I’m between games right now …
Having just completed the fourth play through of Deus Ex Human Revolution (which is awesome by the way, fps players will love it) and saved the world … again, I’m now waiting for the next game.
That’s right : today the world, tomorrow the galaxy.
The “next game” is going to be Mass Effect 3, which will continue the series started by Bioware a couple of years ago. It’s a hell of a game in itself to be honest, although there’s disquieting rumours coming due to DLC. That’s “DownLoadable Content” and it’s likely to be the bane of gamers for quite some time to come. It’s usually quite benign, things like different outfits or subtle changes. Blizzard do it with in game cosmetic pets in Warcraft. The idea is that a few months after release, they release expansions that add extra episode to the game for a few £££.
Trouble is though when it gets to be content that should have been in the game at launch. That would be like a novel with the prologue and epilogue removed with you having to pay a little extra to get it. Or it’d be missing a chapter in the middle (like actually happened with Deus Ex HR). To be honest, there were several expansion DLCs done for Mass Effect 2 which I bought because it is actually a fantastic game and most of that DLC proved to be worth it. To use the novel analogy, DLC a little while after release is like adding self contained fan fic to an already complete book. Happy when it’s done like that. With Mass Effect 2, one of the DLC provides a bridge between Mass Effect 2 and Mass Effect 3.
But to rip a chapter out of the game and expect you to buy it on release ? Come on ! These games are already £30, with up to £90 being asked for the special editions. On the Origin store, I could pay £35 for the standard ed or £55 for the digital deluxe version. £35 is already rip off territory. Some of the extra £20 is ok … things like getting the soundtrack and a few extra bits of merchandise I could support, although I’m not so much of a fanboi that I’ll be taken in by that.
Trouble is when they start adding extra content on top of the box you see in the shops. That’s a little sad.
Moving on though. I’m still looking forward to this one coming out and have my pre-order in with Amazon. I’m curious to see whether history repeats from when Mass Effect 2 came out. I’d pre-ordered early with Amazon again but a couple of days before release I get an email saying they had insufficient stock. No excuse for that so I immediately cancelled the pre-order and on the day of release I got the game from Asda instead.
I need sleep though, so saving the galaxy will wait another day.
I dunno how much sleep I’ve actually had over the past couple of nights but I know it hasn’t been that much. Just haven’t been able to nod off. Maybe that’s a little too much hyperactivity leaking through. Or I’m worried about people (psst – secret : it’s the worrying about others thing). I suspect I’ve had about 4-5 hours of quality sleep over the last couple of days, with the hyperactivity letting me blast through it.
Really tired right now though. I doubt whether I’d be able to concentrate on gameplay even if I tried. Back stiffness is currently at a level where I actually acknowledge it in front of other people instead of not letting on that it’s sore. (It’s been too long since it benefitted from a bit of TLC)
Will head for an early night soon, which will set me up really well tomorrow. I have a 9am meeting, which means I want to get in about 8am to prepare and get my mind right. (i.e. at least 1 mug of Coffee.) That means shifting the day 1 hour earlier to 8am to 4pm. And there just happens to be an England cricket match starting at 4pm.
Spooky.
PS Really must get some use out of the SW The Old Republic subscription. I guess Warcraft has totally burned me out on MMO gameplay. SWTOR has added story but is still driven by the same Thump X Mobs, Get Y Items repetitive MMO tasks.
PS2 Skyrim has been looking very tempting. Next time it goes on sale my better judgment will likely go byebye and I’ll get it …