Merry Christmas

By Shamus Posted Wednesday Dec 24, 2008

Filed under: Notices 57 comments

Here is one of my gifts, which is relevant to what we have going on around here:

xbox360.jpg

Merry Christmas. Have a great holiday.

EDIT: And maybe not post spoilers for my less-than-12-hours-old Christmas present in the comment thread?

Sheesh.

 


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57 thoughts on “Merry Christmas

  1. randomscrub says:

    Shiny! Also, I’m jealous.

  2. Hawk says:

    Finally dove in on Mass Effect, eh? Enjoy!

  3. Nixorbo says:

    ONE OF US

  4. Kiwipolish says:

    Now your journey to the Dark Side is complete!

  5. Jabor says:

    ‘Gratz and Merry Christmas.

    All I got was more harddrives…

  6. K says:

    Finally you can write something really nasty about Mass Effect. I was disappointed to no end. It is like 4 hours long (with 10 hours of drag), it has roughly zero character development (except where you can choose between commiting genocide by being an asshole or by being a jerk) and the characters are incredibly shallow and generic (except where you can have a sexual relationship consisting of a single romantic scene with a character of the same sex which will never have any importance afterwards).

  7. McNutcase says:

    Looking forward to the demolition of Mass Effect. It has lots of rabidly devoted fanboys, so it’s got to have plenty of deep flaws…

  8. Duoae says:

    Wait…. Is Christmas a day early where you are?

    ;)

    Nice present. Unlucky about getting Mass Effect :p

  9. the Jack says:

    @K: Wow, I’m not sure I’d like to know what you classify as a “good” game. Perhaps you’d better read the back of the box before playing next time…

  10. General Karthos says:

    (Kinda @K, but in a sense, a general defense of Mass Effect. Because I know there’ll be a lot of people who don’t like it.)

    Yes, Mass Effect has flaws, but keep in mind that it is the FIRST in a trilogy, and that a lot of the developments are new ideas and so forth. (The first plane only ever flew a few hundred feet a few feet off the ground.)

    Yes, the Mako was one of the worst ideas ever imagined, the pirate/geth/drone bases are laid out pretty generically, and yes, I’d like more interactions with the characters, but there are pieces of the system that are interesting.

    Those of you who went through the game in four hours ought to try doing some of the side quests and additional exploration, including talking to the supporting cast and learning about their history, that opens up a number of additional side quests. All told, first time through, doing a few side quests here and there, the game took a little over twelve hours; twelve entertaining hours though.

    The second time through, doing every side quest I could find (which I have discovered the THIRD time through wasn’t NEARLY everything) the game took me over thirty hours to complete.

    Also note the DEPTH of the created universe. As a science fiction fan, I found the data entries to be incredibly interesting and entertaining.

    Maybe I’m a rabidly devoted fanboy, and yes, I can see Shamus picking this game apart for its flaws (and it has flaws, don’t get me wrong) but there is a REASON the game sold as well as it did, and has consistently been reviewed as well as it has.

    No, it is not the second coming, it is not the perfect Bioware game that we’ve all been waiting for, but it’s an interesting and unique universe, and maybe a little appreciation for the fact that it’s not a rehashing of the same tired plot that’s been done a million times is in order?

    Are you really so jaded that you’ll sneer at innovation because it’s imperfect?

    Go play Halo 3.

  11. Froody says:

    Congratulations, although I have this fear that you reviewing console games from now on will make this site less interesting to me…

    Looking forward to your take on Mass Effect, though, which is at least only half console.

  12. Factoid says:

    Hope you enjoy the 360. Also hope you got the extended warranty plan. I’m on my 3rd, but I still love it.

    Enjoy Mass Effect. It’s a fantastic game. Too bad you got the 360 version just as the SecuROM-free version came available on Steam. The PC version vastly improved on the Mako controls and the hacking minigame, most peoples two biggest complaints with the game.

  13. SimeSublime says:

    I’m surprised at the hate for the game in the comments. Sure, the characterisation was rather Hollywood, but look at all the background they put into the setting. I loved reading the journal entries about the alien races, advanced technology, and how it’s all effected human culture. Sure, the plot was a bit cliché and the Mako was downright annoying, but they built a heck of a setting. And four hours? Maybe if you skim read most of the dialogue and skip all the side quests, but who the hell does that?

  14. Russ says:

    I would recommend installing Mass Effect on the hard drive. It cuts down on the loading times nicely.

    I’m surprised at the Mass Effect hate too. It isn’t perfect, but I had a lot of fun playing the game. Call me crazy, but I actually had fun cruising around in the Mako.

  15. DocTwisted says:

    Congrats? I’m not sure after the comments, and the fact that it’s another toehold Microsoft has in the house.

    I think they’re up to something devious over there in Redmond.

