Kotaku reported today that inside sources have given some information on Playstation’s next console. For starters the rumor says it will be called “Orbis”, judging by the marketing nightmare associated with a goofy word like that I’m betting it’s a code name. If it is a name, we can spend hours debating the meaning, Urban Dictionary tells us that Orbis is slang for “Awesome, really cool, rad”. So technically they’re working on codename rad right now.

The other information says the next system is being prepped for a Holiday 2013 release and will include an AMD x64 CPU, and the AMD Southern Islands GPU. Both are going to be included in high end PC cards next year and would lead to an incredible experience. The devices are rumored to be able to run at a resolution of 4096X2160, and will deliver 3d at 1080p (right now the playstation does 3d at 720.)

What do you folks think? Time to save those pennies?

This short but sweet video shows Connor, the new protagonist in Ubisoft’s series and gives us a run down of the weapons he’ll be using. I’m excited to see the damage you can do with the tomahawk. If you haven’t seen the trailer it’s here for you otherwise check this video out below, release is getting closer and closer!

Sony Online Entertainment announced that October 18-21 will be the time for MMO fans to head to Bally’s Casino in Las Vegas. The S.O.E Live event will be an opportunity for players of the major SOE MMO’s to gather. It looks like every SOE game will be “celebrated” from The Clone Wars online to D.C. Universe. I didn’t think that Vanguard’s servers were still running, apologies to the fans of the game for the oversight. What say you gamers, heading to Vegas?

[Press release below]

SONY ONLINE ENTERTAINMENT ANNOUNCES SOE LIVE

Annual Event Connects Fans with the People Behind the Games this October

SAN DIEGO – March 26, 2012 – Sony Online Entertainment LLC (SOE) today announced that its annual fan event will now be called SOE LIVE and will take place at Bally’s in Las Vegas, October 18-21, 2012. An annual SOE-sponsored event, SOE Live is set to be the ultimate gathering for the SOE community, and provides players an opportunity to celebrate their favorite games across SOE’s portfolio of titles, including:DC Universe™ Online, EverQuest®, EverQuest II, Free Realms®, Magic: The Gathering – Tactics®, PlanetSide® 2, Star Wars®: Clone Wars Adventures™ and Vanguard: Saga of Heroes®.

“The ‘SOE Live’ name change represents a deeper meaning behind our annual event,” said Laura Naviaux, Senior Vice President of Marketing and Sales, Sony Online Entertainment. “As our game portfolio continues to expand, we wanted to better represent our diverse player base and games, including the newest additions to the SOE family, with DC Universe Online, Free Realms, Star Wars: Clone Wars Adventures, and the highly anticipated PlanetSide 2. Previous event attendees can rest assured that we are not removing any of our established activities in order to accommodate the new players; rather, they can expect even more to make this the ultimate SOE fan experience.”

SOE Live reflects the belief that all SOE players are part of one extended family and presents an opportunity for fans of all ages to meet the talented people behind some of the online world’s most successful games. In addition to a slew of social events, SOE will host developer panel discussions and game-themed live events, giving attendees a chance to voice their opinions of current and upcoming game content. SOE Live will also feature exclusive access to new announcements and beta programs, tournaments, premium swag and more.

For more information, visit http://www.SOE.com/SOELive.

For press assets, visit http://bhimpact.gamespress.com/product_page.asp?i=1213.

About SOE
Sony Online Entertainment LLC (SOE) is a recognized worldwide leader in massively multiplayer online games. Best known for its blockbuster hits and franchises, includingEverQuest, EverQuest II, Champions of Norrath, PlanetSide, Free Realms, Star Wars®: Clone Wars Adventures™ and DC Universe™ Online, SOE creates, develops and provides compelling online entertainment for a variety of platforms. SOE is building on its proven legacy and pioneering the future of online worlds through creative development and inspired gameplay design for audiences of all ages. To learn more, visitwww.soe.com.

SOE, the SOE logo, EverQuest, Champions of Norrath, PlanetSide and Free Realms are registered trademarks of Sony Online Entertainment LLC. All other trademarks and trade names are properties of their respective owners. All rights reserved.

South Park Studios has announced that Friday March 30, 2012 will be the release date for Scott Tennorman’s Revenge. I haven’t played a South Park game since since throwing pee snowballs in South Park 64. Taking the crew through time and space to hunt down the evil Scott Tennorman should bring some joy to fans of the series. The game will be given for free to the first 5000 purchasers of South Park Season 15 on DVD and Blu-Ray, or you can purchase it for 800 Microsoft points. Images and Press release below.

SCOTT TENORMAN PLOTS HIS REVENGE IN “SOUTH PARK: TENORMAN’S REVENGE,”
THE EXCLUSIVE XBOX LIVE ARCADE VIDEO GAME LAUNCHING ON FRIDAY, MARCH 30
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New Downloadable Game Lets Fans Play As Cartman, Kyle, Stan And Kenny
As They Travel Through Time And Space To Battle Scott Tenorman
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New Episodes Of “South Park” Air On COMEDY CENTRAL On Wednesdays At 10:00 P.M.
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“South Park: The Complete Fifteenth Season Uncensored” DVD And Blu-Ray Arrives In Stores On Tuesday, March 27 With Chance To Win Downloadable Game Code And More Prizes
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NEW YORK, March 26, 2012 – South Park Digital Studios LLC announced today that its all-new downloadable video game “South Park: Tenorman’s Revenge,” will be arriving Friday, March 30,exclusively on Xbox LIVE Arcade for the Xbox 360 video game and entertainment system from Microsoft. The multi-player, co-op, drop-in video game, published by Microsoft Studios and developed by Other Ocean Interactive and South Park Digital Studios, will provide fans with more than 20 levels and 80 side branches of hilarious classic platformer gameplay.
Fans can play locally or online as Stan, Kyle, Cartman and Kenny as they travel through time and space to battle Scott Tenorman and his army of Ginger robots before they destroy South Park and, more importantly, the boys’ Microsoft Xbox 360 hard drive. Players will visit locations spanning the show’s history including Heaven, Hell, Future South Park, the South Park sewers, PiPi’s Water Park, Tynacorp, Peru and the Poo Choo Express. To save South Park the boys will face off against Ginger robots, multi-assed minions, time bombs, Manbearpig and much more. Each boy has been designated a special abilityto use throughout the game. Cartman “belly barges” through walls, Stan throws a football to hit ranged targets, Kenny has a super high jump, and Kyle confuses Ginger robots and their shields by “daywalking” (revealing his ginger hair). For added fun, each player can also become the boys’ superhero alter egothroughout different parts of the game, turning in to The Coon, Mysterion, Human Kite, and Toolshed.
Fans can purchase the game for 800 Microsoft Points or can enter to win a game code through the purchase of “South Park: The Complete Fifteenth Season” Blu-ray and DVD available tomorrow,
(more)

