When I think about the original ending of Mass Effect 3

I'm still like...

Mass Effect 3: Extended Cut DLC due this Summer

Mass Effect 3 will receive a free ending DLC. Yes, after a month of fan outrage and industry commentary, Bioware has made the announcement that the "Extended Cut" DLC will come out in the summer and offer fans the closure they desire. As many have predicted, the DLC will not change the ending as it is - rather it will feature sequences and cut-scenes that help to explain it and provide closure.

“We have re-prioritized our post-launch development efforts to provide the fans who want more closure with even more context and clarity to the ending of the game, in a way that will feel more personalized for each player,” said Casey Hudson, the series' executive producer."

According to Game Informer, the DLC will be free through April 12, 2014 for Xbox 360, PS3, and PC. Players must have an account with either EA online service Origin, the PlayStation Network or Xbox Live to receive the DLC free of charge.

Here's to hoping that this DLC will satiate the desires of disappointed fans and the RetakeME3 movement, rather then add more wood to the fire that Bioware and EA are roasting in.

Mass Effect 3's nontraditional traditional ending choices

Saw this today and was immediately amused by it - I wonder if foot is a good taste to have in your mouth?

Mass Effect 3 fans push for a "sweet" resolution

Any gamer worth his controller pack has heard the buzz surrounding the ending of Mass Effect 3. Many fans felt that the trilogy's ambiguous ending was a colossal let down after over 100 hours of galaxy surfing.

The disappointment has been so potent that fans have joined together to demand a new or extended ending from Bioware. This movement, dubbed "Retake Mass Effect 3," has generated a lot of press from a variety of sources - especially Forbes.com. Together, they've raised about $75,000 for the Child's Play Charity - and they are working out a plan to support other charities to be heard. Other disappointed fans have taken different approaches. One extreme fan filed complaints of false advertising to the Better Business Bureau and the FTC.Another took a more savory approach and sent Bioware an assortment of cupcakes that mimic the game's "multiple" endings. The cupcakes, which were funded by donations from other disappointed fans, are either red, green, or blue and all taste the same - a very blunt jab at Bioware for the seemingly shallow nature of the ending.

Public opinion has been all over the place on this one. Mainstream gaming media sources, like IGN and Game Informer, seem to be very quick at to mock and ridicule the fans, meanwhile Forbes seems to be their strongest mainstream supporter. Those against the movement claim that the "protesters" are just being entitled brats, other compare them to terrorists. The main argument is that the fans have no right to impose upon Bioware's "artistic integrity." Touchy subject indeed.

While I think there are a few bad apples among the protesters (like the knucklehead that filed BBB/FTC complaints), I think Bioware should give them what they want, but also take a few artistic liberties at the same time.

Bioware's biggest asset, as a company, is it's die hard fan-base. The fan's that are upset are members of that fan-base: they're the ones who buy the novels, the comic books, and the merchandise. But beyond the revenue directly generated from them, they're also their greatest marketing tool. Word of mouth is one of the most potent forms of advertising, especially in the digital era. Bioware has a legion of fans who are willing to be their advocates for free. These folks are the ones that are your early adopters for new games and series, and will recommend it to their friends and social media followers. Advertisers pay millions of dollars for this type of reach. In addition to the business angle of the fan-base dynamic, there's also the content development assets. Through a variety of fan-fictions and fan-made endings, Bioware has a gold mine in front of them - they know what their audience is looking for. That's thousands of dollars of product development research available to them for free.

Additionally, delivering what their fans so desperately desire is a smooth public relations move. Fans' donations to the Child's Play Charity demonstrates how invested they are. They're willing to commit to a cause and take an upstanding and respectable approach. Why not reward that behavior? Everyone stands to gain from it - the fans get their voices heard, the developer/publishers get additional brand equity, and the needy get helped.

