We tend to believe in our industry that we need to tell simplistic or spectacular stories, where the hero saves the world, destroys evil, or has supernatural powers.

This is because the videogame, as a medium, has been too immature to tell complex and subtle stories. I made this mistake myself at the end of [Indigo Prophecy], where I felt my story needed something spectacular because all I had so far was normal people leading a normal life.

I realized that the "normal" part was the one that worked the best, and that it wasn't necessary to save the world to tell something exciting anymore. Heavy Rain will be about normal people in real life, and I believe it'll be much more emotionally involving, as gamers will easily relate to the situations and characters.

This is a new approach. In Heavy Rain, you won't be a superhero or a gangster. You'll just be someone real.

Heavy Rain's an experience about interactive narrative and emotion, and we really wanted to focus on making these core elements right. The game will support the Trophy system and may offer some kind of extra content online, but Heavy Rain is a single-player experience.

• Heavy Rain: objects are only weapons if it's in context
• Flashflood: Heavy Rain playtime is 8-12 hours
• Death is not the end: Heavy Rain story continues even if main character dies
• Leipzig: Heavy Rain demo confirmed, DLC episodes possible

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