The Golden Age

...Bask in the glory!

A lot of people, myself included, often have a lot of complaints and concerns about how the gaming and the industry as a whole. We see a lot of things that worry us, or make us think that the games industry might become a shadow of what it used to be. We see games like Modern Warfare 3 and worry that First Person Shooters might become glorified Michael Bay shooting galleries. We see the closure of studios that made awesome games and grow concerned that only the giant companies will be able to churn out games, or we see once great publishers and developers on the brink of bankruptcy. Everywhere we look it seems things are not going well. Some have even argued that the best days of gaming are behind us.

However, despite the many things that upset me or worry me these days I have never been more excited about where gaming is headed. In fact, I think the best is just around the corner.

When I talk with friends, or write various pieces, I often find myself somewhat depressed. Especially when I look at some of the games I have played the past year or two and see how many disappointed me, or just weren't very strong titles. The other day though, I took another look and saw just as many that surprised me or lived up to the hype around them. So I decided to think on it more, and I realized something should not be all that shocking, but yet still felt like a revelation. In order to set that up, think about this for a second:

This is what games looked like ten years ago.

Look at all that blood...

This is what they look like now.

At least the trees are safe.

I really hope the difference is obvious. Graphics have moved so far ahead in just ten years, we actually doubt we can improve them much further right now. Graphics may not be everything in a game but they can really help pull players into a game world and with the graphical power we have nowadays. We can create detailed worlds and characters, and we can create better visual effects with the technology we currently have. Thanks to this, we have some truly realistic looking games, such as Crysis and Forza 4, as well as some very interesting art styles in games like in Limbo and Catherine. We have games like Skyrim, where the game world feels truly alive, and even classics like Mario and Legend of Zelda have benefited from the advances made in graphical technology.

It's not just graphics though. Gaming has become something that just about everybody does in some fashion. With all these people playing games, indie developers have been able to find an audience for their games. Just browse the internet for games sometime. There are literally tens of thousands of independent projects and companies that produce all sorts of games. It's not just the well known ones like Castle Crashers and Limbo. The internet is filled with hidden gems like Super Brothers: Sword and Sorcery EP. In fact, some of the better games of the past five years have been indie titles. Independent developers also aren't obligated to make their games a certain way nor do they have a publisher or larger group to answer to. This has allowed for some truly innovative games from the indie developers. I mean look at the success of Minecraft if you don't believe that indie games can succeed in the industry. The past five years of gaming have also brought countless innovations and changes to the industry thanks in part to the number of people playing now. The Wii was hyped by Nintendo as a big change for gaming, and for a while it was. The Wii successfully pulled in a huge new crowd to video gaming, and proved, at least for a little bit, that motion control can be more than just a gimmick. They've followed that up with the 3DS, a handheld with glasses free 3D. While the games may not quite be there yet, the technology behind it is impressive.

It's not just indie games that have benefited from gaming becoming a popular activity. Because of the number of people playing, games rake in all kinds of dough for their developers and publishers. This enables them to hire better staff to create better games. This has shown up particularly in the writing department. Fifteen years ago most developers could not afford to pay for actual writers. A few people  involved with the game development would usually be given the task to do the bulk of the writing. And if you look at some of the games from fifteen years ago, that doesn't really seem all that hard to believe. Nowadays however, we have some truly talented people penning incredible scripts, worlds, and lore for our favourite games. The rise of the writing quality has allowed for the creation of some of the best stories and worlds that we have ever seen in gaming in the past few years. Mass Effect and Bioshock are examples of games that have truly raised the bar for writing in games. The amount of money pouring into the industry has also enabled developers to hire better voice actors, and bring in more experienced and diverse personnel for everything fro creating the soundtrack to designing the game art.

RA Salvatore is writing game fiction now. Surely Stephen King isn't too far behind...

Of course there are bad parts about the industry and where it's headed, but when hasn't there been?  Gaming today sits upon the precipice of maybe going somewhere no entertainment medium can take us. With books you can read stories, but what it looks like, or what it might feel like to be in that story are left largely up to your imagination. Not a bad thing, but sometimes we want to see what we're reading. So then we've got movies, which take written stories and then show us what it would look like. It brings us into the world the story is trying to tell. However, we're still just an audience. We don't have any control over what's going on, and we don't have any say in how things happen. Again, not necessarily a bad thing, but often times we want to experience these stories for ourselves, or to put ourselves into the characters shoes, or hell, even just insert our actual selves into the story and make it go how we would want it too. This is where gaming shines. It puts us into these stories and settings and allows us to experience them directly. Sometimes we experience them as a defined character, other times the character is more or less us. We could soon see games that will take us places movies and books just simply can't. We've already seen many situations in games were the decisions we're given aren't necessarily good or evil. Some decisions in games are judgement calls.

