Okay. This is a big 'un. CVG has just finished a chinwag with Heavy Rain auteur David Cage - and discovered that the French designer is plotting to turn the war genre on its head with a new project.
Cage confirmed to us that Quantic Dream is beavering away on two "very different" projects - and when they're finished, he's going to turn his attention to shaking up the shooter category.
Cage named both Apocalypse Now and Platoon as potential influences on the title, adding that he was striving to represent war in a more cinematic, less joyful way than the video games industry has become accustomed to.
"I want to create a genre," revealed Cage. I want to convince more people that [emotional gaming] is a valid direction for the industry; to show them that this was not just one product, one story. It's a format that can be used to tell any kind of story in any genre with any tone."
He added: "I would really like the opportunity to work on a different type of game. I would love to see if what we discovered could be applied to a first-person shooter, for example."
When pressed on whether the idea could ever become a reality at Quantic, Cage replied: "First person, I don't know. But a game about war is something I would like to do, just to see if we could get closer to the film side; not gloryfying war, but talking about it from a realistic point of view.
"War is not fun. Talking about what the people involved, what they feel, how horrible it can be. This is something I think could be very exciting and very new for the games industry. When we talk about war, it's always a very 'cool' thing - you have these big guns and you kill loads of people.
"I would really like to take a different approach; to tell a story about politics [with it] or something a little more serious. I would like to use what we discovered in Heavy Rain in this fantastic medium of interactivity to say something meaningful. This is probably one of the next things I'm going to try."
When CVG pointed out that Cage could change people's expectations of a war game - and potentially damage the predictable domination of CoD-alikes - Cage commented:
"I think it would be an important way to evangelise [to] people. To say, 'Look - if you get with more emotion and storytelling, it leads you to a more interesting experience. There is room for more than just games which get you with adrenalin."
An emotional war game? Sounds interesting. But just a passing thought at the moment, right? Wrong.
"I'm going to work on it. It's really something I want to do."
Tick. Tick. Boom.
Cage challenged an audience of developers at GDC yesterday to stop making games for teenagers - and treat consumers like adults. Sounds like he's following his own advice.
http://www.computerandvideogames.com/29 ... -war-game/ 
