Warning: Wall of Text Proceeds. TL;DR follows.
Imagine with me, if you will, my state of mind three months ago. I happily wrote the following, reveling in the notion that Bioware would ultimately produce an Extended Cut worthy to be paralleled with that of the Coca-Cola brand and its abrupt switch to New Coke, and subsequently its just-as-abrupt reversion to the “classic” brand.
Memory Lane:
I'm sure everyone remembers this infamous debacle that wreaked havoc upon the Coca-Cola Company, and the soft drink industry overall. New Coke. The name rings terror throughout the minds of corporate executives nationwide--if not globally--due to the mindnumbingly terrible business practices preceding, during, and proceeding the release of the devastatingly poor quality product.
Leading up to the 1985 release of the "New Coke" product--it was glaringly apparent that Coke was losing its force as the most dominant soft drink in the nation. Pepsi scared them--the 24% market share was being overtaken by PepsiCo in supermarkets. To reverse this troubling bearing, the Coca-Cola company market tested and released a new formula to compete with what was being considered as the new hip thing.
It failed, and miserably so.
There was some early acceptance of the product--big marketing pushes were made; they saturated markets such as New York and Washington D.C. and it seemed as though this huge push was beneficial. After all, their sales rose in comparison to their former product. However, this trend quickly reversed itself--there was a massive backlash from a "vocal minority" that basically held the company--and its product--hostage due to the radical change of formula. In fact, media outlets initially praised the product--it was new and groundbreaking, after all. This quickly gave way to media outlets damning the product and the executives for such a radical distancing from its prior bearing.
Coca-Cola quickly realized what a huge mistake it made. But you'll notice the vagueness of the anteceding paragraph, I hope.
This was intentional, as glaring parallels can be made between the Coca-Cola "New Coke" product, and our beloved Bioware and Mass Effect 3.
Ignore the first informational paragraph--the numbers pertain only to that of "New Coke" and were for informational purposes only. The paragraph of acceptance is where your attention should lie, as that is where the parallels lie. Mass Effect 3 was saturated all throughout the nation--commercials ran consistently in television shows such as The Walking Dead on AMC, and all throughout the internet. Initially, this push seemed successful: Mass Effect 3 broke records on Day 1 sales and preorders. The sales in comparison to Mass Effect 1 & 2 paled in comparison for the first week.
This trend, however, did not last. There was a massive backlash from a "vocal minority" that basically has held the company--and its product--hostage due to a radical change in plot and content. In fact, media outlets intially praised the product for being outstanding in its field. It was new and groundbreaking, after all. This, unfortunately, did not last and the media frenzy began to die away with media outlets beginning to damn the product and the executives for such a radical departure from its prior bearings.
Seeing the parallels? This will be a defining moment for Bioware, just as it was for the Coca-Cola company in April through July of 1985. Mass Effect 3 will go down in the annals of history as having these parallels. It's up to Bioware, however, if they want the big, bold asterisk that Coca-Cola enjoys: they paid attention to their consumers--they reversed their bearings and moved back to the successful formula that the consumer enjoyed, and they reaped the benefits. They did not ally themselves to ludicrous concepts such as "artistic integrity" to justify a failing product. They admitted they were wrong, and went back to business as usual.
Will Bioware do the same? It is only a matter of time.
Post Script: I guess it's coincidence that both "New Coke" and Mass Effect 3 have conspiracy theorists postulating that these were intentional marketing ploys? Maybe it isn't.
It pains me to say—for those of you reading this who have dealt with me over the past few months, you know this to be true—that I was completely and in totality wrong in my estimation and prophecy of the events regarding the Extended Cut.
Unfortunately for us all, the parallels ended between Bioware and New Coke upon the release of said new cut.
What we see here is not reconciliation from Bioware for the fans—the patrons—of Bioware, of the Mass Effect series. We, instead see Bioware proverbially “sticking to its guns” on an ending inherently flawed and fundamentally discrepant in terms of lore and narrative.
Bioware, with releasing the Extended Cut, is now akin in no real way to Coca-Cola. Instead of apologizing—admitting they screwed the pooch, admitting that their “New Coke” was a flop—they instead stood by it. They, instead of a re-release of their brand of “Coke classic,” released New Coke with a brand new can design, complete with the ingredients list painted in bold, black ink in large print.
They could have reflected fan sentiment and maintained their “artistic integrity,” just as Coca-Cola did. They could have added in what made the Mass Effect series such a force in pop culture, which was implementing—and fundamentally changing the story based upon—player’s choice.
They neglected this, yet again, which is why they failed.
Mass Effect 3 could have been something beautiful again.
Instead, they opted for the annals of forgotten lore and cultural missteps.
>>Writer's opinion? It's truly, truly a shame.
TL;DR: Mass Effect 3 is no longer the New Coke of our generation. The progression of the two products parallel to an eery extent, however Mass Effect, the series in its entirety, separate after the release of the Extended Cut for Mass Effect 3. In essence, the Extended Cut is a betrayal to the fans and patrons of Bioware and is akin to the Coca-Cola Company thumbing its nose to those who religiously bought their products, telling them to “deal with it.”
Modifié par wantedman dan, 29 juin 2012 - 03:51 .
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