Ico was a game that featured a boy with horns and somewhat barren gameworld.  I can see how the casual and mainstream gamer might be turned off by the small amount of info they get from the box.

I think heavy Rain has a higher chance of snagging the casual and mainstream gamer with it's modern day 'catch a serial killer' theme. Add the gorgeous lead character to that mix. :P

It just seems too early to doom the game to a certain fate right now. It could grab a million, or it could be as you predict, or even worse!

but the theme of the game is downright confusing. i bet that half the people who rave about this game don't even know what it's really about, and that's already the internet population.

how do you expect the average gamestop/toys r us/blockbuster/etc. consumer to discern what its about?

Well, I guess saying that is fairly premature right now until I see the actual box. I imagine they plaster the lead's face to the front and/or back along with a random leg/arm sticking out of a tub of bloody water. Have the summary under that along with a few snapshots of the gorgeous environments. (I wish!)

Alright, so I'm rambling now. Honestly, I don't really have any ammunition to throw at you at this point. I can't make a valid argument that this game will sell a million. Heck, I'm not even a huge fan of the genre. This is the first time I've talked about the game since I heard about it a year and a half ago.

All I can do is state my opinion and wait to see how far off I really am once the game has been released. Personally, if I had to guess right now, I'd pick a number between 450-700k. That doesn't mean it won't have a shot at a million though. It could very well surprise us.

No.

This article just got my hyped for this game. I was never hyped for it until now because I only saw the trailer for it and it didn't really excite me. Now knowing what the game is, [Never researched about it] I will possibly buy it now.

We'll see in E3 for more info and gameplay or at GDC :P.

 You seem really bitter about this game.

Most of your complaints about this game could easily be applied to VC. Heavy Rain has a chance at being another great-quality game whose genre won't appeal to the mainstream crowd.

Would you still complain if this game had an anime style and the main character was some girl in a short skirt?

from my memories, it seemed you were able to sit down on chair (view in the demo) and interact with a lot of things (stated I believe). Also there is no "path" to follow (except when you are outside, they will find a way to keep you on your main target)
 

Nobody knows what is the true story of the game since the girl AND the bad guy were both created as a demo (same go for the house)

At the end, the true "charatcer" of this game have been seen throught rare screenshot and they dont include the girl and the bad guy 

He has no issues, he's just telling the truth. Even if it would become praised and get great reviews HR is a niche game. And there's nothing wrong with that, but since this is a sales site the sales aspect of games are rarely avoided in discussions.

 Those are examples of what I meant. You sit on a chair and point and click on stuff (point n' click is interaction too you know). And the path yes, you seemed to have very limited freedom walking outside the house you could just move back and forth on the side-walk, and not left-right or diagonally. Same thing with walking the stairways inside the house.

http://www.computerandvideogames.com/article.php?id=200878

gameplay 5 min from a demo made in late 2007


Why it i not point and click :


- u can control the movement of the arm directly with ur stick
- no cursor but interactive environnement
- no "dialogue screen" : u can talk during walking using gyroscopique control in a natural way
- full movement freedom in the house
- full interactive environnement with door (stated) fridge/room/box
- no game over
- many choice to do while playing allowing to "create" (modulate) the story

It is a bit more than just QTE + point and click ...