Better question is, how does anyone NOT know Liara is the shadow broker, or that Shepard killed a bunch of Batarians? You can figure it out even if you didn't play through the DLC (like me).
Yes, let's all attribute the "downfall" of BioWare to a single writer. Not a game designer, or a publisher, or some entity who actually has real influence on how the game is made, but a writer who wasn't even on the Mass Effect writing team. -_- I feel so sorry for what Jennifer has to go through.
Remember, the dollar has weakened drastically in the last few years. 60 dollars just isn't worth as much as it used to be. I guess one way to make up for this depreciation without overtly raising the price of the game is -that's right- DLC. Still, I agree with Brandon. This whole microtransaction, DLC-focused approach that the game industry is adopting is pure and utter horse****. What's worse, though, is plenty of consumers are buying into it, either because they don't know better or they just don't care.
Shogun 2 is an amazing game. With the exception of the siege AI, which still acts thick at times, everything else is completely spot on. CA did a great job this time around.
I really hope that some of the elements that make a "social game" successful can be carried over to traditional, "hardcore" games down the road. It's tough to build a successful, long-lasting community around any game, but it can result in something special if done properly. Just look at FarmVille, or WoW, or any such game that allows for a huge number of players to interact with each other.
Oh, there's going to be a TON of problems, but if it even works half as well as it should, then we'll have something amazing. Honestly, it's about time a service like this emerges from the great white nethers of cyberspace. I'll be keeping track of OnLive with great enthusiasm.
Can you imagine how awesome it would be if a netbook COULD run Crysis? Man, I'd buy up that bad boy so fast, even if it's ungodly expensive, just for the cool factor.
PC games looks better than their console counterparts in most cases, except when the game in question is a shoddy PC port that was rushed to make the holidays. Like, say, GTAIV.
DontEatCream's comments