March 27. Each Blu-ray and DVD will include a unique code inside for fans to enter at www.southparkstudios.com/season15 to get thousands of prizes, including a downloadable game code. It’s first come, first serve so fans have to act fast. The first 5,000 to enter their code will get a download of “South Park: Tenorman’s Revenge” game, an exclusive “South Park” theme and a 48 hour trial of Xbox Live Gold Membership. The next 70,000 entries will get an exclusive “South Park” Xbox theme and a 48 hour trial of Xbox Live Gold Membership.
Voted “The Greatest Animated TV Series” in a poll conducted by Entertainment Weekly, COMEDY CENTRAL’s “South Park” launched on August 13, 1997. The series airs Wednesday nights at 10:00 p.m. and repeats later that night at midnight (all times ET/PT).
South Park Digital Studios, LLC is a joint venture between Viacom Media Networks and Matt Stone & Trey Parker, the creators of the hit television show “South Park.” South Park Digital Studiosoperates all of the digital businesses based on “South Park,” including online, video gaming, digital distribution and digital goods, as well as new adult animation projects. The digital operations include the U.S. Web site, SouthParkStudios.com, and local versions of the site in Germany, the United Kingdom, Ireland, Netherlands, Finland, Norway, Sweden and Denmark, the show’s first entry into video gaming in ten years and a wide array of other applications and products. SouthParkStudios.com has become one of the leading television show Web sites with more than 35 million videos streamed each month and user visits averaging nearly 40 minutes.
Available in 99 million homes nationwide, COMEDY CENTRAL (www.comedycentral.com), the only all-comedy network, is owned by, and is a registered trademark of, Comedy Partners, a wholly-owned unit of Viacom Inc. (NASDAQ: VIA and VIAB). For up-to-the-minute and archival press information and photographs visit Press Central, COMEDY CENTRAL’s press web site atwww.comedycentral.com/press and follow us on Twitter @ComedyCentralPR for the latest in breaking news updates, behind-the-scenes information and photos.

We all know the Mass Effect 3 ending has been somewhat controversial. It’s been a little troublesome to discuss while avoiding spoilers as the game is still new. Late last week Arse-bot decided it was time to blow this wide open, and spoilers be damned. If you’re ready to hear the ending (his version at least, which was very similar to mine) and discuss the controversy he’s got two great articles. The first simply describes the ending as he saw it and will let you in on the questions he had as it happened. The second is a little more in-depth about why so many people are disappointed with the ending and includes a few theories about what’s really happening. Remember though, both of these are chock full of spoilers. If you’re not done yet and you don’t want to how it ends, don’t read them.

Other than that, this weekend’s news was solid, if not prolific:

If you dig the fantasy genre, reading or gaming, you’ll want to check out Mistborn: Birthright late next year on PS3, 360, PC, and Mac. Little Orbit, who is also working on a Young Justice game, is developing this prequel to Brandon Sanderson’s Mistborn saga of books. Sanderson is writing the story, which takes place four hundred years before the first novel about metal eating wizards. Yeah, it sounds a little bizarre, but it’s a very creative world and one of the reasons Sanderson has been called “one of the most popular new fantasy writers to emerge in the last ten years.” In addition to Mistborn, he’s also written the successful Stormlight novels, handled story development on Infinity Blade II, and is finishing the final novel in Robert Jordan’s Wheel of Time.

Battlefield 3 will be getting a stout patch on PS3 today. Patches for PC and 360 will be detailed soon. For the full rundown, check Battlefield’s site as this thing is far too massive to cover completely in this space. If you don’t need all the details, suffice to say I counted 21 general gameplay fixes, 67 vehicle fixes, 71 weapon tweaks, 11 scope adjustments, three bipod, five heavy barrel, four IRNV, two foregrip, two laser sight, four suppressor, three flash suppressor, 21 gadgets, seven team deathmatch, and four on squad death match. In addition, you’ll now be able to turn off anti-aliasing on the PS3 to reduce lag, and the minimap will now be more clear. This update will also include the “rent-a-server- program mentioned a few weeks ago, which allows PS3 players to host their own servers with their own rules, similar to the PC options that have been around for years.

At least three different editions seem to be coming for Assassins’ Creed III this October. The “Freedom Edition” looks to be top dog with a 24cm Connor figurine, steelbook case, George Washington’s notebook about the Templar/Assassin war, lithograph, two single player missions with additional weapons (Lost Mayan Ruins that unlocks Captain Kidd’s sword, and Ghost of War that unlocks the Pontiac’s War Club), and the multiplayer Sharpshooter package (new character, one relic, one emblem, special picture, and the title of “The Jester”).

