The OzSpot: Mass Effect 3 Extended Cut, Sony buys Gaikai

July 2, 2012 11:05PM PDT

By Laura Parker, Associate Editor

This week on the show: Ed and Laura host! (Translation: Anything could happen!)

On this week's show we talk about the recent Mass Effect 3: Extended Cut, try not to spoil the new Spider-Man movie, and discuss EA's plans for an all-digital future.

Plus we chat about what went right (and wrong) in Lollipop Chainsaw, and Ed reminisces about Capcom's Seth Killian. And our big news for the show: Sony forks over $380 million USD for cloud-based game streaming service Gaikai. Tune in!

By Laura Parker, Associate Editor

Laura Parker is the Associate Editor of GameSpot Australia. She loves adventure games, sparkly stuff, Trivial Pursuit, cake, Master Chief, earthworms, and rhetorical questions. She once stole a sandwich from Peter Molyneux.

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40 comments

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PrpleTrtleBuBum

I feel the Forbes article was very much right about EC. I also found that EC was the bare minimum and atleast somewhat satisfying, though I don't care about anything that happens before the Catalyst bit, all that was useless. Now Catalyst conversation is fleshed out as is everything that happens after it. It simply feels weird to replay the game after the initial dissapointment months back and pretend this is the actual ending.

Though I preferred how the original ending set up the credits. There was a sense of mystery on what happens with Normandy and how the credit tune started was great. In EC they should have atleast changed the new credits tune to be M4 part 2.

Yes the ending still could have been a lot better (looking at you indoctrination theory) with more reflection on our decisions, but atleast this is an acceptable ending compared to the abysmality of the original. Still it's too little too late and ME will never live up to its potential now.

BigMikeM77

OZspot listen up, NOBODY said the ending for mass effect 3 was bad or that it sucked but if you loved the first two as passionately as me you realized what you loved most about the series, the fact that your choice's made the ending COMPLETELY different and your own, were thrown out for a generic feel good sci-fi story. That's what we complained about in the beginning and its what we're still complaining about now.

jomipira

@BigMikeM77 That was a problem with most gamers. The ending is not your own, it's one of the pre-programed ones. And just look ad ME2, there were no real different endings, just different deaths...

frozenux

This is what happen when you market your game as a product and just a fucking product.People are going to react to it like it's just a fucking product.Same way people have the right as a consumer to bring back a broken cup of tea and have another 1,they are going to want to have your game change because it doesn't suit them.The gaming industry is more about making cash than making actual games,this is the new reality,so eventually consumers are going to adapt to it.What happened was just the natural consequence.

There is not enough new IPs,you've got day 1 dlcs,on disc dlcs ,online passes and so on,everything to milk the consumer dry.So they(devs or whatever) shouldn't be surprised if the consumer react to their product like it's a cheeseburger rather than a Picasso.So they can spare me the artistic integrity bullshit, you are not selling art you are selling a product by the industry new "standards". THERE IS NO ARTISTIC INTEGRITY IN THE INDUSTRY RIGHT NOW!!!! Talking about artistic integrity here is just a poor excuse covering up the mediocrity of the ending.I personally didn't go whine about having a new ending that would have been just fucking ridiculous because for me what is done is done! The ending sucked and no amount of DLCs is going to change that.

jomipira

@frozenux The problem is that ME3 wasn't broken. It worked fine. People just didn't like parts of it. It's like buying a CD and not liking some of the songs, you are not entitled to get your money back...

frozenux

@jomipira Not the same thing as music or movies and I'm not talking about being reimbursed I'm talking about requesting the product to be changed.Video games are an interactive media ,the other 2 i just cited above are pretty much passive ones.I can guaranty you if it was during the pre-dlcs Era(meaning what is on the disc(or support) is only what you're going to get from the game),I say NO ONE would've requested that the ending be changed ,NO ONE.It would have been "hey the ending sucked but let's move on".It's because people are now aware that any parts of a game can be easily changed all thanks to those new "quick buck" ABUSIVE dlcs business practices,that they went that far as to requesting the ending be changed to suit their taste.The devs and publishers introduced this new dynamic on the market and this is just a natural response to it.Considering the amount of cash consumers pour into a game,I'm pretty sure some people will feel entitled to get exactly what they want ,some might argue rightfully so.The same way a client can request to have his meal changed in some upped restaurant if it doesn't taste good in his mouth.This is what gaming has been reduce to and this is only the beginning you haven't seen anything yet...

