Which I mostly agree with (I would have given even more to BG II). The bad score for the "Enhanced Edition" is a direct consequence of the fact that it doesn't really enhance the original game.
One of the best soundtracks I ever experienced in a video-game. The "An End. Once and for All" track made me completely buy the ending by putting me in the most vulnerable emotional state possible. I was surprised "I Was Lost Without You" worked that well too. "I'm Sorry" is nice too ... So many good tracks. And Mansell's "Leaving Earth" is terrific too.
@cephas90 And what about XXY, XYY, XXX, XXYY, XXXXY, XXXXX ? And the fact that sometimes the hormones don't follow the genetic gender, and you get a perfectly naturally formed man/woman with opposite genetic gender ? And that's just the physical side of things.
Totally agree with Magrino here, the DLC exploitation of gamers has gone too far. With a game like Mass Effect, that is, a RPG, additionnal content cannot be a story actually related to the plot. I haven't played Mass Effect 3 yet, but I presume Overlord, the ME2 DLC, isn't important to the story. Same with Pinnacle Station in ME1, which basically had no story. So appropriate DLC isn't impossible to do. It's harder with story-driven games, because you can't just make a map-pack or weapon-pack like in a multiplayer-oriented game. And yeah, some people (including me) will always feel game producers reaching into their pockets, and see DLC just as a way to increase revenue over time (especially when their price doesn't drop the same way the game's price drops). But still, you could do it better. You know, it's like the difference between a highwayman and a pickpocket. Or The Joker and Arsene Lupin. It's that kind of big-money strategy that make people see games more like a service than an art, and made people turn to the indie scene for purer experiences. And then big studios wonder why their games get pirated, and not the indie ones ... as Notch once said to someone that couldn't afford his game : "Just pirate it. If you still like it when you can afford it in the future, buy it then. Also don't forget to feel bad. ;)". Some studios should really wonder why this is a valid business model for Notch and not for them ... P.S: source for Notch http://tinyurl.com/notchquote
You know we live in a sick world when the subject can change from video-games to God-hates-f*gs at such an alarming rate. People, if you want to argue about something with the rest of humanity, debate on a common ground of truths we can agree on. You just can't shove your beliefs in our faces whenever you want to win a debate. Just because the other side doesn't allegedly have the deformed words of an hypothetical higher being to back its opinions doesn't mean they're wrong. Try explaining to me why gay people shouldn't appear in video-games using sound arguments with actual logic involved, and then I'll listen to you. I'm sure you could make a point in that direction if you wanted too, not a really good one, but at least it would make some kind of sense. Bioware put one single homosexual man in one of its game, just ONE. Statistically speaking, if they wanted to mirror reality, considering the amount of different characters in that game, they could have put way more. But no, they chose to do it softly, knowing not all people would react well. But hey, apparently that was not enough, they underestimated the amount of bullsh*t that emerges when you mention something like that in a video-game with all kinds of different players. Can we PLEASE talk about relevant things ? Like their DLC policy, Origin, DRM-related stuff, how the idea that sex sells is coming to video-games, and stuff like that ? Stuff that we can have an intelligently designed debate on ?
@townsforever Do you really, honestly think Christianity is an "unpopular" belief ? If that's so, why do every american candidate have to state their belief in order to be elected ? Why was there a smear campaign against Obama claiming he was muslim, which shouldn't be an issue if he were ? And the USA aren't alone, it's the same in other countries. In France where I live, candidates are currently playing the christian card, saying we should acknowledge the christian roots of Europe, which are a real thing, but completely forget that Democracy emerged with the rise of secularism, that human rights are a concept of the Enlightenment, that had a great deal of deist, agnostic and atheist philosophers in reaction to the christian "old law". Stop playing the victims every time something doesn't completely goes your way. It sickens me. You're not entitled to more recognition because you believe in the same thing your parents did. Let everyone have it his way, I certainly don't come into your churches to bash you with my own point of view.
@jose2390 I'm sorry, I'm not familiar with that gay-hating Mexican you're talking about. Is it that guy that partied so hard he passed out for three days and woke up with with holes in his hands not remembering a thing ? (and if you think it's inconsiderate that I make moderately fun of your beliefs, imagine how it's like to be really discriminated for what you are, you know, like gays. If you really just judge the practice, well, there you go : if don't like gay sex, don't have it, end of story.) And I'd love a gay Pacman ... you know, one that, well eats dots and ghosts, but he's gay and that significantly changes the gameplay and story because Pacman is all about story and Pacman being straight is so important to the plot.........
Once again, Kevin VanOrd proves his value as a Gamespot's staff member with an intelligent, well-written article. It baffles me that we still have this kind of issues as of 2012, that we still need associations like LGBT to fight for things that shouldn't even be an issue, that gay people have to face the dilemma to make their personal life public in order to support their community, or hide for social acceptance at the risk of letting homophobia go rampant. How f*cked up is a society where being gay is a political statement ? As for Bioware's evolution, it's sad. I always saw the studio as the last "big one" remembering its roots, not forgetting the core that made old isometric RPG more awesome than a lot of modern games. Kind of a perfect alliance between the big budgets necessary to the creation of AAA titles with an unbiased creative direction. They still kind of got it, really. But it's true they may be losing it. As a side note, @ZachBobBob : You misspelled "Baldur's Gate".
@Fresh_C I agree completely. It's weird that they conduct studies measuring aggressiveness with a buzzer instead of making statistics on, say, people in prison for violence acts. And the studies only show one thing : that people are more aggressive right after playing the game. This result is irrelevant when it comes to judging if video games affects the way children act, aka long term behavior. The aggressiveness could simply be explained by the adrenalin rush caused by the games, which is present whether the game is violent or just action-packed (hence Ferguson's study showing no difference between comportments after playing Madden or a violent game). It's disturbing to see that in a world where science has made enormous progress in core fields like maths and physics, scientists in behavioral science still lack correct protocol (all sides included).
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