The final reason for "changing" the ending is this: they can do it. Bioware is one of the few studios with an exceptionally capable group of developers that can take consumer feedback and successfully integrate it with their artistic vision. Look at the Lair of the Shadow Broker DLC for Mass Effect 2 - they took fan feedback and developed what is arguably one of the best video game add-ins ever made.. While the current ME3 ending may have been a downer, they were able to produce roughly 99 hours and 50 minutes of content that is entertaining and immersible. By examining the fan-made endings, they have the tools to see what their audience is looking for and shape their product to meet that demand. Moreover, I don't think that they need to "change" the ending to do so. Take Fallout 3, for example. Bethesda took fan feedback into consideration and developed Broken Steel. Some arguments against this say that Broken Steel was hokey - but I don't pay those any mind. Like I mentioned earlier, Bioware has some of the best and brightest talent in the industry. If anyone could extend the ending in a non-hokey way, it's them.

Bioware co-founder, Ray Muzyka, mentioned in his statement on the Bioware Blog, we will be getting an announcement in April of the developer's plans to address the ending of their finale. One should notice that he was very careful in his word choice - he only promised "closure." Nowhere in there does he say whether or not that closure will be in the form of new or extended endings. Here's to hoping we get the news at PAX East coming up this week.

Mass Effect Launch Trailer: Nothing short of EPIC

Mass Effect 3 looms on the horizon, like the Reaper silhouettes over the ruins of Earth. We're just a few days away from the game's launch and Bioware/EA have released yet another trailer to feed the game's already considerable hype.

Nom, nom?

This trailer covers a whole wide range of what will hit the fan in Mass Effect 3. Over the course of  two minutes and forty-four seconds, there's plenty of hope and hopelessness, danger and combat, drama and intrigue. Trailer highlights include the Illusive Man (with Martin Sheen returning as Cerberus' cunning leader) warning Shepard not to cross him, high octane space battles over Earth, and one particularly irritated Thresher Maw taking a bite out of a Reaper. Does it taste like chicken (or a cold, robotic, chicken sociopath)?

For me, the greatest moment of the trailer was hearing Garrus say, "Go out there and give them hell. You were born to do this." Combined with an excellent choice of visual backdrops and an epic musical score, this one line fully nailed the space opera tone that this series has been building since the original came out in 2007.

Get ready for war when Mass Effect 3 is released this upcoming Tuesday, March 6 for Xbox 360, PS3, and PC.

Mass Effect 3 Demo Impressions

Valentine's Day 2012, a day of love, romance... and intense, biotic combat? That's right, V-Day 2012 meant one thing to Mass Effect fans: the demo for the series finale is live.

I had a chance to tinker with the demo and was pretty satisfied overall. A majority of my playtime went toward the single player demo, but I've been able to get my feet wet with the multiplayer mode.

Single Player Demo

The single player demo takes you through two missions: the introductory mission on Earth and a retrieval mission on the Salarian homeworld.Across these two levels, you get to experience the game's revised mobility mechanics. You can slide over crates, climb up ladders and drop off of ledges, just to name a few things. There are also a few new practical additions, such as dodge rolls and melee grabs around cover. I will admit, there were a couple of times where I felt like I was playing Gears of War with all the dodge rolling about.

Combat feels quite a bit heavier this time around, as weapons have a heavier feel and the auto-aim functions aren't doing as much of the heavy lifting as in Mass Effect 2. At least for single shot weapons like heavy pistols and the Mattock assault rifle, you need to place your shots pretty carefully. The new heavy melee attacks are pretty seamlessly implemented and are quite useful for eliminating (or at least staggering) the unfortunate sod in your path. The new gameplay elements (and the increased difficulty) lend to the "This is War" atmosphere that the Bioware team set out to create.

In order to avoid dropping any major demo/main game spoilers, I won't go into too much detail about the plot elements found in the demo. There are plenty of great Mass Effect moments, some humorous and some dramatic. You'll see some familiar faces that will bring a smile to yours. However, there's also one particular part that hit me in the chest like a ton of bricks. This type of story-telling finesse is what makes the game a true Mass Effect title, even with the vast array of changes the series has seen over the years.

Multiplayer Demo

Single player is all well and good, but the part that longtime fans are skeptically looking at is the new co-op multiplayer. It's a polarizing topic - people either love or hate the idea of adding multiplayer to their beloved series.

Based on my experience with the multiplayer, I love it. You are able to choose one of the main Mass Effect classes (and in the full-version, you can choose your race). Each class/race combination has a different combination of abilities and powers that you can level up. In addition, you can customize your loadout, attach weapon mods, and buy unique items to help you in-mission, including health packs, ammo boxes, and rocket launchers.

