A modern game as complex as Mass Effect (ME) costs a *LOT* of money to develop (the time and effort it took just to write such a complex backstory and create such an in-depth "world" of ME must have been staggering). If a developer is going to put that kind of money and effort into a game (not to mention the incredible *risk* that it might fail or have mediocre sales), they need to know that they're not just doing it as a "one off" game. If ME had no possibility of a sequel and no further possibility for using its intellectual property (IP) in anything else, it would never have justified the development money that was put into it. No one is going to make a videogame that can cost $30-$50 million just to develop and market if they can't at least hope for an ongoing valuable IP.
I get what you're saying, especially in regards to modern movies. But, unlike with movies, it's a lot more difficult to make a truly great modern videogame "on the cheap." Sure, you can do some minigame or something cool like "Braid" without too much cost. But a full-fledged modern game like ME, that costs big bucks--no getting around it.
You should play Fallout 3. IMHO, it's even more RPG-like than Oblivion (thanks the the V.A.T.S. system, which gives it more of a turn-based feel--though this is optional for the player). The only thing it's missing is a "magic" or "biotics" type equivalent.
And for God's sake, make that damn thing easier to drive! I played that game through three times (incl. on insanity) and after all those many hours, I still couldn't drive that thing worth a damn by the end.
Well, since we've established that no group of black people ever commits any violence or atrocities in Africa, and that to even suggest they might makes you a raving, beer-swilling, racist; does this mean we can stop sending food and aid to Darfur, Somalia, Rwanda, etc.? Obviously any brutal tribal violence that happened in those places was just the figment of some hillbilly white racist's imagination. So let's stop wasting our money, food, and attention there.
Actually, I'd be more concerned about a WWII game set in a concentration camp that DIDN'T have Jews in it. And do you honestly think that there are masses of game buyers out there who buy their zombie games based solely on how many of said zombies are black? Really? What are you, 12 years old?
He's saying that criticizing a game set in remote Africa simply because it has a lot of black people in it is the height of reactionary stupidity. Amusingly enough, a game set in remote Africa inexplicably filled with white zombies would no doubt result in cries of racism as well.
Careful, I got modded down this morning for pointing out that Firefox's add-ons make it superior to Chrome too. Nothing touches those add-ons. I don't give a shit how fast IE or Chrome are, that's a fart in the windstorm next to the usefulness of some of the better Firefox add-ons.
We never said Apple was the devil. We said that Steve Jobs is the Anti-Christ, here to lead his wild-eyed cult followers into a thousand-year reign of terror and suffering.
No, it's 100. You see, my counting system is based it on an arbitrary number that some monk incorrectly calculated in the first place--and I'm too stupid a jackass to realize it.
Big Corn (and the ubiquity of nasty high fructose corn syrup and wasteful corn ethanol) is not only the result of the agricultural lobby and ADM, but also the old anti-commie Cold War mentality that would resent having to import sugar from communist and socialist countries in Central and South America. So I can't have the original Coca-Cola (sans that syrup crap) unless I can find some obscure Kosher version on Passover (I guess enjoying it with a Cuban cigar is COMPLETELY out of the question).
Yes, that was the point. The RIAA/MPAA and its studio masters are simultaneously both a big part of Hollywood and also big corporations, which means that both parties are beholden to them.
You know, it's too bad that both political parties in the U.S. are in these scumbags' back pockets (Democrats because they need that Hollywood cash, Republicans because they need that big corporation cash). It would be nice to have at least ONE politician I could vote for who would tell these legalized extortionists where to shove it.
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According to the RIAA, music pirates are now responsible for 93% of all the world's nun rapes each year.
I was born listening to 8-tracks, and I will die listening to 8-tracks. And I'll NEVER give them up, dammit!!!
A modern game as complex as Mass Effect (ME) costs a *LOT* of money to develop (the time and effort it took just to write such a complex backstory and create such an in-depth "world" of ME must have been staggering). If a developer is going to put that kind of money and effort into a game (not to mention the incredible *risk* that it might fail or have mediocre sales), they need to know that they're not just doing it as a "one off" game. If ME had no possibility of a sequel and no further possibility for using its intellectual property (IP) in anything else, it would never have justified the development money that was put into it. No one is going to make a videogame that can cost $30-$50 million just to develop and market if they can't at least hope for an ongoing valuable IP.