  16. Congrats! :D Hope you have fun with it.

    If you haven’t already, give Dead Rising a rent (or pick it up used; it should be pretty cheap by now). Its controls are a bit on the odd side, but it’s probably one of the best (and most amusing) single player zombie games I’ve played.

    Crackdown is also amusing to play through. I wouldn’t recommend buying it, though…its replay value is kind of eh.

    If you like racing games, Forza Motorspot 2 is a must-have. You can pick it up for $20 new at GameStop.

    And, finally, there’s always Mirror’s Edge. It’s far from perfect but I had a ton of fun with it.

  17. illiterate says:

    I can wait. Still have Enclave, KOTOR 2, Armed and Dangerous, and other fine titles on my original XBox to finish.

    Enjoying the holiday cheer by the ounce this evening. Hope everyone else gets to do the same. :D (Pints are acceptable)

  18. Krellen says:

    Hey, that’s what I got too!

    Of course, I had to pay for it myself, but those are the best gifts, in my experience.

    I suppose if I had to find flaws in Mass Effect, I could, but I played it right after I stopped playing Fallout 3, so I found it quite wonderful. At the very least, BioWare managed to completely avoid stomping on the toes of any fanboys by a) being genuine Sci-Fi and b) being a new franchise.

    In other news, perhaps our gaming tastes aren’t as close as I think they are, but personally I’m finding Lego Indiana Jones to be the best free game I’ve ever gotten.

  19. Strangeite says:

    Merry Christmas! I hope that you and yours have a healthy and plentiful new year.

  20. JKjoker says:

    the pc hacking minigame might be better than the old one but it still got old after doing it 10 times, and i probably solved it 1000 times by the end of the game, it might have been better if the loot wasn’t as generic

  21. WILL says:

    Will you stop complaining about DRM now? I mean, you have a console, so the games you play won’t be plagued by SecuRom.

    :P

  22. Saint Rising says:

    YOU HAS AN ECKSBAWKZ.

  23. Evlkritter says:

    Merry Christmas! Joy, happyness, and cheer to all! Now onto the hate!

    I actually liked the game, it was fun, had a decent number of side quests, and was fairly intuitive. I remember getting lost a few time (because I am horrible at navigation), and the selection of gun mods (when you picked them up anyway) bugged me, alsogrenadges were limited. But I liked the game.

    @K: What? I personally didn’t commit genocide (you can choose to let the Rachni queen go), and generally played an obnoxiously good character (one of my friends told me off for being ‘to nice’), the opposite of your experience apparently. Also, you have a variety of potential love interests. I know of three, Liara (blue chick), Ashley(human chick), and Kaidan (human guy). I don’t really find it that limited.

  24. Katy says:

    I approve of the cleanliness of your room. :D

  25. Zaghadka says:

    Merry Christmas. My older kid is getting Guitar Hero, and my Father-in-law is getting “World of Goo.” Have fun with your box of “evil.” ;)

  26. Evangel says:

    Hello? Character Development? Where are you? So many missed opportunities for good inter-character dialogue (elevators or just while on the Citadel) and I don’t mean those crappy 3 line *Something about the other character* *Generic Response* *Generic response* things, I mean real character development where your character actually has a chance to participate in the dialogue.

    All the weapons are rather stupid (The AR is bulky when current design is going for smaller, more versatile weaponry. The shotgun is pump-fucking-action when we’ve got full auto 30 round magazine shotguns accurate up to 100 metres. The sniper rifle is bolt action rather than semi- or full automatic.)

    There’s 4 “interior” areas (brown interior, white warehouse, mine and spaceship) with the only differences being where the generic placeables are.

    Conversation choices often don’t reflect what your character is going to say or how they’re going to say it.

    When “surveying” worlds, you’re not doing anything, it’s just a button, you click it and you’ve surveyed the entire world and it’s surrounding space in a few seconds. If you can survey a world, you WILL find something. If you can’t survey a world, it’s worthless.

    You can also buy access to the Geth armoury. Why would the Geth, a mechanical race, even be using the same types of weapons humans/asari/turian/krogan are using? Why are their weapons non-integrated for easier access?

    Honestly, I think they should’ve taken some money off the “world writer” budget and given it to the “dialogue and character writer” budget.

  27. Eltanin says:

    Merry Christmas Shamus. Thanks for another great year of blogging.

  28. DM T. says:

    Merry Christmass Effect

  29. Evangel says:

    Continuing on, the dialogue is pretty crappy aswell. The final confrontation with Saren:
    [resolute] “You can’t stop him, we will open the gates to the galaxy’s destruction!”
    [slightly sympathetic] “We can stop him, together!”
    [broken and pathetic] “Maybe you’re right… but I’m not strong enough.” And he shoots himself.

