The Videogames Tab

Ok, so this is rich....

Apparently, the extended cut "adds" my fourth choice for the "Refusal Ending".

Just to clarify - Adding the EXTENDED DLC, you actually have the option to not get any ending at all now. I mean, that just tops it all.

I was under the impression that extended meant you get more, not lose out entirely on any resolution at all. Brilliantly done and well played Bioware. Just stellar!

I DID like the little speech Mya gave right after the choice, and it sort of fell in line with my politic, but my politic is apparently boring if you end a game based on its concept.

Some folks are theorizing that the refusal ending is actually a thinly veiled F U from Bioware to their fans after all the backlash.

"Oh, don't like the endings we gave you? Now you get NOTHING."

__________________

I haven't played the new ending, but from what I've read, I'd agree. But really, they wrote themselves into a vacuous hole of complex, intertwined plot threads. They tie everything up pretty neatly (and maybe a little too quickly) before the final hurrah, but I wouldn't be surprised if their writers stopped and asked themselves, "Uh.... okay, now what?" How do you end a game series this grandiose and complicated?

I just think they got a little too caught up in the "meaning" of the ending they should deliver, given the popularity of Mass Effect, and failed to remember that people are essentially playing for keeps. We want to see Shepard throw the Reapers back into oblivion, guns blazing, buddies at his/her back. We can stomach a few big turns here and there, like the death of a squad member or the destruction of a planet. But ultimately, we want to win. Sometimes, the simplest resolution is the best...

Yeah, I guess I completely and utterly lost, which just makes no sense after 150 hours. I get enough hard knocks in life, man!

I think the refusal ending is probably, like Sedai said, a "suck it" to the fans.

It's really a shame; before 2 came out, Mass Effect was hands-down my favorite new IP this generation. I loved everything about it. The second game was great, too, but I felt like the game suffered from a lack of RPG elements. Then, when BioWare said, "We're putting more RPG elements in 3!" I was like, "Sweet, this won't be exactly the same game."

But then it was. It was exactly the same game with a much worse story.

Still ignoring ME3 talk!

I see the new Skyrim DLC, Hearthfire, has been announced. Et voila:

&feature=plcp

The more repugnant of the PC snobs are calling it out as a copy of the excellent Build Your Own Home mod (along with the Skyrim Adoption Agency one from Steam Workshop which I've not tried) but I don't see what all the fuss is about. Beth are pretty upfront about using the modding community for seeing what can work, what's popular etc and it's a large reason why they release such extensive SDKs to the world.

Everyone wins, especially the console owners who don't have access to mods anyway. The modders will also have some new items and resources to work with.

Picked up the PC version of Dark Souls today - loved the game originally but hated the performance issues on console and traded it pretty quick. The port is ... basic, but there's already an unofficial patch to unlock the resolution and stop it looking like a 720p game upscaled to a 1080p display.

Damn, it's brutal though. Probably even more so than Demon's Souls.

__________________
"Critics are like eunuchs in a harem; they know how the Tatty 100 is done, they've seen it done every day, but they're unable to do it themselves." - Brendan Behan

Not playing a game, but I recently realised that eight of the nine COD games have been made and released since the last TimeSplitters game and that is kind of disappointing.

It's just been patched and the camera is now damn near perfect, along with fixing a few other issues. It runs even more smoothly too, but that might be the new Nvidia Beta drivers.

10 hours in now (it's one of those games you can leave for a day or two and get straight back into the action) and Sleeping Dogs is still my GOTY. Easily.

It's also made me re-install GTA San Andreas, my last 'must play' sandbox game.

GTA : SA represent!

Lots of super tactical team play with big, stompy robots for me lately!

Has anyone ever bought anything from Origin?

Mass Effect 3 is Ł7.49 right now and I jumped in with both feet, 'paid' via PayPal and ... nothing. It says new orders can take 30mins to appear on my account but I've had no confirmation email and no evidence of an order in Paypal.

I remember trying to buy something via the Origin client last year and it gave me nowhere to input payment details - the order ended up self-cancelling after a few days. This time I went through the Origin website...

EA hopes to compete with Steam? They've got a heck of a long way to go if this is the normal buying experience.

Yep - I have used it a couple of times with no problems. Pretty sure I made my SWTOR purchase through them.

Hmmmm. Weird then - Still no confirmation and the Orders section of my account is showing up empty. No money's changed hands so it's not too bad but I'm kinda glad I didn't choose to pay with my Visa, although maybe that was the problem.

I've bought a couple of games in the past which required registering through Origin and that's gone as smoothly as registering a game through Steam but they obviously don't want my money this time.

Any thoughts about Guild Wars 2 Mike? Was bored this afternoon and went surfing around for something digital to buy but the GW2 servers have been suspended due to high demand - no serials for sale.

I liked the first Guild Wars because it was a fully featured MMORPG that I could dip into when I liked with no ticking subscription noise in the back of my mind telling me to enjoy myself or else.

Its pretty much HALO with dinosaurs so far.

__________________
I used to be addicted to crystal meth, now I'm just addicted to Breaking Bad.

So, what you are saying is that Halo is Turok without dinosaurs?

Turok - 1997

Halo - 2001

I...AM...HALO!

Wait...

Anyway, I tried the new Turok ages back - really did not get into it.

Xbox 360: Dark Souls, new Vegas, Pes 2012, Battlefield 3, Nhl 12 and few demos from xbox downloading center

PC: AoE 2, Medieval Total War 2, AoE 3

All are best game forever, but Dark Souls is the most best.

Well, I am Elite so neyahhhh!

Aaaanyway, the best/cheapest things come to those who wait:



Over 2 hours later I have apparently bought ME3. Now that it's on PC I might finally get round to playing it. 'Twas a steal.

Oh, yes. Please do play through ME3 as I'm quite interested in hearing what you think.

I definitely want to try Dark Souls!

Bought it on release for the 360 but soon found out that I'd wiped my ME1 and 2 saves so my Shep was gone. Kinda lost heart after that because most of my game time is spent on PC nowadays so the game's gathering dust.

If I'm careful I can use a save generator to approximate my old Shep (why am I hearing Elvis? ) for PC now.

EDIT - Dark Souls is mighty, but brutal. Even more depressing than Demon's Souls too, but that's part of its charm.

I'm actually quite impressed with the PC port now that I've patched the resolution. I'm playing with a controller though, which helps - The devs didn't bother removing the 'Press X to not die' etc prompts from the game so the Keyboard/Mouse mafia are collapsing in on themselves with Nerd Rage.

Yeah, apparently that is a thing now.

Remember the old days when your saves didn't survive beyond a single game? Those were...average times, I guess.