Bioware released the extended ending for Mass Effect 3, and the response is…. well, you can probably guess.
ME3 Extended Cut Kills, Dies
Mass Effect 3‘s free Extended Cut DLC didn’t please as many players as Bioware probably would have liked. The nearly 2gig chunk of cinematics was meant to quell one of the most boisterous fan uprisings in recent memory, but since all it did was flesh out the concepts already in place instead of actually changing much of anything, reaction to the effort has been mixed. If you don’t feel like downloading and going through it all yourself, you can also watch the pile of YouTube clips of the new scenes that users uploaded almost immediately. Ironically, the DLC fixes one of the two problems I personally had with the ending, but did next to nothing to address the majority of overly vocal critics. (Spoiler alert: still not an ‘indoctrination dream’)
[Source: Kotaku]
Tekken Producer Takes No Guff
Speaking of fan backlash, Tekken‘s chief producer Katsuhiro Harada fired back at critical fans on Monday regarding mountains of complaints Namco Bandai has received about the long-lived series. “I believe that, before whining and complaining about everything, you need practice at taking a step back and analyzing things objectively. And also at being an adult,” Harada said. He goes on to explain the business, technological, and creative issues that cause them to not be able to fulfill every fan’s wishes, while taking their sense of entitlement to task. It’s a pretty entertaining read, and I’m sure there are are game producers around the globe who read this with a tear in their eye, wishing their PR departments would let them send the same message.
“Thanks for understanding or not understanding. Whatever.”
[Source: Giant Bomb]
Star Wars: The Old Republic Brings Friends (and Strangers) Together
Game update 1.3 went live on Tuesday, bringing new grouping and character customization options to The Old Republic, as well as ranked PvP matches for players at the level 50 cap. Players will now be able to use an in-game menu system to find groups for dungeons, raids, and difficult quests instead of wasting hours shouting in one of the hub stations. Unfortunately, this may not be enough to plug the leak of subscribers that the game has experienced since it’s relatively successful launch, and rumors of a forthcoming free-to-play business model have begun to grow legs. I enjoyed the time I spent in SWTOR, but it was certainly frustrating when they didn’t even have some of the basic community features that World of Warcraft implemented years ago.
[Source: SWTOR.com]
CCP Sells Dust 514 Beta Access
PS3 free shooter Dust 514 is still in invite-only beta, but you can now prepay $20 to get complete access to future closed beta events with its Mercenary Pack. In addition to the guaranteed early entry, you will also receive $20 worth of in-game currency, an experience point boost for a limited time, and a few exclusive pieces of gear. Many eyes are on Dust 514, as it is the first console exclusive to enter the pervasive PC realm of ‘freemium,’ as well as its deep integration into popular MMO Eve Online.
[Source: Polygon]
Valve Hires Economist, Goes Academic
Valve published the first report of their recently hired economist Yanis Varoufakis regarding the trade-based economy of online shooter Team Fortress 2. The original piece is here, and it is full of words that most gamers probably don’t hear every day such as ‘arbitrage’ and ideas such as ‘the double coincidence of wants.’ Also, a chart! Varoufakis claims that the TF2 economy is “peculiarly sophisticated,” and outlines some basic concepts regarding the nature of trade as it transitions from being based on barter to one based on currency.
I’m not sure how often a formula labeled “Estimated price of hats in terms of keys” shows up in an ECON textbook, but I can tell you that it’s certainly not enough.
[Source: Joystiq]
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