  30. It’s not a bad game. Not to say it’s flawless, but I don’t see what’s there to actually hate about the game. A bit shallow on the story and narrative side, but it’s interesting enough and kept me playing. And I never took Wrex out of my party when I got’im.

    What I do hate is the trend of planning trilogies ahead of time, and using the “It’s supposed to be a trilogy” excuse to cover up flaws or disappointing play experience shouldn’t be an excuse at all.

    After all, it was a foolish choice to plan a trilogy ahead when you know full well that if the first game doesn’t perform well enough you might not get a chance to make parts two or three. And if you do want to make a trilogy then you’d better damn well put your absolute best foot forward or else nobody will care about the rest–this also addresses the idea of others using the first-in-the-trilogy excuse to defend the game. (Still no news on the Mass Effect part two of three, I note.) Secondly, the works that popularized the concept of the trilogy (Lord of the Rings, Star Wars) weren’t created with the intent of hooking customers with a part one and stringing them along. Not in the middle of their creation, at least. Tolkien wrote LotR as one big book and his publisher wanted to split it up. And Star Wars? Lucas had no idea whether or not the first movie would bomb so he made it under the assumption that he might not get to make the sequel(s).

    Which is a notion more game devs should take to heart. Not only does it resist the urge to count one’s chickens before they’re hatched but it also encourages developers to make as good a game now as they can instead of saving the “good stuff” for a game that may never come. This, alone, increases the chance of success with the first game which, in turn, makes the prospect of a sequel (or two) more likely.

    Also: Female Shepard x Kaidan OTP. Male Shepard has a lousy voice actor and, thus, does not exist despite whatever you might think, say, or try to prove.

  31. theonlymegumegu says:

    May the alien breasts you find in Mass Effect bristle with strange nipples. =PP

  32. General Karthos says:

    “Mass Effect 2 ‘soon, but not real soon'”

    http://www.gamespot.com/news/6188036.html

    There are plans.

    In Bioware we trust.

    Oh, and DO NOT READ THE ARTICLE IF YOU HAVEN’T PLAYED THE GAME. Spoilertastic.

  33. UtopiaV1 says:

    On another note, way 2 go with lego Indiana Jones!!! There’s some timeless puzzle adventure!!!

    Sorry, did I say timeless? I meant worthless. Can’t see what the other game on the box is, I’m just hoping it’s not Saints Row. :D

    Btw, my dad has a 360, and he recommends Crackdown strongly. Have a great Xmas Shamus!!!

  34. Hawk says:

    Make sure you drop in at EBGames to pick up the titles you’ve missed (used) for $10 or so. None of this full price stuff …

  35. Kel'Thuzad says:

    The other game in there is… Kung fu Panda.

    Merry Christmas!

  36. Patrick the Irate says:

    Lemme get this straight….
    You have a Wii, Gamecube, PS2, PS3, and now an XBox 360.

    Oh and an almost state-of-the-art PC on which to also play games…..While I have this PC that can run Fallout2..TWO! not 3…. and Morrowind TES,but has no hope of ever running Oblivion, no matter how stupid it may be….

    And you have 4 consoles…

    and 3 PC’s…


    …jerk…

  37. Sharon says:

    I don’t think he has a PS3–yet. And remember his wife benefits from the community proprty laws in PA. And she is just enough of a geek to appreciate it.

  38. JT says:

    I’ll echo the positive comments about Mass Effect. I treated it like it was a fully-realized new sci-fi world to explore, and like I was the protagonist in a piece of what I like to call “participative fiction” (slightly different from interactive fiction”. As such, I did all the exploring I could possibly do, didn’t miss a single side quest, and had an absolute blast. Can’t wait for part 2!

    Make sure you drop in at EBGames to pick up the titles you've missed (used) for $10 or so. None of this full price stuff …

    Ack! Stay the H-E-double-hockey-sticks out of EB/GameStop. Any game you can find there, you can find for even less, including shipping, on Craigslist, eBay/Half.com, or Amazon. No reason at all to keep adding to those guys’ bottom line.

  39. Cuthalion says:

    Merry Christmas!

  40. Rich says:

    I got Mass Effect for the PC a while ago. Haven’t really played it yet. Because it keeps crashing 5 minutes in when I first meet the alien guy on the ship. Maybe I’ll get to play it some day. Some day…

    Merry Christmas.

  41. Josh says:

    Merry Christmas!

  42. Huckleberry says:

    Merry Christmas! I got a lovingly selected and very high stack of books, and I’m very much looking forward to some good old-fashioned reading :)

  43. Taellosse says:

    @Patrick the Irate: In his partial defense, while he can, just barely, run Oblivion, he does not run it well. His computer is not state of the art, as he has said here many times. Or, at least, it isn’t state of the art anymore. I believe it is 2 or 3 years old, and wasn’t quite top of the line when he got it, if I recall correctly. That’s been a major theme of some of his complaints about the PC gaming industry, actually: that every game that gets attention requires having bleeding-edge technology, which freezes the vast majority of possible buyers out of the market right from the start, never mind whether the game is any good, or is crippled by horrid DRM.

