Heavy Rain Creator: "The U.S. Has Problems With My Games"
- Thread starter Andy Chalk
- Start date
Oh yes, it's never your fault when your game doesn't do well, is it? It's always the fault of others. Here's an idea, take some responsibility, you'll be so much better for it.
I must be one of the only ones that liked that game. Im not saying it was the best game ever, but it was a nice change of pace from what i usually play. When my gf and I started dating, she wouldnt even play games, let alone watch me play them. Yet when I got Heavy Rain, she sat and watched me play for 8 hours. At points when I wanted to stop playing (yes I did get bored at times) she wanted me to keep playing so she could "see what happens". She really liked the story, and so did I. Was it a game in the traditional sense, no. Did I have fun playing it, yes. If you dont like it, dont play it. Im not a huge fan of BF or MW, but Im not going to go around saying how much they suck because I don't like them (no they dont suck, they just arent for me).
Yep, unexpectedly well actually.Lord Beautiful said:
OT: Quality aside, I do think what Cage's games are doing in this industry is fairly important. He is tipping the scales in the opposite direction, favouring story over gameplay, but hopefully that'll maybe balance out the whole thing a little. Anyway, his point about the American games industry (fact: not a reference to American gamers) is interesting, if not all that surprising. It's long since been established that, unfortunately, the only reason Western nations will take any interest in games is because they make so much money, not because of their artistic merit.
Edit: Please, sweet Jesus, will somebody read the f*cking article properly. It explicitly states that Cage does not blame American consumers for it's sales, he said that American marketing agencies didn't push the game enough because it was a new concept.
Look, dude, I appreciate what you're trying to do, but people don't not (confusing double negative alert) buy your games because they don't have guns, they don't buy them because all they are is cutscenes. There is no fun.
At least have the common decency to make it into a puzzle game... (as in, a proper one)
At least have the common decency to make it into a puzzle game... (as in, a proper one)
I can honestly say I've never played any of his games. But I did watch a friend play a bit. I thought the QTEs were just a portion of the entire game...I was sorely mistaken. I'm not saying that I don't appreciate games with a story, the opposite actually, but I enjoy a game with a story and actual gameplay. LA Noire got the balance pretty much perfect it has a story, but it won't put me into a boredom coma.
PS. I believe that Mr. Cage is forgetting something important. It's not just guns and guts that sell games. Boobs sell games (see DoA or the recent Tomb Raider games). But from my knowledge Heavy Rain had boobs...hhmmm...
PS. I believe that Mr. Cage is forgetting something important. It's not just guns and guts that sell games. Boobs sell games (see DoA or the recent Tomb Raider games). But from my knowledge Heavy Rain had boobs...hhmmm...
Hm.
Nomad Soul: Impossible to get a copy at the time, graphics looked æons old by the time it became readily available as used or clearance sale material. Fahrenheit: never actually seen that one in the wild. It stayed rather obscure until very recently.
Heavy Rain, on the other hand, was a rather special experience for me. Pre-ordered that "limited" edition that should just have been a proper, regular, readily-available feelie-filled little something like Infocom adventures of old.
It wasn't, it was limited and therefore very, very high in demand the very moment it came out. So I didn't even open it, put it right in the mail to someone who paid me 10x what I paid, and I basically missed out on the Heavy Rain experience until, what, July 2011, when I got another "limited" edition box for thirty bucks. So I basically only very recently played Heavy Rain. What's to say? I think it's a really great ride. Only one odd crash, only one point at which I (well, one of the characters) died repeatedly because I had a hard time QTE'ing my spastic digital persona (who would prefer to repeatedly run in the strategically worst possible direction) out of harm's way, but I spent a good part of three consecutive weekend's worth of those lonely wee hours to check out just about any and all "alternate outcomes". I liked it. I want to see more of that. I really do.
Bottom line: I think most "limited" edition game releases should really be standard fare. I think Heavy Rain qualifies as a decent game, a good story, a great piece of digital art and just a nice-to-have title once you finished it to shove in the PS3, just to have people check it out, walk around... and die horribly, just for the heck of it.
Mr. Cage will probably hate me for saying it, but I really think they shot themselves in their collective leg with falling for the "limited" special edition approach. I know at least a dozen folks who NEVER bought Heavy Rain because they just couldn't get the fancy "limited" European one.
It's as with movies, all backwards at times. If a film is AO, and not about naked people simulating making little people, it just plain doesn't mean it's "uncut" any longer. If a film is "unrated", it no longer means it is whole and complete, it just means marketing has discovered "unrated" as a tool to peddle incomplete, lazy and shoddy merchandise. MA seems to be the way to go, but if I keep having to combine the patience of a fisherman and the determination of a hunter to get the film - or game - I want, there's always the risk of me getting really bored and losing any and all interest until others tell me how it went... and that's much more of a problem for the industry and studios in particular than second-hand gaming. But that's just the way I see things.
Nomad Soul: Impossible to get a copy at the time, graphics looked æons old by the time it became readily available as used or clearance sale material. Fahrenheit: never actually seen that one in the wild. It stayed rather obscure until very recently.