The “Join or Die Edition” has a little less of the good stuff, but still looks great. This one includes Connor’s medallion, George Washington’s notebook, the Ghost of War mission, and the Sharpshooter package.

Finally, there’s the “Special Edition.” This one is fairly basic, coming with a special package and a bonus mission, “A Dangerous Secret,” that scores you a Flintlock Musket. It’s worth noting, as you’ll see the PEGI 18 rating logo in the pics, that I got the assets from a UK announcement. Ubisoft didn’t bring the specials from Revelations to the US, but this game is set in colonial America so I’m expecting some form of each of these will be available in the US as well. If not, serious collectors may want to import. Also, while pricing was not announced I’d like to make my predictions (in US dollars). The “Special Edition” will likely be a free upgrade for preorders, meaning the bonus mission and Sharpshooter stuff is actually going to be unlockable with the online pass. The “Join or Die Edition” strikes me as a typical $80 package. That 24cm figurine is what’s going to boost the cost on the “Freedom Edition.” I’d expect $120.

If you’re a Call of Duty fan (despite internet bitching, the sales numbers would indicate you probably are), you might be interested to know that the Robert Bowling announced he’s moving on yesterday. Bowling was the Creative Strategist for Infinity Ward and was generally the public face of Modern Warfare. Making the announcement on Twitter, Bowling said “Today, I resign from my position as Creative Strategist of Call of Duty, as a lead of Infinity Ward, and as an employee of Activision.” He didn’t mention where he’s headed or what’s next in his career. Activision responded in a positive manner, stating “We sincerely thank Robert for his many years of service. He’s been a trusted and valued member of the Infinity Ward team. We wish him all the best on his decision to pursue future opportunities.” Seems like an amicable departure. It will be interesting to see where this move takes Bowling and the franchise that’s benefited from his contributions.

Cover art for the film tie-in of The Amazing Spider-Man has been revealed. That little graphic in the top corner quietly announced something Beenox hadn’t mentioned yet, Move compatibility. I can’t confirm Kinect compatibility, but it stands to reason. Right? If we don’t get details first, we’ll find out exactly what the compatibility means (punching, swinging, silly dance numbers with Gwen Stacy?) when the game launches on June 26th.

Don’t forget, it’s time again to vote for the cover athlete on this year’s Madden NFL 13. Voting is going on now at ESPN.com. Ticelli Bot has more details on the process, who’s in the running, and a clever mock-up of what the cover would be if ALL of the finalists made it.

Finally, with April just around the corner, Sony has announced the month’s PlayStation Plus bonuses. It’s not the best month I’ve seen, but it’s still a good offering. First, you’ll get a demo for House of the Dead 4 and early access to the closed beta on Ghost Recon Future Soldier. There’s also Shank 2 (PSN), Shift 2 Unleashed (PS3), Silent Hill (PSOne), and Frogger Returns (PSN) for free. In the minis department, Canabalt, Farm Frenzy, and Mystic Garden will be available. As usual, there will be a pile of avatars, themes, discounted DLC, and several full game trials – including Saints’ Row: The Third and Super Street Fighter IV Arcade Edition.

Syndicate was a great sci-fi strategy game for the PC back in 1993 (or so I’ve been told), but how does this classic stand up to being reinterpreted as a contemporary sci-fi shooter? Pretty well actually. A lot of the fans of this ancient title may be more than a little miffed about the face-lift, and there isn’t much here that will sway them; the bottom line is that this game is way different from the original. As someone looking at it through fresh eyes I can tell you that the game is very smartly designed with fun controls and great combat scenarios that go beyond the standard hip-high cover we’ve all come to expect from this generation of shooters.

Mechanics:

Shooting is pretty straight-forwardbut, the use of your DART 6 Chip implants allow you to overcome obstacles and enemies in a variety of unique and entertaining ways. Enemies with different implants can be hacked and forced to assist you, once these reluctant allies have helped you finish off their friends they will politley kill themselves. Enemy soldiers and flying drones with shield technology that is otherwise inpenetrable must be hacked on the fly so you can get off a shot that will injure or hopefully kill. The chip even allows you to send enemy missiles flying back at the source. Survival requires you to get good at reprogramming turrets and unlocking doors. All these crazy tech tricks cost you time, you must have the target in your sights long enough to perform these hacks. These time sucking hacks help add to tension of being under assault by five or six advancing troops and drones, and greatly increase the satisfaction of defeating them in smart, creative ways which would have otherwise been simply monotonous and generic.

In addition to all the creative and entertaining hacks comes another implant generated power that slows time and damage taken, while increasing the effectiveness of my weapons. With just a tap on the shoulder button I’m suddenly playing a sci-fi version of Max Payne, it’s a welcome addition to the gameplay even if it’s not the most creative feature here. Weapons in Syndicate are pretty entertaining as well. I’m a big fan of the lock on feature with one rifle that lets me send rounds into a target while we’re both behind cover. With hacker skills that put Anonymous and Lulzsec to shame, techno-bullet time and an assortment of pleasing weaponry, Syndicate really becomes the game I always dreamed Deus Ex could be.

Boss Battles are usually against agents of rival corporations with their own crazy implanted powers. Beating these meta-humans spells upgrades for you, since after you promote them to the next plane of existence you extract the implanted chip from their dented skulls. The boss battles themselves can be entertaining since they vary in tactics from fight to fight. That being said, only two really stand out in my mind, they could have benefited from a little more developer attention.

Story:

This is by far the weakest point in the campaign, which is unfortunate when so much attention was clearly paid to making the combat a blast. It’s predictable, boring, and generally well voice-acted thanks to the talents of Rosario Dawson and Brian Cox. When you’re spending the money to bring in actors of that kind of caliber, I usually expect the game to have a story that can at least stand up to most if not all saterday morning cartoons. You play as Kilo, a corporate agent for Eurocorp who with his experimental DART 6 chip implant goes forth to accomplish missions for the betterment of the company, until the shocking realization comes over him that the company that has been sending him out to steal, kill, and kidnap is actually evil. There are a couple of little details but the punch line is you’re gonna quit your job.

