So E3—arguably the world’s largest video game conference—took place last week. Which means tons of new teasers, trailers, and walkthroughs as companies do their best to get gamers hyped up and drooling in anticipation. Below are a few of these videos that caught my eye (I’ve been able to resist drooling for the most part).

Yes, I know plenty of shame has already been heaped on the Star Wars prequels. Well, I’m going to heap on some more. Simply put, my first thought after seeing this promotional cinematic for Star Wars: The Old Republic—a new MMORPG being developed by BioWare—was that it was so much better than the prequels combined. Ass-kicking action sequences aside, I felt more emotion and drama coming from these CG characters than I did from most of the prequels’ principle actors.

I’ve never played any of the Splinter Cell games, but this commented walkthrough from Splinter Cell: Conviction really piqued my interest. The gameplay options, such as tagging targets, seem perfectly tuned to let you be the biggest bad-ass around, but I really love the projection storytelling device, in which memories, mission assignments, etc. are projected on the environment as you move through it. It’s an interesting way to present important mission information and reveal character info, but even more importantly, it, along with the editing choices, lends the game a fluid, cinematic look and feel that could draw the player even deeper into the storyline.

I’m contractually obligated to mention the Mass Effect franchise whenever I can, so here you go, the most recent full-length teaser/trailer for Mass Effect 2.

It’s 7+ minutes of Final Fantasy XIII. ‘Nuff said.

I recently mentioned that Dragon Age: Origins is right at the top of my “to play” list of video games. Well, right next to it is yet another BioWare title, Mass Effect 2. A short teaser was released earlier this year, and now, a new video has arrived.

The video is being billed as a “Prelude to E3 ‘09 Trailer”, so it’s basically a promo for a promo (assuming that yet even more Mass Effect 2-related video goodness will be forthcoming at E3). In any case, what it does show, both in terms of video gameplay and developer interviews—which touch on everything from the revised gameplay and weapons systems to the storyline—is pretty neat, and certainly gets me excited to play the game when it’s released in early 2010.

As much as I love them, I just don’t have much time these days for video games. And so I have to prioritize, and rest assured, BioWare’s Dragon Age: Origins is at the very top of my list.

I was pretty excited when a new trailer recently surfaced, but after watching it, I’m a little disappointed. Not by all of the violence and bloodshed on display, nor by the sexual content. From the very start, BioWare has described Dragon Age: Origins as a dark, adult fantasy game influenced by writers such as George R.R. Martin. (For the record, I found the sexual content more humorous than anything else—I didn’t know brave warriors wore bras and panties.) No, what bothered me was the use of Marilyn Manson’s “This Is The New Shit” as the trailer’s soundtrack.

First off, it just strikes me as odd and rather anachronistic to use modern rock to sell ancient fantasy (another example would be Nine Inch Nails’ “Just Like You Imagined” in 300‘s trailers). And if you’re trying to present your game as a dark, mature fantasy, it also seems odd to use music from someone who is typically identified with angst-ridden goth teens (and whose puerile schtick became passé in the late nineties).

When I heard Manson’s growls, my first thought wasn’t “Wow, this game is going to take me on some thrilling adventures in a magical land”, but rather, “Does this mean I have to buy this game at Hot Topic?”

Within the last two weeks or so, BioWare has released a slew of information for their latest projects, Mass Effect 2 and Dragon Age: Origins.

For the former—a sequel to the acclaimed Mass Effect—they’ve released a teaser trailer which contains a shocking twist or two.

And for the latter—a new original title that takes the company back to their fantasy role-playing roots—BioWare has released the various origin stories that will be used to generate and shape your character in the game.

Which might not seem like much, but anyone who has played a BioWare game knows that the company invests as much time and energy in their games’ stories as they do the graphics and gameplay—which is why their games are as good as they are. As such, it’s exciting to get a sneak peek at what is bound to be a grand and involved adventure.

I’ve been a sucker for the Final Fantasy series ever since Final Fantasy VII, so yeah, I’m pretty excited that Final Fantasy XIII is coming out on the Xbox 360.

If you’ve got some time and bandwidth to kill, a gorgeous 1080p version of the video above can be downloaded from the Playstation Network.

I can’t say too many people were surprised by the recent announcement that BioWare and LucasArts were teaming up to create a Star Wars-themed MMORPG—especially given BioWare’s experience from the acclaimed Star Wars: Knights Of The Old Republic, not to mention Electronic Arts’ CEO John Riccitiello’s comments earlier in the year.

But here it is, Star Wars: The Old Republic. Set over 3,000 years before the events of the Star Wars movies—or 300 years after the events of Knights Of The Old Republic—the game allows players to become Jedi, Sith, and other classes (nerf herder, perhaps?) and go on adventures at a time of great galactic strife and unrest, as Jedi and Sith struggle for dominance.

I’ll admit, I’ve never really been tempted to play an MMORPG. Aside from the technology required to develop one, they do little to excite me. And the primary reason for that is the lack of a truly unifying storyline for the player. Some might see that as a strength, as that allows an MMORPG to be a total “sandbox” experience. But for someone like me who wants, above all else, a truly engaging, immersive, and even affecting experience, a compelling core narrative is absolutely necessary.

What I find refreshing is that, in all of the press releases and whatnot that I’ve read concerning the game, the emphasis has been on the game’s story, and not the whiz-bang graphics and other neat bells and whistles (though I’m sure plenty of that will come out as development continues). But given that this is an MMORPG, there are significant challenges present, from a narrative standpoint. Challenges that I’m sure could frustrate even the most skilled writer.