Heavy Rain, on the other hand, was a rather special experience for me. Pre-ordered that "limited" edition that should just have been a proper, regular, readily-available feelie-filled little something like Infocom adventures of old.
It wasn't, it was limited and therefore very, very high in demand the very moment it came out. So I didn't even open it, put it right in the mail to someone who paid me 10x what I paid, and I basically missed out on the Heavy Rain experience until, what, July 2011, when I got another "limited" edition box for thirty bucks. So I basically only very recently played Heavy Rain. What's to say? I think it's a really great ride. Only one odd crash, only one point at which I (well, one of the characters) died repeatedly because I had a hard time QTE'ing my spastic digital persona (who would prefer to repeatedly run in the strategically worst possible direction) out of harm's way, but I spent a good part of three consecutive weekend's worth of those lonely wee hours to check out just about any and all "alternate outcomes". I liked it. I want to see more of that. I really do.
Bottom line: I think most "limited" edition game releases should really be standard fare. I think Heavy Rain qualifies as a decent game, a good story, a great piece of digital art and just a nice-to-have title once you finished it to shove in the PS3, just to have people check it out, walk around... and die horribly, just for the heck of it.
Mr. Cage will probably hate me for saying it, but I really think they shot themselves in their collective leg with falling for the "limited" special edition approach. I know at least a dozen folks who NEVER bought Heavy Rain because they just couldn't get the fancy "limited" European one.
It's as with movies, all backwards at times. If a film is AO, and not about naked people simulating making little people, it just plain doesn't mean it's "uncut" any longer. If a film is "unrated", it no longer means it is whole and complete, it just means marketing has discovered "unrated" as a tool to peddle incomplete, lazy and shoddy merchandise. MA seems to be the way to go, but if I keep having to combine the patience of a fisherman and the determination of a hunter to get the film - or game - I want, there's always the risk of me getting really bored and losing any and all interest until others tell me how it went... and that's much more of a problem for the industry and studios in particular than second-hand gaming. But that's just the way I see things.
Oh David cage, so ready to point the finger, never willing to point it at himself. I'm pretty sure i've never, ever seen him accept any criticism about anything. Your choices, with him, are "You're wrong" or "I'm right".
What a douchebag.
What a douchebag.
To be fair, i know plently of people who refuse to play a game that isnt violent or gory or whatnot, but heavy rain isnt a game for everyone anyways, perhaps he should focus more on targeting the niche who like his games?
I'm in the UK, I played Heavy Rain and I can tell you the problem is not the lack of guns and guts, it's the lack of a GAME, you created a movie with QTE's that had "infinate consequences" which amounted to a couple different endings dependent on the level of retardation in the player.
Want an example of a game with great sotry and dialogue interaction that makes the player seriously consider their words. Planescape Torment, in fact most of the game was spent talking while combat took a back seat but the dialogue system allowed for a good exchange of words which if handled poorly could result in a big nasty fight.
Want a non combat driven game with a great story, Braid, someitmes it comes off as prententious to some people (and I can see why) but its a nifty puzzle platformer that keeps the players on their toes and has a great little story running through it.
Want a globally successful game not based around combat but creation and exploration, Minecraft, personally I don't like it much but a lot of people (including Americans) think it's one of the best games to be released in recent years and I'll tell you what it's definitely a game moreso than Heavy Rain.
You see Mr Cage, you want to be a film director and because you couldn't you turned to videogames and made a film. People don't want films, they want games, sometimes these games can have a strong narrative and engage the audience but there must also be gameplay, Heavy Rain lacked this, you had an opportunity to make investigations interesting instead we just pressed the glove button until things were highlighted for us.
Want an example of a game with great sotry and dialogue interaction that makes the player seriously consider their words. Planescape Torment, in fact most of the game was spent talking while combat took a back seat but the dialogue system allowed for a good exchange of words which if handled poorly could result in a big nasty fight.
Want a non combat driven game with a great story, Braid, someitmes it comes off as prententious to some people (and I can see why) but its a nifty puzzle platformer that keeps the players on their toes and has a great little story running through it.
Want a globally successful game not based around combat but creation and exploration, Minecraft, personally I don't like it much but a lot of people (including Americans) think it's one of the best games to be released in recent years and I'll tell you what it's definitely a game moreso than Heavy Rain.
You see Mr Cage, you want to be a film director and because you couldn't you turned to videogames and made a film. People don't want films, they want games, sometimes these games can have a strong narrative and engage the audience but there must also be gameplay, Heavy Rain lacked this, you had an opportunity to make investigations interesting instead we just pressed the glove button until things were highlighted for us.
The only thing that kept be from doing another play-through of Heavy Rain was that...
Also, there was an excessive amount of Quick-Time Events. The only positive thing I can say about them is that there were less aggravating than the ones in Shenmue, a game that I was thinking about the entire time I played this. I thought "Wow, if only SEGA would make Shenmue III and commit to a budget to get these kinds of visuals."
The killer is always the same person no matter what.
Also, there was an excessive amount of Quick-Time Events. The only positive thing I can say about them is that there were less aggravating than the ones in Shenmue, a game that I was thinking about the entire time I played this. I thought "Wow, if only SEGA would make Shenmue III and commit to a budget to get these kinds of visuals."