All kinds of news is spilling out about Heavy Rain right now.

Jefferson Dong, SCEA Marketing Manager for Heavy Rain, announced on the PlayStation Blog that from today, Canadian and US pre-orders the title will come bundled with the first episode of the ‘Heavy Rain Chronicles’ for free. Expected to usually retail at $4.99, this first installment, entitled Heavy Rain: Chronicle One – The Taxidermist, features investigative journalist Madison Paige. If it looks familiar to you, you’re not wrong – it’s an expansion of the original Taxidermist demo you probably saw in 2008.

Wondering what the Heavy Rain Chronicles are? “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,” Dong explains. “Similar to Heavy Rain, each episode will offer a unique journey and different outcomes based on the players’ decisions and actions.”

The European Collector’s Edition is expected to not only feature the first Taxidermist HR Chronicle, but also a XMB theme for your PS3 and downloadable soundtrack, all packed up in a ‘rain-effect’ slip-case.

Hmm. Am I the only one who expects more than that when paying premium prices for a Collector’s Edition?

Via PlayStation Blog