
"Heavy Rain" is definitely for mature audiences, since it features nudity, violence and crazy, murderous junk yard owners. It also features a level of realism which may disturb some players, even adult players, placing them in scenes that are stomach-churningly intense. It's this level of maturity and realism that made me wonder what the developers of "Heavy Rain" thought of the airport scene in "Modern Warfare 2." At a recent demo in New York City, I spoke to Guillaume de Fondaumiere, co-CEO of Quantic Dream and executive producer of "Heavy Rain," about the scene:
"My take on it is very simple. I don't see any reason why video games should be treated differently than movies, for instance. I think that we should leave game creators free of expressing their vision as they see fit. I think the guys at Infinity Ward had something very precise in mind when they did this scene. The real danger for me is, when you put out such a scene out of context. I can take any movie and take a sequence and make up a story and it will look like something that's amoral or that crosses the line. This is most of the time what happens in video games [in the media]."
It's worth noting that nothing I've seen in "Heavy Rain" comes close to the level or quantity of violence depicted in "Modern Warfare 2," and probably won't have any of the same controversy surrounding it, but it's interesting to see two adult-centric game developers basically agreeing with one another on what should be allowed in the medium.

Today there is one more way to buy "God of War 3" and one more way to gain access to the "God of War 3" demo. On the first note, Sony Computer Entertainment rolled out pre-ordering and details about the "God of War 3" Ultimate Edition, which comes in a sculpted Pandora’s Box replica with a limited-edition art book and some digital content to inform the "God of War" experience.
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If you don't want to buy the first two games over again in the "God War Collection" to get the new "God of War 3" demo (and you don't live in Japan), Sony has devised another option for players to get an early look. The demo will be included with the Blu-ray release of "District 9," which comes out on December 29th.
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"Uncharted 2: Among Thieves" should be a very satisfying release for Naughty Dog. The sequel reportedly eclipsed the studio's expectations and seems primed to be among the hottest games on holiday wishlists this year. Naughty Dog obviously wants a little more buying incentive out in time to be a factor with holiday shoppers and gift card spenders, however, as they've set an end-of-year deadline for new downloadable content.
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What makes a "Ratchet & Clank" game tick? The humor? The strange new worlds? Captain Qwark? While we'd certainly argue the latter, one would be hard-pressed to not mention the massive (and oftentimes hilarious) arsenal of gadgets and weapons at our Lombax hero's fingertips. We all have our favorite weapons, but I decided to ping the team at Insomniac to find out what new guns appearing in "A Crack in Time" are their personal picks. So what new destructive force took the cake?
Coming in at number 5… the Rift Inducer 5000.
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UPDATE: Readers remind us that folks purchasing the "God of War Collection" will also have access to the demo. But the whole Japan-only aspect of this release is still pretty strange.
ORIGINAL STORY: PlayStation 3 owners may relish Sony's exclusivity regarding "God of War 3," but Japan seems to have an exclusive of its own for the game -- namely a downloadable demo from the PlayStation Store. That means North American games may be out in the cold until the full game comes out in March 2010 -- unless Sony has further plans for the Western Hemispshere.
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The sequel to "Uncharted: Drake's Fortune" may already be on shelves this week with "Uncharted 2: Among Thieves," and the game franchise has already been announced as a film in development at Columbia Pictures. The story before "Drake's Fortune," however, looks to be destined for a new medium altogether -- motion comics. Exactly how those will be distributed -- via Xbox Live, iTunes or otherwise -- wasn't made clear, but some of the same talent from the series will be involved.
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With the third and final installment of Ratchet & Clank’s "Future" series dropping on us in couple weeks, the team over at Insomniac thought they’d show off some of the of weapon customization with this trailer for the new "Constructo" branded weapons: The Constructo Bombglove, Shotgun, and Pistol. Not only can players switch ammo types, rate of fire, and other weapon attributes, they can also paint their guns pink! Well, any color really. But hey, pink!
My PSP and I? We get along fine… but we don’t really spend much time together anymore. In fact, I haven’t picked up a PSP game from a brick and mortar shop in over a year (and that may never change thanks to the increasing number of downloadable titles launching with the PSPgo). But there’s one game that’s looking to change that this fall, and that’s "SOCOM: Fireteam Bravo 3."
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"Uncharted 2" is an excellent game. One might even say the best exclusive PS3 game ever. In fact, yeah, I'll say that. Best ever! With that out of the way, I managed to capture a video of two of my favorite unlockables in the game, which allow you to play as "Doughnut" Drake (familiar to fans of the first game) and Sir Francis Drake in the single player campaign.
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