“The FTC has levied a big fine against Microsoft for its collection of personal data from children through its Xbox brand.”

When you're worth $2,000,000,000,000,
a fine of $20,000,000 isn't a fine at all,
it's a green light thumbs up A-OK “good job” stamp of approval.

I found GTA V ultimately disappointing.
Not as disappointing as GTA IV, but that's not saying much.
20% Max Payne. 80% Truck Driver Simulator.

Surprisingly enough I'm actually open to this idea.
If only because I like the idea of ending the series with a triumphant Depp return,
now that he's free of his abuser.
I hope the writers will recognise this and make an effort for him this time,
instead of the bumbling grunting idiot Mr. Magoo character
unrecognisable from the cunning, witty, swash-buckling puppet master of the first film.

I'm glad this worked out.
I was a little concerned about the more open-ended levels.

@Barighm: How do you know?

@gamerboy100: Dolphin includes something called the Wii Common Key,
Nintendo's proprietary script for decrypting Wii games,
meaning in this case Steam would be on the hook
for mass distribution of copyrighted code.

@Barighm: To be even more fair, if fans thought there was a chance there'd be no more Assassin's Creed, they'd beg for a sequel to that too, and those games are just 90% fluffy filler busywork at this point.
That's just scarcity more than anything else.

“To me, horror is about uncertainty. To not be given that release from something that conclusively wraps everything up.”
You can enjoy the ambiguity throughout 90% of the game,
while still having a solid story underlying it all.
You wouldn't forgo a strong premise,
and likewise I tend not to have much sympathy for stories lacking an ending.
In my mind that's essentially a bait & switch.

I was watching a Nerdwriter1 video on YouTube the other day about The Innocents, the 1961 film adaptation of the 1898 book by Henry James, The Turn of the Screw.
In that example, the uncertainty is baked right into the story from the start,
and every scene has been carefully written from start to finish,
to simultaneously maintain continuity for two mutually-exclusive versions of events.
That takes a skill, patience, and restraint that a majority of writers lack,
and I worry that by praising ambiguity
we're signalling support for lazy, unfinished stories.
We gravely underestimate and undermine the value of good stories in modern society, and it has a marked effect on our mental health.

The number of films I've watched that start off strong,
before just falling apart or giving up in the second half... it's beyond count.
I would go as far even as to say, it's probably the majority of film and TV fiction.
What does that tell us about our endeavours in our lives?
What's the message being conveyed there?

By all means, have ambiguity in your dramatic media,
but have some faith in your audience while you do it. Don't be lazy.
Write your solid story first, then blur out sections as necessary,
because an audience can feel the difference between genuine ambiguity
and straight-up missing plot devices.

Any schmuck can start many narrative threads,
then entangle them all together in some way.
The hard part is then doing something balanced and meaningful with them all.