Playing through Mass Effect has been an amazing experience. But not just in the obvious way. Oh sure, it’s an absolutely amazing game, it does just about everything right in my book; there’s a bar-shaped hole in the ceiling of my house.
I’ve realized something else, too. First, a little backstory; I beg your pardon, those of you who’ve heard this before. When Male Restroom Etiquette exploded on the scene, surprising all of us, some really amazing opportunities emerged. Three different North American cable television networks wanted to broadcast the film; MTV wanted to feature a clip (and somehow did); a movie theater management company wanted to include the film in their before-the-feature preview roll; and the crown jewel… The Tonight Show with Jay Leno, for decades a much-craved outlet for launching comedy careers, wanted to feature part of the film and have Jay comment on it.
Other than the MTV clip, which I still don’t know how it materialized, Electronic Arts - publisher of The Sims 2 game used to make the film - refused permission to air the film in these venues. They refused even NBC Television, the host network of The Tonight Show. And I, having chosen to make my film with their game’s intellectual property, was absolutely powerless to do anything about it. After all, if frickin’ NBC couldn’t get a Yes, what would make me think that they’d ever listen to little ol’ me?
Video games broke my heart when that happened. And I reacted like the jilted lover, resolved to never trust them again, released several “protest films” like [COMPANY] Rulez! and the Ad Absurdum series, and began to extol the virtues of IP freedom to everyone I knew.
I regret none of this reaction, and still feel wholly justified. But Mass Effect has made me realize something… I’ve steadfastly refused to fall in love with another video game since that heartbreak, so the decision to avoid them was relatively easy, in spite of the hardships of starting from scratch.
Mass Effect has seduced me. I’m in love with a video game again. And rebound relationship or no, it changes things.
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