While I'm inclined to agree on the point that pandering to fans diminishes the value of the art form, Mass Effect 3 is a really, really awful example. The ending for that game was nothing but a photoshop filter, it was absolutely deplorable and fans have every right to demand a better one. Though the case of Doom 3 is less clear-cut, I would also argue that the fans are right in this case: Doom is not a horror-survival game at its core. That series is (or was) first and foremost about shooting things, and the enemies themselves are what made that difficult. However I would concede that the flashlight thing was a design decision on the part of id Software and a valid choice.
I guess my point is, I agree that developers should take pride in the games they make and we as consumers should give them a certain amount of leeway for the sake of their own artistic integrity. The examples in this article were not the best however. Also, as a few others have said already, making games is also a business. As I_Am_Furious quite rightly pointed out, some of the all-time greats in other media changed their products due to consumer feedback, and they are still recognized as great artists. Producing art of any kind has always been a tug-of-war between the artist's goals and the consumer's desires.
I have been really impressed by this series so far, and I can't wait to see how the team handles religion. No doubt they will do it in a respectful yet hilarious manner. Always a pleasure guys, keep fighting the good fight.
@wavelength121 I'm so glad you brought up that there have been studies correlating violence in video games to violent behaviour! As it happens, I looked into it, and I think if you do too you'll find that these studies are easily disprovable. Take, for example, the findings of one Dr. Craig A. Anderson. This is a man who seems to have made it his business to show that violent video games = violent behaviour. In 2005, Dr. Anderson was criticized for failing to cite evidence that contradicts his views. Also, when one of his studies supported by the State of Illinois was scrutinized (http://www.mediacoalition.org/legal/esa%20blagojevich/12.2.05%20Illinois%20Decision.pdf), Dr. Anderson himself admitted that "once the results were adjusted to exclude nonserious behavior, such as throwing snowballs, less than ten percent of the participants reported engaging in aggressive behavior." Of course, parents absolutely MUST be informed of the dangers to their children! Heaven forbid they engage in that most heinous crime of hurling snowballs, lest our society descend into anarchy and chaos!
I just can't believe we still have to talk about this. Numerous studies have concluded that, at the very least, violent video games exert little or no more influence on the aggressive tendencies of a youth than any other form of violent media. Check it out, the U.S. Secret Service even talks about it in their Safe Schools Initiative Report: http://www.secretservice.gov/ntac/ssi_final_report.pdf (pg. 22 reports that school attackers much more frequently demonstrated an interest in violent movies, books, or their own writing than in video games.) Or how about this: http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20080418/005355882.shtml According to these two Harvard professors, kids who DON'T play video games are more at risk of being violent. This PBS special provides a pretty good debunking of some violent video game myths: http://www.pbs.org/kcts/videogamerevolution/impact/myths.html The evidence is just overwhelming and I don't see why we continue to have this discussion. I wonder what lobbying interests are so hell-bent on slapping the video games industry with responsibility for youth violence because frankly I can't think of another reason this would keep coming up. Can we just give it a rest, please?
@Dashrender619 Well for one thing I never said that games are nowhere near art. I think they are art, but this medium is fundamentally different from other forms because of the involvement of the player. Secondly the input of the artists who generate the visual content (and don't get me wrong, I know there's a lot of work involved and I have nothing but respect for them) has barely anything to do with the design of the game itself, which I think is the real problem with ME.
@Philly1UPer Games are art, but they are fundamentally different from other mediums in that they involve interaction. The way the player interacts with a game is a device in the message that other mediums don't have. So when the choices in a game don't really affect things (like in Mass Effect), artistic integrity is a poor excuse. That said... @Volgin You seem to be implying that your choices ever mattered in the Mass Effect series. I am profoundly confused by this. For all I know (and the possibility is frighteningly plausible), BioWare wrote a lame ending just to drum up all this controversy and then release a DLC to fix it and make more money.
This is absolutely unbelievable, I could not be more disappointed in the people giving money to change the ending of ME3. When a developer does something you really extremely don't like, you stop buying their games. The LAST thing you do is GIVE THEM MORE MONEY.
My problem with BioWare as it is today is more a problem with EA, and it's because of this draconian business model in which they intentionally (at least, it's been consistent and effective enough that I figure it must be intentional) overhype a game, release it unfinished, then release expansions - though DLC is much more common now - that add features that should have been in the initial release. This is nothing new for EA. I first realized it with the Sims franchise and I wouldn't be surprised if they started before that. Mass Effect 3 is an especially poignant example: in every sense, it should be a AAA game, and yet it falls short in several places. The character animations and dialogue are still awkward as all hell, your "choices" are still completely meaningless, the level design is linear and boring, and the story which is supposed to be the best part is horribly contrived... I mean, you'd think that throwing all the money at it that they have would make it a decent game. But you know, it isn't just Mass Effect, or Dragon Age for that matter. It's true of every AAA title being released these days, and I feel that it almost isn't fair to blame the developers because the industry is just too caught up in their own bloody tropes to try anything different. For me the most terrifying part isn't just that it's happening, it's that it's happening AND millions of people are showering these buffoons with cash! I just don't know what else to say... the whole thing is so sad.
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