Multiplayer:

Multiplayer in Syndicate is limited to a co-op mode but can be pretty entertaining if you remember to have three of your friends join you for it, two-player cooperative play is challenging. The co-op is entirely seperate from the story in the campaign but that’s not necessarily a bad thing. You get nine maps to perform retrievals and assassinations and it can get a little tiresome. But with a few more upgrades for your implants and a bunch of new hacking apps it can be a pleasing if not repetitve experience.

With a campaign that lasts roughly nine hours Syndicate is a pretty impressive game for one that started twenty years ago in a different genre. and although the story has a climax about as predictable as a man jumping off the empire state building, the combat with its unique challenges more than makes up for it.

This article contains spoilers regarding the ending of Mass Effect 3.

You have been warned.

Earlier today I wrote a post on my initial reactions to the ending of Mass Effect 3. Now, I want to dive in to the controversy, the fan reactions, BioWare’s response, and my own personal thoughts on the whole matter.

Let’s start with the fan reaction to the ending.

A few days after Mass Effect 3 hit shelves, some of the more dedicated ME fans began to voice their complaints regarding the final moments and ultimate ending to the game. They were upset, and they were vocal. As the days wore on, the ME fanbase grew more vocal as more and more people crossed the finish line of the game, and it’s safe to say “the majority” were displeased to say the least. Fans took to the internet in force, tweets were sent, Facebook posts were published, blog posts went up, communities were formed. Unfortunately, this initial outcry quickly turned nonconstructive, with one fan even filing a false advertising complaint with the Federal Trade Commission and the Better Business Bureau. To add gasoline to the fire, many video game news sites were quick to call out these fans as being a bunch of entitled crybabies.

Having not finished the game, I was of the thought that perhaps the ME fan community was overreacting. Now having finished the game, I now know what all of the frustration was about – though, still not handled in a mature and constructive way by some in my opinion. BioWare stayed relatively quiet, but standing behind their product, but eventually the fan feedback was too much to ignore. Dr. Ray Muzyka, co-founder of BioWare posted this to the BioWare blog a few days ago:

Building on their research, Exec Producer Casey Hudson and the team are hard at work on a number of game content initiatives that will help answer the questions, providing more clarity for those seeking further closure to their journey. You’ll hear more on this in April. We’re working hard to maintain the right balance between the artistic integrity of the original story while addressing the fan feedback we’ve received. This is in addition to our existing plan to continue providing new Mass Effect content and new full games, so rest assured that your journey in the Mass Effect universe can, and will, continue.

There are numerous theories out there regarding the ending to ME3. Some argue that BioWare simply didn’t know how to wrap up their epic trilogy and dropped the ball in wrapping up their story. Others say that the ending was changed after a script for the game was leaked and a few individuals rewrote the ending without input from the staff. Then there’s the prominent theory that the ending to the game was a battle taking place in Shepard’s mind as he fought the indoctrination process of the Reapers, and the evidence to support this theory is stacking up – but more on this in a moment.

In my previous post, I pointed out many of the things I found confusing and nonsensical. I could take the time to write up an entire separate post on this, but someone has already done a great job of that. After completing the game, I had so many questions and frustrations, this Google Doc does a great job breaking down what I -and I’m sure most others- feel to be all of the major inconsistencies, plot holes, and just plain problems with the ending. It’s well written, factual, and isn’t meant to be malicious or fanboy bitching. If you’ve finished the game, I suggest giving it a read.

I knew what my frustrations and points of disappointment were with the ending, but now I wanted some damn answers. I began scouring the internet and came across a gentleman by the name of Paul Tassi, who is a freelance writer for Forbes, and his numerous posts on all of this ME3 ending business, and to say he got me thinking is an understatement. On particular article, “Did the Real Mass Effect 3 Ending Go Over Everyone’s Heads?”, contains a video about 20 minutes in length, illustrating most of the evidence for the indoctrination theory.

This video, along with Tassi’s commentary (including additional commentary in later articles) started to form a narrative that made sense. Why would BioWare end such an amazing story with three basic endings (Control, Synthesize, Destroy) that took into account none of the decisions previously made by the player throughout all three games? Not to mention these endings are all essentially the same animations, just with different colored effects. There’s also the fact that the ending separates itself from the entire Mass Effect universe so greatly, it’s baffling. BioWare’s staff spent so much time developing this universe and it’s backstories -right down to a history for every single planet in the galaxy of the game- why would they end the game with a “space magic” cop out? It makes little to no sense.

Momentum is growing for this indoctrination theory, and many believe that Mass Effect 3 isn’t actually over and that the “true” ending to this game has been withheld to be released later as DLC. Afterall, in the final seconds of my play-through my Shepard is shown awakening in the rubble of London with a gasp for air. How did he end up back in London after being on the Citadel as it blew up in low orbit over Earth? The answer seems to be he was never on the Citadel and everything that took place from the moment he “awoke” from the blast from the Reaper, Harbinger, was a struggle playing out in his head to fight the indoctrination process. A fight that had to happen eventually since he has spent so much time around, in, fighting, and handling Reaper technology. I really believe the war is not yet over, and there is still a final battle to take place to ultimately save the galaxy (or not) from the Reaper-lead extinction of all life in the galaxy.

