Pre-order Heavy Rain and Get The Heavy Rain Chronicles

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Hi everyone! I’m Jefferson Dong, the SCEA Marketing Manager for Heavy Rain, and I have some great news for those of you anxiously awaiting the release of Heavy Rain. Get ready to place your pre-orders for this PS3 exclusive title because we’ve got something special for you. When you pre-order your copy of Heavy Rain at participating retailers, you will receive the first episode of The Heavy Rain Chronicles (valued at $4.99 each episode) titled, “Heavy Rain: Chronicle One – The Taxidermist,” which will be available (only to those who pre-order) when Heavy Rain hits store shelves. The Heavy Rain pre-order program begins TODAY!

Heavy Rain Blog Screen 2

What exactly are The Heavy Rain Chronicles? Each Chronicle will offer unique, stand-alone, playable short stories featuring one of Heavy Rain’s main characters, and a storyline taking place either before or after Heavy Rain’s original narrative. Similar to Heavy Rain, each episode will offer a unique journey and different outcomes based on the players’ decisions and actions.

Heavy Rain: Chronicle One – The Taxidermist will feature investigative journalist Madison Paige in one of her first cases tracking down a serial killer. Most of you are familiar with this episode as it is an expansion and update to the original “Taxidermist” demo that received such positive response when shown last year.

Heavy Rain Blog Screen 1

US and Canadian residents can place your pre-orders today at these retailers participating in the special pre-order offer:

US Locations:
Amazon
GameCrazy
GameStop (online and in-store)

Canada Locations:
Amazon.ca
BestBuy.ca
EB Games
FutureShop.ca

For those who don’t pre-order Heavy Rain, the first two episodes of Heavy Rain Chronicles will be available for purchase and download through the PlayStation Store after the release of Heavy Rain – the exact dates will be announced at a later date.

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197 Comments

6 Author Replies

  • It’s too bad that it seems like NA isn’t getting this:
    https://blog.eu.playstation.com/2009/12/18/introducing-heavy-rain-chronicles-the-special-edition-box/

    I’m not often a sucker for Collector’s Editions, but a Heavy Rain one would definitely get my money. :D

  • So people are upset they are rewarding you to preorder. Most people reorder most games they buy(which I don’t get)

    I have to say gamers have an odd sense of entitlement. They didn’t have to add this bonus and lose money on not just selling it out right

  • We’re getting upset that we’re not getting content that should *already* be in the game.

  • Can you play this first chronicle story before Heavy Rain is released?

    • No, you will need to have a copy of Heavy Rain to play all future episodes of Heavy Rain Chronicles.

      The storyline for Chronicle 1 – The Taxidermist does take place before the storyline of Heavy Rain and follows Madison Paige on one of her first journalist assignments tracking a serial killer.

  • Any chance of a collector’s edition like Europe is getting? I want the soundtrack and theme too!

  • I love how they’re completely avoiding any criticism at all.

    Withholding character stories from a game that is emphasising character development is just ridiculous.

  • By looking at the comments this announcement/promotion looks like a terrible mistake.
    First, hold your DLC side story announcements for after the game is released. It will reduce the sense that the costumer is being robbed (Good job AC2 on that).
    Second, the fact that europe is getting the a sweet special edition makes us in US feel even more rejected.
    This really looks like a PR catastrophe.

  • @107 – Nice and succinctly put.

    Well done.

  • Will you receive the Chronicles code when you pre-order or will it just come in the box for the pre-ordered copies?

  • You people are dumb. Would you rather NOT play these episodes at all? Because that’s how it would be if they weren’t DLC. They could not include these on the disc, and besides, they are a SEPARATE STORYLINE. You aren’t paying for something you should have gotten in the first place, it’s extra, so stop complaining.

  • Holy Crapalinies! Even the demo has multiple outcomes! lol I swear, judging from the screen shots and even the trailers this game’s graphics almost make the game look like a live action film!! I wonder if it’ll all fit on a single Blu-ray. Games like this are the main reason I love my PS3 so much! Cannnnnnnnnn’t wait! XD

  • 110 – I will not pay for incomplete product. Period. Ever.

    I would rather not play the game then play a half-assed incomplete version that we’re getting.

  • If Chronicles 1 happens before the main story, would you recommend playing it before the full game? Jefferson?

