Season 6, Episode 4

[fishbang]

The entire series is ruined at the following link.

I really wanted to engage the topic of Mass Effect on our own terms. I imagined we'd compare choices and consequences and how they sometimes failed to materialize, then move on to highlights and lowlights of narrative and character development, losses and gains of affection, plot twists, that sort of thing. We'd wonder why so few words were being written about the multiplayer and why so very many were still being written about the ending. We'd have our own opinions and insights on the travesty, but we'd feel better after having a whine and could focus in the long run on the details of what made the Mass Effect universe a place worth visiting. All I can say is we talked about it. We talked about it and I feel worse.

[Doogie2K]

Do the ME3 spoilers run the rest of the episode? Or will I need to fast-forward to some later portion?

[Psykoboy2]

We start the spoilers about an hour in and close the show that way, so once we get into it, you're done unless you want to be spoiled.

[Abyssion]

Thanks for getting this episode out so quickly! Im gonna listen as soon as the place I work at closes.

[Ravenlock]

James, your comparison of game retailers to movie theatres, flailing around trying to stay relevant while all we want them to do is get out of the way, is spot on - definitely one of those "I wish I had thought to say it that way" moments.

Unfortunately, of course, you're also right that they aren't going anywhere anytime soon; they're too big, too much a part of the ecosystem to just disappear.

I do wonder, though, what the retailers' Hail Mary will be (the parallel to the "everything in 3D!" trend in theatres, I guess) as we move along. I mean, they're obviously struggling, even in a system letting them retain all sorts of unnecessary advantages to try to stay alive. The number of people who choose a physical store over digital distribution (or just ordering from Amazon in their underwear) isn't exactly rising, and I think it'll dwindle faster and faster as the kids growing up on iOS now get jobs and spending money.

The person who wrote in and wished Apple would make a console may not get that specific wish (and who's to say whether that would really be a good thing), but I think it is possible that they're changing the game faster than anyone else has before them, simply by redefining what people expect to be available for their instant gratification.

Portable gaming has already shifted significantly because of it: 2 years ago, Chrono Trigger and Ghost Trick were $30-$35 cartridges you bought in a Best Buy and plugged into your DS Lite. Today, the exact same games are $10 downloads on the App Store, and one of them even has a free trial. The quality of the gaming experience is arguably less on iOS, yes, but that's not really the subject at hand, is it.

[Doogie2K]

Originally Posted by Psykoboy2

We start the spoilers about an hour in and close the show that way, so once we get into it, you're done unless you want to be spoiled.

Perfect. Once ME3 talk kicks up in earnest, I'll be storing that fucker in a cask until 2014, when I finally finish the game.

[diablopath]

I'm glad you guys are touching on this. Listening now!

[Calgar99]

Excellent show guys!