jomipira

@frozenux The fact that it's interactive is besides the point. Just because you play it you don't own it! It's an experience. Music is a listening experience, games are an interactive experience. You didn't made it. You're just here for the fun of it. If you don't like it go play something else! It's a game in eletronic form. A board game is also played by the people it's not passive, and it costs money, it doesn't mean people are entitled to change those games and bitch about it everywhere. DLC has nothing to do with it either. DLC is a part of a game. If you like it you buy it, if you don't, you don't. How can people think that because they spend 60$ and play a game for a few hours are entitled to change something over a group of hundreds of people that spend 4 years working 14 hour days, and millions of dollars to make a highly complex product?

m072802

Once again, it is pretty obvious that Laura Parker has not, and will never, play Mass Effect from start to finish. This debate about the endings boils down to very, very simple concept: we were promised a product that was not delivered. The entire tagline of the Mass Effect series was that choices you make throughout the series have consequences, and for the most part, that was sort of true - there were plenty of side quests and whatnot based on decisions you had made, and there were a number of events that could change depending on what you chose in the first game (the Turian-Geth war outcome for instance).

What PISSES PEOPLE OFF about the endings is that absolutely NOTHING you did makes a difference. THAT is what people are mad about (that and the fact that the ending made almost zero sense in established canon of the universe). I could play a Paragon FemShep from the beginning of the first game all the way through to the end, and get the EXACT SAME ENDINGS as playing a Renegade Male Shepherd starting from the 3rd game.

This was nothing but a VERY poorly executed attempt to salvage what became PR disaster for Bioware. They first went with, "Pfff, you just don't UNDERSTAND art!" Then they realized how big of a fallout was happening, and they've frantically switched to damage control - too little, too late.

jomipira

@m072802 Of course you know Bioware never said anything about art don't you? You are now quoting reviewers and people in forums...

frozenux

@jomipira Actually they talked about keeping their vision of the game intact(that's pretty much keeping their artistic integrity...) ,in that video panel they made a while ago about the complains people had about the game.You can find it on youtube.

frozenux

@jomipira errr yeah right......

jomipira

@frozenux Now you're just extrapolating the meaning you want out of their words. They never said art. They said their vision of the game, i.e., what they wanted to do with it, that's all. Is the Transformers movie art? No. Did Michael Bay had a clear vision for it? Of course he did.

frozenux

@jomipira Oh I'm pretty sure it's quite the same in their case.When you say you have a vision for a game, you are referring to all the ideas,themes,visuals you went to convey through the game.And this is art.

jomipira

@frozenux No, it's quite different. Again using the restaurant example, if you have a fried chicken dinner and want it to be grilled the chef might say it's not the same dish. It doesn't mean he is saying that fried chicken is art.

LiquidPrince

@m072802 What are you talking about? Almost all your decisions feed into the third game. How you deal with the Krogans, how you deal with the Quarians and Geth, how your team members react etc... Then specifically the ending depended on your EMS which changed depending on the level...

Sutton

Some people just can't be happy. Ever.

Sutton

But... It's a video game. They're great fun, video games. But who really gives a shit?

Sutton

I guess I should also say this: when EA extended it's tit-milk to Bioware, we all saw disaster. Their games would soon become infected with a genophage. Yep. Each and every one.

Still, though. Who gives a shit.

jomipira

@frozenux Well, for me the problem is that consumers are entitled to disagree, to deslike a product and to have their rights protected. But the games industry is no different than any other. They are not greedier, they don't have worst business practices, and they do entertainment products. It's not life or death, it's not medicine, or food, or transportation. It's just a way to have fun and pass the time. But we gamers take it too far. People sometimes confuse a game with life itself and react ?disproportionally. And if there are no new IP's blame the gamers! We are the one that buy the sequels. The industry only reacts to what the gamers buy. If Madden 2 were a flop there would be no more Madden games. If the likes of Vanquish, Kingdoms of Amalur or Enslaved were big hits there would always be new IP. Gamers protest on forums but we are the only ones to blame here.

frozenux

@jomipira "So that game were art once bit doesn't stick". No, There was a duality not so long ago.Yes obviously the end game by selling games is to make money;Like you said which industry isn't about making cash?

Problem is making cash has become the sole purpose , i mean the sole purpose in the industry now.Just look at their business practices, so much that you barely see any new IPs,It's much more "let's ride this horse until it dies". What i am saying is that they (publisher/devs or whatever) brought this on themselves,they are just ripping what they sowed.So for them to act all outraged by what happened is surprising.Even more so when they bring up the whole we need to keep our artistic integrity,news flash you don't have any artistic integrity.A top brass of a publisher can come and say well there is this part of the game that doesn't suit our dlcs plan so change it and they are definitely going to change it that's how it is.So it's not surprising to see people who pay for it think they can do the same.Like i said i didn't sign any petition to have the ending changed(that would have been ridiculous) because for me what is done is done,i don't go back.And I'm not debating whenever it was the right thing to do or not,But i do understand at some extent why some people went that far and I'm blaming the current state of the industry for this happening.