So where does this leave the fans and BioWare now? Well, there is always a chance that this ending really was intended to be the actual end to the trilogy and fans have had their voices heard, evident by the statement from BioWare’s co-founder. If this is the case, then this indoctrination theory is simply something that fans have come up with in response to their disappointment with the bookend of an otherwise amazing trilogy of games. If that’s the case though, BioWare has been presented with an exceptional opportunity to take this fan-made theory and run with it, claiming that “Yes! This was the plan all along!” If it turns out that the fans supporting this theory are right, and BioWare had this planned all along, then fans are still going to be upset, but will hopefully still get the closure they are looking for. Why will fans be upset? Because this will mean that BioWare deliberately withheld the ending of their incredibly popular Mass Effect trilogy to release it later as DLC – DLC that’s safe to assume would cost us, the fans, more money. If you bought all of the Mass Effect games at face value, bought all of the additional DLC for the two previous games, and now are “forced” to pay even more to get the “true” ending to the game you’ll have spent over $200 total for this experience. Frankly, this is a price I wouldn’t mind paying considering the quality, but to get all the way to the end and seemingly try to squeeze another few dollars from your fans is a poor decision to have made in the first place. To reference Paul Tassi again, he believes some face may be able to be saved by releasing the DLC for the actual ending to the game for free, I tend to agree, but fans will still know what the true intentions were and BioWare may lose a lot of fans for this move.

Final Thoughts

As I layed down my controller after choosing to destroy the Reapers and watched the ending moments of Mass Effect 3 play out, I was not angry. I was disappointed and frustrated. The Mass Effect trilogy is an amazing sci-fi adventure that holds up to any of the great sci-fi stories told in all mediums, and a major part of what makes this such a great video game is the fact that the story is yours. You make all of the big decisions at all of the major plot points and your decisions and story resulting from them carry over across three games and one sweeping narrative. These decisions you make will have repercussions across the entire Mass Effect universe, and to not provide the player with any sort of closure or epilogue illustrating the impacts your decisions have made is not a very fulfilling way to end such an involved story.

Personally, I know there are a lot of decisions I made throughout the game I was sure there were going to be repercussions for later on, or at least be expanded on in some sort of epilogue on how these decisions affected the universe going forward. I was disappointed to not see any of this play out, I was frustrated to think that BioWare lacked the foresight to think the players would want to have an ending to their game that somehow took into account all the decisions they made as they weaved their own story and legacy through the Mass Effect universe.

I know that the indoctrination theory could prove to be a case of disappointed fans looking for something that just isn’t there. BioWare could release some DLC expanding on the ending and take it in a direction that no one sees coming, pleasing some fans, further disappointing others. However, there is just too much evidence to support this theory for it all to be coincidental, and if it is, then I agree with my friend, and fellow BSR contributor and Mass Effect fan, Senador Kooch, when he said to me earlier today, “I’m having a hard time not believing what they did was intentional to make people think and to set the stage for DLC. If you have odds that great at accidentally being successful, you should be playing the lottery!” If the DLC that eventually comes out proves this indoctrination theory to be true, we will never really know if the folks at BioWare came up with a genius ending for their story, but made the shady decision to withhold the true ending to be released later as DLC, or if this was something that the fans made up in our heads and BioWare jumped on it as an opportunity to please the fans and give them the ending they were hoping for.

I understand there are a lot of thoughts and feelings out there when it comes to this discussion of the ending to Mass Effect, and I welcome all comments, theories, thoughts and commentary you may have on the issue. All I ask is for you to keep it civil as you sound off in the comments section below!

This article contains spoilers regarding the ending of Mass Effect 3.

You have been warned.

Last night around 9pm and after over 80 hours of gameplay, I completed the Mass Effect trilogy. Over the last few weeks I’ve been hearing rumblings regarding the ending of Mass Effect 3 and the fan outcry for it not being a fitting end to an otherwise epic trilogy. Needless to say, I have been avoiding these articles and discussions. Until now. I will follow this article later today with some thoughts and theories regarding the ending, and of course the controversy surrounding it, but first I’d like to share my experience with the ending. My thoughts, my questions, and ultimately my disappointment.

If you’re reading this, I’m going to assume you have also completed Mass Effect 3 and are familiar with these final moments after regaining consciousness. To be frank, as I experienced the ending I didn’t know what to make of it, here are my thoughts as I experienced it, just as nonsensical as when I initially had them:

As my Commander Shepard battled his way through wave after wave of Reaper forces I was full of excitement. This is it, this is the climax. The final push to destroy the Reapers and save the entire galaxy. My Shepard had lost close friends, millions if not billions of people have died holding off the Reaper forces to buy time for me Shepard to unite the races of the galaxy into one unified force to take these bastards down. All of the sacrifice, all of the hard decisions had come down to this. The plan to board the Reaper-controlled Citadel had crumbled around our forces despite our best efforts, and before I knew it I had Shepard in a dead sprint towards the only access point to the Citadel as the Reaper known as Harbinger decimated the men around me. Then, the unthinkable. Shepard doesn’t make it. He is nailed by a blast from Harbinger and all goes dark…

But wait. After all he’s been through, it’s going to take more than a single grazing blast from a Reaper to take Shepard down. Out of the darkness, he comes to with the bodies of fallen soldiers all around him. This is where things begin to make less sense and follow a narrative very out of line with the previous 79 hours and 55 minutes I had spent in the Mass Effect universe, and this is where the frustration for myself and other Mass Effect fans begins.

Reports coming in over my radio are of the Alliance reporting that all soldiers running for the conduit have been wiped out – do they not see the single man limping his way towards it? The Reapers just through everything they had at us to stop us from reaching the conduit, would they not be thorough and make sure this one man, Shepard, who they are personally familiar with is dead? I dispatch of three Husks and the noble -oZo”>Maurader Shields with a pistol that has an endless clip and board the Citadel. But, I’m not alone, Admiral Anderson also made it on board. Communications from him make next to no sense; one moment it seems as if he made it onto the Citadel before me, the next it seems he was behind me. I limp my way to the control room where Anderson has already arrived. There is a weird affect on the screen, am I fighting indoctrination? The Illusive Man shows up. I argue with him, tell him he’s crazy, he forces me to shoot Anderson, I even the score by shooting him. I collapse next to Anderson, as he dies Shepard looks down at a bullet wound on himself in the exact same spot he had just shot Anderson only moments earlier. Shepard begins to fade away, but Admiral Hackett comes in over the radio.

