Mass Effect 3 Endings: You Hate the Endings (Renegade Strategy)

Well, i was going to pick up Mass Effect 3 this week - that was until i started reading the stuff about the "endings".  They seem a lot different than what was promised (or sold by the PR people).  Wow, it sounds like they really messed up.  Right now, it seems like BioWare is in full "we're listening to you" (but not really) mode.  If they had time to complete day one DLC, they obviously had time to get other stuff going. 

i figured if they could go with a "scortched earth" ending (essentially invalidating all choices in previous games), why couldn't dissatisfied gamers use a similar tactic.  The tactic here would be for those dissatisfied with the game to help hasten the decline of the game's prices.  How is this possible, you may ask?  Well, you know how video game companies tend to not like the used game market (maybe this could reinforce why).

Basically what i am proposing is that dissatisfied players "trade" or sell their copies of the game en masse. The theory here is that by flooding the market with used games that the price will come down.  The price will come down eventually, but expediting it wouldn't be beneficial to the retail outlets or BioWare/EA.  Also, you could potentially impact new orders at the retail level. 

However, i am not sure that the critical mass could be achieved for something like this. 

Dview: Mass Effect (Xbox 360)

The Bottom Line:
Released in 2007, Mass Effect is probably my favorite WRPG this generation.  i view this as the last good BioWare game.  In this sci-fi/action/shooter RPG you play as Commander Shepard and get involved in the a galactic problem.  There were things i definitely had problems with - weird movement glitches, the Mako (i hate the Mako) and numerous elevator rides.   

Game Room Report for February 2012

Yet another month has mercifully fallen vicitm to the sands of oblivion.  Or i guess you could say another month has gone by.  So, i decided to look at Game Room leaderboard stats again.  Unfortunately, it took me over a day to do - as the server was being uncooperative. 

Dview: Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning (Xbox 360)

The Bottom Line:
Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning is an action RPG from Big Huge Games (38 Studios) published by EA.  This is a nice first entry in a potential new RPG franchise.  This game seems to be more focused on action (specifically combat).  Basically, it is two button combat (a primary and secondary weapon) along with some skills (that can be accessed through pulling the right trigger and pressing the corresponding face button).  i think combat plays fairly decently.  There are a bunch of quest to find and complete (including 5 or so factions).  This game seems, to me, to be sort of a mix between Fable and Oblivion. 

In Progress: Kingdoms of Amalur (Xbox 360)

i noticed that i frequently go a while between posts.  My new label "In Progress" is for games i am playing but i haven't yet beat - think of it like impressions of games.

So, Kingdoms of Amalur is an action RPG from Big Huge Games (i think owned by Curt Schilling's 38 Studios).  Well, i got my first freeze in the game 28+ hours in.  The game froze on a quest where i was supposed to deal with some kind of cursed ring - cursed indeed. 

My Month in Video Games: January 2012 Wrap-up

So, here i am with yet another "what did i play type" posts.  i added a video game related "news ticker" to the blog, how is that working for everyone.  Did i forget any important search terms (who knows since the ticker doesn't work exactly how i want it to). 

So, what did i play in January when i wasn't watching a ton (or tonne) of movies?  The email i got from engage.xbox.com will tell me.
* Gamerscore: 35,617
* Time on Xbox Live (Connected to): 59 hours 16 minutes 
* Most Frequent Activity: Divinity II: The Dragon Knight Saga (beat the main game, not expansion)
* Other Activities (top 3):
- Gears of War 2: 3 hours 25 minutes
- Halo Reach: 2 Hours 15 minutes
* Factoid: Average Gamerscore: 4,159 (i have two accounts with over 35K). 

i guess some of the other time was filled with the Kingdoms of Amalur demo.  That game will figure prominently in any February post i might make (as far as playtime goes).  i don't think i actually beat any games in January. 

Used Games, Should They Be Locked Out: Part 1

Recently, there was a rumor that the Xbox Next (as i like to call it) would have a scheme to lock out used games from playing on the system.