Mass Effect 3

A little song, a little dance, a little seltzer down your pants.
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Ammianus
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Mass Effect 3

Post by Ammianus »

In case you have not heard:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-17444719

http://www.facebook.com/DemandABetterEn ... assEffect3

http://webcache.googleusercontent.com/s ... hipin.com/

http://blog.bioware.com/2012/03/21/4108/

But I assume many if not most on this forum have heard about the Mass Effect video game series, and may have even played them (perhaps even the third game!)

Assuming none of the developments prior to this year matter, then this phenomenon maybe the crux that proves video games have finally became art. When hundreds of thousands of fans are so incensed about the final ending of a trilogy that they not only formed a facebook group, bombarded online forums of all kind, but managed to raise $80,000 for charity (yes, charity), and the creators of the game themselves relented, apologized, and promised a new "ending", you know you've finally seeing something comparable to other art forms.
Ammianus
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Re: Mass Effect 3

Post by Ammianus »

To illustrate this recent brouhaha

Image
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YMix
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Re: Mass Effect 3

Post by YMix »

I have been watching with much interest, amusement and more than a bit of schadenfreude how Bioware moved from one shitstorm to another, starting with the Dragon Age 2 disaster, continuing with the Hepler debacle and ending with Mass "we're going to sell you the ending as a DLC" Effect. I tried Mass Effect 2 for about 2 hours and it left the same impression on me as any other retarded action movie would, which is why I enjoy Bioware's troubles immensely.

As some people put it on another forum, "Mass Effect is a RPG for people who don't like RPGs, coupled with a shooter for people who don't like shooters. The result is a game for people who don't like games".
“There are a lot of killers. We’ve got a lot of killers. What, do you think our country’s so innocent? Take a look at what we’ve done, too.” - Donald J. Trump, President of the USA
The Kushner sh*t is greasy - Stevie B.
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YMix
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Re: Mass Effect 3

Post by YMix »

Image
“There are a lot of killers. We’ve got a lot of killers. What, do you think our country’s so innocent? Take a look at what we’ve done, too.” - Donald J. Trump, President of the USA
The Kushner sh*t is greasy - Stevie B.
Ammianus
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Re: Mass Effect 3

Post by Ammianus »

YMix wrote:I have been watching with much interest, amusement and more than a bit of schadenfreude how Bioware moved from one shitstorm to another, starting with the Dragon Age 2 disaster, continuing with the Hepler debacle and ending with Mass "we're going to sell you the ending as a DLC" Effect. I tried Mass Effect 2 for about 2 hours and it left the same impression on me as any other retarded action movie would, which is why I enjoy Bioware's troubles immensely.

As some people put it on another forum, "Mass Effect is a RPG for people who don't like RPGs, coupled with a shooter for people who don't like shooters. The result is a game for people who don't like games".
1 or 2 or 3 or all of them ? :twisted:
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YMix
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Re: Mass Effect 3

Post by YMix »

All of them, as far as I can tell. These are games made for larpers and cosplayers, for people who should be playing dating sims and for people who clearly prefer watching movies over playing games.
“There are a lot of killers. We’ve got a lot of killers. What, do you think our country’s so innocent? Take a look at what we’ve done, too.” - Donald J. Trump, President of the USA
The Kushner sh*t is greasy - Stevie B.
Ammianus
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Re: Mass Effect 3

Post by Ammianus »

I am most sad to say, today marks the start of the death of the creative, artistic integrity in video game making.

http://investor.ea.com/releasedetail.cfm?ReleaseID=662095
BioWare, a Label of Electronic Arts Inc. announced Mass Effect™ 3: Extended Cut, a downloadable content pack that will expand upon the events at the end of the critically acclaimed Action RPG. Through additional cinematic sequences and epilogue scenes, the Mass Effect 3: Extended Cut will give fans seeking further clarity to the ending of Mass Effect 3 deeper insights into how their personal journey concludes. Coming this summer, the Mass Effect 3: Extended Cut will be available for download on the Xbox 360® videogame and entertainment system, PlayStation®3 computer entertainment system and PC for no extra charge*.