“The Crucible isn’t working, nothing is happening.” he tells me. How does he know I made it to the Citadel? Wasn’t the Alliance just reporting that all forces trying to board were wiped out? Shepard clamors for a control console, collapses just in front, and is lifted into another room. The ghostly image of a child appears before me, begins to talk about the Reapers, what they are “actually for”, that he controls them. The Reapers wipe out all advanced organic life every “cycle” to prevent them from creating sentient synthetic races thought could wipe out all organic life if left unchecked. What the hell? The Reapers who are Synthetics themselves, controlled by this ghost child wipe out advanced organic life to prevent them from creating synthetic races that could potentially wipe out all organic life? What kind of logic is that? After more vague and contradicting explanations, the ghost child presents me with three options:

1. I become one with the Reapers and take control of them, obviously allowing me to call of their decimation of the galaxy.
2. I can jump into some green ray thing. Doing this will “synthesize” the entire galaxy, merging all organics and synthetics into a single type of “DNA”.
3. I can use the Crucible as I originally intended and destroy all current synthetic life, including the Reapers and my Geth allies. But this comes with a warning that the peace that I have brokered between all races to fight against the Reaper threat will not last and there is still the possibility of synthetic life once again being created that could wipe out all organic life.

I paused the game and thought for a moment. The first two options seem fishy, and really don’t make a lot of sense. Fuck this, and fuck the Reapers. I blow them all to hell. It’s what I’ve been working towards, it was my mission. I don’t want to control the Reapers, I don’t want to merge synthetic and organic DNA (however the hell that’s supposed to work). I want the Reapers dead.

I make my choice. Red space magic envelops the planet, destroying all of the Reapers. The red mist then shoots into the local Mass Relay and the red space magic mist stuff shoots off to all other Relays across the galaxy, destroying them in their wake. I’m also presented with a scene of Joker piloting the Normandy to God-knows-where, with my entire crew on board some how. They crash on some planet, get out, smile. The final scene is that of rubble in London where the final battle took place. Here lays the body of Commander Shepard, he takes a gasping breath, credits roll.

I sat staring at my television. What the hell just happened? I’m not angry, I’m frustrated and disappointed. Up until these final moments BioWare had threaded a story and a universe together that was enthralling, epic, and emotional – did they really drop the ball with a bookend to their story full of nonsensical space magic conclusions? Are none of the major decisions I’ve made during the course of the story going to be addressed in some sort of epilogue?

At this point I began frantically texting Senador Kooch about the ending who had just finished the day prior. I spent the next several hours texting with him discussing the ending and scouring the internet on others’ thoughts, theories, and the possibility that this was not truly the end, but instead just an event that will lead to a more logical conclusion in future DLC. Would BioWare actually do this? Would they withhold the end of a game and release it as DLC?

I’ll be back later today to discuss the theories out there, and share my thoughts on whether or not I believe BioWare just fumbled the ball at the one yard line, or if this “ending” was some sort of hallucination and battle that took place in Shepard’s head and the real ending has yet to come.

In the mean time, feel free to share your own experiences with the ending of Mass Effect 3 in the comments below!

UPDATE: I have posted the article discussing the controversy with my own thoughts and opinions on the matter. You can check that out here.

Another year, another Madden, another cover athlete to be cursed. (My thoughts are in italics.)

-The information from the Official Press Release is dated 3/21/2012-

Electronic Arts Inc. and ESPN announced today the 32 fan-selected NFL players who will advance in the EA SPORTS™ Madden NFL 13 Cover Vote.  The announcement follows a two week play-in round, during which time fans voted between two teammates in matchups for each NFL team on the SportsNation Facebook page.  Today, winners from each matchup moved on to the official cover vote bracket.  Fans can vote for their favorite cover athlete candidate from their computer or mobile phones at ESPN.com/MaddenVote through April 25.

To kick off the Madden NFL 13 Cover Vote bracket debate, a SportsNation “Madden Cover Vote Special” will air tonight on ESPN 2 from 6-7 p.m. ET.  Every Wednesday throughout the campaign, fans can tune in to SportsNation at 5 p.m. ET for an in-depth discussion about the latest voting results and to see which players have advanced to the next round. The tournament will culminate with the reveal of the Madden NFL 13 cover athlete on SportsNation on April 25, the night before the 2012 NFL Draft.

The results of the Madden NFL 13 Cover Vote play-in round are:

*Entered the Madden NFL 13 Cover Vote play-in round representing the St. Louis Rams.

So, The Rams don’t get any representation here and the Patriots get two players. The same now has to be done with Tebow moving to the Jets and Denver getting no athlete in the polling. Polamalu, Fitzgerald, and Brees have all already been on the cover guys, they’re not going to be on there again. Way to waste your votes. Personally, I’d like to see Jared Allen, The Gronk, Ray Rice, or Megatron on there.   However, if that curse is real, I’d really like to see anyone from the Jets or Giants. Frickin’ Giants.

We’ve already had a cover with more than one athlete, why don’t we just have all of them on the cover?

Contact me, EA.

Among the 32 players are past Super Bowl winners including Victor Cruz and Aaron Rodgers; perennial Pro Bowl players Larry Fitzgerald and Drew Brees; and some of the most dominant players in the NFL such as Troy Polamalu and Jared Allen.  During the first ever play-in round, fan voting resulted in upsets like LeSean McCoy surpassing Michael Vick who was a finalist in last year’s award-winning Madden NFL 12 Cover Vote competition.

