Hi all

We have been running several different ads for the Heavy Rain TV campaign in the UK and just in case you have missed any of them, here they are:

Pre-launch we ran ‘Top & Tail’ ads to show the different choices you can make within the game and the consequences that this can have in the ‘Hassans Shop’ scene. 3 different endings were made and played out on TV:

Our 60″ ad first aired during last weeks Inter Milan and Chelsea Champions League game and ran throughout the launch weekend:

A shorter 30″ version of this ad will be running until the 14th of March:

You should also check out the interactive Heavy Rain game trailers on the Heavy Rain YouTube channel to experience the game, make decisions for yourself and watch how the plot unfolds…

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Launch week is here, and some of you will already have your hands on the fantastic Heavy Rain!

I know that many of you have ordered the Special Edition, which contains a voucher code to download three pieces of additional content: Chronicles episode 1, the additional playable scene; a Dynamic XMB Theme; and the Official Heavy Rain Soundtrack.

I’m sorry to say that there has been a last-minute technical delay with the Official Soundtrack, meaning that if you redeem your voucher code before 4th March, you will be able to download Chronicle 1 and the Dynamic Theme, but not the Official Soundtrack.

If you redeem your Special Edition voucher after 4th March, you will receive all three pieces of content as normal – and if you can stand to wait a week to start downloading additional content, that will be the easiest approach. If you have already redeemed your voucher code and have not received the Official Soundtrack, please contact your local customer service teams who will be able to help you.

Apologies for the inconvenience, everyone.

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Hi everyone – Heavy Rain will start hitting shelves in parts of Europe tomorrow, so I thought I’d give you a peek at the TV ad, versions of which will be running in many countries over the next few weeks… Enjoy!

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Hi everyone! It’s been great to see so many of your excited comments over the last few months as we’ve got closer to launch, and now the time has come at last – this week, Heavy Rain will be released in stores across Europe!

We’ve seen some fantastic review scores – here’s just a selection in case you missed them…

• 9/10 – Eurogamer (UK)
• 9/10 – IGN (UK)
• 10/10 – Total Video Games (UK)
• 94% – 4players.de (Germany)
• 94% – spieletester.com (Germany)
• 91% – 9lives (Belgium)
• 93% – PS3only.nl (Netherlands)
• 5/5 – Gamalive (France)
• 9/10 – Eurogamer (France)

Look out for more Heavy Rain postings all week, and check out Jem’s posting about the premiere in Paris if you missed it. Speaking of which, here’s a few more exclusive photos from the event…

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I hope you’re ready for lots of Heavy Rain content, because while we were at the big Launch Party in Paris this week we managed to secure a nice amount of interview and video content which should tide you over until well after the game comes out next week. To kick things off we’ve got a short teaser video and some photos which should give you an idea of what the launch event was like. I would’ve loved for you all to have been there with us, but hopefully this is the next best thing.

The event took place at the Gaumont Cinema on the Champs Elysees in Paris, where David Cage (Writer/Director), Guillaume de Fondaumiere (Executive Producer), Pascal Langdale (Actor – Ethan Mars), Sam Douglas (Actor – Scott Shelby), Leon Ockenden (Actor – Norman Jayden) and Jacqui Ainsley (Actor – Madison Paige) met members of the film and game media and members of the public. After having played through the game last week, it was very surreal to see them walking around in the real world. The event involved much red carpet walking, hors d’oeuvre nibbling and industry mingling. Plus an ice sculpture in the shape of an origami. No, really.

A cut down video edit of the first section of the game was shown to media on one of the Gaumont’s many cinema screens. There aren’t many games which can be confidently displayed on the silver screen in front of dozens of members of the press but, if the applause was anything to go by, they seemed to love it. After this, director Neil LaBute stepped in to present a short film, which he had created specially for the event, based on Heavy Rain’s central premise: how far would you go for love? It’s a short eight minute talking heads piece involving a wide range of film industry members, such as Samuel L. Jackson, Hanif Kureishi, Nicolas Roeg, Stephen Frears, Ben Chaplin, Nicholas Hoult, Peter Bogdanovich and Jean Marc Barr. Check it out for yourself below.

This was followed by a Q&A panel involving Mr. LaBute alongside David Cage, Terry Gilliam, Martha Fiennes and Mathieu Kassovitz, during which they discussed how the film and game industries were merging. It was a pretty lively debate and we’re hoping to get you a video of that in the next week or so. It was great to see the enthusiastic responses from these respected industry veterans towards Heavy Rain.

The second day of the event was only slightly less glamorous, but no less interesting. Media had interviews with the actors, David Cage and Guillaume de Fondaumiere and you can see our interviews with them begin to appear next week. Thanks again for answering my request for interview questions. I’ll leave you with the teaser video taken at the red carpet event and you can look forward to plenty more Heavy Rain content on PlayStation.Blog in the coming weeks. Plus, you’ll be able to pick up the game and play it for yourself on Wednesday in mainland Europe and Friday in the UK.

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