I'm not particularly concerned about Kinect--I don't want it, probably won't use it at all, and don't want to pay for it, but if you're worried about spying just tape a piece of paper over the camera. Done.
Yes! Burn EA to the ground! Because what gamers really need are fewer companies making fewer games! EA deserved to lose this one, but the gamer hate is just completely irrational.
They're finally saying what I wanted them to say with the nightmare mode and story mode. I loved the first game's mechanics for the most part, but hated the limited saves and strictly enforced timing. That they're giving people the freedom to play as they want is a good sign. Too bad it's an exclusive, though.
Good news, indeed. I'd probably prefer they revive the series completely, but an HD remake is enough for now. Hell, I'd love to just play the originals as they were. That was an amazing experience. Loved it.
Photorealism is overrated. The real issue is AI and animation. Both are getting better, but aren't great. I'd much rather see those CPU cycles going toward making game AI smarter rather than just looking good. Everyone promised the end of clipping at the beginning of this gen, and it's still an issue. There are lots of significant problems left in graphical fidelity that have proven much more difficult than anyone imagined. Graphics will continue to get better, but there are other things I think are more important.
The market is shifting. Tablets crowd out the low end media consumers, and enthusiasts don't often buy whole systems off the shelf. The economy is still a wreck. PCs still remain competitive with consoles at the $500-$600 price point, especially if you're talking upgrades over building a whole gaming system. And with consoles become more PC-like next gen, I just don't see this being much of an issue. The PC market has always been on the verge of dying if you listen to these experts. It's not going to happen anytime soon.
Given that it's being moved on both generations of consoles? There may well be some cross-platform purchasing (well, maybe only a little), but I'm not sure. There's a larger install base of consoles now than at the AC launch, so I'd hope it would do at least as well. But I think quite a bit depends on early reviews. I'd guess their pre-order numbers must look better than they were expected.
Still, that's the sort of number you'd think they'd keep to themselves. Now everyone will know if it's playing to expectations. Whether they're confident or foolhardy .... we won't know until it launches.
Edit: They're probably also looking at console preorder numbers, which outwardly appear decent--but then we don't have hard numbers on that yet. If MS and Sony are feeding them some actual numbers, they're probably figuring those will boost sales.
People are reading too much into the "newcomer" remark. All I think he means is that you won't have had to play ME1-3 to play this one. Still, you'd think by now they'd be more sensitive to fan concerns, and this type of thing strikes a nerve.
As much as I disliked the dumbing down of the RPG elements in ME2, they seemed to be back on track in 3. Not as much as I'd have liked, but they were trying to add more back in. But the original Mass Effect wasn't exactly a hardcore RPG, either, so it's not quite like Dragon Age where they took a game with detailed RPG mechanics and ripped the guts out of it from top to bottom.
I like the universe of Mass Effect, and I enjoyed the games. So I'm looking forward to whatever new Mass Effect game comes out. Let's just hope they fix the writing, and put back some RPG elements. I doubt it will matter all that much to me--I'll probably still enjoy it. But my expectations are pretty low at this point.
It's a perfectly reasonable concern on his part. Of course, he could go on Kickstarter, post a video saying nothing more than, "I want to create a [genre] game. That's all," and the money would pour in. He has decades of solid game development behind him, and a deep fan base. He wouldn't necessarily have to do things the way everyone else is. He might be able to get away without making creative commitments early on. Maybe.
This is probably the best criticism I've seen so far of the Kickstarter process. A lot of criticism has been merely reluctance to see the industry change, but this is at least somewhat substantive to the game design process. It's too bad--I'd kick him some money to build a game this way, but I completely understand his reluctance.
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