Oh hey, it’s the next game that’s like, totally art and stuff. You can tell it’s art because you can control a female character while she pees and showers. Also because the control scheme looks like a major pain in the ass. And because it’s all broody and serious and shit. I can’t wait to hear about people crying while playing it, a la Shadow of the Colossus. It’s the new PS3 game Heavy Rain.
You also know it’s art because it has an ad that’s populated with movie directors, and it’s directed by Neil LaBute, who has had probably the single most upsetting motion picture career trajectory of any filmmaker I’ve loved – from In the Company of Men to the all-black remake of Death at a Funeral in just about 13 years. And with a stop to shill video games!
This video is pretty amazing in terms of who is in it. Hanif Kureish, named one of the greatest living British writers, and the man behind My Beautiful Laundrette! Stephen Frear! Peter Bogdanovich! Wait, a singing Peter Bogdanovich! They’re all talking about love – what it means to them and what it means to their storytelling. Pretty interesting stuff.
And then every now and again you get the dude who made Heavy Rain showing up and talking about his game. He wrote it for more than a year, which I guess is worth noting in the video game world. But every time this guy shows up it’s… weird. You realize nobody else is talking about the game. Nobody else probably even knows what the game is, or has seen the video clip of the girl showering (well, maybe Bogdanovich. That could be why he’s singing). It’s like this Heavy Rain guy found a video that Neil LaBute put together and stealthily edited himself into it.
What this video says to me is that Heavy Rain is just another interactive movie – which is why they have filmmakers and film actors yapping in it – and not wildly different from the Choose Your Own Adventure DVDs that hit the market early in the format’s life, taking advantage of branching technology to offer mildly interactive experiences. The tech behind Heavy Rain is surely farther along than those early discs, but it’s still just a movie with a gimmick as opposed to a legit game. At least in my casual gamer opinion. So to those who will try to use Heavy Rain as a ‘games are art’ argument – nice gimmick cartoon you have there.
41 comments
How exactly does trolling your own website help you again?
Okay, now I get why Neil Labute hates women…
Another news post buried under Devin's opinion. Leave the MCP stuff to Alex.
This video gave me one huge eye-roll. From the demo I played of this game, I found nothing about it to be particularly 'artistic.'
Disagree on the merits of the game. Guess that makes me a troll though. Also Shadow of the Colossus and Ico were both excellent games.
Devin,
Even people who like Shadow of the Colossus know that this game is shit.
Of course you'll never be able to view video games as "art"… you like that Guitar Hero/Rock Band shat.
Devin shills for movies, why not let these people shill for video games?
Just rented this game today and am at chapter 4. Yes the controls are bugged up, and not easy to use, but the actual plot is fairly gripping. The moral dilemmas it presents are pretty heavy handed ala "What would you do to save your child?" but the things these characters do in the game are pretty entertaining, for an interactive movie that is.
"casual gamer opinion"… your words, not mine.
'Nuff said.
Are video games art? WHO THE FUCK CARES? Way to troll your own past and try to make an issue out of a non-issue again. Slow news day, indeed. Dick.
I want to see this as Digg as "Devin Faraci Hits New Low; Trolls His Own Site." Do it, people.
"…from In the Company of Men to the all-black remake of Death at a Funeral in just about 13 years."
So, you're saying that directing an all black film makes Neil LaBute creatively bankrupt? You racist douche…
Actually the thing that most seasons developers and gamers are excited about is not that this will be Art (vomit) or Avatar's claim of being Game Changing, but a) that it will introduce some of the great things that Adventure games brought to the industry in the 80s and 90s and b) what it will introduce into the industry. While it might not be everyone's cup of tea to micromanage a character through an entire game, the new things that this game will do and what of that can be inserted and adapted into existing genres is what most developers will be watching for.
Think instead of this game like an independent movie. That doesn't make it good, or bad. But what it does is take the chance to do things differently which will pave the way for more accessible games.
And also remember: this is a commercial. We don't have stars in our industry so we still have to pull in Hollywood.
Devin is unintelligent.
Wow, for once I am forced to agree with the talkbakers. I am sad that Mr Faraci you have brought me to this lowly state.
I only played the demo and as a "casual gamer" I can already tell that Heavy Rain is more than just a "gimmick cartoon" (which is an appellation you could equally apply to some degree or another with most video games), but rather a compelling immersive experience. Of course there is room for opinion here, but have you actually played this game Devin?
Why all the hate for a fairly entertaining and visually stunning game? And who cares if it's art? When it comes down to it, many of us do things we don't necessarily want to do in order to make a living. I'd rather be at home, writing short stories in my underwear, rather than teaching frat boys how to write a paragraph.