Now we're seeing games like the upcoming Rainbow Six: Patriots where every decision and option is in a morally grey area, and it's up to you whether defeating the bad guys should come at any cost. Then we have the Mass Effect trilogy, which takes every decision you make and lets it snowball up until the upcoming conclusion, where every choice you have made will determine the fate of the whole galaxy. Who lives, who dies, if you even succeed at all. Entire civilizations could disappear because of your choices. Games like this can cause us to examine who we are as people, and what decisions we'd make when push comes to shove. Even without these choices, we're beginning to see games that make us feel like we're part of what's going on. We're not just playing as a big dot that eats smaller dots, we're experiencing an event  through a characters eyes. We're not just watching the action unfold before us, we're taking part in it. Even classic titles like Mario, Legend of Zelda, and Pokemon feel more alive than ever before.

And if you just want to run around blowing people's heads off in Fallout: New Vegas, you can do that too.

My seven year old gaming self thought Microsoft Flight Simulator 95 was one of the most incredible games ever, and I thought that games that looked any better wouldn't be something that  Iwould see until I had kids. Really if I look back on it, gaming has come so far in such a short time. It's almost unrecognizable from when I was kid. Even more so for people who grew up in the era of arcades and the Atari 5200. And you know what? I think it's going to grow and change just as much in the next fifteen years. Call it a hunch.

Perhaps the Unreal 3 tech demo "The Samaritan" reinforces the hunch...

Well that was long one, I hope you enjoyed it.
Until next time!

Image Source:
#1. http://3.s3.envato.com/files/4040128/Golden_Glow_Preview.jpg
#2.http://i.neoseeker.com/screenshots/R2FtZXMvUEMvQWN0aW9uL0FkdmVudHVyZQ==/diablo_ii_the_lord_of_destruction_image2.jpg
#3. http://www.geforce.com/Active/en_US/shared/images/articles/600-crysis-2-computer/Crysis2-screen3.jpg
#4. http://www.boomtron.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/10/Salvatore-R-A.jpg
#5. http://www.udk.com/elements/img/galleries/Samaritan2.jpg

Flufflist: Top Five Games I Can't Wait For

...My turn!

This is only my second Flufflist, but I wanted to do some kind of 'anticipation list." The problem is that I didn't want to make it sound like a countdown of the games everyone is waiting for, or make it sound like some kind of award. My solution? Make it my personal list of games I can't wait for. I tried to stick to only games currently set for release this year, but game development be a harsh mistress and I have no doubts at least one of these will slip into 2013 (much to my dismay.)

So here we go.

#5. Far Cry 3

The original Far Cry was one of the best shooters of the past decade or so. Far Cry 2 was a good successor that offered some cool changes and differences from the original, but at times felt like a boring and rather empty game. With Far Cry 3 I'm hoping that Ubisoft can find a good mix of the two. The gameplay trailer that we say at E3 is all we have to go on right now, but from what they showed it looks like Far Cry 3 will indeed be some kind of hybrid of the first two games. The main villain, Vaas, is something that stood out to me (I even discussed this after first seeing the trailer.) His animation is erratic and slightly unpredictable, his design makes him look just as insane as his actions are, and his voice acting is bewitching. The devlopers have said they really wanted to make the characters in this game memorable, and if they can do even half as good a job with the others as they did with Vaas, this game could have some surprisingly deep characters. The gameplay is also looking very solid. The one thing that I am curious about is the experience system that showed up in the demo. It could throw even more depth into the game. On the other hand it could be just a rehash of something similar to Call of Duty's. Only time will tell.

