Beyond: Two Souls’ David Cage talks the future of interactive entertainment in Sydney

David Cage, co-founder of Quantic Dream, was in Sydney, Australia this week for BEYOND The Game: Live Forum in celebration of one of the most anticipated titles of 2013, BEYOND: Two Souls.

A true pioneer of the interactive drama genre with strong opinions on the blurring of lines between game and film, Cage spoke of his personal experiences through the development process of the game, which stars Hollywood greats, Oscar nominee Ellen Page (Juno and Inception) and Willem Dafoe (Platoon and Spiderman) in its leading roles.

David was joined by Hollywood-based casting director, Suzanne Goddard-Smythe, responsible for selecting the main cast of BEYOND: Two Souls, with Sydney natives Nicholas Clifford, 2013 Tropfest winner and film director, and Sydney University film lecturer Dr Bruce Isaacs rounding off the panel.

We caught up with David after the presentation to find out a little bit more about his approach to development, and what players can expect from BEYOND: Two Souls when it launches on PS3 next month.

What inspired you to move into the interactive storytelling genre of gaming?

David Cage: My first game was called Omikron: The Nomad Soul and it was really a video game in an open city. It was pretty much GTA in real-time 3D in the old days.

When I was done with the game I realised that I could talk to fans who were not gamers about films, about TV series, about literature, but not about video games. The same thing with my parents and my grandparents, we could talk about many things but not about video games. They were just not interested in games, they thought games were too complex, they were too bizarre, just violent action and they were just not interested.

So my question was really, what can I do to get these people who are not gamers today, who are not interested in traditional games, to interact in a meaningful way? I thought that interactive storytelling and emotions would definitely be the best approach and this is what I’m doing since then.

Traditionally, films and games have been seen as two completely separate mediums for storytelling. Do you think the gap is now closing between the two?

David Cage: I don’t think films and games have been that separate to date. I think that video games have tried to create interactive films in one way or another, but they have been focused on violent action films. However, if you look at the first horror games they were trying to recreate the experience of horror films. The same with most action driven games, they really borrow the codes of films.

What I try to do is to get rid of these violent mechanics in a way and try to create something that is really based on interactive storytelling. Something based on choices and consequences. I try to put you in the shoes of the main protagonist of the film and let you decide how you want the story to go. So it’s a different approach but I think that games already try to mimic films in many ways.

Heavy Rain dealt with very dark themes and unique gameplay elements that hadn’t really been approached before in games. Was there a time where you thought that you were pushing the boundaries a little too far?

David Cage: I think that all the time. It’s very difficult to know if you have pushed it too far or not, I can never really answer this question until the game is actually released and we hear people talking about it. There’s always this fear that if you go too far, maybe in the wrong direction, people won’t get it or won’t like it. That’s always a constant thing that is present in my mind.

There’s a very strong cast in BEYOND, particularly with Willem Dafoe and Ellen Page. Did the actors mould the characters themselves, and is it a better experience as a result?

David Cage: I really wrote BEYOND with Ellen Page in mind, pretty much from day one. I really had a face, a voice and a talent in my mind when I was writing the parts and I was really fortunate that she agreed to do it.

What the actors did is really to give a heart and soul to the characters and make them real people and not just video game characters. This is what impressed me the most about Willem and Ellen’s performances in BEYOND, they became real people. They don’t pretend to be these characters, they really become the characters. I think they bring something really unique to the experience that is BEYOND.

Briefly, what can gamers expect from BEYOND: Two Souls?

David Cage: I think it is an experience that they have never played before, it’s a very different game from anything else. It’s fully interactive. I think sometimes there is this misunderstanding of games based on interactive storytelling that they won’t be fully interactive, that they’ll just be long cutscenes. BEYOND is fully interactive, you are in control of what’s going on second-to-second.

It is a real game. They should expect an emotional journey into the life of a character, an experience through 15 years of the life of Jodie Holmes. I think they are going to like the character maybe in a different way than they like video game characters in general.

My hope is that they feel that Jodie Holmes is more real, because they will know this character since she was a kid and they’ve been with her through the happy and difficult moments in her life. I hope they will feel empathetic and will also feel a little bit sad when they’re done with the game and turn off the console.