"will appeal to both casual"
"Interactive Drama"

I don't think so Tim.

Good storylines does not appeal to a very wide audience. Good experiences do. This is the reason why movies such as Pirates of the Carribean and The Dark Knight have such huge success. It's not about the story at all. This is also why the Wii has more success than the HD console. It's not about the graphics or storylines. It's about the experience, and in the world of Videogames, experience lies mainly in gameplay.

I simply cannot believe that you chose the Wii as an example of storylines being superior to gameplay. Oh, and lets get this over with: Deep gameplay does in no way mean Good gameplay. Depth can increase the experience, as well, but it's just as likely to scare you off. Depth has no real connection to quality, and that really upsets your argument.

The problem with previous Interactive Drama's have been that they take the experience of movies and completely butcher them by disrupting the flow. They were not interactive in any meaningful way.

Let's hope that Heavy Rain can introduce some meaningful interactions with the story. Previous attempts at this has all failed, but sometime sooner or later this industry will find its own way of telling stories. Let's hope this is it.

Killergran, I owuld sooner hope that this isn't it, and that the medium's storytelling method is more in line with Shadow of the Colossus.

yes cause lair was so amazingly cinematic...

noot.

mgs 4 on the other hand.. oh wait ! but that one did well !

Most people love drama - most people don't like being told they love drama.

I wonder what a rpg is. V_V or mystery...

Uhm. Yes and no. If videogames can find its own unique way of telling stories, that works just as good as a movie, I really hope that happens sooner rather than later. Any way would be awesome. Any way would be awesome. I just said it twice to show how serious I am.

That said, I do not believe this is the way to do it. But that's just me. I do not usually enjoy stories told in this way. I like it more when one gets to not only play the game,  but play the story as well.

"Interactive Drama"...... FANTASTIC !!

Hour long cutscenes.

Come on don't say it's stale before you try it!

I hope this game plays as good as it looks.

No, you're misinterpreting me here. A cutscene is a movie. When a story is told through cutscenes, it's not a way of telling a story that is unique to this medium. It's not what I'm talking about at all.

What I'm talking about is a way of telling stories that can only exist in videogames. It might borrow from the movies, or not, but it will be possible only due to the interactivity that videogames can offer. If, or maybe I should say when, we get there I will be the first to applaud this monumentous achievement.