  • Well you have a guaranteed preorder from me. Of course you had a guaranteed preorder from me anyway, so this is just a nice little bonus.

  • @112, The game is complete, that’s why they call this sort of thing EXTRA. Do you know what extra means?

  • @115

    It means content withheld from the game that should be on the disc.

  • Looks like I won’t be buying this game then. I’m not going to buy an incomplete game just because I need pre-orders and such. Not to mention it will probably be heavily censored in North America. I might rent it when I have nothing else to play. I will be using the money I saved for this game on some other game.

  • that is very kewl!
    nice incentive to preorder.
    *booked*

  • GameCrazy, GameStop or Amazon? Wow nice going, the 3 places I do not ever do shopping in…. I guess there is no pre-order from me then.

    Make it available at Best Buy and you got yourself a preorder of the game. But I will NEVER frequent GameStop, or GameCrazy ever again due to bad experiences and Amazon is online only…. I won’t bother with that.

  • can’t wait for this release..

    Pre Order Bonus or not, i planned on pre ordering this.

    Indigo Prophecy is one of my favorite games of all time, I was actually thinking about playing it again this weekend. beat it on the ps2 but planned on playing it on the pc this time.

    You know a straight to Blu Ray/Downloadable movie of this wouldnt be a bad idea. or even a documentary style interview footage with all the characters from heavy rain

  • After reading that Europe will be getting the special edition, and PS3 is region free…. I guess its once again time to import my copy, just like Quest for Booty, SIREN, The Last Guy and now I need to Import this it seems….god living in America sucks!

  • Looking forward to this. And uncensored in the US? You don’t say.

  • SONY REP,
    Is the current boxart on the retailer sites a placeholder?
    It looks really tacky with the award icons at the bottom.
    Europe cover looks alot more appealing.

  • Thanks , for the update I been waiting for this game for a while. This game is so me … and very happy to see it almost here. I welcome every DLC the Dev team plans to release. I hope continues in the future ….

    I see lots of complaints … either they cheap or don’t know how business works. Did this game go gold yet i cant seem to find any info if it has.

  • @124

    The reality is we don’t like being ripped off – which is exactly what’s happening here.

  • This game will be awesome!! I will pre-order it :D

  • David Cage and everyone at Quantic Dream, you guys are awesome. Indigo Prophecy was a really cool game, (except for the whole supernatural thing towards the end and the guys was leaping off police cars and bridges but anyways)from what I’ve seen of Heavy Rain you guys have outdone yourselves. i am defiantly pre-ordering and the mini-episodic stuff is a nice bonus.

  • DLC killing game industry because they put time and energy to develop add-on insteat of work more on the actual game… Plus, buy now and receive the first episode free but then you will want to know what happen next so you will BUY the next one… It’s a trap…

    I think that we have to support game industry and the best way is to buy original game and not use one… But this DLC is NOT a good thing.

    My opinion…

  • Ok I have a question here,

    Is this episode going to be short? I mean if you are talking about the early demo of madison that we all saw in the internet years ago… that was 5 minutes only..maybe 10?

    I would love to know how long is this DLC? how many scenes? is it going to support trophies or not… i know the game supports trophies but what about the DLC?

    I have been in love with heavy rain since i heared about it 2 years ago and THIS IS A DAY ONE BUY no questions about that

  • Alright Einhander, you win the blogreply award. Are you happy now? Your prize is that you don’t get ripped off by buying this trash. 90% of the PS3 community shall be ripped off and will enjoy being ripped off. You’re one of the few bright ones out there. Hold your head high, you’ve earned it! If there was a playstation trophy for this achievement, you’d HAVE IT!

    I plan on pre-ordering my trash and signed myself to be ripped off.

  • I’m looking forward to the game, The DLC sounds awesome, I’ll be reserving it soon, thanks for the heads up!!! :D

  • @130

    Then you are a fool and deserve to be parted with your money.

  • Have fun not playing Heavy Rain Einhander.

  • So how many games have you worked on Einhander?

    You must have worked on at least one.

    Because you clearly understand that a develop cycle creates large holes in developmental time when a developer has absolutely nothing while waiting for a game to be certified, translated, etc.

    And in that large hole of time a developer may choose to create additional content for the game that may or may not be added to the base game due to circumstances beyond the developers’ control (such as the master copy being verified and later replicated).

