Awaiting Mass Effect

I was tempted to name the thread 'Going coo coo for Cocoa Puffs' since that more clearly defines my eagerness to get my hands on this game.

I've only been interested in ME for a few weeks. I bought the book on a whim (Come to think of it, that's how I buy most things) and thought it was good. Now, I don't expect a masterpiece of a prequel novel that is only supposed to lay the groundwork for the actual game but Drew Karpyshyn did a great job of fleshing out the cultures without making it seem forced. Also, my favorite part of the book is probably something that pissed most people off: Finally, an author with the balls to break established convention!

After the book I read the articles, watched the videos and now I'm pumped for an epic space opera! Maybe this is just filling the void that Gothic 3 created but this is the first game in a long while, G3 aside, that I've been fanboishly excited about.

Damn you BioWare, I promised myself I'd never let me fall in love with you again! Not after the way you toyed with my heart last time!

Heh, so… Anybody else looking forward to ME or am I the only guy at the Watch with a 360?

Well, most people know that I won't ever buy a console, so no ME for me!!

I'd actually be interested in ME but I don't have a 360. I briefly flirted with the idea of getting one but I don't think it's worth it for me at this point.

Originally Posted by Corwin
Well, most people know that I won't ever buy a console, so no ME for me!!

Real men buy no console. Except for me, it was that Intellivision in 1983… you, Corwin, you probably still have an Atari 2600 that you play when RPGWatch is not watching…

No 360 for me - I'm up to my neck with a PC and 3 handhelds …

No 360 here either and this will end up on the PC before too long anyway so I can definitely wait. From what I've seen though I'm not expecting much more than an (even more) kiddiefied KotOR so I can wait even longer .

I bought a console just to play it.

My wife did get me Viva Pinata to play while I wait, though, and the newest Rainbow Six game.

Na, even if i think i will have a 360 sooner than later, i don't like the "un-game" in the later "game" from BioWare. I want to play game, not talk, and definitly not looking through impressive CGI (even if i enjoy that to a degree).

I even stopped playing Kotor since i thought i was boored to death by talk, talk, talk. I want play, play, play. Perhaps i am getting jaded.

Bioshock, though, has my vote for the most anticipated game this year.

Doesn't the 360 have a reputation for Hardware failures now? MS had to extend the warranty for it by another couple of years.

The PS3 has had a load of titles released for it I heard and since the price drop its been selling well. However, I still won't pay $500 for a game console.

Originally Posted by mute
Na, even if i think i will have a 360 sooner than later, i don't like the "un-game" in the later "game" from BioWare. I want to play game, not talk, and definitly not looking through impressive CGI (even if i enjoy that to a degree).

I even stopped playing Kotor since i thought i was boored to death by talk, talk, talk. I want play, play, play. Perhaps i am getting jaded.

Ahem… The reason you talk a lot in cRPG's (roleplaying games (the c stands for computer), which by definition focuses on playing a character (a role) and experiencing a story) is because it's one of the few ways to roleplay in cRPG's.

In the tabletop verision of roleplaying games you have a lot more options, you can say whatever you want and make whatever decisions you want (pretty much). In cRPG's talking is the only way to even somewhat roleplay, and therefore talking is essencial to cRPG's.

It is when talking you make the decisions that defines who your character is, and when done correctlly (like in Fallout, Vampire tm Bloodlines and Planescape:Torment) it's the funniest part of cRPG's IMO. If you don't agree with me on this point (and your "there's too much talking in kotor" comment kind of sais you don't ) then you're probablly into the wrong genre. Complaining that there's too much talking in RPG's is like complaining that there's too much action in Die Hard.

(Action-RPG's is another story. My view on those is that they're not really RPG's at all, despite the name, because the things Action-RPG's have in common with "ordinary" RPG's isn't the things that makes RPG's RPG's (roleplaying and story) but instead they took some other concepts that are pretty much allways a part of RPG's (combat, statsbased characterdevelopment) and focused on those instead, while removeing the roleplaying and putting the story to a bare minimum.)

Übereil

Originally Posted by Lucky Day
Doesn't the 360 have a reputation for Hardware failures now? MS had to extend the warranty for it by another couple of years.

The PS3 has had a load of titles released for it I heard and since the price drop its been selling well. However, I still won't pay $500 for a game console.

The 360 and the original XBox both are well known for hardware failures, as well as eating discs. They're made about like M$'s operating systems; crappy.

The PS3 is fully backwards compatible with the PS2 titles as well IIRC. The X360 is only partially compatible with the original boat anchor. I don't know if the PS3 can play the PS1 titles or not, but even without them it still has the largest library of any home console right now.

