Beyond: no one has the power to define what a game is, says Cage

Beyond: Two Souls reviews have started to drop, and the industry opinion is - predictably - split on whether it's any good or not. Quantic Dream boss David Cage has suggested that no one out there has the power to truly define what a game is, and that many people simply want the same experiences over and over but with more polygons.

Before we dive in though, you can check out my own appraisal of Beyond: Two Souls here, and check out Steph's review score round-up here.

Now then, speaking with Gamespot, Cage said, "Some people can be very conservative about this medium and this is sometimes frustrating. Some people wish that games would always stay what they were in the past 30 years, just with more polygons. No one should be allowed to define what a video game is or should be; no one has this power.

"A video game can be so many different things. Angry Birds is a game; Call of Duty is a game; World of Warcraft is a game; Gone Home is a game. Who can decide 'you are a video game', 'you are not a video game', 'you are not a part of this family?' No. Let's open this medium to whoever has different ideas and it's great to see people trying to do games where shooting is not the main thing."

I personally feel this is a question that will further fuel debate over Beyond moreso than it did when Heavy Rain launched. It feels less like a game at many points but overall, I still enjoyed absorbing it as a passive viewer. That's a problem though, consider many gamers buy titles to feel like an active participant.

On what side of the fence do you sit?

Elsewhere, Cage told me in my recent interview that he's trying to show the world that games can have greater artistic merit than just more guns to shoot, that games shouldn't just be defined by action and violence. Check out what he told me here.

The game's out now in the states and across Europe on Friday.

Thanks Dragon.