“Every football fan has an opinion on who should be on the Madden NFL cover, which was highly visible given the overwhelming response and debate that ensued during last year’s campaign. We’re proud to once again put the fate of the game’s cover in our fans’ hands and let them decide who is worthy of becoming the Madden NFL 13 cover athlete,” said director of marketing Anthony Stevenson. “Our collaboration with ESPN and SportsNation helped elevate the campaign to new heights last year and we’re thrilled to team up again on this award-winning program.”

“Sports fans are embracing the new structure of the Madden NFL 13 cover vote and the response has been tremendous for the play-in round, which gives each team’s fans an increased voice in the player selected for the vote,” said Jamie Horowitz, Vice President, Original Programming and Production, ESPN.  “SportsNation has the most engaged social audience across the ESPN network, and enabling them to share their votes across Facebook was an ideal way to tap into some of football’s most passionate fans.”

The Madden NFL 13 cover vote marks the third-consecutive year that EA SPORTS has asked fans to help shape the face of the Madden NFL franchise through a cover athlete voting campaign.  It also marks the second year of its collaboration with ESPN and SportsNation.  Last year, nearly 13 million votes were logged through ESPNSportsNation.com online and via the mobile web, the most ever for an ESPN cross-platform activation, which witnessed 10^th seeded Peyton Hillis (Browns, RB) winning the honor to grace the cover of Madden NFL 12.

To ensure their favorite player advances to the next round of this year’s competition, fans are encouraged to vote daily and tweet their picks using #MyMaddenCoverVote on Twitter. Beginning March 22 at 9:00 a.m. ET, fans can also visit the Madden NFL Facebook page to fill out their own Madden NFL 13 cover athlete bracket to compete against their friends for the chance to win Super Bowl tickets and copies of Madden NFL 13. Visit www.facebook.com/EASPORTSMaddenNFL for Official Rules.

There’s been quite a bit of buzz for I Am Alive from Ubisoft. The game was announced ages ago and disappeared for a while, leading many to believe it had been canceled. After the long wait, it was released on XBLA earlier this month, leading PS3 owners to wonder when they’d get their chance. Ubisoft has announced it will be coming to PSN on April 3, 2012. PS Plus subscribers will get a 20% discount for the first two weeks of release on PSN. This game is a slightly different take on the “survival horror” genre as it doesn’t feature zombies or monsters. Well, maybe monsters, but only in that the other survivors have become monstrous in the post-apocalyptic world. The XBLA release currently has an “average” score (in the 70s out of 100) on Metacritic. GameSpot and Eurogamer both seemed to have enjoyed the title, giving it an 8 out of 10. IGN seemingly had a different experience, rating it only 4.5 out of 10.

Another PSN title recently given a release date is Wheels of Destruction: World Tour. This one’s coming next week on Tuesday, March 27th. If you’re not sure what this is and want to know if it’s for you, think of it like Twisted Metal without all the seriously twisted violence. Basically, if you love car combat and over the top destructiveness, but get nightmares from Sweet Tooth and Dollface, grab this title. Also, it’s only $10, so it’s probably worth the risk if you’ve never played a car combat title.

The first episode in Telltale Games’ The Walking Dead is also coming to PSN, XBLA, PC, and Mac next month for just $4.99. This first episode is planned for “late April” and features a separate cast from the TV and comic series. Robert Kirkman is involved in the game version, but you won’t be helping Rick Grimes’ group survive. Instead you’ll be handling an entirely different group of survivors in similar circumstances after the zombocalypse. The remaining four episodes are expected to release monthly through August at $4.99 each. A “Season Pass” is available for PC and Mac from Telltale’s online store. That’ll get you the entire series for $22.49, a savings of $2.46. Buying the Season Pass also enters you into a contest to have your likeness appear in episode 4 as a killable character. Zombietron’s got the trailer.

A couple of idiot Representatives in the House are trying to get legislate gaming again. It didn’t work for California, and this is nowhere near as far-reaching or stupid, but it shouldn’t work again. Tricuit of Doom brings you the full story about a bill that would regulate what the ESRB already does incredibly well. Keep an eye on Big Shiny Robot! for more information. If this gets any bigger or becomes cause for concern we’ll have it well-covered.

Then again, if the US government gets a little overzealous regulating video games, we could always move to the UK. Chancellor George Osborne revealed the 2012 budget on Wednesday, including plans to provide tax relief to their local game developers. This is good news for the UK’s local gaming scene, which will translate to good news for all of us. Fewer taxes mean lower development costs. On the other hand, they’re raising the price of a pint of beer by 10p. Maybe I’ll hold off emigrating.

And now for the first of what will surely be too much of me talking about Mass Effect 3…. Sort of kidding, actually. Square Enix has announced a pair of downloadable costumes for Final Fantasy XIII-2‘s Noel and Serah based on Bioware’s recently ended trilogy. Does anyone even care? Both games are good, but is this really the DLC people want from Square Enix? Of course not, they want story-based stuff. But at least it’s N7 armor, not some kind of sexy Asari garb like the bikinis they released earlier.

When Epic Mickey was announced I had extremely high hopes. Bringing back Oswald, Warren Spector developing, restoring Mickey’s mischievous personality? All good things in my book. Unfortunately, this Wii-exclusive fell a little short. It was still a good game, but not the great game I was hoping they’d deliver. But it looks like Spector is taking another shot with Epic Mickey 2: The Power of Two. This next attempt will have full voice acting, even making it a musical in the best Disney tradition. As the title suggests, there will be two playable characters. Mickey with his paintbrush and Oswald the Lucky Rabbit will be traveling together in drop-in/out co-op through the Cartoon Wasteland, a home for forgotten characters and theme park rides. In single-player you’ll only be controlling Mickey, but Oswald will be tagging along as a helper character. And, yes, they’re fixing the camera! Though no date or further details are available, what has piqued my interest the most is that this sequel will be multi-platform, coming to PS3, 360, and Wii. More curious, why hasn’t it been announced for WiiU.