I'm not buying any of the current consoles yet. I won't buy any M$ products at all, so the X360 is out. The PS3 has too few games coming out for it to justify the price. There's only one exclusive I want for it, Gran Turismo 5. Wii has a couple more games, but is still too few for me to seriously consider it.

Originally Posted by Ubereil
Ahem… The reason you talk a lot in cRPG's (roleplaying games (the c stands for computer), which by definition focuses on playing a character (a role) and experiencing a story) is because it's one of the few ways to roleplay in cRPG's.

In the tabletop verision of roleplaying games you have a lot more options, you can say whatever you want and make whatever decisions you want (pretty much). In cRPG's talking is the only way to even somewhat roleplay, and therefore talking is essencial to cRPG's.

It is when talking you make the decisions that defines who your character is, and when done correctlly (like in Fallout, Vampire tm Bloodlines and Planescape:Torment) it's the funniest part of cRPG's IMO. If you don't agree with me on this point (and your "there's too much talking in kotor" comment kind of sais you don't ) then you're probablly into the wrong genre. Complaining that there's too much talking in RPG's is like complaining that there's too much action in Die Hard.

(Action-RPG's is another story. My view on those is that they're not really RPG's at all, despite the name, because the things Action-RPG's have in common with "ordinary" RPG's isn't the things that makes RPG's RPG's (roleplaying and story) but instead they took some other concepts that are pretty much allways a part of RPG's (combat, statsbased characterdevelopment) and focused on those instead, while removeing the roleplaying and putting the story to a bare minimum.)

Übereil

Couldn't have said it better. Action-RPGs to me are just action games with stats. However, as long as it's fun, I don't care. Most won't argue against a Rogue-like being an RPG of sorts, and it's much the same as Diablo or LotR: RotK for the GBA with ASCII graphics. Though many of the older cRPGs lack much plot development and have little actual interaction with the world. Ultima was among the first to incorporate a full world, with many NPCs you could chat and argue with.

@Ubereil: I agree with what you write. To a degree. But i don't think that the heavy use of talk with my character makes a good (computer)RPG. In the real world, when i played, we had more emphasize on playing the role, and talk was what we was focuse on. But looking at a computer character reading, and me just choosing a somewhat corney answer,its not me playing a role, its me pressing buttons on my computer, with very limited choices at hand. Its getting boring. (FOR ME! - Hence Mass Effect isn't a game for me … ) I just answered Korplems question and wasn' expecting me defeding my likings with cRPG)

Me, i like the cRPG in the spirit of old school. Not the new. And i don't like Action RPG especially much. Games like Realms Of Arkania, POR2 (my favourite), and TOEE there is a strategic element in the games focus. Strategy and tactics. I also enjoy Vampire, but stopped playing Torment and Baldurs Gate 2 - cause - it wasn't book reading i wanted to do.

Altough, I do think you should look into the classics of RPG to see where i come from, before you says anything that this isn't my cup of tea.
We can debate whatever we want about what a cRPG is and not, and i don't think we will agree… :-) In my book, there is a lot of variants, and we don't like em all.

Originally Posted by Lucky Day
Doesn't the 360 have a reputation for Hardware failures now? MS had to extend the warranty for it by another couple of years.

The PS3 has had a load of titles released for it I heard and since the price drop its been selling well. However, I still won't pay $500 for a game console.

Maybe I'm just lucky and got a good one but I've had mine for over a year and it's worked perfectly. Even during those 3 day stretches where me and a friend do nothing but play it.

As far as I know about PS3, which is not much, the library is still really small. And, I'm almost positive that European PS3s aren't backward compatible. Don't quote me on that…

I bought a console just to play it.

My wife did get me Viva Pinata to play while I wait, though, and the newest Rainbow Six game.

If you haven't tried Dead Rising you're missing out. Very cheesy and very fun.

Originally Posted by Korplem
And, I'm almost positive that European PS3s aren't backward compatible.

The Euro PS3s are backwards compatible but in an even more hit and miss way than the regular (US) unit because Sony decided to remove the hardware chip that is in the US consoles for backwards compatibility and they replaced it with a software thingie (emulation). The software emulation is naturally slower and more prone to errors. I think that some other regions like Australia got this stripped down version as well and the US can "look forward" to getting it in the near future, too, since the new 80GB models that will begin shipping in August are supposed to be missing the chip as well.

