Junk Hunter Yoshida hits the scene! Detroit: Become Human" David Cage talks about the future of AI - and his next film!

The Tokyo Game Show 2019 recently came to a successful close. During the show, David Cage, director and scenario writer of "Detroit: Become Human," an adventure game for PlayStation 4 that was released last year and was a huge hit worldwide, visited Japan.

With the upcoming release of the PC version of "Detroit: Become Human," there is no doubt that this game will once again take the world by storm. Akiba Research Institute contacted David and asked him about the development episode of "Detroit: Become Human" and his vision of what kind of society will be built in the future by the AI handled in this work.

The interviewer was Junk Hunter Yoshida, a game and movie columnist who is a big fan of David's work (he brought his personal copy of "Fahrenheit" for PS2 to the interview). It was an in-depth interview that could not have been conducted anywhere else.

What will happen now? What will happen to the PC version of "Detroit: Become Human"?

--What are the differences between the PC version of "Detroit: Become Human" and the PS4 version that has already been released?

David: There are no changes to the game itself. This game was optimized and made for PS4, so porting it to PC was difficult, but we are porting it with a different 3D rendering engine so that it can run on PCs with lower specs.

--David: So there are no options like in the PS4 version, where the story is divided by hierarchy?

David: No, that's not true either. We made everything inside the same.

--Detroit: Become Human" was created with the theme of A.I. Did you have any intention when you wrote the scenario?

David: Younger scenario writers tend to re-create the movies that influenced them. However, as we get older, we tend to reflect in our games the "message" of what we have been influenced by and what we want to convey from the bottom of our hearts. I have seen many books and movies, and I did not want to just recreate them. So, I started to build a scenario in which the androids are the good guys and the humans are the bad guys, and I wanted to create a story from the androids' point of view.

--For example, "Operation Blow Up Earth" (1970), an adaptation of the novel "Colossus" by Dennis Jones, and "Skynet" in James Cameron's "Terminator" series (1984-) are two well-known movies in which an A.I. runs amok. Skynet" in James Cameron's "Terminator" series (1984-) comes to mind. Detroit: Become Human" features Lance Henriksen, who played an android named Bishop in "Alien 2" (1986). ...... Was that your intention when you cast him?

David: Of course (laughs). (laughs) I watched and studied a lot of movies including those, but I wanted to portray androids from a new perspective, and I wanted the story to be less about A.I. and more about minorities and the androids' fight for their rights.

--David, what do you think the future of A.I. will look like?

David: Well, that is a very difficult question. I think AI will continue to develop and evolve in ways we can't even imagine. Detroit" is about how the development of AI will affect human society. For example, ...... may someday AI will compose music or write books, and humans will no longer be needed. People and androids may become so alike that the androids will refuse to live in harmony with humans, who are compromising and troublesome, and intelligent androids will be able to become independent. Such a thing may make humans even more selfish, and we cannot deny the possibility of even greater dependence on technology. It is very interesting to see how computers and A.I. functionality is approaching that of humans, and I think it is safe to entertain the idea that A.I. may become more self-aware and assertive of its rights when it becomes self-aware and self-aware.

--I remember a movie called "Daryl" (1985), in which the main character was Daryl, a boy android secretly developed by the government as a weapon. Do you think the age of such androids will come with the development of AI?

David: I think it would be interesting to see the evolution of athletic ability through the development of AI like "Daryl". But realistically, I think it is much more complex than we think. It will be very difficult because it will require the ability to understand the environment, to predict gravity and the movements of people around it. I think Boston Dynamics, in particular, will develop excellent robots in the future, and although I myself do not want to see AI advance to the point of danger, I think the first application will probably be for the military to develop it as a weapon and send it to the front lines to test if it can be deployed in the field. I think that after its widespread use, we will see the birth of robots that are useful in our daily lives, capable of assisting and helping the elderly and infirm.

--David Gassman is a voice actor in all of your works, including "Detroit: Become Human". What is your relationship with him?

David, he is an American actor whom I met about 25 years ago, but he lives in Paris now. I was a sound engineer at the time, and that's when I met Gassman. We were more like comrades than colleagues, having been together for many years, and we worked together on various projects. He was the voice actor for my first games "Omikron: The Nomad Soul" (1999), "Fahrenheit" (2005), "Heavy Rain" (2010), "Beyond: Two Souls" (2013), and then "Detroit: Become Human" as a cop. Become Human" (2013), I asked him to play the role of a police officer. He's a great actor, very easy to work with, a nice guy, and he does it perfectly.

--David, you were the composer of "Timecop" for the Super Nintendo Entertainment System (SNES) and the Mega CD (available only overseas) in 1995, before you started Quantic Dream.

