Heavy Rain Scoops Game Designer's Award at Japanese Ceremony

The patch to update Heavy Rain with Move controls should be let loose tomorrow, but Japanese body the Computer Entertainment Supplier's Association awarded the DualShock 3-enabled version its Game Designer's Award at a recent ceremony.

It praised the game's unique sense of storytelling as well as its emphasis on performing seemingly innocuous "daily actions", such as drinking orange juice or knocking on a door, to increase the level of involvement with the character on-screen. It also translated the Japanese title to "Where there is a clash with the heart", a slightly cryptic if appropriate summary of the game's style.

"HEAVY RAIN—Where there is a clash with the heart" is a game with very many steps for each action of the main character.The impersonation is done by continuously performing the "daily actions" to greatly increase the suspense and feeling of involvement. The graphics and sound are convincing and the scenario continues to advance even if one of the main characters dies. It presents the story from a new perspective compared to novels, movies, manga, and dramas as well as to other games. For this reason, the judges almost unanimously selected this title for the Game Designers Award.

Heavy Rain: Move Edition is out on disc in October, with the Move-enabling patch free to download from tomorrow.