#4. Rhythm Thief & The Emperors Treasure

Odd choice? Perhaps, but if you own a 3DS this might be the first good rhythm game you'll get. Or maybe I should call it an action game. Adventure perhaps? If that description sounds odd, that would be because this game is shaping up to be a very unique experience. The gameplay revolves around mastery of several different music-based rhythm games that involve use of the stylus as well as the 3DS gyroscopic capabilities. The animation and visual style are obviously anime-inspired, I mean you could watch the cut scenes and mistake it for an anime. The story is about Ralph and his dog Fondue and their search for Ralph's missing father. He was taught to never steal by his father, but  the only way for Ralph to get the clues he needs to track down his dad is to steal works of art and antiques from museums and galleries. When your not thieving priceless works of art or tapping your way through a rhythm sequence, the game is a point and click adventure. You can interact with people and objects to collect information or medallions, which are used as in game currency. You will also collect sounds at times by clicking on certain objects but the developers have not yet revealed what purpose they are for (presumably another of the rhythm sections.) This game may not be on your radar yet, but it should be. If executed properly, this could be one of the best games on the 3DS this year.

#3. Bioshock: Infinite

Bioshock: Infinite could be one of the biggest game releases of the year. Unlike Bioshock 2, Infinite is being developed by the team that made the original Bioshock, and it appears that they have once again created an incredibly detailed fantastical setting that has been turned from an ideal place to live into a dystopian nightmare. The game takes place on the air-city of Columbia in 1912. The city had initially been created and launched as a kind of traveling World's Fair by the United States. People could live on the ship and travel the world in the air. However it is revealed to also be an extremely powerful battleship a bit before the game begins through an international incident. The US disavows any knowledge of the ship, and it's location is essentially lost to most of the world, with the ship showing up randomly here and there to impose its will on others. When the game begins, several factions have been fighting for control of the ship, but only two still stand. The Vox Poppuli, a sort of amalgamation of several smaller factions with similar views. They had at one point simply been seeing to restore freedom to the people, but now simply want to destroy the city. The other faction is the Founders, the last remnants of the people of power on Columbia. A woman named Elizabeth has become the central figure of the conflict, and the main character, Booker DeWitt, has been sent to rescue her. The game is extremely gorgeous and the combat seems just as fluid and fun as the original, if not more so. The story is incredibly complex and there seem to be a multitude of ways to work your way through it. Bioshock: Infinite is shaping up to be one hell of a game, and if it is just as good as it appears to be, it might be the best game coming out this year.

#2. Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning

Despite numerous critics, sites, and magazines praise of it, Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning continues to go largely under the radar. That is a real shame because this could be a real dark horse for game of the year. I went over the game in my look at 2012, but to reiterate, Reckoning is a game developed by a new company called Big Huge Games and 38 Studios, which are owned by former MLB superstar pitcher and self proclaimed gameaholic Curt Schilling. Acclaimed fantasy author RA Salvatore has created the universe and lore, as well as penning some of the story. Todd MacFarlane, the cartoonist genius and figure and sculpture creator, is the art director, and Bethesda lead design vet Ken Rolston is the executive designer. Those are three brilliant men appear to have created the next big RPG based on what we have seen so far. The games visual style is impressive, detailed, and colorful. The combat has been touted as simple, yet intuitive and the mechanics have been one of the most impressive features of the game. The skill tree is also somewhat unique and different, offering different "destinies" that yu work your way up to that cover different skills and abilities. You can swap out different destinies throughout the game if you get bored with one, allowing you to essentially change classes if you wish, instead of being stuck with the same class the whole way through the game. The game world is refreshingly different, providing several different regions to explore along with a story that is also looking to be very solid. If this game isn't on your watch list, the upcoming demo will give you a chance to see this game in action for yourself so you can get it on there. It's one of the early releases of the year as well which might give it a chance before the bigger titles drop a little later.

