An article is currently being featured on Gamespot's main page about the PC version of Gears of War. This version will, apparently, come loaded with extra content and exclusives. It also, for the first time, made me stop and give a long, hard look to the 360 version of Mass Effect coming out in November. Anyone who reads my blog knows that I have a major fondness for Bioware and their games. So why would I even consider not buying my Game of the Year prediction? Because Bioware also has a precedent in place of eventually releasing a PC version of their games that adds content that the console version did not have. (Cue snarky Arcadius commentary about the inherent superiority of the PC over all other gaming medium....now!) I can easily see Bioware doing the same thing here. This game will likely be a timed exclusive for the 360 due to an agreement between Microsoft and Bioware to put another killer exclusive on their console, while still eventually allowing Bioware to bring the game to a larger audience in the PC market. When and if Mass Effect does go to the PC, it will have to have extra content included to add value to a game that was already released previously. It always works that way. Look at Jade Empire. That will then leave me in an uncomfortable position. I either buy a game that I already have for the 360 for the PC in order to get both the extra content and any user created content that will likely be available, or decline and be happy with the fact that while I didn't get everything Mass Effect in the game, I will at least have gotten the game about a year ahead of the fortunate PC folks who got an updated version. Given my history of completely lacking in patience, and how hard it has been to wait on this game, I will almost certainly get it in November for the 360, but does anyone else here think that I may be onto something and that this game eventually comes to the PC with extra goodies attached? Edit for Bonus Blogging Goodness: I had a fairly random thought while cruising around the Wii section of the site today. (I'm still considering getting a Wii off and on, so I wanted to see what they have in the works.) I noticed that NBA Live08 came out for the Wii, and got a rating of 3.0 from Gamespot. This surprised me a bit. To me, sports games and the Wii's motion sensing technology are a natural fit. So I clicked to see why NBA Live08 on the Wii scored so much lower than the PS3 and the 360 versions. One click led to another, and I was eventually brought to this page that shows how users rated the game. About 11.5% of all users rated the game, which Gamespot gave a 3 to, as a 10.

This contrasts with almost 33% rating the game as abysmal (which essentially agrees with the gamespot review). The first question that came to my mind was, "why on earth would 11.5% of the people playing this game, which had so many problems clearly called out in the review and noticed by so many other people, give this game a perfect rating?" My immediate answer was, of course, the disease of fanboyism. And that, ladies in gentlemen, is why I seldom put much stock in user reviews. I don't trust your average user to review a game for their favorite gaming medium fairly and impartially. There is a reason why user reviews are, always, always, always, higher than critic reviews for a game. Naturally of course, this problem isn't limited to Nintendo fans. I give you, Monster Hunter Freedom 2 for the PSP. Gamespot rating? 5.0. User rating? 9.1. Percentage of users who rated the game as "perfect"? A whopping 53.83%!