Yes, with the announcement of Mass Effect 2 being ported over to the PlayStation 3 and the assumption that Mass Effect 3 will also release on the PS3, Mass Effect 1 for the PC/Xbox 360 is now obsolete and I’ll tell you why.
See, way before Mass Effect 1 came out in 2007, one of the major marketing points was the idea that your decisions from the very beginning would have major effects all throughout the trilogy. This means that small and major decisions in Mass Effect 1 would have consequences even in Mass Effect 3. However, if Mass Effect 2 and Mass Effect 3 are coming to the PlayStation 3 that would mean that the PS3 owners would be left out of all the greatness because they won’t be able to import characters into ME2 from ME1. With that being said, I as well as many other PC/Xbox 360 ME players have the fear that with Mass Effect 3, the only choices that Bioware would focus on are the choices coming from ME2 and not ME1. Why would they do this? Well because Bioware would want Mass Effect 3 to be enjoyed without having to have previously playing ME2 and ME1. Now because PS3 owners have the ability to import a character from ME2 over to ME3 but not from ME1 like PC/360 owners, the fear is that Bioware would downplay many choices from ME1 in terms of its affects in ME3 because Bioware wouldn’t want PS3 owners to have the feeling of “missing something”.
So now it would seem that Mass Effect 1 is now the obsolete factor in the trilogy. If this happens, this would be a major blow to those PC and 360 owners of ME1/ME2 who have supported them with the trilogy since 2005 back when it was announced at the X05 event. I do expect Bioware to put heavy emphasis on the choices we made in ME2 but I just do not see Bioware doing the same with ME1 choices as Bioware just isn’t the same company they used to be and you know what I mean by that.
I am happy that PlayStation 3 fans can now see what the fuss of Mass Effect is all about however they can only experience part of the fuss unless they play ME1 on the PC or 360. I’m glad for Sony that they can now gain some profit from this franchise and I am glad for Bioware because now they can gain more profits and spread their work out to a wider audience. However, as a owner of the 360 versions of ME1/ME2, I feel a bit worried as I do not believe Bioware will really care about ME1 anymore. I really hope that I am wrong and Bioware proves me wrong by still treating us loyal PC/360 owners of ME1 by still putting great emphasis on the affect of ME1 choices in Mass Effect 3. Again, Mass Effect 2 releasing on the PlayStation 3 is a win for Bioware/EA/Sony/PS3 Owners but is it a win or fail for PC/360 owners of ME1?