"We are all incredibly proud of Mass Effect 3 and the work done by Casey Hudson and team," said Dr. Ray Muzyka, Co-Founder of BioWare and General Manager of EA's BioWare Label. "Since launch, we have had time to listen to the feedback from our most passionate fans and we are responding. With the Mass Effect 3: Extended Cut we think we have struck a good balance in delivering the answers players are looking for while maintaining the team's artistic vision for the end of this story arc in the Mass Effect universe."

Casey Hudson, Executive Producer of the Mass Effect series added, "We have reprioritized our post-launch development efforts to provide the fans who want more closure with even more context and clarity to the ending of the game, in a way that will feel more personalized for each player."

The Mass Effect franchise is one of the most highly decorated series in the history of games, having earned over 250 awards from critics around the world. Mass Effect 3 launched last month to universal critical acclaim, receiving over 75 perfect scores. For more information on Mass Effect 3, please visit http://masseffect.com, follow the game on Twitter at http://twitter.com/masseffect or "like" the game on Facebook at http://facebook.com/masseffect. Press assets for Mass Effect 3 are available at www.info.ea.com.

* OFFER EXPIRES APRIL 12, 2014. INTERNET CONNECTION AND ORIGIN (EA), XBOX LIVE, OR PLAYSTATION NETWORK ACCOUNT REQUIRED. VALID ONLY AT THE ORIGIN CLIENT SOFTWARE (WWW.ORIGIN.COM/ABOUT), XBOX LIVE MARKETPLACE OR PLAYSTATION STORE. VALID WHEREVER MASS EFFECT 3 IS SOLD. MASS EFFECT 3 FULL GAME AND ORIGIN ACCOUNT (EA) REQUIRED TO USE/PLAY DOWNLOAD. OFFER MAY NOT BE SUBSTITUTED, EXCHANGED, SOLD OR REDEEMED FOR CASH OR OTHER GOODS OR SERVICES. MAY NOT BE COMBINED WITH ANY OTHER OFFER, GIFT CARD, REBATE OR DISCOUNT COUPON. PRODUCT SUBJECT TO AVAILABILITY. VOID WHERE PROHIBITED, TAXED OR RESTRICTED BY LAW. LIMIT ONE OFFER PER PERSON. YOU MUST MEET THE MINIMUM AGE REQUIREMENTS, WHICH VARY BY COUNTRY, TO REGISTER FOR AN ORIGIN ACCOUNT (EA). EA MAY RETIRE ONLINE FEATURES AFTER 30 DAYS NOTICE POSTED ON WWW.EA.COM/2/SERVICE-UPDATES.

About BioWare
Artistic integrity man, artistic integrity. Those rabid entitled fans have ruined it for everyone!
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YMix
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Re: Mass Effect 3

Post by YMix »

I salute the artistic integrity:

BioWare RPGs cliches

PLUS:

Know your BioWare characters

Creativity at its finest!
“There are a lot of killers. We’ve got a lot of killers. What, do you think our country’s so innocent? Take a look at what we’ve done, too.” - Donald J. Trump, President of the USA
The Kushner sh*t is greasy - Stevie B.
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YMix
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Re: Mass Effect 3

Post by YMix »

Now, after years of being ignored and relegated to steerage, game-players have voted to send a message to Electronic Arts and the gaming business as a whole: Stop treating your loyal customers like crap.

After more than 250,000 votes, Consumerist readers ultimately decided that the type of greed exhibited by EA, which is supposed to be making the world a more fun place, is worse than Bank of America's avarice, which some would argue is the entire point of operating a bank.

To those who might sneer at something as "non-essential" as a video game company winning the Worst Company In America vote: It's that exact kind of attitude that allows people to ignore the complaints as companies like EA to nickel and dime consumers to death.

For years, while movies and music became more affordable and publishers piled on bonus content — or multiple modes of delivery — as added value to entice customers to buy, video games have continued to be priced like premium goods.

There have even been numerous accusations that EA and its ilk deliberately hold back game content with the sole intent of charging a fee for it at a later date. It's one thing to support a game with new content that is worth the price. It's another to put out an inferior — and occasionally broken — product with the mindset of "ah, we'll fix it later and make some money for doing so."

New, independent game companies do pop up all the time, but the cost of entering the market has historically been too expensive, making these indie innovators prime targets for acquisition by mega-publishers like EA. Our hope is that the growth of app-based gaming and downloadable games will continue to make it easier for developers to get their products out without the backing of companies that don't care a lick about the people who fork over their cash.