    And you must know that a development team earns no money from their publisher unless they are creating, modifying, and just generally working.

    By the way, I can’t wait for your next project Einhander. Please keep me on the mailing list.

  • It’s not even listed on Amazon.ca……. I’ve searched for it and all it gives me is some lame Ozzy Osbourne CD. Got my hopes up for nothing :(

  • I agree with #123

    I don’t care for the American box art either..

    what’s the difference between the European and the American releases?

    is there edited content on the American release?

    does the European version come with English voices? is so I’ll pre order that one instead as well.

    Why is the American version edited? i hope it isn’t for the teens.. I’m 35 years old and want all my adult content unedited..

  • I don’t think I’ve seen a single positive post from this Einhander chap. Interesting.

  • @ LordRoah: They have confirmed that both U.S. and European versions will feature the same unedited content. Both versions will most likely contain various languages, so you could watch in English or French with English subs (like I’m tempted to do).

    @ Einhander: I don’t think I’ve seen a single positive post from this Einhander chap. Interesting.

  • Great stuff, but what about in the UK as i was planning on pre-ordering this just after christmas.

  • Wait a minute. I thought the US version of Heavy Rain was going to include multiple language/audio options!? Is this no longer the case? Is it subtitles only? Audio options as well perhaps? Please clarify.

  • It’s about time you started to acknowledge Canada. :)

  • People are actually complaining about DLC? How very, very sad. I was hoping to be able to play the taxidermist scene. Will pre-order this week, as long as the game is kept uncensored in NA.

  • OOOORRR… you could just share your artistic vision for free, and hope that someone shares something with you in return… if everyone did it, it would happen.

  • This is great and all, but I really want that Special Edition box that Europe is getting… and I mean, I want it bad… =(

  • @134 – My only project is trying to protect consumers from getting screwed.

    @141 – Too bad about your name – you obviously need to get a clue.

  • i understand where this anoying einhander is comming from but the way i see it is that the main story is finshed and on the disc and this is extra.

    who is to say that all those addons for games like oblivion weren’t already done and they just withheld them?

    i feel bad when pre-orders actually get an advantage above me playing games that have multiplayers.

    you say consumers are being ripped off but i bet that the devs are being ripped off even more with all the used games sales.

    i have never bought a used games unless it wasnt availabe new and tht happend only once.

    anyway continue your trolling but you wont get another reply from me cause i just make my point and leave

  • I’m highly disappointed to read about this. As a fan of Fahrenheit and heavily story-driven games, I have been looking forward to Heavy Rain. But, I’m also a responsible consumer.

    The very idea that game content is developed in parallel and deliberately withheld from a full-priced game is appalling. Like over-priced “Collector Editions”, it is a recent and greedy business practice designed to squeeze more money from loyal customers. It is comparable to buying a movie and being forced to pay extra to see the ending (or, as in this case, to see the beginning). As a gamer, I regularly invest thousands in this industry. I own nearly 50 PS3 games and 24 PSP games; not including every other console I own. I don’t appreciate being exploited in return. If these episodes were stand-alone and developed after the release of Heavy Rain, I might have felt different.

    I may still purchase Heavy Rain someday. Instead I’ll wait for a price that more appropriately matches the percentage of game content that I’m being sold. Maybe I’ll just rent it instead. I certainly will not be preordering and I will never purchase the DLC. I refuse to support deceitful business strategies like this.

  • By the way, I’m happy to see that most of the other visitors agree that this is dishonest.

    To the few that are whining that everyone else is “whining”: voicing your dissatisfaction with a product or business practice followed by refusal to invest in it is how customers rationally demand industry change. I suppose some people are naive to being taken advantage of, or perhaps they’re simply spoiled by parents that pay their bills.

    Further, I assure you that only Sony and Quantic Dream can change my mind. I’ve already explained how.

  • Alright I have to ask, are we getting the collectors edition like EU is or are we getting the shaft?

  • i still dont get how they are being deceitful. most major titles get DLC packs. a majority of those titles have those packs released in the 1st 2 weeks of the title. how is this any different from any of those titles, except for the fact they are willing to give you the content for FREE, if you just take $5 you were planning on spending on the game anyways and just putting it down in preorder form. you are spending $5(which you were putting down in the 1st place) to save $5. this DLC is way better then any other preorder bonus i have ever seen before. this isnt a golden gun or anything to that.

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