I agree, but at the same time, the highest selling PS franchise has never involved a story.

NEVER!

Even here,where the game hasn't been advertised at all every single ps3 owner I've asked is going to buy it or already owns it.The game is impressive and something out of the ordinary.Many people have waited for something different and here it is.

Well, you just got to remember that even the best Meterologists mess up sometimes, I mean, they're only human after all. 

Quoted for truth

Actually, I just think that's the eventual direction that this medium is going to take.  Storytelling is going to be an even larger aspect of Single Player driven experiences going forward, and the commercial success of both Heavy Rain and Mass Effect 2 is showing that better stories in games is certainly in demand.  I think it would be wise to pay attention to this trend for developers and publishers. 

I love Heavy Rain. It has flaws (but in all honesty so do all games), but it is brilliant for trying something a little different just like quantic dream's previous game, Fahrenheit (or Indigo Prophecy if u are american), except this time it doesn't go off the rails in sci-fi weirdness.

Most of the game isn't "exciting" in the traditional sense although anyone who has played the game should agree with me that there are moments of extreme excitement (I mean Ethan on the motorway for instance) where the style of the game helps to heighten what you experience.

This type of game is rather common in Japan, except instead of 3d model and interactive play, they have drawings and dialog choice. Of course, there are also variations in between, some with more or less gameplay vs story progression.

Heavy Rain is like an interactive movie/book/game or whatever. It is refreshing and different from the constant normal game we have. It's almost like motion-sensor type of game, anyone can play it. The only thing is, will you enjoy this type of fun or not.

At the core, HR is an adventure type game like all those Sierra games from the 80s and early 90s, which themselves were crude animate 2D graphical versions of the text based adventure games that preceded them.

As it's already been mentioned, hand drawn 2D based adventure games still thrive in other markets, but adding the cinematic elements of HR along with its production values makes the end product more appealing to a broader general audience.

Ultimately, it seems that a combination of a compelling story, different game play and good word of mouth have been enough for a successful launch week. I'm curious to see how sales hold up over time or whether it will be heavily traded in.

While it's tough to say the early success of HR is going to result in another resurgence of adventure game titles with emphasis on story, it may be a part of the natural evolution of games in terms of changing expectations and standards for storytelling within fully interactive media.

While playing HR, I kept thinking about Shenmue only without the fighting sequences. The voice acting could've been better and the overall motivation for the antagonist didn't seem that plausible. It was nonetheless refreshing. Anyways I hope it gets some decent success but I wonder if the used game market will hamper the long term sales of this game as well as the replayability factor.