Game Ranter Banter: Halo 4, Vita Price Cut, Mass Effect 3 Ending & COD Sales

Midway through April video game releases have slowed down considerably, leading into a busier May schedule. There's isn't as much of an influx of big name retail games, but there's no shortage of games to play, as the magical platformer FEZ finally released this week amidst our time to catch-up. And if that doesn't interest you, there's always the Game Ranter Banter.

In this weeks discussion, the Game Rant crew delves into Halo 4, a possible Vita price cut, the quality of fan-made shorts, dwindling Call of Duty sales and last but not least, we continue to beat the Mass Effect 3 controversy ending to death.

Let's begin.

I Need A Weapon (By Brian Sipple)

The flood of Halo 4 news and screens is rushing in fast, and the game’s impending arrival is a uniquely exciting time for the entire industry. Not only is such a venerable franchise adapting as its birthing studio Bungie leaves home — locking them in with their Microsoft acquaintances at 343 Industries — but the timelapse between its two trilogy eras creates an uncommon haven for planting new roots: It's not too recent so as to be conflicting, and not too ancient so as to be alien.

Some fans staunchly devoted to the original, incomparable trilogy; to Bungie; or to the notion that a game is best off in the hands of its original creators are nervous about 343’s handling of the series — and that's understandable. But I think it could be exactly what Halo needs.

We saw what can happen when artist meets creative-brick-wall in Mass Effect 3; who's to say that 343 can't break through and lift Halo to greater heights? (Like a Spartan Kool-Aid man: slimmer and not liable to bleed out with a crack in the armor.) Be it more clairvoyance for a complicated story arc, revamped multiplayer, or the looming promises of the next generation, sure — there’s risk. There’s always risk. But I’m optimistic that Halo is back and better than ever.

I Demand More Recognition for Fan Made Short Films (By Tyler Schirado)

In a roundup of GR Video Picks this week, we shared a fun and interesting Mega Man X short film that has earned a lot of attention from the gaming community recently. And that got me thinking: Why can't movie studios look for young talent like Olan Rogers to produce video game movies like these. If they can give Neill Blomkamp (District 9) a shot - who did the Halo live-action shorts - than we can give other people a chance too!

If we actually got film producers like Rogers, who seem devoted to a franchise and knows the mythology, we could probably edge out silly movies created by Uwe Boll. Just look at what Kevin Tancharoen did with Mortal Kombat: Legacy. He is now producing a new full-length motion picture, Mortal Kombat: Rebirth thanks to his hard work - and I have high hopes for it.

There are many more examples I could bring up, but what I'm getting at is that perhaps movie studios should make more considerations for amateur filmmakers such as Rogers to become the next Tancharoen or Blomkamp to make something spectacular happen on the screen from the video game universe.

The First Cut Is The Deepest (by Jeff Schille)

There has been some speculation that Sony will cut the PlayStation 3's price during E3 2012, and it's not hard to understand why. Despite boasting an impressive lineup of first-party software and featuring plenty of third-party support, the system has trailed Microsoft's Xbox 360 in sales for 15 consecutive months. Clearly, something needs to be done if the PS3 is to live out its projected ten-year life-cycle. That said, there is another piece of Sony hardware that is in much, much worse shape. No surprises here: I'm talking about the PlayStation Vita.

Despite the excitement generated by Vita's North American and European launches, sales have bottomed out in Japan. For the week ending April 7, Vita couldn't even manage to move 10,000 units, coming in at only 8695 systems sold. Sales are stronger in the U.S. and Europe, with roughly 30K units sold in each territory, but still far behind those of Nintendo's 3DS. Simply put, if Vita fails in Japan, there is a real possibility that it will fail -- period. Nintendo has shown that it knows how to turn a system's fortunes around, and it's time for Sony to follow suit. Will Sony announce a Vita price cut at E3 2012? What do you think?

Source: VG Chartz

Do We Need Closure? (By: Anthony Molé)

I finally did it, I beat Mass Effect 3 this week. After a month of avoiding spoilers, I finally did it. Now, I didn't hate the ending, it certainly wasn't perfect, but I'm not about to start a group named retake Mass Effect - though I probably will bake cupcakes (God those things are delicious). Aside from the complaints fans have about choices not making a difference, one complaint stuck out to me: that a game's conclusion shouldn't be open ended. We shouldn't have to think, everything should be tied up in a nice little bow. To this I say, you're wrong.

It's fine to say one dislikes "your own interpretation" endings, but to rule them out entirely is counter productive. Writers have two jobs; to create something enthralling for readers/viewers/gamers, and at the same time to get us to think, as that's what great literature is all about. Nothing is ever clear cut, and some of the best writers try to find away to include their audience in the story, to get them to think about what they're reading or watching or playing.

Now, don't get me wrong, Mass Effect 3's ending could have used more clarity - if the Indoctrination Theory is true, BioWare should have made it easier to guess, but left it just open enough for people to refute. But to simply say that every story telling medium should tie up every loose end would be as if stories never evolved past fairy tales, and I doubt everyone would be happy if Mass Effect 3 ended with Shepard marrying the prince, unless it was Garrus of course. And there were cupcakes at the reception.

Call of Booty (By Rob Keyes)

Last year the Call of Duty franchise earned a lot of buzz with the lead-up to Black Ops, the first time Treyarch was able to take the franchise to a more modern setting (finally). That change, in addition to the return of zombies and the introduction of the Call of Duty Elite service (and some neat-themed DLC) kept the game and franchise fresh in our minds throughout the year.

With Modern Warfare 3 however, we couldn't care less. Call of Duty Elite is already out and the DLC for the game releasing in numbered packs makes it impossible to get excited about for the media and casual gamers. Combine this poor marketing with the franchise earning more negative buzz than ever for not evolving or growing, and we may understand better why Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 sales are beginning to dwindle.

This is relatively speaking of course; Call of Duty is the top-selling franchise ever and Modern Warfare 3 again broke sales records when it launched. But its long-lasting appeal just might be falling a tad short compared to Black Ops and it could be a change in the trend. I loved Black Ops and I think it was a better game than MW3 but if Black Ops 2 is more of the same, with boring zombies, the same modes and lack of proper co-op, I think I'm going to pass this time around.

Conclusion

That's all for this week's Game Ranter Banter.

As always, let us know what you think of this week's news in the comments, or on Twitter @GameRant and Facebook.com/GameRant and if you have specific topics you'd like any of the team to cover, don't hesitate to ask.