EA sent out a press release claiming that there's more to Mass Effect than just a couple dozen hours of fun. The press release suggests that if you play Mass Effect, you're saving the environment. Crazy, right? Here's the logic:
It's all about what the discipline of economics calls "opportunity cost." When you spend $60 on a new, DRMed copy of Mass Effect, that's 60 bucks you're not spending on something else like, oh, say ... gasoline -- or the movies, and using gasoline to get there. "Why not stay home, save the environment, and play Mass Effect?" asks EA. Is that logic loose? You decide.
EA also suggested that Mass Effect for 60 bucks is the ultimate value. For $60 at the movies, you only get 12 hours of entertainment, EA says, but Mass Effect provides four times that. Having played Mass Effect, we say that's a stretch unless you play through the game twice. But it wouldn't be marketing without a little embellishment, would it?
It's all about what the discipline of economics calls "opportunity cost." When you spend $60 on a new, DRMed copy of Mass Effect, that's 60 bucks you're not spending on something else like, oh, say ... gasoline -- or the movies, and using gasoline to get there. "Why not stay home, save the environment, and play Mass Effect?" asks EA. Is that logic loose? You decide.
EA also suggested that Mass Effect for 60 bucks is the ultimate value. For $60 at the movies, you only get 12 hours of entertainment, EA says, but Mass Effect provides four times that. Having played Mass Effect, we say that's a stretch unless you play through the game twice. But it wouldn't be marketing without a little embellishment, would it?
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i'm gonna have to save this is retarded. opportunity cost refers to anything (and everything) you give up when you pursue a particular course of action, so setting up a dichotomy between going to the movies and staying home and playing games is misleading. i (arguably) might emit less carbon if i stay home and play mass effect instead of drive for a half hour to the local megaplex, but i might emit more carbon playing mass effect on my power-hungry, high-level gaming pc than i would if i were reading a book or playing cards or whatever. just staying at home doesn't guarantee that you're reducing your environmental impact.Posted at 12:52AM on May 17th 2008 by Lewis