#1. Mass Effect 3

This is the game I have been waiting for since I first played Mass Effect almost five years ago. Commander Shepard's story will end, one way or another, on March 6th. The story starts with  Reaper invasion finally occurring. Despite Shepards best attempts to delay them, they arrive quickly without warning and strike at Earth first. Shepard is forced to flee and rally the other races to stand against the Reapers, or the galaxy will be faced with extermination. All of the relationships with the characters you've met will play a part in how this story plays out, as well as your personal choices in many of the past two games missions. Combat will be very similar to Mass Effect 2 with some interesting and welcome tweaks. Melee has largely been absent in the prior Mass Effect titles, but that changes with the introduction of the omniblade, a knife that is generated by the characters wrist computer. The blade will have a different special attack depending on your class, and since this makes melee a real possibility to use, enemies focused on melee combat will also be introduced. Weapons are also no longer class restricted and along with many different models of each type to choose from you can edit them with different scopes, barrels, attachments, and accessories to personalize your weapon load out to how you want to play. Multiplayer will also be introduced in the form of a Horde-esque co-op mode. You can pick different races and classes and take on wave after wave of enemies with friends. This game will do something we've never seen before in a game series like this. You will see the decisions you made and will make through the Mass Effect 3 will determine how the story ends, letting you see how all of your actions changed the story. If executed correctly, this could be one of the absolute timeless classics that you'll want to play over and over and over again.


So there you go. You'll notice more than few high-caliber titles missing from this list, but there's only five slots after all. Next time I'll be talking about why we should stop our harsh words against the industry for a moment and reflect on how good we've got it in gaming these days.

So long until next time!

Image Sources (always go in descending order of appearance):
#1.
#2. http://www.tfmx.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2011/07/FarCry_vaas_post.jpg
#3. http://nscene.files.wordpress.com/2011/12/rhythm-thief-the-emperor_s-treasure-contains-throwbacks-to-old-rhythm-based-dreamcast-games.jpg?w=640&h=392&crop=1
#4. http://media.pcgamer.com/files/2011/12/Bioshock-Infinite-hello-golden-man.jpg
#5. http://ps3media.ign.com/ps3/image/article/116/1165907/new_village_night_1304492429.jpg
#6. http://fronttowardsgamer.com/wp-content/uploads/mass-effect-3-teaser.jpg

SOPA: Put A Stop To This Nonsense

This isn't so much a post as a heads up. A few people have asked me what SOPA is and why it's something that should be killed with fire. I figured the small viewership I have may not necessarily know what SOPA is or why it's not something to be excited about. So here's some info for you.

What is SOPA Anyway? 

SOPA stands for Stop Online Piracy Act. It's goals aren't evil, in fact they are pretty noble. Piracy sucks if we're being honest. It takes profit away from developers, artists, and publishers. The goal of SOPA is to put the power under the control of the owners of these properties and allowing them to decide how best to distribute their products and media, as well as how to handle the online theft of them. On the surface this just seems like an attempt to stop people from stealing, which is, as I said, a pretty fair idea to be honest.

So How Does This Hurt The Internet Then?

Simply put, if a company thinks your infringing on copyrights, they can shutdown your site without warning. Oh and they can also demand ALL revenue pouring into said site. It doesn't matter if 99% of the sites revenue comes from ads, donations, or other places. If even .1% of it is coming from a copyright infringement then they can take all your profits. It would also allow them to do this regardless of whether or not the site is actively doing it or just allowing it to happen. I also requires search engines to remove offending sites from it's database, essentially making the site disappear. In practice, someone could even post a copy infringed link in a comments section, and the site it was posted on would be responsible.

Okay So It's Bad, But Who Is This Actually Going To Hurt?

Website owners. Plain and simple, if you own a website this bill will hurt. Youtube, IGN, Anime Season, Marshmallow Fluff!. All of us. Even I'm at risk with this bill if it passes. The scary thing is, the simple act of linking to pirated content immediately makes the site responsible. It's as crazy as it sounds, and the even scarier thing is there are so many places for someone to post pirated content and links to said content, that websites everywhere are basically facing an uncontrollable problem. And there is nothing that we can do about it if the bill passes. This doesn't just hurt the existing sites either. Many businesses start on the internet. So many, that the internet is one of the fastest growing industries in the US of A. One that is actually succeeding in creating jobs. This bill threatens to end that too.

Oh Wow, This Does Suck. So Who Actually Supports This Thing?

That's where it gets even scarier. In the gaming community there is a collection of companies called the ESA. Microsoft, Sony, Nintendo, EA, Ubisoft, Capcom, Sega and a slew of others are in this group and they all want to see this bill pass. The RIAA and Warner Brothers are noted others outside the games industry that support this bill. GoDaddy, the website domain registrar, did support the bill but after Wikipedia pulled all of it's domains, along with other notable companies and organizations, the loss in profits forced GoDaddy to withdraw it's support.

So, Is Anyone Against This?

