Who left all these propane tanks lying around anyway?

[Segaholic2]

Did they create the technology from the ground up themselves? Certainly that must've been extremely expensive, but now that the technology exists, can't they license it out more cheaply to other companies? It would never have been worth the investment if they didn't plan to do that. Photorealistic styles are never going to escape the uncanny valley without it or some analogue of it.

The original developers did create the technology, but they no longer exist. The ownership of the game, franchise and probably technology all belong to Rockstar now, so who knows, maybe it will be incorporated into a sequel or GTA5 or whatever.

[Esrever]

That's a pretty accurate bio of Ancel, GG! The only thing to add is that BGandE2 is apparently still in production... the team just put it aside for a bit to make Rayman Origins.

[Green Gibbon!]

When Shenmue 3 goes into full production, I'll believe that Beyond 2 can happen.

Incidentally, was that King Kong game any good? Is there any truth to the legend that Peter Jackson specifically wanted the project to go to Ancel?

[Delphine]

Also, holy shit, but that reporter chick camping out in my hull is UGLY.

THANK YOU. Everyone I talk to about her says she's hot because apparently they're all BLIND.

[FlashTHD]

When Shenmue 3 goes into full production, I'll believe that Beyond 2 can happen.

Good luck waiting on that, but Ancel's excuses (working on it with a small team, aiming to release it on the next run of consoles) sound plausible, I guess.

[Crisis]

Ancel added to my "people to watch" list, thanks. I'd heard his name around before but I guess I had never formed an association.

[Radrappy]

Incidentally, was that King Kong game any good?

Meh

I rented it when the movie came out and was thoroughly unimpressed. There is some nice atmosphere and it being a first person adventure game only adds to that fact. But it wasnt very fun.

[Green Gibbon!]

Alright, so the ending to Mass Effect 3.


Logic and coherence are pretty much abandoned as soon as the flashy blue cyber kid shows up, so I'm not totally sure what was supposed to happen next, but I think he was babbling about three possible endings, right? He mentioned something about a fusion of organic and synthetic life which seemed like the closest thing to a "good end", so I walked into the beam of light in the middle which is the direction I assumed corresponded to that option. Alright, so Joker's got cyber parts now and lives happily ever after with EDI on a planet with cyber/organic leaves. But since the Mass Relays are destroyed, what happens to everyone in the galaxy who wasn't at home at the time? For example, the entire Quarian fleet who just got their planet back after three centuries and now I assume they can never get there again.

What happens if you choose to destroy or control the Reapers? Does either of those result in a more satisfying conclusion?



Also, is there any way to ever see Tali's face?

[Delphine]

Ha, yeah.

You will never see Tali's face. Players who romance her get a photo of her by their bed... but it's a photoshopped, easily googled stock photo.

The endings are all basically the same, just different colors. I'm serious. The green explosions turn blue/red.

The details have been gone over in length all over the damn place. The nicest consensus is that Shepard was indoctrinated and they didn't get a chance to finish the real ending so we got that shit.

[Green Gibbon!]

The nicest consensus is that Shepard was indoctrinated

That's honestly what I thought happened at first.

I try to avoid geek slums on the internet, but I have caught glimpses of some of the fan insanity that surrounds this - I understand that there's a certain emotional investment in a narrative that you've followed for years, but holy shit, what do these people do when they power off the goddamn Xbox? Don't they have jobs? Don't get me wrong, the ending does, well, it sucks, but Jesus. Some of these people need to open the windows and go for a walk.

I do respect the fact that it is actually an ending. There won't be any sequels to Mass Effect, at least nothing that makes any sense. Since the whole... well, the whole pop culture industry now revolves around franchises, I'm kind of suprised EA let them finalize it like this.

[Crowbar]

I think the furor is partly fuelled by a more general resentment towards Bioware/EA as a result of an attitude towards their customers that seems to have become apparent as of late. I think it started with the new Star Wars MMO, not just because of a perceived lack of quality, but also because they were doing things like outright banning people for being in areas intended for higher level characters, or trying to exploit the mechanics of an economy (buy low sell high), and more recently for calling their customers "entitled" for expecting a good product, or indeed even a complete one after this recent on-disc DLC debacle.

[Crisis]

What the hell is wrong with BioWare? I was never fully convinced they had much of a clue to begin with, but every game after Dragon Age: Origins has looked like a train wreck. Even their writing seems to have taken a turn for the worse.

What possessed them to cut corners while making the ending of Mass Effect 3? Did it not occur to them that maybe people might care about that? You know, the ending to the final instalment of the most beloved RPG franchise of the last decade or so.

I don't follow BioWare particularly closely any more, but it looks to me like something very serious has happened behind the scenes.

[Green Gibbon!]

I think the furor is partly fuelled by a more general resentment towards Bioware/EA as a result of an attitude towards their customers that seems to have become apparent as of late.

Those people still need to open the windows and go for a walk.

[Delphine]

I don't follow BioWare particularly closely any more, but it looks to me like something very serious has happened behind the scenes.

EA wants more money. That's about it.

There won't be any sequels to Mass Effect, at least nothing that makes any sense. Since the whole... well, the whole pop culture industry now revolves around franchises, I'm kind of suprised EA let them finalize it like this.

Naw dude, you know better than that. There are already leaks/rumors about the next game. The hopefully working title is Mass Shift.

[Isuka]

You probably already checked it, but in ME2 the Back button was used for putting down your weapons. Don't own ME3 yet, but according to its manual, it is now used for quick saving... which doesn't make much sense since you could turn on auto-saving in ME2 and retry from a very close checkpoint.

By any chance, is this ugly girl you're talking about Jessica Chobot? Seems to me they did their best to make her character model look sexy, but damn does she have one ugly mug!

Re: Uncharted 3, I feared what Pop said would eventually come to happen, a case of "game-specific uncanny valley" of sorts.

Re: Rayman Origins, without having played it yet, I don't like the "humor" either. This sort of disconnect GG!'s talking about I first felt with 3, I couldn't stand the damn game. 2 was more in line with the original, just typical, light-hearted cartoon humor and/or drama that didn't feel stupid nor vulgar. I'm still mesmerized by its graphics, though.

[gr4yJ4Y]

Incidentally, was that King Kong game any good?

I was pretty hopeful about it because I liked the movie a lot more than I expected. So I tried the game. There were some set pieces that would have been interesting at the time of release, but I didn't get around to it until 2008 or so. 2/3 of the game is a boring, linear first-person adventure with some light shooting and spear throwing. I found the King Kong portions a little more interesting - a mix of platforming and beat-em-up - but that too was very linear and vapid. You're not really missing out on much.