Welcome to Coffee Talk! Let’s start off the day by discussing whatever is on your (nerd chic) mind. Every morning I’ll kick off a discussion and I’m counting on you to participate in it. If you’re not feelin’ my topic, feel free to start a chat with your fellow readers and see where it takes you. Whether you’re talking about videogames, why Garry Shandling felt the need to get plastic surgery, Rafael Nadal losing in the first round of Wimbledon 2013, or getting psyched for the Wolverine movie, Coffee Talk is the place to do it.
EA recently changed the name of Dragon Age III: Inquisition to Dragon Age: Inquisition. EA president Frank Gibeau explained the name change to IGN, saying, “We just wanted to draw more attention to the fact that Inquisition is an all-new chapter inside of the Dragon Age universe, as opposed to people expecting a follow-on to Dragon Age 1 and 2 in a literal, linear sense.” Never mind that the E3 2013 trailer for the game featured characters from the first two games. Never mind that the third game was supposed to unite the Hero of Ferelden (Dragon Age: Origins), the Champion of Kirkwall (Dragon Age II), and That Really Nice Guy From Antiva (my Dragon Age fan fiction). This is “an all-new chapter” whether or not you wanted climactic closure to the Dragon Age tale.
My initial reaction to Gibeau’s explanation was, “Who gives a sh*t?!?” I love the Dragon Age series. I’m looking forward to the third game, no matter what it’s called. I was (naively) surprised that many gamers are treating the name change as an “issue.” Dragon Age II haters (boy, are there a lot of them) believe that EA is dropping the numeral to help gamers forget about the second game. This is known as the Rocky Balboa technique, which was used to help moviegoers forget that Rocky V ever happened. After reading several arguments about the issue, my evolved reaction was, “Who gives a sh*t?!?” It’s just a name.
Of course I wanted to check myself with you guys and gals. Is the Dragon Age: Inquisition name change a big deal? Or is it, like Heart famously sang, nothin’ at all? Kindly share your thoughts in the comments section when you have a moment.
I’d be more concerned with the story being chopped up and sold as DLC or other ways they plan to monetize the title beyond the initial $60 sale.