Indigo Prophecy

1001 Video Games

Fahrenheit appears in the book 1001 Video Games You Must Play Before You Die by General Editor Tony Mott.

Cut Content

In the U.S. version, the sex scenes have been toned down to maintain a Mature rating.

Development

• Fahrenheit was first announced as an episodic game. With this business model, Quantic Dream wanted to sell the game at a budget price, and then release monthly episodes and half-yearly bundles. This concept allowed for cliff-hangers, red herrings, mysteries, and surprises, with a new build-up in hype every month. Ultimately, they did not go along with it and released the game as a whole, at a regular price.
• The game was in development for five years - two years to create the tools and engine, two years to develop the game, and an additional year to sell it to the publisher.

Genre

The developers themselves do not call the game an adventure, but rather interactive drama, a story that is evolving according to the player's choices in the game, where gameplay is the story. It consists of bending stories, with a beginning, a middle and an end, but everything in between can be stretched or has multiple paths.

Publishing

The game was first to be published by Vivendi Universal, but developer and publisher parted ways in November 2004 because of differences in creative vision.

References

• Early in the game when the player wakes up as Tyler there is a desk in the bedroom with an action figure on it that when checked says: "This is a figurine of Sox, a character from my favorite videogame." Sox is a robot from another Quantic Dream game, Omikron: The Nomad Soul.
• At one point of the game there's also news about Omikron on the Internet. It can be accessed from Tyler's computer at the police station. Notice also how much the archive computer in the basement of the police station looks like a Commodore VIC-20.
• The concept of an Indigo Child is an actual theory, though not quite the same as the game presents it.

Technology

The game contains thirteen hours of full body and facial animation, which, according to the developers, has never been done in a video game, a TV series, or a film.

Tutorial

In the tutorial, the player is introduced to the game in a training room by director David Cage, not just with a voice-over, but using a rendered model as well. He also briefly discusses his creative vision.

U.S. Title

The decision to rename the game Indigo Prophecy in the U.S. was made by Atari. Fahrenheit suggests September 11th because of Michael Moore's critical film Fahrenheit 9/11, even though it's equally well known as a temperature scale, or in reference to Ray Bradbury's book Fahrenheit 451.

Awards

• 4Players
  • 2005 – Best Adventure of the Year
  • 2005 – Best Innovations of the Year
• GameSpy
  • 2005 – PC Adventure Game of the Year
  • 2005 – PC Adventure Game of the Year (Readers' Vote)
• Golden Joystick Awards
  • 2005 - Unsung Hero of the Year* PC Powerplay (Germany)
  • Issue 04/2006 - #2 RPG/Adventure in 2005 (Readers' Vote)
  • Issue 02/2006 - Most Innovative Adventure in 2005

Information also contributed by Jeanne, Mr. Sefe, piltdown man and Zack Green.