Poll: Is Heavy Rain a game?

[Professor James]

I occasionally come across people who say "heavy rain is not a game, it's just a movie where you occasionally push buttons."

 

[Aphex Demon]

Well, its not a movie.. Lol.

So, its a game?

Thread closed...

 

[Sylfar]

One of my favorite games to play at the arcade as a child - Dragon's Lair - was nothing BUT occasionally pushing buttons. At the arcade, we all loved it, we loved playing it, we loved watching it, we would feed the machine more quarters than a crane game, and the arcade owner probably love it ten times more than us, since he was getting paid. =P

 

[Shirokurou]

It's on a GAME console and requires player input. Textbook definition qualities met. Verdict: game.

 

[Serving UpSmiles]

Well it IS a game but as Yahtzee says, as a game is is completly shit but as an interactive story experiance, its amazing.

 

[Woodsey]

It requires player input (although apparently not as much as people think - apparently you'll survive the driving-against-traffic section without pushing a single button) to advance, so it is a game.

 

[Geekosaurus]

I've never played it. But using an educated guess I'm voting yes. It's not a film.

 

[Professor James]

That's a pretty silly question. Especially considering you're a "professor".

well actually...

Spoiler

I"m not a real professor, my real name isn't even James.

 

[Thunderhorse31]

Well it IS a game but as Yahtzee says, as a game is is completly shit but as an interactive story experiance, its amazing.

This is pretty much exactly what I was going to say. Nothing about the "gameplay" is unique, or sometimes even fun for that matter (hold these seven buttons to avoid the electrified wire, derp), but as a story, and an experience? Very nicely done.

That's kinda why I would never consider it to be a GOTY candidate. It may as well have been a "choose your own adventure" book.

 

[Steven Kilpatrick]

I've already said a lot about this in a very loud voice, so while I don't expect or encourage anyone to go read it, it's easier than boiling down a complicated stance into a forum sized nugget (minus copy/pasting the whole damn thing).

http://www.asitecalledfred.com/2010/06/10/heavy-rain-soapbox/

 

[Onyx Oblivion]

Yes.

The characters don't move themselves around the room to trigger the cutscenes.

DO THEY?

 

[Jaranja]

It's a way of putting the player inside a story and letting the player do their own thing. It's a game.

 

[squid5580]

Do you play it? Then its a game. Simple.

 

[_Janny_]

I like to think of it as a point and click game but without an inventory. You walk around, you click, you talk to people. Sounds pretty point-and-clicky to me.

 

[maddawg IAJI]

A game? Eh, depends on your definition of what a game is. Heavy Rain is definitely an interactive story, but that's all any game really is.

That's a pretty silly question. Especially considering you're a "professor".

well actually...

Spoiler

I"m not a real professor, my real name isn't even James.

WOAH! MIND! BLOWN!

 

[peduncle]

game- "activity engaged in for diversion or amusement" (Merriam-Webster Dictionary)

yes it's a game whether or not you enjoyed it in the end.

 

[KEM10]

I've already said a lot about this in a very loud voice, so while I don't expect or encourage anyone to go read it, it's easier than boiling down a complicated stance into a forum sized nugget (minus copy/pasting the whole damn thing).

http://www.asitecalledfred.com/2010/06/10/heavy-rain-soapbox/

I would rather have a half assed story that I can get into and think a little about than most of what passes for narrative in games currently. You are right, I am the Loony Tunes character salivating over the mirage, but if we keep buying games with more plot than guns we may just receive a turkey sandwich instead of a mouth full of sand.

 

[Professor James]

A game? Eh, depends on your definition of what a game is. Heavy Rain is definitely an interactive story, but that's all any game really is.

That's a pretty silly question. Especially considering you're a "professor".

well actually...

Spoiler

I"m not a real professor, my real name isn't even James.

WOAH! MIND! BLOWN!

Are you being sarcastic?