Mass Effect 3 SPOILERS!

I think anybody reading this will know what’s up by now.  Mass Effect 3′s ending angered many a fan to the point where they were demanding changes.  Conspiracy theories abound!  The REAL ending was going to be DLC in a move to make money by EA.  It’s actually something really wacky called Indocrination Theory that makes Bioware about 10x smarter than most of us.  Bioware hates children and supports disease….ok that’s not true, but judging by the level of freak out by some, it seems that way.  As hard as it was to not weigh in my review, I wanted to keep that spoiler free.  THIS ARTICLE IS GOING TO BE FULL OF SPOILERS.  YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED.  I’m glad I waited because today Bioware announced that the “Mass Effect Extended Cut DLC” will be coming this summer and will be free.  Is this a good idea?  Did fans get what they want or destroy the creative process for all game developers in the future?  What of the children?!  Let’s discuss.

Mass Effect 3

Obviously this has been a long time coming.  The Mass Effect series is not just a universe in which three games are set.  It is basically one enormous continuing game.  Bioware told us from the start that decisions made in the first game would be carrying over to both two and three.  So now Mass Effect 3 is finally here.  With the expectations of two whole games weighing down on it, Bioware set themselves up to end the series in a spectacular fashion.  More than anything in the series, it’s the characters that captivated me.  Yes, I care about the fate of the universe, but I care even more so about the fate of Shepard, Tali, Liara, Garrus, Wrex, Grunt, Jack, and all the other squad mates that helped me throughout.  Except for James, I didn’t really care what happened to him.

Stories, challenges, and chainsaws; Why do we play video games?

Hello childhood.

Chuck E Cheese.  Remember that place?  I do.  I don’t remember it for the pizza, which I’m a bit hazy on but I think could mostly be described as “bad”.  I don’t remember it for the giant mechanical animals that played canned songs about how awesome Chuck E Cheese was.  I dug those guys, but they were a distraction from the REAL reason to go to Chuck E Cheese.  That reason was Metal Hawk.  The premise was simple:  you are a helicopter with guns and bombs and there is some sort of evil military force trying to kill you.  So blow them up.  I poured quarters (or tokens I think, what’s up with Chuck E Cheese proprietary currency, whatever) into that thing every time I was there.  I never finished it, but that didn’t stop me.  It was one of the first games I remember that truly left an impression on me.  As a seven-year old, that impression was pretty basic;  I liked the fact I had a flight stick and there was lots of things that blew up.  As I’m now an adult, is that enough anymore?  I’m a huge gamer….what’s the draw?  Why do we play?