Heavy Rain "fuels a lot of hope"

By Tom Bramwell Published 10 March, 2010

Quantic Dream chuffed with response.

Quantic Dream co-founder Guillaume de Foundaumiere believes that Heavy Rain's success proves "there is space for innovation".

"I think that Heavy Rain's success is also a very important sign to the industry," de Fondaumiere told our trade-only sister site GamesIndustry.biz.

"There is space for innovation, and we are - to a certain degree - a relatively conservative industry, an industry where it's sometimes difficult to push the boundaries.

"So whenever there's a success such as Heavy Rain, it fuels a lot of hope for all the people out there who try to do things differently, and try to expand the market."

De Fondaumiere was also understandably pleased with the critical response to the game, much as David Cage was when we spoke to him in London recently. But he said the team's satisfaction went further than that.

"The mood of the team is pretty high - we've been working for three and a half years to deliver on a very strong promise," he said.

"As I always say, reviews are important, sales are even more important, but the most important thing for David [Cage] and I was to deliver on the promise."

Heavy Rain came out at the end of February and, the ApocalyPS3 aside, had a nice time of it. Check out our Heavy Rain review if you haven't already.

Picture of Tom.

About Tom Bramwell

Tom is Operations director of Eurogamer Network and Editor-at-Large of Eurogamer.net. He joined the company in February 2000.

Read more articles from Tom by visiting the Tom Bramwell archive page.

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Comments (32) Latest comment 2 years ago

Comments threads automatically close after 30 days, but please feel free to continue chatting on the forum!

  • tomacwhite #1 2 years ago

    HR really is a superb game. I went through it 3 times, was about to get Platinum one evening, and my save got corrupted. I had to go through the entire game again twice and I am now back near Platinum again (nearly got all the endings). I wouldn't have gone back unless I really, REALLY enjoyed it. That says something about the game if you ask me (or, I am mental :) ).

    I look forward to DLC episodes..
    Edited by 1 at 10/03/10 @ 16:33

  • TipTop #2 2 years ago

    They deserve the plaudits. Great experience unlike anything else on the consoles. They also delivered in spades!

  • davisorle #3 2 years ago

    Im sorry but ShenMue so many years ago and Fahrenheit was innovative big time.. Not Heavy Rain just cause its on this current gen. And im not talking crap about Heavy Rain. I'm just stating facts here..
    Edited by 1 at 10/03/10 @ 16:41

  • FogHeart #4 2 years ago

    ^Wet Blanket.

  • etherfiend #5 2 years ago

    A few people seem to be getting the corrupted savegames, any news on fixing those? When I know that's fixed I'll take the plunge, definitely sounds worth it.

  • GreyBeard #6 2 years ago

    The main thing is that critical and commercial success opens the door for other developers to try and improve/perfect the formula.

  • davisorle #7 2 years ago

    Seriously, every time i go without visiting this website for months and then i come check it out its even more full of retards thgat get fucking butthurt for no reason. I think EG should have the balls to allow us to also vote for their articles and reviews since they love flamwars and fucking retards in their website. meh I really feel sorry for this gen's console owners. They love their consoles more than their woman's holes. Whoever has one for that matter. Im out :)

  • FogHeart #8 2 years ago

    /Wishes he had a woman's hole instead of a console.





    /Preferably attached to a woman.

  • Boomerang #9 2 years ago

    Im out :)

    See ya!

  • Skandalle #10 2 years ago

    With the same sort of mechanics, the way Heavy Rain worked could do wonders for other genres.
    the interactivity could make an amazing shit-your-pants horror.

  • ZuluHero #11 2 years ago

    So when is the first HR:Chronicle episode going to be up on PSN for us paying customers? I don't like all my special edition owning friends lauding it over me. And besides i need MORE!

  • Diogo_Ribeiro #12 2 years ago

    "the interactivity could make an amazing shit-your-pants horror. "

    You see a monster. Do you...

    Triangle - Shit your pants
    Circle - Fire your pistol
    Square - Tell the monster to go to bed
    Cross - Sit down on the sofa and watch "Scooby Doo" with it

  • barkertron #13 2 years ago

    I've got to say I was really blown away by this game. Went into it without many expectations but found it to be one of the most immersive and enjoyable experiences I've had on a console. It's always good to see something a bit different in gaming; I'm just glad the gamble paid off for the developers.

