Video game news and reaction

[TheTSKoala]

Meh. From the Ashes and it's new squadmate has been advertised as part of the CE since the beginning.

The fact that it's a Prothean, though? Yeah, that's the same level of douchery as making other plot-vital stuff like LotSB and Arrival DLC

Right.. like.. if From the Ashes was.. something like the Crashed Ship DLC that came with "new" ME2.. I might be okay with.  Ancient extinct Alien Race as a squad mate with story?  Preeeettttty sure that's not as trivial.  I dunno.. I think I'm burning out on this "pay for DLC" concept.  I don't mind it.. if it's something resembling an expansion.. or mini expansion.. fine.. but stop trying to fight the war on used games on the backs of your consumers.

It actually is the same as the stuff that came with new copies of ME2 - remember that Cerberus network also came with Zaeed.  So From the Ashes is much the same - just a Prothean instead of a grizzled merc veteran.  The only difference here is it's part of collectors instead of every new copy - something I consider fair, given that it's like $30 more (here anyway - $100 vs $130 for Standard vs N7 CE).

I'm going to have to play through it first.. but.. I'm having a hard time imagining the lack luster Zaeed being equal to a Prothean.. in story value, anyway.  (Oh.. and I bought the CE.. so I get the Prothean.. I'm just slightly confused / irritated by the move only because it's becoming a troubling trend.  Unless you're the witcher 2..)

[Sletchman]

I think it's very much the way things will be from here on out.  Almost all recent and upcoming games have something very similar - some kind of online pass restricting multiplayer or DLC that only goes to new purchasers.  Just seems to be the way of the future.  Don't get me wrong, it ticks me off as much as anyone else - I just don't see it changing (if anything it'll get worse/more prevelant).

I also hope the squadmate is better then Zaeed - he was a powerhouse on missions and had the occasional piece of cool dialogue, but the lack of proper interactions was a little disappointing (same with Kasumi, actually - she was a total tank too).  The lack of proper interactions with a Prothean would be basically criminal, far as I'm concerned (especially given that Shepard can canonically speak Prothean).

[Sletchman]

Seems a day for ME3 news or something - first an Interview with Ray Muzyka and second is an unboxing vid.  While an unboxing vid of a standard copy of the game usually wouldn't be that interesting in and of itself, it does show a neat little feature - all copies of the game will have a flip-cover so you can have manshep or femshep on your games cover.  So Mr A (and everyone else who thinks femshep should be canon-shep) should be at least a little pleased.

[MilitiaJim]

I was excessively pleased by the more renegade femShep trailer, and much less than dignified when I realized Ms. Hale did the female Trooper voice for Star Wars: The Old Republic. 

[Krensky]

Frankly, the alternative is you don't get stuff like From the Ashes or expansion missions or whatever.

That the developer gives extras to people who pay more or pre-order or buy new is not adapting the used market on the backs of the consumer, it's rewarding their customers.

[TheTSKoala]

While Krensky.. you absolutely might be right... and there is a very valid point there.. I'm just not sure (given EA's reputation) whether it's rewarding their customer or holding back a little content to further boost the profit margin.  I don't mind DLC that supports the game after launch.. Day 1 Pay for DLC.. just seems like a very dangerous line.  Was it done in time?  ...or are they fishing for more money?

[Krensky]

More like we can budget the time for this because it'll be up for sale as DLC, and we can give it to N7 and Digital Edition customers for free.

L.A. Noir had day one DLC for purchase that pre-orders got for free, and Arkham Asylum pre-orders and new purchases got stuff for free on day one others had to wait or pay for. Same with the triad mission in Deus Ex: Human Revolution. I vaugely recall similar stuff for Fable III, and Kingdoms of Amular had a code for the online pass in new versions.

This is the way of things, pre-order and new purchasers will get stuff those buying later or used will have to pay for. The primary diference from a few years back is rather then waiting six months or more for the dlc goodies people who bought the N7 version got those who didn't can get it day one.

[foproy]

i finaly broke down and used some extra points to buy arrival. really explained a lot.

[Sletchman]

i finaly broke down and used some extra points to buy arrival. really explained a lot.

It's a pretty cool mission isn't it?  Far as I'm concerned it's pretty important to the plot - I hope for other folks sake they at least recap it well in ME3 / have something for if you import a Shepard that didn't complete Arrival (because it's referenced in the opening sequence).  It was pretty intense on Insanity too - especially if you were a class that relied on ally powers for shield / armour stripping.


In regards to the Day 1 DLC - the problem most people have is that it isn't DLC.  All the stuff you mentioned Krensky is on the disc (except perhaps L.A. Noire - I only picked up the complete edition recently) - I have almost all the others (just not Fable 3) and all that you actually "DL" is an encrypted unlock key that's between 50 kb and 1 mb.  So I totally get why people are pissed off.  I also get why developers use a pass system (and have accepted it as the new status quo).  The only thing that bothers me is retailer exclusive content (which I want to kill with fire and prejudice).

[Krensky]

It still got done because it could be justified in the budget and project schedule by charging for it. Arkham City's Catwoman stuff was on the disc, but was only available for new purchases or preorders. (I forget which.)

As for this, reports from people who bought it before MS took it back down reported over 600 Mb.

[OverNinja]

Believe in Ghosts with Richard "Mack" Machowicz, pt. 1

[Crafty_Pat]

Doctor Who: The Eternity Clock Epic Trailer

[Sletchman]

As for this, reports from people who bought it before MS took it back down reported over 600 Mb.

That's something at least.  It seems the source of the internet rage is that the squadmate in question had dialogue and behaviour files in the "leaked" BETA back in November.  Which means he was well and truly under development before then (completely contrary Bioware's recent statement that they started development after the game went gold in January).  His voice recordings are also embedded in the demo - which again shows that they're kinda blatantly lying to their customerbase (another reason why people would be upset - the demo was finalised "before" his development even "began").  Such is life and business, I suppose.

(click to show/hide)

E.D.I. Has squadmate dialogue in the demos files too - and some kind of mobile platform body in The Art of the Mass Effect Universe too.  Taking all bets now - Joker's lovebot experiment gone wrong (or is it right?) or cerberus experimental unmaned combat unit?

In other news, I've recently had Dragon's Dogma bought to my attention - from what my mate said it's hard mode is comprable to Dark Souls, and it is supposed to have a pretty deep storyline (whereas Dark Souls has a kinda pants story - a very good game, just very average story).  The pawns system sounds absolutely fascinating, and some of the big boss fights (big as in you're the size of their mouth) look pretty damn cool to.  It's supposed to be a middle of this year release, and I'm tentatively optimistic about it - I'll be looking for more info leading up to then (and hopefully a demo).

[foproy]

dragons dogma boss fight.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FRo9g_pbaHw&feature=related

[Sletchman]

dragons dogma boss fight.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FRo9g_pbaHw&feature=related

That's cool - thanks man.  I watched a different hydra fight before (and forgot to link it) as well as a heap of other fights that was part of a 2 hour video that capcom posted posted.  The vid's here for those with the spare time.  I skipped through a few bits and plan to watch it all when I have a spare moment / insomnia hits me again.

There's a fight with 2 cyclops that was pretty cool - at one point the guy jumps down onto it's head from a watch tower and gets his stab on.  So it seems to totally support the kind of fantasy that I really like.  About the 1 hour mark if anyone wants to jump to it (a tad after but they explain the class they're using - the Magic Archer - before the fight proper).