This next blog post is about something that hits closer to home for me. I am an avid video game player and follow news in the video game industry pretty close. So I was very intrigued to watch this event happen only about a month after we read Here Comes Everybody.
On March 6, Bioware released Mass Effect 3, the third and final game in the Mass Effect trilogy. The previous two games in the series received numerous awards including some game of the year honors and in terms of sales; millions of copies of each game were sold across the world. The games received high praise from reviewers and rave reviews from gamers who played the game. Needless to say the hype for the third game was through the roof.
But something curious happened after the release of the game. The first couple of days were people gushing over the new game. The improved graphics, the great voice acting, the better controls etc, but as the days wore on there was something that users began complaining about and that was the ending of the game. What started as just a couple of users at first quickly grow to multiple users and then seemingly everybody was complaining about the ending.
Quick disclaimer here. I do not know how the game ends and I have not read anything about the ending that would spoil it as I fully intend to play the game for myself. I have read countless posts on video game forums discussing the ending and gamer’s dissatisfaction with it.
As the days went on more and more gamers began complaining about the ending to the game. Bioware, the company that developed the game, was beginning to feel the pressure and released a statement on their website claiming they were hurt by the harsh criticisms and wanted to create an experience that all fans would love. They also announced that they would release a new ending to the game that would be available as downloadable content for the game. The new ending would be different and presumably one that would sit well with the fans.
So the short story here is that fans were upset with how a game ended and complained enough to the get the company that made the game to release a new ending for gamers to play. The gamers took to video game forums and social media pages to get their point heard. A twitter account and Facebook page for a petition was started up and had hundreds of thousands of members in a matter of days. So it’s another win for people coming together right?
Well not necessarily. (This is the part of the post that will stray a little from Shirky’s book but it’s a point that needs to be discussed) If these actions become a trend and fans will start banding together every time there is an ending to a game or even movie or book that is to their disliking they can band together and hope to get it changed. If that becomes the case that what is the point for these creative teams and individuals to even create this content for us to consume? It would be just another case of media giving us what we want, and in this case we got what we wanted after kicking and screaming.
This example is just another case against the development of new ideas being used in video games. A big issue with the gaming world now is the lack of new games and new ideas. In an industry where a new Call of Duty game is released every year and somehow still sells millions of copies, many gamers want to see companies try something new and come up with new stories and new game mechanics. But the big issue is that most of the time games who try to push the envelope and try something new don’t always sell and usually takes more time and manpower (and money) to create. Why would a game company spend the extra money, time and manpower to make a game that might not sell well when they can just pump out another sequel that they know will sell?
This ending “recall” favors the quick buck method. Bioware may be afraid to do anything that would create fan backlash from here on out, possibly resulting in a game that doesn’t push any boundaries but does make money.
What I’m trying to get at is this is a bad case of people banding together to create a change. Bioware chose to create the ending they did and picked it for a reason. You aren’t going to agree with every ending to a game, movie, or book but that’s just how it is. By forcing Bioware to go back and create a new ending, it hinders their company and also may make them a little gun shy for further creative decisions and it might make other companies re-think there creative ideas and just stick with what gamers like, which in the end will harm the game industry as a whole.
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