Bioshock and Mass Effect: Look great but...

Obviously I haven't gotten my hands on Bioshock yet, but I'm getting a feeling that the game with all of it's features and mechanics is going to be one of those things that I just don't have the patience to sit and learn to play properly.

Same thing with Mass Effect. Cool conversations...ok, but does that mean that the hour or so out of my day that I can afford for playing games is going to be over 25 minutes of choosing between "What do you mean?" and "Ok, I get it."? The combat in this game doesn't seem all that accessible either.

Maybe it's because I'm getting older. Although my attention span has probably grown, the fact is I don't have enough time in my day to be fiddling around with these things. In my opinion these games will probably be great, but only to those who can go ahead and play the thing three hours or more at a time a few days a week.

As much as I'm not interested in most "casual" games (they tend to bore me quickly), games like these are also starting to turn me off in a big way. Anyone else feel like this? Guess I'm not "hardcore" anymore.

Or perhaps it will be your classic 360 game thus far. Short and unfilling. Ive felt like they put graphics in their games now but not the gameplay. I pay 10 dollars more for my games so why the hell dont i get a better experience? Useless game making companies.BarkLikeADog

You probably have no friends on live, which greatly hinders the gameplay on the 360. My advice is that if you don't plan to play with your friends buy a ps3.

Obviously I haven't gotten my hands on Bioshock yet, but I'm getting a feeling that the game with all of it's features and mechanics is going to be one of those things that I just don't have the patience to sit and learn to play properly.

Same thing with Mass Effect. Cool conversations...ok, but does that mean that the hour or so out of my day that I can afford for playing games is going to be over 25 minutes of choosing between "What do you mean?" and "Ok, I get it."? The combat in this game doesn't seem all that accessible either.

Maybe it's because I'm getting older. Although my attention span has probably grown, the fact is I don't have enough time in my day to be fiddling around with these things. In my opinion these games will probably be great, but only to those who can go ahead and play the thing three hours or more at a time a few days a week.

As much as I'm not interested in most "casual" games (they tend to bore me quickly), games like these are also starting to turn me off in a big way. Anyone else feel like this? Guess I'm not "hardcore" anymore.

cubbiesx

If you don't have a lot of time on your hands during the day then you should probably stop playing RPGs. I mean play a Final Fantasy game... hell one battle (if hard) could take a good 5-10 minutes (boss more like 10-15 with retrys more). It is the same thing with the Kotor games. While they did have a lot of action there was a lot of breaks were the side characters (people along with you) would talk to you or with eachother (which i usually skipped) and those if read could actually take a good chunk of time. Look at NWN and NWN2 for the PC (NeverWinter Nights) they do have a lot of action, but they also even out the action with about as much dialoge (which instead of always being said it only text so if you are slow at reading then the game is even slower).

Really if you look at RPGs they are probably the most time consuming games if you don't count replability (like people spending hours upon hours in Gears of War online) i mean one straight shot fromthe startto finish. Most RPGs (true RPGs) tell stories so they will be heavy with dialoge or cutscenes. There are some like Baldurs Gate Dark Alliance (for xbox and PS2) and while it is from an RPG franchise and still has some RPG elements is mainly an Action/Adventure game where you could play for 15 minutes and stop.

So look at it this way if you want to feel something like an RPG (such as Mass Effect), but you want something that you can play without it taking hours out of your life at a time with dialouge then look at some of the more Action/Adventure type games. There arn't many games out right now for the new gen systems (except that one for PS3) there are some for last gen. The main game in this type of genre would be something like Too Human. It looks to be pretty heavy on story, but has a lot more action (even cutscenese filled with action instead of just talking).

All i can say is perhaps you have passed the RPG genre....

If you've played Knights of the Old Republic for Xbox/PC, then you know EXACTLY what to expect with Mass Effect.

Anyway, you sound like a guy that just doesn't give games a chance, and you must always play the same generic stuff over and over. Come on, bite the bullet and try something new.