Why Heavy Rain proves Ebert right

"Video games by their nature require player choices, which is the opposite of the strategy of serious film and literature, which requires authorial control."

Roger Ebert said this. He is correct.

During an average Heavy Rain playthrough, two forces constantly compete over control of the characters: the player, who wants to see interesting things and feel like his input actually matters to the story, and the actual characters, who simply want to be true to themselves.

This is what Ebert was talking about. This is why, for many, Heavy Rain just doesn’t work.