When you get into the fray, you quickly learn that Bioware definitely means for you to cooperate. Your primary goal is to survive for all ten waves, occasionally chasing down and completing objectives within a time limit. Enemies are merciless even on the lowest difficulties, and their AI works together surprisingly well to draw you out of cover and into their sights. For example, riot shield and melee enemies may try to herd you out of your cover and into an open area. In order to get through the final waves, you'll need to draw on your team's diverse range of abilities, such as having Infiltrators conduct hit-and-run attacks with their tactical cloak and Vanguards force baddies out of cover. As I've explained, Special Forces is hard work - but pulling together and beating "impossible odds" ends up being extremely fun!

Are you ready for war?

I walk away from the Mass Effect 3 demo very satisfied, despite some of the changes made to the Mass Effect formula. Combat mechanics feel closer to Gears of War than they do to Mass Effect 1, but it all plays very well. Bioware has done a phenomenal job updating and maintaining the series so they're not just releasing a re-shelled clone of the previous title (Call of Duty anyone?).

On top of that, the new multiplayer elements are surprisingly fun and addictive, albeit challenging. However, despite the quality of the game mode, its on-going success depends very heavily on the number of people that continue to play it after they complete the story. It's not something you can successfully do alone.

Nonetheless, even if this does come to pass, Mass Effect 3 looks like it will be able to deliver the same quality level of single player content that the series, and Bioware, is renowned for.



Mass Effect 3 is scheduled to be released Tuesday, March 6 on Xbox360, Playstation 3, and PC.

Mass Effect 3 Looks to Be Action Packed!

The "Adrenaline-Pumping Gameplay" trailer offers Mass Effect fans a look at some of the intense moments to look forward to in the upcoming finale. Most notable, at least for me, is that you're going to be fighting the Reapers on foot! To put it in perspective, that's roughly equivalent to an ant fighting a monster-truck.

Impossible odds? Sounds fun to me!



As if that wasn't epic enough, our friends over at Bioware have also released a "Reinstated" trailer that stars the female version of our favorite N7 Marine. The trailer looks awesome and I can't help but think that "Fem Shep" is the way Mass Effect 3 should be. Jennifer Hale's voice acting in Mass Effect 1 and 2 has been superb, and I  am excited to see (or hear) how she takes command of the character in Mass Effect 3. The trailer also features the new default face for Fem Shep, a major overhaul and upgrade from the series' past versions.

Mass Effect 3 is scheduled to be released Tuesday, March 6 on Xbox360, Playstation 3, and PC.

How to Win Valentine's Day

Mass Effect 3 Achievements

Additional Mass Effect 3 info has trickled out and, as with the Special Forces trailer, EA/Bioware continue to string along their eager fan-base.

This time around, we have a list of achievements for the series' finale.Hot entries include winning political stand-offs, learning the origins of a monstrous enemy, and defeating a new type of enemy: the Harvester. There's most likely a few spoilers hiding in the list, so be careful how closely you read if you're safeguarding your Mass Effect 3 experience. Otherwise, check out the complete list here.





Mass Effect 3 is scheduled to be released Tuesday, March 6 on Xbox360, Playstation 3, and PC.

Mass Effect 3 Teasers

After a longer hiatus than I would've liked, the blog is back up and running. Also, I couldn't think of a better topic to be the harbinger of our return - Mass Effect 3.

With nearly a month to go before the release of the grand finale of the Mass Effect trilogy, Bioware and EA have taunted fans with the perfect balance of information and mystery. While they release details about gameplay, they withhold the golden nuggets of the story and squad mates. I, for one, am practically drooling!

One of the biggest mysteries, the new cooperative multiplayer mode, has a new trailer that teases at the variety of classes and playstyles available. The multiplayer mode, called Special Forces, allows players to step into the shoes of the elite commandos supporting Commander Shepard's fight against the infamous Reapers. Based on the trailer, this new game mode promises to be an action packed, brutal, and exhilarating adventure.

Mass Effect 3 is scheduled to be released Tuesday, March 6 on Xbox360, Playstation 3, and PC.