Yeah, the industry likes to up the ante as far as sales however, viral marketing should whet our whistles with “heavy” anticipation; excited intrawebs nerds such as I, want to participate in presumptive flaming before we have access to the actual game. Nothing is more satisfying than a clever and well-executed viral marketing campaign, but I can think of a few video-game companies that have very recently bombed as far as creating something “virally” substantial goes—we won’t go there. Quantic Dream has my undivided attention with their recently announced “Four Day Challenge” on behalf of PS3 exclusive and interactive murder-mystery, Heavy Rain. If you have yet to sign-up, http://www.heavyrainps3.com will put your detective skills to the test. Now, here’s where it gets interesting: yours truly has been playing Quantic Dream’s silly games all afternoon, following her nose, and thinking way harder than she probably should be and while it’s to early to be left anywhere but in the dark, I’m genuinely impressed by how much work they’ve put into this baby. It isn’t as easy as you may think! Or is it? Every Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday for three, straight weeks, I’ll be doing my best to guide interested and likely frustrated problem-solvers through the puzzles of this “killer.” To make it (hopefully) more interesting, I’ll be shedding light on my discoveries in story form. Will we make the right decision?

( Remember, I’m not “in” on this information nor does my expertise match that of Carla Valenti *PLUG* I have not scoured the internet for cheats, either. I’m simply a regular participant who enjoys playing guessing games. If you’d like to follow the clues yourself, this article may* provide icky spoilers! Also, if you’re playing and would like to contribute something relevant, do so!)

9:29 PM 1.26.10 Day 1

It’s been excessively cold lately. The colour that paints the town is an unremarkable grey.  For me, it’s always the unremarkable days that provide the most remarkable opportunities. Such is the case when I received a curious e-mail from an unknown party regarding something I can’t quite decipher. Is someone playing a trick on me? It seems harmless enough, but…

“You will embark on a unique series of three live four-day challenges that will draw you inexorably into the universe of Heavy Rain.

Be warned, we’re stepping into a dark world here. Stay alert at all times. Anything you see or learn or hear – you may need later. You’ll be contacted via this email throughout the experience, directing you towards different leads in the investigation.”

Anyway, I went to http://www.heavyrainps3.com/rainisfalling like I was “told” to. Great, I’ve always sucked hard at word puzzles, so being greeted with an anagram totally turned me off. Really? That’s too good of a guess. I spent fifteen minutes uncovering the stupid word. It was “@Perfect Folds.” I suppose any social-savy person would immediately think to visit http://www.twitter.com/perfectfolds. I don’t think I was supposed to go there because I felt like one of those Ted Bundy types, you know, a “Peeping-Tom?” Didn’t he start out that way or whatever?  Oh, I forgot to mention: I discovered a few names hidden in the ripples of the puddle. I’m so lost. None of them add-up, do they?

“Love” http://twitter.com/aquagirl01213

“Consequence” http://twitter.com/drikp

“Son” http://twitter.com/suarsanubari

“Family” http://twitter.com/piperhighlander

“Responsibility” http://twitter.com/tweedtart

“Trial” http://twitter.com/abhi_24_88

“Save” http://twitter.com/gani_leo

“Die” http://twitter.com/vollwichtig

“Failure” http://twitter.com/guythurston

“Father” http://twitter.com/whizkidd

The last account I wandered upon read “Dead” and was linked to @elisabeth_26sm, but it was…suspended? Dead? Suspended? I’m not sure I enjoy the implications of this, but I think in all this nonsensical information lies some sense I’m not sure I want to make sense of. Does this make sense? All I’ve been thinking about is that “@Perfectfolds” creepster’s Twitter background and my good friend, Madison Paige. I know, this is going to sound totally absurd and I’m at a loss as to why I’m writing this. Everytime I think of Madison I think of her crippling insomnia and habitual stays at random motels—No, that’s crazy… but why would this person have her motel key? “Motel 152,” it says.  It’s probably just ‘a’ motel key, right? I never thought I’d be the person to speak of my fear of being judged as the “crazy one,” but the darkroom pictures are burned and branded into my skull. I swear, it’s Madison in that picture. Please hear me out: I think it’s only proper I share them with somebody; I don’t want to know the consequences of denial.

I decided I had done enough searching when I began fearing my role in this eerie…investigation, I guess? Why am I doing this again? The last clues I found were random Twitter accounts linked to “@Perfectfolds.” It seems as if “@Best_Fiction” and “@EnzoRacer” are in on this, too. Who are these people!? Isn’t “Best Fiction” the name of a Namie Amuro album? Am I reading too much into this? I suppose if things get too crazy and my curiosity gets in the way of my good judgement, I could always get in contact with “@tim_hodges.” Supposedly, they’re having coffee soon. Something weird is happening and I’m pretty sure it’s uneasiness I’m feeling. It doesn’t matter, because I’ll be back tomorrow…knowing myself and all.

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(For more information, sign-up at http://www.heavyrainps3.com. You’ll need an e-mail to begin your search. Goodluck!)

“* Four Days: The Heavy Rain Online Experience is a live event which plays

out in real time across three weeks. Between Tuesday and Friday every week there will be daily tasks for you to complete. Each task will lead you onto the next part of the journey. At key stages you will be prompted, whilst on other occasions you will need to deduce the right thing to do. You will receive an instructional email at the beginning of each of the three weekly events, and you can always turn to the Facebook Fan Page Community for help and discussion http://www.facebook.com/heavyrainofficialfanpage.”

Remember – make your choices, and live with the consequences. Because your smallest decisions can change everything…”