Game News Dragon Age - Now featuring Marilyn Manson

[Darth Roxor]

I love how cleverly thought out it is too. Who lives in Ferelden? FERELDANS!!!

 

[aboyd]

You know, one of the odd things is that D&D has been such a fantasy cliche for so long now, it is really weird to see D&D has moved on and Dragon Age has taken up the "boring rehash of cliches" mantle.

I mean, D&D 4th edition is an edition that I hate, but I have to acknowledge that it isn't much about dwarves and elves anymore. They certainly exist, but based on a poll done on the enworld.org forums, it's pretty clear that many players nowadays play tieflings and dragonborn and a host of other unexpected races & classes. D&D has effectively moved away from being about how dwarves and elves don't get along and all that generic crap. And now here comes DA, offering a non-D&D and much vaunted game world, and yet it appears to be mired in old boring crap that even D&D finally managed to surpass. Weird.

I guess their selling point is, "Hey, miss generic fantasy? Dragon Age is like comfort food, for milquetoast gamers!"

 

[Noceur]

Wow, the Hawaii Five-O version actually made some of those scenes memorable.

I have nothing against MM's music, but it made absolutely no sense whatsoever in the trailer (unless it was some kind of scream for help on Bioware's part, with all that "New Shit" sarcasm and all). With the MM song the trailer was just a bunch of nonsense thrown together.
Of course, that's exactly what this trailer is, and it doesn't seem to say shit about the actual game (other than Bioware needing to work on some of their particle effects).

The "gore" wasn't particularly gory or shocking (frankly, they could get away with the same amount of violence in a My Little Pony game), the sexual encounter felt neither romantic nor erotic and the music's rather dull, quite frankly.
Duke Nukem wasn't dark and gritty, Bioware. :D

I wonder why they're cockblocking their own game...

 

[Elhoim]

2. The dumb sex scene (intended to get more mainstream press attention no doubt after the "success" of the ME advertising in this area) also what the hell is it doing inserted into a trailer entitled "Violence".

Maybe you can have some BDSM sex?

 

[wrathofdog]

knowing Bioware, that would be the "evil" option

 

[Dionysus]

Anyway, I think this video is funnier than The Witcher's stupid music video, so I'm willing to give Bioware points for that.

Except that this video was not a part of The Witcher, dumbfuck. Vader did that song independently, because THEY wanted to promote the game, CDP only supplied the parts of the intro for the video later.

Plus, at least the song is related unlike the shitty Manson one.

Hey, I'm just pointing out the fact that CDP asked some shitty death metal band to make a song for The Witcher, and the resulting video somehow managed to be both more retarded and less entertaining than Bioware's latest DA trailer. There's no reason to shoot the messenger.

 

[Annie Mitsoda]

The gore just looked preposterous to me - like I was watching anime-style amounts of blood where you stab a dude in the shoulder and a firehose of blood is all FADOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOSH from the wound. And that sex scene? HUBLAAAARGH. Her half-closed eyes don't look like she's half-closing them, they look stapled in place, and when she's doing the "whee I'm sexy" crawl, I don't even know what was going on with her neck.

I'll be fair. I've never liked Bioware's character models pretty much ever, and while they can look pretty good in armor, when you get them attempting to move like they're NOT wearing any, it looks wrong to me.

I get what they're going for. Dark and gritty, yeah. I get it. You want 17 year olds to buy your game. You don't want to be grouped in with the D&D crowd. You want in on some of that hot-hot mature Witcher-style action. Right, 10-4, BioWare. However I think this here video is retarded. When was the last time Marilyn Manson was interesting, shocking, or revelant? I think I was in HIGH SCHOOL then. And while yes, avoiding the generic "stirring epic-ey fantasy music" is a good move, my god, that was NOT the right answer.

What I've gotten from this game is "well hey, it involves a whole bungload of people getting stabbed in dark gritty environs and maybe some awkward-looking sex." There may be something compelling in there, and I admit I've even wanted to be won over (and by all means, prove me wrong in this assumption, I won't mind!). But replacing wrote fantasy cliches with immature "AND TEHN I STABD HIMM!!" kind of whinging dark writing isn't what I find compelling. It's just a cliche of a different color.

Also when I see the same people who pee themselves over lines from Cliffy B like "in Gears of War 2 you can TOTALLY cut open people from neck to taint" freaking out over this like "WHEEE YAY HOORAY OMG," I think of this:

That's who you're aiming for in that trailer, BioWare. No, I know. It's marketing, that's fine. But if that's your target audience? Then no thanks.

 

[User was nabbed fit]

 

[Noceur]

Long rant that'll never land her a job at Bioware.

Yeah, ditto on the Manson...

Also, the "whee I'm sexy" crawl (often mistaken as doggy-style on the Bioware forum) is her blowing out a candle, I think. Although I suppose she could be getting backstabbed while doing this.
Don't ask me why they've lit a fucking candle when the whole room's on fire though.