Yep, and they are equally as big as the other side. Google, Youtube (owned by Google), the Wikimedia Foundation, which includes Facebook, Twitter, Tumblr, Yahoo, and the EFF. Not to mention the thousands of sites that depend on user generated content to survive. In truth while the wealth and power is somewhat balanced, there are a lot more people against it than for it.

This Doesn't Look Good.

No it doesn't. And I have some really bad news. As things stand right now, this bill seems set to pass. There's plenty of opposition, but there's too many big corporations that support it. Don't get me wrong, those of us against it will fight it every step of the way, but right now, the bill has enough support to pass.

But here's where the good news kicks in. You remember all those sites and companies listed above that are against it? They represent a huge amount of money in the internet industry. They will be ready to resist this bill heavily, even if it passes. There will be a huge legal battle the likes of which we probably have never seen if SOPA passes, and it could even be dismissed if the opposition is strong enough.

Okay, This Is Bad. How Can I Help?

Simple. Call or write your congressmen and tell them why this bill is bad, and that they should be fighting to prevent it. Sign the petition (link at the bottom of the post.) If you can (and especially not easy for us in the gaming industry, but try for me?) don't give the companies supporting it your money. Attend the American Censorship Day protests. Spread the word to others and tell them to do the same. This bill is up for vote on January 24th, and unless 41 Representatives say no, this bill WILL pass. 


This is set to hurt the internet immensely. No one will win in the long run, and in the short run things look pretty terrifying for us internet dwellers. So lets put a stop to it.
http://americancensorship.org/

Thanks for your time. I promise some fun for the next article.

Image Source: http://images.sodahead.com/profiles/0/0/0/5/1/6/6/3/9/STOP-SOPA-65944995136.png

Source: GamesRadar - High Horse: Save Our Internet 

A Look At 2012

 ...I patiently await the day the zombie apocalypse begins.

Well 2011 has ended. We've all reflected more than enough so now we look towards the coming year in gaming. If the Mayans are right, it will be our last and (re: they aren't) it looks like this will be a pretty good year to end it on. Plenty of high caliber titles are due out this year, and some big announcements seem imminent, and who knows what else we might see this year. So lets take a look at whats on the way.

The Games 
(Note: I can not possibly talk about every last game here, so I'm only touching on a few of the bigger ones, or ones I feel should be on the radar for most people.)

There will be plenty of huge games getting released this year, and we have one of the biggest dropping at the end of the month. Final Fantasy XIII-2 is set to hopefully mark a return to form for the Final Fantasy series. The past two titles have not been received well. In fact, the MMO styled Final Fantasy XIV was so bad they had to temporarily shut the game down so they could fix the myriad of troubles that plagued the title at launch. Luckily, it seems that the sequel to Final Fantasy XIII seems set to fix the things that upset players and keep the things that worked. A new combat system should also prove to help keep things interesting. Soul Caliber V is also set for release at the end of the month as well, a day all fighting genre gamers should have circled. In fact the first three months of the year seem to be set to be one of the bigger parts of this years game release schedule, with The Darkness II, Syndicate, Twisted Metal, Uncharted: Golden Abyss, Asura's Wrath, Max Payne 3, Tom Clancy's Future Soldier, Resident Evil: Operation Raccoon City, Ninja Gaiden III, Dragons Dogma, DOTA 2, Kid Icarus: Uprising and SSX are all set for release in the first three months of the year.

There's two games also out in the first three months that RPG fans everywhere should be waiting with baited breath for. Mass Effect 3 is set to cap off Commander Shepard's trilogy with a huge bang. Every event in the past two games has lead to the epic finale and given what we've seen so far, this could be the best game from Bioware yet. They have made the bold claim that every plot point will be wrapped up nicely in this game, and the potential for the game to end in many different ways, including a few where you fail to save the galaxy, could make for one of the best endings to a story in gaming history. Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning has flown far under the radar so far but that seems hard to believe from my viewpoint. With a story penned by fantasy author RA Salvatore, a visual style courtesy of Todd MacFarlane, and the design being overseen by Ken Rolston, a Bethesda veteran, there should be plenty of interest to begin with. Then there's the games refreshingly new story and universe. Along with that a very cool combat system and condensed, yet deep skill tree. Most gaming critics and experts have walked away from previews with nothing but nice things to say about the new IP.

