I haven't played Mass Effect, but I'd just like to point something out... games are meant, first and FOREMOST, to be fun.  A game can have the best story ever written, but if its not fun nobody is going to bother with it.  Games like mario don't have much of a story, or an extremely simplistic one (aka excuse plot), but if they are fun and entertaining, poeple will love them.

That said, I think the games with the best stories are often my favorite ones, because they often are the full package.  Games like Beyond Good & Evil, Zelda, Half Life, etc.  

A good story is great for a game to have, but its not essential.  

by alienufo on 02/06/2010 04:37:27 PM EST

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I broke down the different types of games for a reason...for some people, a game is nothing more than a game, but for a company like bioware, they are literally creating alternate universes where actions have consequences that make everyone's experience different.  All gamers are not the same, so "fun" is a subjective experience.  Some people only want to play online games with no plot or story at all.  This is not better or worse, than a completely one player campaign, but simply a different preference.  The problem is, when people start talking about "storytelling", video games somehow don't get recognized for their supreme ability to immerse a player into a story.  Even in theater when the fourth wall is broken, it usually does not change the outcome of the play, unless you are talking about LARPing, which is the supreme immersion into a "story".  You simply cannot ignore the fact that this is the most immersive form of distributable media, because if you look at something like the Happenings, they are a venue/event, and not a medium.  Of course every game doesn't have to have a story...that wasn't the argument.  What would be the story behind Pong?

by chrisandyasemin on 02/06/2010 08:33:21 PM EST

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