Ender99 wrote...
SkaldFish wrote...
The Wall Street Journal weighs in: Why the Ending of Mass Effect 3 Started a Furor
Overall, not so bad. Some interesting insights, but (compared to Forbes, for example) fairly poor research on the real issues behind the protests.
Poor research or no, it's amazing that we've made the Wall Street Journal! That definitly goes into the "win" catagory for us.
Hold the line guys!
True. And it's definitely a deeper look into what's behind all this than I've seen elsewhere.
He makes some points I've not seen other journalists make, particularly this one:
The ending is so jarring in part because video games are inherently about bringing your character back to life when you fail and playing over and over until you WIN. Winning doesn't have to be about everyone living to fight another day, but it does have to feel like a victory on a level the player can internalize. This is what distinuishes video games from novels and movies. Embedded in the idea of a "game" is the concept of winning and losing. As you begin to understand the rules of th game, you know that
if you play it often enough, you will win. There is a huge level of cognitive dissonance between that and the idea of a static narrative offered up solely as a creative work for consumption by a passive audience. When we read a novel or watch a movie, we understand that we are spectators only. While we can certainly become immersed in a well-written story, play, or movie
, there is no direct participation.
But more importantly, I'm realizing now, a game is not just a multimedia interactive novel in which we can explore branching narrative variants the author has given us. We play because we know we can eventually reach a
satisfying conclusion -- we can "beat the game." All our careful attention to gathering up each resource and conquering each foe -- unlocking all those doors -- gets us to a Final Door behind which is the grand prize for succeeding.
In ME3, we expectantly open that last door and promptly receive a bullet through the temple.
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