Our three Heavy Rain critics join Tim for a post-mortem on the game. We don't talk much about the story. Instead we focus on the game's emotional resonance (or lack thereof), its "fail-less" structure, the effectiveness of its quicktime events, and its possible legacy in the annals of videogame history. Also, somehow, we mention Shenmue about 20 times. Featuring Richard "Really" Naik, Trent Fingland, Dan Weissenberger, Tim Spaeth, and a cat hair mustache.
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Cleveland native Tim Spaeth grew up in a happy household – a household with a father whose major client happened to be an Atari games distributor. This led directly to Tim's first nickname: "The kid who got Atari games before anyone else." Indeed, he knew Pac-Man and E.T. were colossal bombs weeks before the rest of the world, and the resulting celebrity brought him great pleasure.
Through the years every aspect of Tim's life has been touched by gaming. He mastered typing thanks to Space Quest, honed his poker skills on The Sierra Network, and learned to hate after a particularly traumatic game of Tecmo Super Bowl.
Today, Tim lives in Chicago with his three kids and strives to find that perfect balance between family, career, and Warcraft. He enjoys broadcasting, martial arts, rock and roll, growing and shaving his beard, singing show tunes to the homeless, and losing at Mario Kart to his lovely, talented, and amazing girlfriend.
In late 2008, Tim became the producer and host of the GameCritics.com Podcast, and he's thrilled to be bringing GameCritics' unique editorial voice to a brand new medium.
Through the years every aspect of Tim's life has been touched by gaming. He mastered typing thanks to Space Quest, honed his poker skills on The Sierra Network, and learned to hate after a particularly traumatic game of Tecmo Super Bowl.
Today, Tim lives in Chicago with his three kids and strives to find that perfect balance between family, career, and Warcraft. He enjoys broadcasting, martial arts, rock and roll, growing and shaving his beard, singing show tunes to the homeless, and losing at Mario Kart to his lovely, talented, and amazing girlfriend.
In late 2008, Tim became the producer and host of the GameCritics.com Podcast, and he's thrilled to be bringing GameCritics' unique editorial voice to a brand new medium.
Latest posts by Tim Spaeth (see all)
- GameCritics.com Radio 2018 GOTY Celebration - January 12, 2019
- GameCritics.com Radio 2017 Holiday Awards Spectacular - January 13, 2018
- GameCritics.com Radio Episode 5: The Switch and Zelda - April 7, 2017
I was listening to this as I’ve been going through the backlog of podcasts and I would like to state for the record that I would enjoy seeing more podcasts like this
The article I referenced was written by Jared Newman (@thepimpofsound on Twitter), and it can be found here.
It’s pro-Heavy Rain, if you’re into that kinda thing.
I also wanted to clarify that yes, I meant the ‘misery simulator’ comment as humorous, but with a pinch of Marshall McLuhan observation, too. Misery and suffering are ‘on the menu’ in Heavy Rain. Alot. The recurring theme from scene to scene is loss, discomfort, tragedy, pain. Those themes tie the game together more than the plot does. In the history of videogames, this may well be a NEW development… That people are RESPONDING to themes of despair in a medium otherwise dominated by juvenile power fantasies. It does indicate that gamers are hungry for something different. Reverend Rant did… Read more »
Good cast… one thing I would’ve like to have heard would’ve been a answering the question ‘If not as a serious narrative, does the game succeed as camp’?
I appreciate the mention/compliment, btw. Thank you. 🙂
@Trent Fingland
I was wondering why you got so pissy when I mentioned how much money I saved with Geico.
If you pay close attention, you’ll notice that at one point I am briefly replaced by a caveman.
This is worth listening to just for Tim’s mad vocal skillz.
I start the show with a spoiler warning — do not listen to this show if you are concerned at all with spoilers; in fact my first question spoils the ending. Listeners beware!
It’s a rare circumstance when Chi, Brad, Mike, and I play the same game simultaneously (actually it’s never happened), so we usually can’t do these types of shows. This was a good opportunity to get some other voices on the podcast and we’ll definitely look to do more of them this year.
I’ve still not played it, so I wonder if there are major spoilers in this podcast?
Good show guys. I would like to see more of these shows every now and then where you discuss about only 1 or 2 specific games.
As far as Heavy Rain is concerned, i had the same positive experience as Trent did in spite of the game’s failings. And like you all said all PS3 owners should give this game a chance at some point.