  44. Jeff says:

    …damn, I hate you, Evangel. I’ve already spoiled myself slightly about the Citadel, but not even a spoiler tag for me to skip. I’m on the second last world, but got distracted by Fallout 3. You sir, suck.

    I liked Mass Effect, although a word of advice in terms of skills. You should ever so quickly decide on your team-mates before you skill yourself up, specifically Electronics. You’ll want someone with the skill, and if you want to bring along someone who has it, you can safely ignore it. All or nothing, I feel.

    The Mako is fun, but the “random” exploration of planets that have NO FRICKING FLAT SURFACES is annoying. Not to mention that most flat surfaces is a result of those giant Dune-like sandworms, it means when I DO see a flat surface while driving my adrenlin shoots way up. The DLC world is good, though.

  45. nilus says:

    I too am suprised about the hate for Mass Effect. Sure it wasn’t as good as KOTOR, but the characters were better then KOTOR 2. In the grand scheme of RPGs its very well done, compared to other Bioware games it could have been better.

    Enjoy your 360. If you start trying some of the online games you should post your game tag so all of us idiots can invite you to play in our games.

  46. Mark says:

    Hey, now you can play Bioshock too.

  47. Jansolo says:

    Now witness the firepower of this fully armed and operational [battle] GAME station.
    […]
    Fire at will, Commander (Sheppard?)

    Mass Effect is a great game. You will enjoy the story for sure (the game play is better on PC, in spite the damn DMR)

    And Merry Christmas from Spain.

  48. General Karthos says:

    General apology for all the spoilers, even though I took great care not to spoil anything.

    I hope you enjoy the game. I’m sure you’ll have nits to pick, and I look forward to reading them, though I’ll likely disagree with a few. :)

  49. Kevin says:

    Hooray! New console gaming! Somebody loves you.

  50. Al Shiney says:

    Congrats on the 360 (I think), Shamus. It was inevitable to come over to the Dark Side, so just step into line like the rest of us good little MS Stormtroopers and everything will be just fine. :P

    Never played Mass Effect, so no hate or love for it. I asked for Fallout 3 for Christmas based on your (and Yahtzee’s) review, so thanks for that. Since all of my gaming is done on a 360 or Wii (errr, make that a 360) I’m already looking forward to your comments on the big 360 releases.

  51. Spider Dave says:

    Hey! I got Mass Effect and Lego Indie too. Both are, so far and in my opinion, pretty fun. I’m eagerly awaiting your opinion!

  52. Eric says:

    Merry Christmas, and may your new 360 not RROD!!!!!!!!!!!!!

  53. BVB says:

    Oh, hey, I got Mass Effect too (just for the PC, not the 360. Runs great at 1440×900 with all the pretty and it’s a good game.) Enjoy it :D

  54. WWWebb says:

    Mass Effect is a great game and well worth getting a 360, but…well, when it comes to commenting on the plot, just go look up everything you wrote about the other Bioware games and paste in “Mass Effect”. It may be a good one, but Bioware only has one plot.

  55. Feb says:

    STILL my favorite game. I played it and ignored Assassin’s Creed. Then I got tired of Assassin’s Creed, and started playing Mass Effect again. I stopped when I downloaded Portal via Xbox Live. Then I resumed. Now I have Fallout 3… and as fun as it is… I kinda want to play Mass Effect some more.

    Rumor is that ME2 comes out November, 2009. Beware some spoiler-ish predictions in that link, though. If you want to know NOTHING about the first game, you won’t want to see references to the way things that happen there may relate to the story of the second.

  56. @JT:

    Ack! Stay the H-E-double-hockey-sticks out of EB/GameStop. Any game you can find there, you can find for even less, including shipping, on Craigslist, eBay/Half.com, or Amazon.

    Yes, since it’s far better to shop around online and wait upwards of a week or more for delivery just to save a few bucks.

    You can find just about everything cheaper online, but it totally ruins the spontaneous nature of spotting something fun, taking it home, and actually being able to use it right then.

  57. Mass Effect is a good game, well worth the money.
    And folks, remember to keep a backup of your save games etc. as Mass Effect 2 (and 3 as well I assume?) will re-use the save game, so choices you made in I will be taken over to II, BioWare hasn’t let on what these things are, but beyond armor and weapons, it’s possible that various NPC and character development stuff will also be different at the start of II due to this. Never had sex? dumped one gal and lost the other? this may change the following games. Something I’m damn looking forward too. KOTOR I and II kinda did the same, but using character background questions, with Mass Effect it’s done automatically if you keep around the savegame.

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