I figured this would be the place to ask

Microsoft has publishing rights for the console versions of the first Mass Effect.

But not the second?

Bioware was bought by EA prior to Mass Effect 2.

If by "serious updates," you mean that they're ruining the story of the first game for an entire console's worth of gamers, then yes.

I wouldn't be so pissed if I didn't hold the belief that the original Mass Effect has, hands-down, the best story ever told in a video game. I know they don't really have a choice (since continuity is one of the series' big draws), but still.

ummmm.....werent u on a break from HG??????/

..Most likely Bioware figured it was easier to port ME2 to their new multiplatform engine, than porting the other engine to the ps3. The demo proves that will at least save us from the typical Unreal engine problems ps3 ports have, so I'm happy with that. Some of the changes I'm very happy about as well, so..

I.. don't think it's going to be a problem having a small highlights pick in an interactive comic as an intro to the series, either. I'll be writing a review of ME1 some time soon, but.. it's not complicated, subtle, or impossible to reduce to a short tale here. The list of things that actually pass over from ME1 to ME2 is short. So while I see the appeal of having the same character - the wrapper in ME2, with that you are reconstructed by a former "enemy", etc, with the memory loss and so on.. That's something that works pretty good. You know.. their goal was to reconstruct Shepard perfectly.. and then again, how can they tell if something went wrong, or half of the memory went missing? It works extremely well to just have a history review, imo. There's.. other things, such as how playing female Shepard in ME2 is less terrible than female Shepard in ME1 (imo).

What is missing, though, is the way you can make choices in ME1 - pour over the codex, look at all the meta-data, understand the bigger picture, see the gaps - and then make choices that are genuinely your own in that universe.. Then see the parallels to how "the beacon" works; arguably the entire point with the game, along with the presentation of a tale of humanity at it's apogee, rather than as the galaxy's loser, like we get in most sci-fi... that's going to be lost, and only will be there if you play the first game.

But necessary to enjoy the second game.. I don't know..

@ Blood Omen: I did. But I'm not the kind of person to not drop by to check up on friends when I have the time. I just won't have the time very often. Starting today, I probably won't be seen again for a good long while. The holidays gave me some free time, though.

I'm not trying to say that playing ME1 is necessary to enjoy ME2. I know people who only played ME2 and had a great time. I think I just love ME1's story too much to see it condensed in such a way. In the long run, I'm sure I'll be the only one who cares, but I nevertheless care.

So I imagine it's like people who watch the movie version of a great novel -- even though they may get the idea (and possible even enjoy it), the effect just isn't the same?

I haven't played Mass Effect yet. But it's sounding more and more interesting. I've heard mixed things about part 2, but everyone seems to love the first.

//Zig

I think the best way to describe why I like ME1 is that it feels like I'm playing a great sci-fi novel. It's such an absorbing universe and the game's sense of scope is unmatched, in my mind. ME2 actually improved a lot of issues people had with the first one (such as the combat and the vehicle bits) but was missing the same well-paced story and attention to detail, which is why people are so torn over which one is better.

I will say the demo was great for ME2. I've heard it said that the story is better in 1 but that the gameplay is better in 2.

..I kind of suspect it has a different approach to the same thing. Point is that ME1 is very pedestrian for large parts of the game, and the different "rpg" things in terms of walking around, finding stuff, unlocking new equipment, etc, is just something that's there. It really serves no purpose from a design point of view, except to keep you occupied.

But the game can be pretty funny at times in the ways it... strokes your ego. There's this bit at the beginning when you set out on the new mission, as captain, and so on. And you're expected to hold some sort of speech. You can just drop it, and get on with saving the universe. But if you carry on about honor, glory, and steamy sex with the triple-breasted whore of Omicron 5, the hero-music starts to crescendo and increase in pompousness along with you. Then if you stop chanting for too long, the music almost disappears. Then it starts as if nothing happened when you start to speak again. Was howling with laughter at that point.

But there really aren't many of those segments in ME1, or that type of interactive dialogue. But I've been told they are more frequent in ME2.