Ubisoft has revealed at least two pre-order incentives for Far Cry 3, coming in September. North American pre-orders will get the Monkey Business Pack, four single player missions “hosted by Hurk and his bomb-carrying monkeys” with “two bonus ways to humiliate your friends” in the multiplayer mode. UK buyers will get a free upgrade to the The Lost Expeditions Edition featuring two bonus missions, The Forgotten Experiment and Ignition in the Deep. It’s probably safe to say both additions will probably be crossing the Atlantic as paid DLC soon after release.

You didn’t really think you were going to get away with DLC costumes in a different game as your only piece of Mass Effect 3 news did you? It saddens me to report that Bioware has let the bullying get to them and will be providing additional content to appease those who hated the ending. While it doesn’t appear that they have any intention of actually changing the ending, Casey Hudson (Executive Producer) and his team are “hard at work on a number of game content initiatives that will help answer the questions, providing more clarity for those seeking further closure to their journey,” says Ray Muzyka (Bioware co-founder). On the one hand, it’s reassuring that a business is listening to, and taking to heart, the feedback of their fans. On the other hand, I’ve long held the belief that video games are an art form just as much as film, music, or novels. You know what we call musicians who alter their sound for mainstream acceptance? Sellouts! Is Bioware really ready to sell out to make angry internet people happy? Bioshock‘s creator, Ken Levine, has thrust his opinion on the matter into the public eye. Normally this guy irritates me with his presence on things that don’t concern him, but he’s got the right idea. He’s called this “an important moment” for the industry and believes fans will be disappointed if the ending is changed. In all fairness, what may or may not be changed, and what it will become is still unknown. If Bioware only looks to provide more clarity about threads left open, (for instance, what are the consequences for curing or not curing the genophage, what actually comes from combined DNA, etc.) then maybe it’s not so bad. But if they actually change the Shepard’s fate, or the ultimate fate of the galaxy just to make whining gamers feel like they’ve “won” then they’re committing as serious a mistake as Greedo shooting first.

Beta for World of Warcraft: The Mists of Pandaria is starting. Triscuit of Doom has details. Sounds like it may be the shot in the arm he needs to get playing again. Will it be enough for Blizzard to retain subscriptions and save their sagging numbers?

Suda 51 and Grasshopper Manufacture are lookgin to make more dick innuendos, and EA is seemingly supportive. A Shadows of the Damned sequel was seemingly confirmed by, of all people, the composer, Akira Yamaoka. At the London launch of Sine Mora for XBLA, Yamaoka mentioned the sequel, then cut himself short with “I can’t tell you here, but clearly I’d like to.” When asked if EA would be involved again through the EA Partners program, his response was “probably, well yes.” EA Partners is a good way for non-blockbusters to get released, but they tend to not get much advertising support. That’s probably why the first game is considered one of the most underrated titles of 2011 and didn’t do particularly well at retail.

I mentioned the possibility of Little Big Karting in VGQH some time ago based on a rumor. Sony has now confirmed the game is underway, but is not being produced by the franchise’s creators, Media Molecule. Instead, development is being done at United Front Games, whom you’ll recognize as the creators of ModNation Racers. I guess that sort of answers my question about why the game was even being made when Sony already had a successful play. create. share. karting game where you can play as Sackboy. I loved ModNation Racers and was hoping to see more of it in the future. Unfortunately, it would seem that series is probably being shelved in favor of this one, likely because of Sackboy’s name recognition.

Anarchy Reigns is coming from SEGA on July 3rd. But we already knew that. What we know now is that Bayonetta, the world’s hairiest witch, will be a playable character with your pre-order. Further, more information has come about the multiplayer modes. There will be eleven of them, including the standard Death Match and Survival modes. Modes will generally feature two, four, or eight players. Online arena melee combat will allow up to 16.

Leave it to Rockstar to take gangs from the streets and into our game consoles. A new feature for Max Payne 3 (May 15th)is “Gang Wars,” a multiplayer mode that will see you forming “crews” online for matches. These will be persistent groups of players, small or large, that you’ll join and will eventually form alliances or feuds with other crews. Think of it like e-Bloods and e-Crips. Through the use of Rockstar’s Social Club, that analogy is even more apt. Because you’re not just forming a friend group for one match, it’s fuh life Yo. Your crew will be persistent each time you enter multiplayer, in ALL Rockstar games. So if you join the Sharks in Max Payne 3, you better watch for the Jets when you jump into Grand Theft Auto V (supposedly later this year). It’s an interesting concept that I think fans have sort of done on their own over the years, but Rockstar’s now officially integrating it for all future titles.

I don’t know if this goes for everyone, but drinking and video games are sort of companion hobbies for me. Having a couple beers and starting a plastic instrument band rum-fueled rounds of Buzz Quiz were my version of going to the club for a long time. Not that I’m a shut-in. I had friends over, I just don’t like going to clubs. Despite these connected hobbies, I just don’t understand the need to make interactive versions of traditional bar games. You know what I mean. Virtual pool? A darts video game? It’s just silly. Which is why I very likely won’t be downloading Foosball 2012 when it release on PSN this spring. Grip Games is developing, and it will have cross play between your PS3 (Move enabled) and Vita. Having the Move controls and touch screen seems like it will actually be playable, something I think would be incredibly difficult with a Dualshock, though that will also work. Considering my disdain for the game in a physical setting, I really don’t see the point. But hey, there’s clearly got to be some market for it. Right? Two on two co-op competitive multiplayer has to be a niche that needs to filled.

Am I really going to end this one on virtual foosball? You bet I am. See you next Tuesday.