Originally Posted by mute
@Ubereil: I agree with what you write. To a degree. But i don't think that the heavy use of talk with my character makes a good (computer)RPG. In the real world, when i played, we had more emphasize on playing the role, and talk was what we was focuse on. But looking at a computer character reading, and me just choosing a somewhat corney answer,its not me playing a role, its me pressing buttons on my computer, with very limited choices at hand. Its getting boring. (FOR ME! - Hence Mass Effect isn't a game for me … ) I just answered Korplems question and wasn' expecting me defeding my likings with cRPG)

Me, i like the cRPG in the spirit of old school. Not the new. And i don't like Action RPG especially much. Games like Realms Of Arkania, POR2 (my favourite), and TOEE there is a strategic element in the games focus. Strategy and tactics. I also enjoy Vampire, but stopped playing Torment and Baldurs Gate 2 - cause - it wasn't book reading i wanted to do.

Altough, I do think you should look into the classics of RPG to see where i come from, before you says anything that this isn't my cup of tea.
We can debate whatever we want about what a cRPG is and not, and i don't think we will agree… :-) In my book, there is a lot of variants, and we don't like em all.

It's a question of taste, nothing wrong with that . Your answer just seemed a bit "stupid", as if you had no clue what RPG's were acually about (hence my answer). Personally, I like reading (a lot ) so interactive books like Ps:T and BG2 (even though I think there's too much combat in BG2…) are perfect for me .

I personally didn't like KotOR2 that much (I finnished it though, and I might try it again when these guys finnishes their work), but that was more due to the ridiculously easy combat combined with the heavy focus on combat in problemsolveing (there weren't much thinking invovled. Go from point A to point B and kill everything in between. Occationally you had to find an item or room, but there were never much acuall thinking involved). Plus the story wasn't that good. I might add that I didn't like the talking much either. When the dialogue is well written (like in Bloodlines or Fallout, and to some extent in Ps:T, though it was usually your companions who had all the funny lines. That's another thing I liked about Ps:T, all your partycompanions) it's fun to talk, but in KotOR it was usually rather dry. Come to think of it, there wasn't much in KotOR I liked (there was the influence system, which was a nice feature, but apart from that…).

But this doesn't have much to do with Mass Effect…

Übereil

Originally Posted by Korplem
If you haven't tried Dead Rising you're missing out. Very cheesy and very fun.

Oh, I agree. Fortunately, BioWare has a good-sized software library. Dead Rising is one of the games I'll be checking out when I'm done with Rogue Galaxy and not hip-deep in childcare. In the interest of fiscal responsibility, I'm trying to take advantage of the company's library and only borrow games that I wouldn't play for more than a few weeks. Viva Pinata has some awesome sandbox elements, and Rainbow Six is supposed to have good co-op multiplayer, so my wife and I can gun down bad guys together.

Ok, this doesn't have much to do with my original post but I had to quote myself just for the irony.

Maybe I'm just lucky and got a good one but I've had mine for over a year and it's worked perfectly. Even during those 3 day stretches where me and a friend do nothing but play it.

Today I pressed the power button and was immediately attacked by the red circle of death (or whatever the hell it's called). I was prepared to send it back to microsoft, more than slightly embarrassed about my above quote.

My friend from work, known for being extremely religious, gave it a slight smack on the side, pressed the power button and… it worked! So, I've come to the conclusion that if you need to fix a circle of death just bring it to your local priest (or other such man of god/allah) so he can lay hands on it!

Oh, and Patrick, if you get around to playing Dead Rising, make sure you put on the goofiest clothing you can find. It makes the dramatic sequences hilarious.

Originally Posted by PatrickWeekes
Oh, I agree. Fortunately, BioWare has a good-sized software library. Dead Rising is one of the games I'll be checking out when I'm done with Rogue Galaxy and not hip-deep in childcare. In the interest of fiscal responsibility, I'm trying to take advantage of the company's library and only borrow games that I wouldn't play for more than a few weeks. Viva Pinata has some awesome sandbox elements, and Rainbow Six is supposed to have good co-op multiplayer, so my wife and I can gun down bad guys together.

Damn you! Stop flaunting Rogue Galaxy in front of us Europeans since we're still waiting for the damn thing to be released (if you think PC release delays between the US and Europe is bad then you've got another thing coming concerning console titles).

Regarding the backwards compatibility of the PS3: I don't know about other regions but here in Europe most of the Final Fantasy games won't run properly or at all on the PS3. When I finally succumbed to the console lure (and yes, ME was a major player in my going to the Dark Side ) I wrote a list of the Playstation games I would like to play and at the time (April) almost half of said list was either poorly supported or not supported at all on the PS3, so that's why I bought a PS2 instead.