Good discussion.

However, Chet Faliszek's comments about modern vs. pre-1970's cinema strike me as completely wrongheaded. The 1950's and 1960's saw an explosion in experimental, non-linear narrative and editing techniques that put to shame the lazy, Red Bull rush of today's hyperactive film editors. He cites "Memento" as an example of this "new" kind of film, yet Christopher Nolan himself cited Godard's early work as a key inspiration. FFS, the Marx Brothers were more out there than all but the most challenging of today's filmmakers.

I'll try to make this a little less irrelevant to the topic at hand: there is a wealth of old experimentation with narrative, perspective, storytelling and characterisation in the past that has yet to be tapped, and I think it is shame that most in the industry appear to think that this started in the current century. To take the example above, Godard was (is) extraordinarily adept at evoking a scene and ambience without recourse to traditional storytelling (though he did that too).

OK, still off topic! Apologies.

Thompson really does sound a bit mentalist in his statement. Bar bar bar bye!

There's promise to this, but from playing Fahrenheit through and the comments above, I have a lot of trepidation over the content. As a fan of some of the old Sierra-Online and Lucasfilms graphic adventures, I was thrilled to read about Fahrenheit's development, Cage's proclamations about reinventing the adventure game, of emotionally involving plots and engaging characters. My expectations thus set high, on playing the game, I was initially a little disappointed, subsequently irritated, and finally scornful. Whilst the plot and setting had some promising ideas (the cold, a strong depiction of parts of a city, an attempt to involve you in the lives of very different characters), I thought that the execution was woeful. The puzzles were not great, but that did not bother me so much. No, it was the appalling plot - either utterly predictable, or later on, completely absurd/stupid considering earlier attempts to make the environment and characters "real". It still might have been salvaged by good writing, but the dialogue and characterisation were abysmal. I don't think I've sighed, moaned and ground my teeth more to a game. Which was sad, because the stated intentions were brave and laudable.

Apologies for the rant on an old game. It is just that from the scene (admittedly exterior to the final game) described, the same bloody awful dialogue and plotting is in evidence. Cage has admirable ambition, but he appears to have the storytelling and characterisation subtlety of a Sixth Former attempting Frederick Forsyth. Very, very, badly. Look, there's a stuffed woman in the bath!

“He’s stuffed them. Looks like I finally got my story, because at any time the guy may come back, and we’ll be in a difficult situation. Uh-oh…”

Or:

‘Gotta survive. I’m not gonna die. I’ll find a solution. I always find solutions’.

Or, Cage himself:

“Hurry, Madison, you need to leave! Of course, the damn engine never starts…”

Please, hire a decent writer! How can one claim a more mature, adult audience if the key points of engagement for the audience with the plot and characters - suspense, dialogue, dramatic immersion - are continually undermined by writing that makes you chew your own teeth? I'm not calling for The Wire here (though, you know, that kind of quality would be nice to aim to), but just a little subtlety and avoidance of the bleeding obvious would immeasurably enhance an otherwise painstakingly put-together experience. Again, sorry for the whinge, I just do not want to see something that is otherwise crafted beautifully spoiled by an aspect that should be (relatively) easy to approach.

There's a second, more fundamental point that I think this article brings up, which is the familiar one of realism: do we really want games to have this kind of slick, high-definition sheen as the ultimate goal of realism? Looking at these stills, if anything, the proximity to "real" (i.e. photorealism) makes it look even weirder, less natural than Mario. There's plenty to play with in this weirdness, but I'm not sure that is what the makers want to do... Anyway, a digression on a digression. I admit this half-thought is more inspired by nostalgia for the surreal carnival that was Grim Fandango.

Regardless, I hope this game turns out to be smashing, really I do. I'll give it go.

Also, "Fat Rain": would see/play.