be on a CD and to be touchable/physical instead of digital. Too much extra’s are going digital and it annoys the hell out of me!!
47
Posted on 18 December, 2009 at 7:01 pm by divine1000
I’ll definitely be grabbing one of those CE’s. I have a feeling you’re going to get burnt by announcing the DLC now though, people are going to want to know why it wasn’t included on the regular disc…
48
Posted on 18 December, 2009 at 7:04 pm by divine1000
A few more adult dynamic themes would be appreciated too, SCE…
Disclaimer: By ‘adult’ I mean Uncharted, MW2, Ninja Gaiden, etc
49
Posted on 18 December, 2009 at 7:07 pm by GIVEMEURBANANAHS
Do you know when this will be available to pre-order, and by which stores?
Any extra information would be handy, thanks.
50
Posted on 18 December, 2009 at 7:16 pm by Rude_Sparthan
awesome!!!
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