And Devin's argument has now totally imploded. Based on the article he's written here, if this game isn't art, then cartoons aren't art, and therefore movies aren't art. A good troll is able to maintain consistency, Devin. You're usually a good troll, but you really slipped up here.
Press X to "JAAASOOOON"!
How about Devin leaves the video game talk to people that actually know what the fuck they're talking about? You know, people that don't play garbage like Rock Band.
chubby rain
I love Sam Jackson. He couldn't care, or want to be there any less, and he lets it be fully known in his answers. And it's even more hysterical juxtaposed against the overly dramatic and deep responses of the other participants.
Thanks for coming out from under your bridge, Devin. Always a thrill to read your elitist OPINION as opposed to an objective news story.
Is the fact that a slice of cake is not art make it any more or less delicious?
I haven't played Heavy Rain, but the developer's previous game Fahrenheit (Indigo Prophecy) is fucking awful.
Treated as a game, it's stale and akward and clumsy and dull and frequently tedious.
Treat it as a film and it has a retarded story and retarded writing by a retarded retard.
Heavy Rain is probably just as bad. The console kiddies jizz themselves every time a really good looking game comes out, no matter how shitty it is.
But on the whole art thing, the entire medium is an artform. Just like literature and film. The fact that this game (and most others) has very little artistic merit isn't relevant. It is the medium itself that is the artform, not individual entries therein.
Man, Devin needs to stop defecating his opinion over any piece of news that he stumbles across on other sites. It just reads horribly, comes across as unprofessional, and steps on the toes of people who write for CHUD that are actually articulate, thoughtful, and interesting to read. Like Riviello.
Hey #26, are you new to CHUD? The website has been running since the end of the 90s and it has always been an opinion site. There are plenty of sites that offer news without opinion – feel free to visit those! Thanks.
If video game makers could give him set visits, Devin would have far more positive things to say about video games.
Another comments section drowned in nerd tears. If Devin batters your sensitive wittle souls so often then maybe you should use your eyes to read the article byline and avoid the nasty man doing what he's paid for. Which is giving his opinion. And it's only bullying if you can't escape it #29 you witless imbecile. It's not Devin's fault you tragic pussies love being beaten so much.
For the record, Devin is completely misinformed. It's not just Quick Time Events or an "interactive movie" at all – it's a third-person adventure game with various decisions that lead to branching events. Yes, there ARE Quick Time Events in it. But that's not the majority of the game. And I didn't even know there was some damn shower scene. Anyway, I'd be fine with Devin giving his opinion if he had even a single leg to stand on. Alas, he's completely uninformed and trolling for hits.
"There are plenty of sites that offer news without opinion – feel free to visit those!" – you still don't get it, do you? It's not the idea of opinionated writing that people are protesting, it's that those opinions are ill-informed and abrasively phrased just to get a reaction. It makes you come across like a right wing talkshow host, doing whatever it takes to artificially generate controversy and argument instead of an actual debate.
I watched my hosuemate play the Heavy Rain demo for ten minutes the other day. It was interesting. Then I walked away and forgot about it because I thought, that'd actually be a really boring game to play. Look at it this way, guys, at least Devin's shut the hell up about Avatar now.
First of all FUCK DEVIN.Second, Everyone keeps crapping on about the Avatar 'game changing' thing.Cameron was not the one who said it and I believe it will be game changing,not from the story of the the movie but by the technology used to make it.The kinds of worlds that could be created with it are limitless.Did I mention fuck devin?
OPINIONS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!THIS IS A FUCKING OPINION SITE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!DO YOU FUCKS REALLY CONSIDER DEVIN'S WRITING TO BE BAITING? FUCKING SERIOUSLY? BECAUSE I WAS ALWAYS UNDER THE IMPRESSION THAT I WAS READING A WELL-WRITTEN AND LUCID !!!opinion!! ABOUT SOMETHING. GET FUCKED PEOPLE. Devin, you're the man.
Hey, Hannibal, why not just shut up and suck his cock already? I'm sure #34 will oblige you with a reacharound while you do (in CAPS!).
Your OPINION is not a fact, Devin. Stop trolling your own website.
fascism (pronunciation: ˈfa-ˌshi-zəm noun: a tendency toward or actual exercise of strong autocratic or dictatorial control
fascism (pronunciation: ˈfa-ˌshi-zəm) noun: a tendency toward or actual exercise of strong autocratic or dictatorial control
Mentioning OTHER peoples deletions are now apparently grounds for deletion. Holy fucking 1984.
I love Devin and would follow him to the ends of the earth. I would throw my firstborn child into the abyss were he to ask it of me. I agree with everything he says and he can do no wrong. His deletions are not enacted in anger. He has a genuine concern for the well being of his fans who are but sheep without his guidance.
Good morning.
Comments are shown as archived from the original site; new comments are closed.