Oh well, Worst Company In America 2012 is officially in the books. All that's left to do is send off the Golden Poo to EA.

Traditionally, the Poo has been delivered on its little red pillow. But this year, we'll give EA three different color options for its pillow, though in the end it's still the same old Poo.
http://consumerist.com/2012/04/congratu ... -2012.html
“There are a lot of killers. We’ve got a lot of killers. What, do you think our country’s so innocent? Take a look at what we’ve done, too.” - Donald J. Trump, President of the USA
The Kushner sh*t is greasy - Stevie B.
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Enki
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Re: Mass Effect 3

Post by Enki »

The argument about video games not being art is a bullshit argument.

Video games have been great art for years. Just Mass Effect is the SyFy original movie of video games. It's Deus Ex in space. Halo has a much better story and a more creative game world.

But if you want real art then you need go no further than Portal.

In terms of narrative based shooters, Half-Life is still the mack-daddy.
Men often oppose a thing merely because they have had no agency in planning it, or because it may have been planned by those whom they dislike.
-Alexander Hamilton
noddy
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Re: Mass Effect 3

Post by noddy »

mainstream games changing the ending to suit mainstream audience just means games are more and more replacing movies in the ermm, mainstream.

they have been making movies crapper for ages by pre screening them and then changing them to lowest common denominator friendly but thats a good thing that vitalises the indie producers.

the budgets and the carefactor aka the "art" in games has been much higher than movies for a while now and they offer a far bigger bang for the buck when it comes to entertainment and immersion.
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YMix
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Re: Mass Effect 3

Post by YMix »

Enki wrote:In terms of narrative based shooters, Half-Life is still the mack-daddy.
Yeah. I'm starting to regret it ever came out because I resent the shift toward low-grade cinematic crap.
“There are a lot of killers. We’ve got a lot of killers. What, do you think our country’s so innocent? Take a look at what we’ve done, too.” - Donald J. Trump, President of the USA
The Kushner sh*t is greasy - Stevie B.
noddy
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Re: Mass Effect 3

Post by noddy »

YMix wrote:
Enki wrote:In terms of narrative based shooters, Half-Life is still the mack-daddy.
Yeah. I'm starting to regret it ever came out because I resent the shift toward low-grade cinematic crap.
it was the first game that sucked me in completely and i was totally hooked until it moved to space and suddenly became amazingly crap :/

the earth based sections are the best gaming ever, from the story through to the minimal ammo carefully planned combat.

i barely have the time to play at all in my current life, their are many whimsical bargain bin purchases sitting on the shelf ive barely played.. fallout 3 was pretty cool though, i did waste a weekend on that, it was so big and did the rpg/shooter mix just right for my current low carefactor on increasing game skills.
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Enki
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Re: Mass Effect 3

Post by Enki »

YMix wrote:
Enki wrote:In terms of narrative based shooters, Half-Life is still the mack-daddy.
Yeah. I'm starting to regret it ever came out because I resent the shift toward low-grade cinematic crap.
Yeah, my view is if you have a cut-scene in the game at all, you've failed. I love when shooters tell the story through dialogue presented by the characters you are moving with.

That's one of the beautiful things about Halo, if you keep the Marines alive, they will tell you more of the story. It's worth playing through on easy for this alone. The most innovative of the games is the one that my wife and I had a hand in Halo ODST.
Men often oppose a thing merely because they have had no agency in planning it, or because it may have been planned by those whom they dislike.
-Alexander Hamilton
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YMix
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Re: Mass Effect 3

Post by YMix »

“There are a lot of killers. We’ve got a lot of killers. What, do you think our country’s so innocent? Take a look at what we’ve done, too.” - Donald J. Trump, President of the USA
The Kushner sh*t is greasy - Stevie B.
Ibrahim
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Re: Mass Effect 3

Post by Ibrahim »

Ha!


I remember playing Half Life 2 on my old desktop PC years ago. I enjoyed it very much and then never thought about it again, but I never knew it became this massive cult thing, with more episodes and legions of fans eagerly waiting for the third installment (and ultimately, one assumes, being disappointed)
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