I get what you're saying, especially in regards to modern movies. But, unlike with movies, it's a lot more difficult to make a truly great modern videogame "on the cheap." Sure, you can do some minigame or something cool like "Braid" without too much cost. But a full-fledged modern game like ME, that costs big bucks--no getting around it.
You should play Fallout 3. IMHO, it's even more RPG-like than Oblivion (thanks the the V.A.T.S. system, which gives it more of a turn-based feel--though this is optional for the player). The only thing it's missing is a "magic" or "biotics" type equivalent.
And for God's sake, make that damn thing easier to drive! I played that game through three times (incl. on insanity) and after all those many hours, I still couldn't drive that thing worth a damn by the end.
you simple, bad grammar.
Well, since we've established that no group of black people ever commits any violence or atrocities in Africa, and that to even suggest they might makes you a raving, beer-swilling, racist; does this mean we can stop sending food and aid to Darfur, Somalia, Rwanda, etc.? Obviously any brutal tribal violence that happened in those places was just the figment of some hillbilly white racist's imagination. So let's stop wasting our money, food, and attention there.
Actually, I'd be more concerned about a WWII game set in a concentration camp that DIDN'T have Jews in it. And do you honestly think that there are masses of game buyers out there who buy their zombie games based solely on how many of said zombies are black? Really? What are you, 12 years old?
He's saying that criticizing a game set in remote Africa simply because it has a lot of black people in it is the height of reactionary stupidity. Amusingly enough, a game set in remote Africa inexplicably filled with white zombies would no doubt result in cries of racism as well.
The UN never does anything useful anyway. They'd might as well entertain us a little.
Someone must not have told the UN that the first scene of the series involved the betrayal and murder of a diplomat.
"Good guys in tan jackets"
No one with hair like that could have been called in any way "good."
Computers on the Galactica aren't networked for a reason.
Careful, I got modded down this morning for pointing out that Firefox's add-ons make it superior to Chrome too. Nothing touches those add-ons. I don't give a shit how fast IE or Chrome are, that's a fart in the windstorm next to the usefulness of some of the better Firefox add-ons.
Damn, you beat me to it! You are a poster of extraordinary magnitude. You have our gratitude.
Yeah, that's fun. And it certainly *looks* cooler than my Adblock Plus, my Noscript, and my dozen other useful add-ons.
You can have my tubgirl when you pry it from my cold, dead fingers!
"depictions of actual sex acts are illegal here"
You know; the level of pathos, despair, and violence in those Mad Max movies is finally starting to make sense to me.
We never said Apple was the devil. We said that Steve Jobs is the Anti-Christ, here to lead his wild-eyed cult followers into a thousand-year reign of terror and suffering.
Don't put words in our mouths.
No, it's 100. You see, my counting system is based it on an arbitrary number that some monk incorrectly calculated in the first place--and I'm too stupid a jackass to realize it.
Big Corn (and the ubiquity of nasty high fructose corn syrup and wasteful corn ethanol) is not only the result of the agricultural lobby and ADM, but also the old anti-commie Cold War mentality that would resent having to import sugar from communist and socialist countries in Central and South America. So I can't have the original Coca-Cola (sans that syrup crap) unless I can find some obscure Kosher version on Passover (I guess enjoying it with a Cuban cigar is COMPLETELY out of the question).
Yes, that was the point. The RIAA/MPAA and its studio masters are simultaneously both a big part of Hollywood and also big corporations, which means that both parties are beholden to them.
After about the 100th anal-retentive jackass to smugly point out "2001 is the ACTUAL start of the millennium, you know!" I just started punching them.
I'm sure he meant to type "boxed."
You know, it's too bad that both political parties in the U.S. are in these scumbags' back pockets (Democrats because they need that Hollywood cash, Republicans because they need that big corporation cash). It would be nice to have at least ONE politician I could vote for who would tell these legalized extortionists where to shove it.