 

[Melcar]

 

[MetalCraze]

Annie is becoming more and more angry cunt day-by-day. Me likes.

 

[Darth Roxor]

Hey, I'm just pointing out the fact that CDP asked some shitty death metal band to make a song for The Witcher

I stand corrected.

shitty death metal band

you're still a dumbfuck though

 

[Ion Flux]

That video makes the game look awful. I agree with Annie.


Also, Marylin Manson is for dorks.

 

[Annie Mitsoda]

Annie is becoming more and more angry cunt day-by-day. Me likes.

I've always been this way, my dear. I just don't always share it on the open with the internets, because when you're doing that as a developer you're taking a risk.

I think BioWare does have talented people and there are good ideas in there. I understand they're really excited to do their own thing with Dragon Age, and more power to them for it. But I think that this trailer smacks of marketing to a crowd I don't like to run with, and veering in a direction just to have something different. I'm all for being proven wrong, and sluffing off some of this jaded husk I (and any dev, I think, that has worked in the game industry for more than 3 years) have developed. And I'm also all for being called out with justifiable proof I done fucked up. But from what I've seen, I think the trailer is crass and laughable, the audience marketed to is immature, and the setting just a Shadow Plane version (or eh, Bizarro-land) of the generic.

They do say there are no new ideas anymore - and I don't really see any in what I've been shown of DA. With respect, then, I withhold my money.

...

And also as a bystander I can stay that song was shit from a butt. I'm going to stick to my guns on that one, if nothing else.

 

[Lesifoere]

You want 17 year olds to buy your game.

I think they're aiming rather lower than that, if anything.

 

[J.E. Sawyer]

/\/\/\
Nice Shikha Lilah avatar.

best dog post thx

 

[Shannow]

Just as a general note, because I see it very often, especially from our few female <s>without</s> members: Sex is neither mature nor immature. There were sexshops before the internets made porn available to all age groups. They went well and with mostly "mature" customers. Similar is true for violence. Violence was also restricted as much as possible to mature audiences and sold well anyway.
The only difference is that many younger males will be more unabashedly enthusiastic about the stuff, whereas we older folk are more reserved.
Of course age != maturity but still.
Neither sex nor violence make a game mature or immature but how they are executed. Of course, PR departments and devs should take note of this even more than our resident "sex is so immature"-crowd...

 

[MetalCraze]

There is no resident "sex is so immature" crowd.
Ridiculously executed "sex" that is laughable, totally out of the context and is there only to add to the EXTREME of the game = immature.

 

[Annie Mitsoda]

HI JOSH! (/secret developer handshake you all can never know)

By the way, ladies and gentlemen? You have Mr. Sawyer here to thank for that dog picture. He sent that to me a while back and I laughed so hard I nearly died of Dr. Pepper inhalation, and I held onto that picture dreaming of the day when I could unleash it in a fitting fashion.

 

[WhiskeyWolf]

2. The dumb sex scene (intended to get more mainstream press attention no doubt after the "success" of the ME advertising in this area) also what the hell is it doing inserted into a trailer entitled "Violence".

Maybe you can have some BDSM sex?

I would dig that.

 

[aries202]

On the Bioware forums in the now 45+ thread about this trailer, someone posted this

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ccWrbGEFgI8
(it's the trailer for Gears of War - Mad world)

I really got interested in playing this game, since I saw this trailer; the song really fits the world setting perfectly as it probably describes some of things soldier(s) are thinking of when they move through the war-ridden and devasted world in Gears of War.

In contrast, Bioware's trailer was just 'meh' and, as said, turned me away from buying the game (at release that is). I'm not even sure the trailer will reel in as many customer they've potentially have lost because of this trailer. I doubt that even the fps or action gamers will fall for this marketing ploy, at least the more mature ones (25+) that is.

Imonce taught 5-7th grade boys; they would really have liked to watch such a trailer, so would maybe the 15-21 year old gamers out there. I juist thought that someone actually would make a game for mature people like me; marketing clearly says I'm wrong...

 

[WhiskeyWolf]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ccWrbGEFgI8
(it's the trailer for Gears of War - Mad world)

I really got interested in playing this game, since I saw this trailer; the song really fits the world setting perfectly as it probably describes some of things soldier(s) are thinking of when they move through the war-ridden and devasted world in Gears of War.

GoW is Meh, nothing more... but still, that trailer for someone not knowing the game could make a great impact. This is how you make people intrested.

Other example of a proper trailer, a good CG backed by a fitting track - pure awesomeness:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WOK7r1pa74M

 

[Risine]

What the hell !!! I was really looking forward to playing this game for years, as a real successor of Baldur's Gate, but the more I see stuff on that, ... the less chances I'll play it ! Hardcore in a medieval setting ?!??? Nonsense.

 

[Suchy]

If doing a gore trailer, at least do it the proper way.

 

[Kingston]

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