    Fully expect there to be a load of people on here saying "it's just a bunch of QTEs etc." though...

  • Skandalle #14 2 years ago

    @ Diogo_Ribeiro

    There needs to be "R1 - to do all of the above in one sitting"

  • jimmyhill11 #15 2 years ago

    @Diogo_Ribeiro
    the onscreen prompts would be:

    Triangle - shit
    Circle - pistol
    Square - monster
    Cross - Scooby

  • kangarootoo #16 2 years ago

    @Diogo_Ribeiro

    Now that would be real trail-blazing. A QTE game, where if you failed to press the buttons quickly enough, you failed to shit your pants.

    GAME OVER
    YOU FAIL TO SHIT YOUR PANTS


    More on subject, I'm sure it is a great relief for the guys involved that their game is getting such good press. A lot of hard work clearly went into Heavy Rain and they deserve the props. I do find it a little wearing though that everytime someone at QD talks about the reception HR has been getting, they act as if nobody has done anything original or unexpected before.

    Brain training on the DS
    The Wii in general (hardware, and marketing pitch)
    SingStar
    Buzz
    The iPhone
    EyeToy
    Guitar Hero

    I could name more. These are all games or related platforms that did something nobody else was doing, created a new market as a result, and dominated it for a time (if not still).

    Heavy Rain is a very polished story driven adventure its true, but it is not a sideways leap that nobody could have predicted. It is titles or platforms that make that genuine sideways leap which I regard as truly trying "to do things differently". Heavy Rain, however good it is, doesn't really fit into that group. Its still a very good game no doubt, but is it really that Different(tm)?

  • Cpt.Hindsight #17 2 years ago

    Thats all well and good, but what about people like me who most of the way through the game can no longer access my save! Just hangs on a black screen then the PS3 force resets!

    Heavy Rain is the main reason I bought a PS3 and have been waiting for years for it, not good enough!

  • Tetragammatron #18 2 years ago

    Speaking of hope, I hope they manage to patch up some of the gaping plot holes with DLC!

  • Slipstream #19 2 years ago

    You can poke fun of this but it really is a good thing.
    So similar games have gone before, but the difference is they were below the radar, this game is leagues above them and we should be thankful for it.

    There aren't many games of this genre out there, so for this to place them firmly on the map means that there will be demand for this genre of gaming and it will be given the long overdue privilage of being able to flourish and expand.
    I don't doubt we'll have our fair sure shovelware from this genre if it attains such heights, but there will be good ones too, games from developers who've been around long enough and have the power to help expand the genre...it's a good thing.

  • RobotRocker #20 2 years ago

    So similar games have gone before, but the difference is they were below the radar, this game is leagues above them and we should be thankful for it.

    Shenmue, Blade Runner and Alone In The Dark(The highly flawed but amazingly innovative and compelling one from 2008) were far above the radar and were far more innovative than Heavy Rain. But they didnt have the expansive marketing campaign and marketing juggernaut behind it.

    Heavy Rain is slick, but its the emperors new clothes. If it inspires other games. Then gameplay as we know it is dead and games will be reduced to "Press X to JASON" style pseudo-interactivity. Thank you David "Cage" for drowning our hobby.

  • Widge #21 2 years ago

    What a load of chuff, it is just a valid world for games like Heavy Rain to exist alongside the swarm of titles we have already. I say praise be for something that is just a bit different to have a go on. I would rather this than dumping a load more "fun" sandbox games out there with teh gameplays.

    Thank you David Cage for adding more to our hobby.

  • Syrok #22 2 years ago

    I certainly hope more developers try (and get the chance) to try something different every now and then.

  • onezeonx #23 2 years ago

    LOVED heavy rain and hope more games like that are made.

    Got only my 2nd ever platinum on it :D
    Uncharted 2 and heavy rain! Both class games to gets plats on IMO haha

  • SpaceMonkey77 #24 2 years ago

    Heavy Rain is a good looking game, but it was mostly done in Fahrenheit (Indigo Prophecy) before it. Kudos to Mr Cage, but games have been around a long time, and while HR is different it has its flaws.