David, you know very well. Actually, I studied music and formed a band from the age of 16 to become a professional musician instead of becoming a game designer. I never met Jean-Claude Van Damme, but I have bitter memories of ...... "Timecop" game because ...... I haven't done much work that I'm proud of (smiles). Because I myself was just starting out in video games as a composer, and it was a gumshoeing time, just trying to do a variety of jobs. I could make music, and I was also a gamer, so I just got involved. Later, when I launched Quantic Dream, I considered whether to choose the path of a composer or that of a game designer. As a result, I chose the path of a game designer, but I still compose a little, and I also write the opening songs for short movies and games.

Incidentally, when the story of "Omikron" came to me, I was determined to turn it into a video game, so I founded Quantic Dream in 1997. I tried to find a publisher to make a video game based on this idea, but none of them were interested in developing it. I was forced to start my own development company, Quantic Dream, and here I am today (laugh). I will continue to work as a composer and make short movies at the same time. Making short movies, which are the prototypical framework for a video game, is a good way to develop ideas while writing scenarios. I personally love making short movies, so I get a lot of inspiration from them.

--David, how did you get the musician David Bowie to participate in "Omikron"?

David: When we had a meeting to make a different game, we asked the development team, "Who should be in charge of the music? We made a "dream list" of famous musicians. Bowie was at the top of the list. I contacted him to make an offer, and to my surprise, he expressed interest in the video game and said he would give me 20 minutes to meet with him in London. I explained the story, the game system, the world view, and what I wanted him to play in the finished game with great enthusiasm, and he became more and more interested in the game and asked me many questions. After answering all of his questions, he said, "Okay, let's play together! and he gladly accepted, and as a result, I ended up appearing not only as a musician but also as a character in the game.

--David: There was a six-year gap between "Omikron" and "Fahrenheit.

David: I was just starting to work on "Farenheit" at this time with the interactive storyline in mind. It was a very big leap for me after that, including the scenario. Starting with "Fahrenheit," I created the elements of a scenario-driven adventure game, which is now the case with "Detroit: Become Human," and I have even reflected them in "David Gusman," which is common to David's work, but it was a long time. I believe that the six years were a good time for contemplation in order to influence the subsequent Quantic Dream. After that, we spent four years developing "Heavy Rain," and we gained so much know-how that we now operate a motion capture studio within our own company.

--So you operate your own motion capture studio, do you also allow movie companies and other game companies to use it?

David: Yes, we do. Yes, we do. In addition to film and television, Ubi Soft is a major customer of ours for game companies (laughs). (Laughs.) Various companies in the France area use our services. However, facial motion is special, so only our company uses it. We allow other companies to use only the body motion in their studios.

--What was the reason for inviting Ellen Page and Willem Defoe from Hollywood for "Beyond: Two Souls"?

David: First of all, when I was writing the script, I thought in my mind about who should play which roles. However, if the faces of the main cast members did not come to mind, the writing of the script would not progress. So when I first thought about using an actress, somehow Ellen Page came to mind and I felt she would be the perfect voice for the script I was about to write. I was very lucky to have an appointment to meet her in Los Angeles, so I immediately flew from France. When I told her about the story and the characters, she listened intently, but since I was working on a video game, I had to think about it for a while, but she finally said "Yes. It was worth flying all the way from France (laughs). Willem Defoe was almost the same as her. I was looking for a scientist role and thought he was the only choice (note: perhaps influenced by Sam Raimi's "Spider-Man" released in 2002?) I contacted him and he told me that he was living in Italy at the time, so I met him in Rome and seduced him into the role.

--David: How do you go about persuading a prominent person to join your team?

David: The great thing about story-driven adventure games like ours is that they are scripted first, so it's very easy for the actors to explain what the story is about, which makes it very easy for them to imagine the role they are going to play. This is not the case with shooting games. The script makes it easy to imagine the character and the story. ...... In other words, the actors should feel like they are reading a script to act in a movie.

--David: So you are saying that emotion is also important for the developers who use the actors?

David: That's right. We are especially concerned about the actors, and we don't want them to be money-grubbing. We want actors who are interested in video games, and who can feel the passion and emotion of the game. The same is true for "Detroit: Become Human," but one thing in common with David's works is that the filming of "David Gassman" was very grueling and time-consuming, and there were many difficult aspects to the filming. Because of the long working hours, if you come to the site for the money, you will lose your passion, and the resulting product will be disappointing. Therefore, we place great importance on people who are motivated, interested, and who understand the world of video games. I told them during the audition, "Our job requires memorizing a lot of material, it's just exhausting, and it's extremely demanding. This job is really hard, okay?" I surprise them by saying, "This job is really hard. If you are intimidated by that, you have already failed the audition. I hire people who are willing to work with me even in such a tough job site as my colleagues.

--David: So, last but not least, ......, given this trend, of course your next work will be an adventure game, right?

David: Well, I can't tell you that. I can't tell you what it will be like or what genre it will be (laughs). I might be able to make an announcement soon.

--I can't tell you what kind of game it will be, and I can't tell you what genre it will be (laughs). If it was different, I would have said clearly that it would be different. I guess I fell for your leading question (lol).

(Interview and text by Junk Hunter Yoshida)