Heavy Rain Creator: "The U.S. Has Problems With My Games"

[Justanothergamer300]

Funny I reason I didn't get it was because it wasn't on Xbox pity because it looked interesting

 

[NicholasSchaffer]

Maybe it ould have sold better, if, you know, HE RELEASED IT MULTI-FUCKING-PLATFORM!

This was a game I was going to get, but sadly I don't have a pile of 400 big ones lying around to buy a PS3 (Though quite frankly the 360 at this point has costed me twice that through countless repairs and XBLA)

Multi-platform helps, but some developers just don't understand that and instead they just blame "AMERICONS ARE HERP DERP STUPID MICHEAL BAY FANBOYZ!"

Also, how about you don't expect a game with only niche appeal to a certain audience to sell really well. I mean, most game sell because they reach a broader audience. Heavy Rain was made for, well, I don't really know who exactly was interested.

I'm just tired of fuckers blaming my country instead of blaming, you know, the idiots who made the damn game.

(BTW I second the people who say I'm not paying 60 dollars for the equivalent of you watching a movie, and occasionally someone pauses it and you must press a button to unpause it. Not very fun.)

 

[Issue13]

"Nomad Soul" was not a fun game. I remember being so excited about it that the letdown of actually playing was soul crushing... especially since it was the first Dreamcast game I got. "Fahrenheit" is worth owning and I have a copy on my PS2. Heavy Rain... well, when the game features tank controls straight out of a 1996 Resident Evil game, you cant expect it to be heralded as a modern marvel. David Cage is a bit of a self centered ass. Last year he talked about how Heavy Rain single handedly brought games to the forefront of legitimate media. Now he is crying because a mopey dad yelling "Jason!" and chasing a red balloon around is amazingly less engaging than space marines and football.

Good games can be overlooked by consumers due to poor marketing, but mediocre games with inflated hype will be forgotten by history... except when we remember how long it took to make Heavy Rain and how high the expectations were.

JASON! JASON! JASON! JASON! JASON! JASON! JASON! uggggg

 

[mysecondlife]

there there David.

at least I appreciated it. even though I bought used.

 

[Del-Toro]

They didn't sell well in America? Shocker.

Guys, I'm curious. Did those games sell well anywhere?

Not sure, is there any particular country where extended quick time events were in style as of the game's release?

OT: You know, Cage, it's ok for a game to be story based, and incorporate a gun. Of course, since we're talking about a videogame, a primarily interactive medium, perhaps better progress could be made by a greater focus on the interaction part, not sacrificing for the sake of the story you want to tell. Or go into film proper, since your experiments in $60 straight to home medium film that requires the viewer's semi regular imput isn't producing the desired returns.

Also, if Japan or Europe did actually flock to a full price game with sharply limited gameplay, I think that would indict them more than it would the US.

 

[SovietSecrets]

No no my friend, its not because of guns and guts, its because I don't want a game thats all quick time events.

 

[Gitty101]

Methinks this guy has a little but of a complex going on here... It can't be his fault his games don't sell, it's the market's fault! He's right to a degree, people don't usually buy crap games.

 

[RatRace123]

I actually like Heavy Rain, but damn dude. So it didn't sell as much as you hoped, it sill broke a higher sales record than anyone expected.

And it does have its share of fans.

 

[RelexCryo]

Indigo Prophecy was basically nothing but Quick Time Events. The plot made no sense. Dragon Age is a game without guns, people bought it. Deus Ex: HR was advertised as a game where you could succeed without guns, and people bought it, then complained about how you were dependent on guns. The Thief series was based heavily on stealth rather than combat.

Your "games", Mister Cage, just flat out suck.

 

[Wintermoot]

he might have a point if you look at the fact Japanese visual novels only get a JP release then again I never played any of his games.

 

[lacktheknack]

Jesus Christ Cage, could you be anymore of an artist stereotype? "Oh, my work isn't understood, oh I own interactive fiction, oh America doesn't get me."

Here's an idea, make a good game, and then we'll talk.

Read the OP, so you know what you're talking about. He doesn't say anything like that... he complains about the marketers.

He certainly has more experience with what the marketers want than you do.

By the way, he already made a good game. It's called "Indigo Prophecy".

 

[lacktheknack]

"In Cage's mind, the problem isn't the games, or the gamers, but the marketing departments."

But that would require people to READ the OP. I'd stake my life on people generally being too lazy to even do that.

 

[lacktheknack]

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)

A. Read the OP. He's complaining about the marketing departments insisting on heavy gun and gore content, NOT players. I see no reason to disbelieve him.

B. Pfffft. You act like puzzle games sell outside of Portal (which had guns, by the way).

 

[chadachada123]

I'm not paying $60 for a movie that has slightly different endings. Once the movie's over, that's it. It's done. There is zero replay value except to trophy everything or see what the alternate scenes looked like, and you'll never get the same thrill as the first time through, which is odd, because some movies have replay value that Heavy Rain simply doesn't.

It's good for a rental (even great for one), but that's it. It's worthless as a full title.

 

[VGC USpartan VS]

Games that are different that sold well.

Guitar Hero: Est. 5 million units sold
Devil May Cry: Est. 3 million units sold
Portal 2: Est. 6 millions units sold.
Super Street Fighter IV: Est. 5 million units sold (not counting the 3DS version).
Resident Evil 4: Est. 5 million copies sold.

Quirky games can sell David.

 

[RedEyesBlackGamer]

I think a bigger issue might perhaps be that he bases his games on stories when he's not a good writer.

Not that you could tell him that though; he's only ever come across as a massively egotistical dick.

All of the higher ups at his company, really. Not a week goes by without him or another higher up bitching about something or acting smug and superior. Last week it was used games, this week it is the U.S.'s marketing. Seriously?

 

[Guitarmasterx7]

Sounds about right, and further re-enforces the chart.

That is amazing.

OT: I could maybe understand if this was misplaced aggression if he were butthurt because american critics rightfully tore the balls out of heavy rain's voice acting. As a legitimate point though this just seems like a cop out. He sold a game with a weird concept as a PS3 exclusive. Even if everybody loved it (and most people I know at least thought it was decent) it would never sell like a safe AAA title that anyone with any console can play like CoD.

 

[Mogget128723]

I've absolutely loved every single game this guy has produced, and I think his points are certainly valid. I've played all kinds of crazy and inventive European games, but when it comes down to the triple-A American market, the most unique things are Assassin's Creed and Deus Ex, which STILL focus on combat! The awesome stories told by Cage's games have me glued to whatever respective screen I'm staring at into the wee hours of the morning, unlike Black Ops whose campaign I could barely suffer through, even with the benefit of a decent storyline.

In other words, Americans, stop bitching so hard you can't hear truth over the sound of your own whines. The guy has a point, even if you don't want to admit it, and it's not like he's actually dissing your games. All he's doing is pointing out the fact that advertising agencies aren't willing to stick their necks out in the States.

 

[jthm]

theres a typo in the article

David Cage doesn't make "normal" games.

it should be David Cage doesn't make "good" games.

Seconded.

I played Indigo prophecy. Calling it Farenheight wouldn't have made that game better. A respectable ending, writing that didn't turn into the matrix half way through and gameplay that was more than just playing a game of simon and watching cutscene's might've helped though.