Time to take back some Uncharted 2 GOTY Awards?

[mike_intellivision]

These changes are not truly consequential on this particular game because its stellar reputation is predominantly (it not totally) the result of its single-player experience.

But it does point out another issue related to games that rely heavily to (almost) exclusively on the on-line multiplayer experience for their reputations -- that same on-line multiplayer that seems to be most craved by video game reviewers (and most penalized in the reviews of games where it does not exist).

Minor (or major) tweeks can completely change the game-play experience, even to the point where it is no longer enjoyable by large segments of the game-buying/playing population. In other words, the conditions are set buy the developer (and server operator -- such as EA) and the "buyer" has more limited ownership rights than in previous gaming generations.

Other signs of this are the shutdown of game servers (e.g., EA) and the requirement of a pay-to-play fee (included with the new game purchase but addition for a used game purchase).

Mike from Morgantown