jomipira

@frozenux Yeah, you can do whatever you want within the law. It's obvious. You could throw yourself to the ground kick your legs and cry. It's legal. It's also completly stupid. And people can tell you to fuck off. Or not. In the world we are living in there are a lot of hissy fits. Yeah. I thought we were debating if this makes sense, not if it exists. Debating if gamers are whiners or not, compared to other consumers for instance. And, news flash, games were always products! People always made them and sold them to make money. There were and are people who are passionate about them. There were and are people who do them for pleasure, but the games industry always wanted to make money, like any industry. It was always a product. If you look at the so called golden age of gaming, there were more cash ins, rushed games and crap games all around than you could ever find today. So that games were art once bit doesn't stick...

frozenux

@jomipira Depends of the amount of importance you accord to a lunch and the importance you accord to the amount of cash you spent for it.I thought you said gaming was an experience ,Oh now you are comparing it to a meal (check my example about the upped restaurant above)? Let's put it this way,If you pay for something as a consumer you are pretty much in your right To complain, whine, cry , start petitions ,run around naked screaming, do whatever (assuming it's not illegal) about it if you don't feel satisfied.I don't know in what world you are living ,THIS IS REALITY.This is a perk that comes with consumerism.Go to any proper shop(and I'm going to say shop because considering the amount of greed of publishers now days, gaming isn't art anymore,it's just a product) and ask to the manager if it's true,he might not agree with it but this is pretty much how things goes.Now how the person selling the product is going to react to it is up to him.No one is going to put a gun on their head.He can tell him to fuck off and lose a consumer or Heeds the consumer whining and be his bitch,because after all they are there just to make a profit not make games.

jomipira

@frozenux That doesn't even make sense. You pay for luch don't you? But if ONE meal is sub-par you don't get a hissy fit a start online petitions...

frozenux

@Sutton Sounds like someone who doesn't personally pay for his games.

Sutton

Okay, I'm a nerd, too, I can't lie. But seriously... If you get pissed off at a video game, then you can go f*** yourself.

Sutton

By the way, I have recently read an article that tit milk can kill the HIV virus.

Now THAT is something to give a shit about, as opposed to you nerds getting enraged about something that produces ZERO for the human race.

gix47

Laura P was very clear early on that she was bought and paid in full by bioware marketing, ALL HAIL THE MIGHTY DOLLAR

Sutton

@gix47 Laura rocks, always has, and hopefully always will. And if you have a job, then you've been bought as well. The only freedom in this world is DEATH. The sooner you realize that, the happier you'll be. Cheers, mate.

d_khan

4 Like

I am sick and tired of editors and reviewers NOT understanding our point of view. What is it they don't get about Mass Effect 3. No other game series has ever drawn upon peoples emotions in the way the Mass Effect series has, and you NEVER SCREW with peoples emotions. But then again, reviewers and critics never have the time to get invested in games, the same way ACTUAL gamers do.

PS: ANGRY JOE RUUUUUUUUUUUUULESSSSSS.....

jomipira

@d_khan yeah... for instance, Mozart's requiem always moves me... but that "lux aeterna" movement is clearly sub-par, specially when you compare it to "lacrimosa"... so WE NEED TO CHANGE IT! Yeah! That Mozart guy! Son of a ***** messing with my emotions! Let's do an online petition and change those movements I don't like!!! And don't get me started on poker. 4 aces should be the top hand everytime! I'm so invested in it, that just pisses me off! LET'S CHANGE IT! YEAH! Let's go to the forums and let's get this thing going!

TKH258

@d_khan

" No other game series has ever drawn upon peoples emotions in the way the Mass Effect series has, and you NEVER SCREW with peoples emotions."

I agree with you. Not many games made us felt this much for it. ME is one of them.

diablonn

like the intro music..

jomipira

And by the way... why is everybody so unconfortable with sex?

diablonn

1 Like

@jomipiraIt's funny that almost every aspect of our lives is highly sexualized and yet people are so stuck up about it. It 's sad that something so simple can make so many squeamish or touchy but am not that much of a prude i guess.

jomipira

@diablonn You have hundreds of years of demonizing sex, putting guilt and shame on something that is as natural as can be. Why would a young man feel dirty just by playing a videogame, specially when said game is clearly a parody?

jomipira

Sony is a huge corporation. Just think PS3\PS4\PSVita, smartphone, smart tv, PC (Vaio), all connected, all in one. One SEN account and your game everywhere, anytime. And remember, your internet connection is at it's worst today. I already have 120Mbps broadband at home now, so, the future looks bright. It's not thinking what to do with it today, but thinking 5, 10 years from now.