    I'm all for pushing the boundaries, but I'll wait for Deadly Premonition. I need fun more than innovation all the time.

    Love the news on both here. Have a listen. Warning, may contain spolier. Listen if you've finished the game.

    http://daveandjoel.com /?p=2665
    Edited by 1 at 10/03/10 @ 21:43

  • gjgjg #25 2 years ago

    conservative industry? have you seen a hollywood film or heard a major album from the last 5 years? games are like dreamdust of multimedia imo!

  • Collymilad #26 2 years ago

    I was loving this until i had the save bug 2/3 the way through, and then some total idiot deliberately spoiled the game in a thread title in the EG General Gaming forum.

    Will definitely go back to it though, just had a few hiccups but then the major one isn't the games fault at all.
    Edited by 1 at 10/03/10 @ 23:20

  • davisorle #27 2 years ago

    The ppl that are Sony's bitches ( not an actual genuine PS3 owner and gamer, talking about Sony's bitches which makes a huge difference ) are overwelming more than ever this site. Most dont dare to say their opinion or they get so many minus votes. Thank god i dont give a fuck and I can see and laugh at how fucked up the hierarchy is when it comes to Sony's fanboys.

    What makes me sad is that i'll be buying my PS3 + heavy rain Uncharted 2 and GoW series any time soon and ill know that what im saying is a fact. Just cant change my mind. If you feel butthurt that I said that ShenMue did it first then take your pants off and get yourselves equiped with panties if you just cant just accept a fact and opinion :) Its rather pathetic that this time around you cant have an actual conversation or exchange opinions with those tards simply cause of too high retardation lvls. Im just sick of the population of this website and EG only ecourages it from voting access up to their own comments in threads and articles. Im done with such immature website and too bad cause it used to be rather informative. tc :)

  • Oceadge #28 2 years ago

    Shame they released the beta version. I'm sick of having to wait for 20 minutes for the hard drive light to stop flashing before switching off my PS3 every time it crashes and then keeping my fingers crossed the next time I load it up hoping my last save still works. The latest I read is that the developers are not able to replicate the problems that a lot of people are having. Looks like we'll be waiting a while for a patch.

  • neems #29 2 years ago

    I'm sure I'm going to regret saying this, but hey ho - in my opinion, Heavy Rain simply wasn't good enough. I quite enjoyed it, the gameplay / engine work pretty well, and for a while in the middle the story was fairly engaging. However... it is badly written, and badly paced, and after a certain point the ludicrous elements of the story simply become overwhelming.

    Get some proper writers in, and you could really have something.

  • kangarootoo #30 2 years ago

    @RobotRocker

    "Shenmue, Blade Runner and Alone In The Dark(The highly flawed but amazingly innovative and compelling one from 2008) were far above the radar"

    Hardly. None of those games had the same level of mainstream exposure as Heavy Rain is getting. I've seen TV adverts for Heavy Rain on mainstream channels at 8pm at night. I've seen that short film with all sorts of famous faces waffling on about what they would do for love. I even read a column in the Daily Telegraph going on about how Heavy Rain is good for video games.

    None of the games you list have had even close to the same level of exposure outside of the gaming press. I would be surprised if you could even find a non-gamer who had heard of Shenmue.

  • kangarootoo #31 2 years ago

    @davisorle

    "Thank god i dont give a fuck"

    If you really didn't give a fuck, you wouldn't spend so long telling us all about it. So you said your piece, everyone disagreed and marked you down. Go cry in a corner with dignity instead of throwing your toys around.

    And nobody who uses the word "butthurt" in a serious sentence has any business calling anything else immature.

  • kangarootoo #32 2 years ago

    Anyway, I played the demo last night, finally. Rather liked it (until it crashed with a disturbing and grating squeaking sound).

    Not so keen on choosing conversation options that don't give me enough info to know what will actually be said (Mass Effect does it better), but I thought the "hold an increasing number of buttons to do awkward actions" was a great idea. Simple, original, well implemented.

    Graphics were mixed. Sometimes amazing, sometimes a bit naff tbh. I will play it eventually, and no doubt I'll enjoy it. I will however hold off until it is more stable. The demo crash hard-hung my PS3, and I didn't bother trying it again.