For example, how do you achieve any sense of closure or completion to what is, by its very nature, an open, never-ending experience? Or how do you handle character arcs when so much of the character development is out of your writerly control—again, due to the nature of the game. It’ll definitely be interesting to see how the game’s writers walk that line between authorial control and intent, and player freedom and choice.

And speaking of choice… since this is BioWare, morality and the consequences of the players’ choices will play a role in the game. According to Daniel Erickson, the game’s lead writer:

Player choice has factored heavily in past BioWare RPGs, and will to an even greater extent in The Old Republic. “Imagine you’re 60 hours in, you’re playing light side, and you come up to this huge choice,” Erickson posed. “You know exactly what you want to do, and you look for the save button ... and you realize there is no save button.”

“You think, ‘I’m going to make this choice, and it’s going to be my choice forever. I’m never going to know what would have happened if I’d have gone down the other route.’ It makes these choices stronger than they’ve ever been in any BioWare game.”

It’s this “moral” element that has always elevated BioWare’s games in my eyes; they’re much more than just button-mashing, hack n’ slash adventures. Rather, they’re full-blown epics replete with choice and consequence (as I’ve posited earlier). And on a scale as, well, massive as Star Wars: The Old Republic… well, it could be something truly special, to see how the writers bring in new twists and turns, elements that keep the players thinking and evaluating.

Plus, I bet it’s just going to be wicked cool for even the most nominal of Star Wars geeks.

On January 21, Cooper Lawrence appeared on a Fox News segment about Mass Effect, where she decried its sexual content and objectification of women.

Now, anyone who has spent any time actually playing Mass Effect would immediately realize how preposterous those claims are. Yes, Mass Effect does contain some sexual content, but it’s absolutely wrong to characterize it as “pornography” or as the focus of the game. Indeed, it’s entirely possible to sidestep that content altogether, depending upon how you play Mass Effect and what choices you make throughout its 20-30 hours of gameplay. (And let’s not forget the moral weight that Mass Effect puts on your choices, be they romantic or otherwise.)

However, as Lawrence even admits in the segment, she never actually played Mass Effect. In fact, according to the New York Times, she was basing her statements on what someone else had told her:

In an interview on Friday, Ms. Lawrence said that since the controversy over her remarks erupted she had watched someone play the game for about two and a half hours. “I recognize that I misspoke,” she said. “I really regret saying that, and now that I’ve seen the game and seen the sex scenes it’s kind of a joke.

“Before the show I had asked somebody about what they had heard, and they had said it’s like pornography,” she added. “But it’s not like pornography. I’ve seen episodes of ‘Lost’ that are more sexually explicit.”

 

And there you have it. You can read the full article here, which also includes more info about the gamer backlash against Lawrence’s claims. (Registration might be required.)

I find this “controversy” entirely predictable, and sadly so. Here we have a news program bringing on a “pundit” who knows absolutely nothing about what they’re talking about beyond some hearsay, and it’s foisted on the public as a serious and reasonable debate—which lasts all of 5 minutes or so.

This might make for good soundbites and clever promos (I especially liked the “‘Se’Xbox” headline in the Fox News spot), but ultimately, it’s nothing more than disinformation and deception.

Should there be a frank and respectful discussion about sex, nudity, violence, etc., in video games, and the effects that they might have on children (and adults for that matter)? A discussion about the concerns parents might have, and the steps that they can take to protect their children from such things should they want to? Absolutely. But Fox News and Cooper Lawrence have given us all a perfect example of how to derail and undermine that kind of discussion and prevent it from ever happening.

It’s been almost two weeks, and I’m still making my way through Mass Effect, the latest game from BioWare. For one thing, as much as I love and am fascinated by video games, I have precious little time to play them these days. The main reason, though, for the long playtime is that Mass Effect has a game world so massive (npi), epic, and involved, I want to take my time going through it. I want to savour the experience, exploring every nook and cranny of its universe.

One of the more intriguing aspects of Mass Effect‘s universe is its system for determining your character’s morality. This isn’t groundbreaking by itself; many other developers have done this. But BioWare has made an art and science out of it through such games as Knights Of The Old Republic and Jade Empire.

But unlike the mostly black and white, fairly dualistic morality of BioWare’s earlier titles, Mass Effect‘s morality system is a bit subtler and more refined. Your character’s morality is divided between two scales: “Paragon”, which is increased by actions that would be considered noble or heroic, and “Renegade”, which is increased by ruthless and aggressive actions. And unlike those earlier titles, the two don’t cancel eachother out. You can’t simply undo your renegade ways by making the same number of paragon choices.

However, all of your actions—even those of the “Renegade” variety—are ostensibly good. After all, you are trying to save the galaxy from a race of intelligent machines bent on eradicating all forms of organic life. In the face of such an unimaginable threat, might it not be okay to, say, wipe out a colony of innocent civilians, if that will help accomplish your mission?

In setting up such scenarios, Mass Effect touches on a philosophical, moral, and spiritual issue that seems to be on everyone’s minds these days, considering everything that’s going on with the war on terror. Namely, is it ever permissible, or even preferable, to commit acts of great evil so as to bring about a great(er) good?

It’s the sort of question that philosophers, theologians, and great thinkers have pondered and grappled with for generations, so don’t expect a video game—albeit a really good one—to come to any conclusive answers on the subject. But it does make for fascinating gameplay and a pretty compelling storyline that can be surprisingly thought-provoking.

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