Then at the end of March brings us the launch of Diablo III (hopefully, finally.) This is a game people have been waiting years to see release, and finally Blizzard fans can rejoice that the games March 31st release date seems set in stone. The dungeon crawler has some new classes and improved AI and combat, not to mention a beautiful graphics system and the marketplace where players can sell the gear they find online for real cash. People have been waiting a long time for this one, and hopefully, Diablo III can live up to the hype.

Sadly after that awesome start to the year, there won't be a whole lot in the way of top caliber titles to look for. Aside from Prototype 2 in April, Darksiders 2 in June, Sly Cooper: Thieves in Time at the end of June, and Dust 514 also at the end of June, there won't be a lot to look for, which should give those of us strapped for cash plenty of time to get caught up and get ready for the usual flurry of releases in the Fall. Right now the only games to really be looking for are the Tomb Raider reboot, Halo 4 and Far Cry 3 but most of the big name titles won;t be announced until E3. The big game people are waiting for in the fall/winter is Bioshock Infinite. Given the gameplay we've seen so far, it's a safe bet that this game is set to be among the biggest of the year. The visuals are impressive, and the narrative is shaping up to be pretty deep, though it might not top the original Bioshock.  The city of Columbia also appears to have been just as well crafted as Rapture. It's a safe bet we'll be seeing the usual release from Call of Duty but aside from that we're not really sure what else to expect after September ends. Borderlands 2, Transformers: Fall of Cybertron, and Metro: Last Light are among the games that have no release date set but are expected to ship at some point this year.

The Announcements and Reveals


We've already heard some bubbling rumors about what we might be seeing this year, but this entire section is mere speculation and personal thought. So don't take too much of it to heart.

We've seen an awful lot of stuff regarding Half-Life 3 as of late. First the shirt worn by a Valve employee, then the supposed references in the acceptance speech from Wheatly's VGA award win, and finally the appearance of a website that bore the Half-Life 3 logo and appropriate logos related to the games development (if it exists). Valve has dismissed it all as "the community trolling the community" but there's an awful lot floating around right now, so something must be up right? Sadly, we'll likely have to wait until E3 until we get our answer, if we get one at all. 

There's also been a lot of rumors that the next Xbox console is set for a reveal at E3 2012. While I have never seen Microsoft come out and say it won't be, my gut says that it won't be. They've just redesigned the dashboard and tried to get the Kinect to become a big pat of the Xbox 360 experience. Not to mention there are several big titles, chief among them Halo 4, that would make more sense to hold off until next year if an announcement and then hopeful launch next year. Then again, it may be time to start at least considering the rumor as a possibility. A few years back Microsoft told us the 360 was halfway through it's life cycle, and if that's true, we only have two or three years left until the next console. That's not the only reason this could be true. The eighth generation of consoles is starting. The Wii-u is set for a release at some point this year (likely the fall), both Sony and Nintendo have released their newest handhelds (North America will be getting the PS Vita in Feburary). But like with Half-Life 3, we'll have to wait until E3 before we really figure this one out.

Then there are all the games and companies that are due to make some announcements. Bioware did just announce Command and Conquer: Generals 2, but that's being developed by a new studio. Given some of the rumors surrounding Dragon Age, I'd wager we'll be seeing the next installment announced at some point. Grand Theft Auto V has been announced but that's about it. Expect lots of details to be fleshed out in the coming months leading up to E3. Something else to watch for is more information about Halo 4. We saw the reveal at E3, but have learned little else since. Expect E3 to be the place where we will really get a solid look at 343's first game with the franchise.


Well there you go. It's not much, but there's a brief little look at what to look forward to in 2012. It's shaping up to be an awesome year yet again to play video games, bu then again , when isn't it awesome? I'd also like to wish everyone a (late) Happy New Year. I hope that you'll keep reading and checking out this place through this year too.

Oh! And if you want to comment on any of my blog posts, feel free to do so. I welcome input and other opinions.


Image Source Links
#1: http://www.kaheel7.com/userimages/2012-mystery.JPG
#2. http://www.gamepur.com/files/images/2011/final-fantasy-xiii-2-screen.jpg
#3. http://media.pcgamer.com/files/2011/08/Mass-Effect-3-41.jpg
#4. http://theallgamingblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/10/ss29-hires.jpg
#5. http://theurbangamer.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2011/03/xbox720-pic-3.jpg