Xbox Live: I pay for this?

I love my Xbox 360. I was first in line to get one back when they were released. I stood by Microsoft through multiple RROD failures, and I even paid the $50 per year to subscribe to Xbox Live when the online gaming on the competing Playstation 3 was free. I simply felt that the value of their online ecosystem was worth paying for. However, one thing that has stuck in my craw (so to speak) is that the Xbox dashboard has become a giant series of advertisements. This is certainly not an issue unique to video games (why do I pay for cable to watch ads on A&E, for example), but I figured that since this was a video game blog I would tackle this aspect of advertising here.

Perhaps my memory is short, but I don't remember that many ads when I first purchased Xbox Live. Oh sure, I remember plenty of ads for games offered on the service for download, but certainly not a freaking Doritos ad! I don't know, maybe it's just me but when I PAY for something up front I don't think that I should be forced to endure even more ads pressuring me to spend my money. I know that these companies are trying maximize profits, and selling us a service and then selling ads on that service makes sense to them. I just can't accept that the future of gaming is going to be spending $60 for a game, $50 per year to play that game online with friends, and then still being forced to endure an ad for insurance (or a presidential candidate) while I'm playing.

Perhaps offering a multi-tiered solution would work? I can imagine a subscriber model where you would pay $50 per year to play online with no ads, $25 per year for have some (gaming relevant) ads and perhaps a free and completely ad supported tier at the bottom. Could this work? Would I be willing to pay more than $50 per year to completely scrub non-Xbox Live related ads from the experience? You bet! Would anyone else? That's hard to say.

My fear is that the products we love will continue to get more expensive, yet become more and more saturated with advertisements. We already spend $10 to see a movie and then sit through 15 minutes of Coke and car commercials (and that's before the movie trailers even begin). It's not easy for someone like me who does what they can to avoid advertising whenever possible. There has got to be a better way, even if it costs more money on the consumer end. I simply feel it should be the consumer's choice: do you want something free (advertiser supported) or ad-free (customer supported).

What do you think?

Review: Mass Effect 2 (Xbox 360)

 

 Having covered my feelings about the first Mass Effect game a few days ago, I figured I'd follow up with a short review of the recently released sequel. This game had some pretty massive hype building up over the final months prior to release, and some may be curious if it lives up to it. In short: absolutely!

Picking up where the first game left off, you are once again in the role of Commander Shepard, again tasked with saving the galaxy. This time, whole human colonies are going missing, the Galactic Council isn't paying attention, and you are the only hope humanity has. You must assemble another team and stop the threat before it's too late. And once again your Shepard can be as unique as you are. There is even an entire website dedicated to showing off the character you've built so others can use it too!

I cannot state clearly enough how many of the issues I had with the first game have been improved for the sequel. First off, this is one of the most beautiful games on the Xbox today. Some of the facial features even approach photo realistic. Not only that, but the entire game moves with almost no slowdown! I don't know what kind of voodoo those guys at Bioware are up to, but I approve! Second, the combat system has taken it's cues from more recent games like Gears of War: just hold down a single button to snap your character into cover, where you can fight from around corners or pop up to take shots. In fact, combat as a while feels much more like playing Gears of War, and that's not a bad thing in my book. Also, they have completely removed the Mako, meaning no tedious driving around and getting stuck on random planets. And finally, the game autosaves almost every time you change rooms, meaning that you should never have to restart that far back after dying, even if you don't manually save that often!

The story is again the thing that should drive most people to play this game, and again Bioware doesn't disappoint. Even more branching story paths, more romance options, not to mention all the small things you discover by bringing a save game over from the first ME game! I was constantly being approached by characters that I had helped (or hurt) in the first game and going "oh ya, I forgot about that." This story is also much darker, with many more choices that end up costing (or saving) lives.

The "...best game BioWare has ever made and the best action RPG in history," says Joystiq. In the end, I can only say that Mass Effect 2 is about as perfect a game as I've played in a while.

Retro Review: Mass Effect (Xbox 360)

In light of the recent release of Mass Effect 2, I decided to revisit the first game in the series to see how it stacks up 3 years later. I figured that it would also be a great opportunity to create a fresh character to import to the sequel using ME2's import feature. Sadly, it has been harder than I thought to really get back into one of my favorite games of the past 5 years, as many gameplay elements just don't hold up.

For the uninitiated, in Mass Effect you play Commander Shepard of the Human Alliance military. Your character can be male or female, with plenty of options to adjust the facial features to create a customized Shepard to suit you. You are also given control over the type of specialty your character has, with specialties running from Solider (for the combat driven character) to Engineer (who hang back and use tech powers) to Adept (with "force" powers that need to be recharged once used) and classes that are combination of two (not as strong, but open to more abilities). You can also choose an origin story and military history, which have little effect on the gameplay outside of some dialog choices. The character creation is actually one of the more enjoyable parts of the game, and the number of different combination's available increase replayability.

By far the best part of Mass Effect is the story. As Shepard, you are tasked with saving the galaxy from a rogue Spectre agent intent on reviving a race of machines who plan to wipe out all organic life. The real beauty of Mass Effect, and Bioware games in general is the branching storylines. During dialog scenes, you are prompted to make choices for your character which can have a direct effect on the way other characters feel about you, or even effect the path of the story by the end of the game. It truly feels as though you are playing a digital version of a choose-your-own-adventure books I read as a kid.

However, as much as the story makes it worth repeated plays, some of the control problems threaten the experience at this point. First off, the Mako (your vehicle in the game) is a complete nightmare to control. I died more times than I can count because my damn vehicle was stuck on a hill or drove the wrong direction. Missiles can chip away at your shields slowly before you can even see where the enemy is! Also, autosaving is not nearly as often as it should be. Far too often I would find myself starting back 20 minutes because I died and didn't realize when I last manually saved. The inventory system is also a hassle, with limited slots available and no good way to compare the quality of weapons and armor to what you already have equipped. And if you run out of room in the middle of a mission your only option is to melt down current items in your possession into "omni-gel," which is used to repair your Mako. And finally, while graphically Mass Effect is beautiful, just wait until you find yourself in control of the game. At that point things tend to slow way down and the frame rate takes a hit, even when you are just walking around and outside of battle!

Overall, 3 years later the price of admission is just a little bit higher. The story and character interaction make this a must play, but you just need to be willing to put up with more than a few outdated RPG elements and some wonky controls to get to the really good stuff. Back in late 2007 when this game was released I'd have given it a solid 4.5 stars out of five. Today, I'd say it gets a 3.5, mainly for the too-good-to-miss story.

Tomorrow I'll be back with my review of Mass Effect 2 and we'll see just how much has been improved for the sequel!