Gamasutra member blogs: From Japanese games to ME3's ending

[In highlights from Gamasutra's Member Blogs, our bloggers write about diverse topics, such as black hat game design, Japanese games targeting Western audiences, an open letter to BioWare on Mass Effect 3's ending.] Member Blogs can be maintained by any registered Gamasutra user, while invitation-only Expert Blogs -- also highlighted weekly -- are written by selected development professionals. We hope that our blog sections can provide useful and interesting viewpoints on our industry. For more information, check out the official posting guidelines. This Week's Standout Member Blogs An open letter to BioWare regarding Mass Effect 3's ending (Dan Felder) William Goldman once wrote that the secret to a great ending is to give the audience "exactly what they want, but not in the way they expect." Dan Felder says BioWare certainly gave us what we didn't expect, but not at ALL what we wanted. Crossing media (Craig Ellsworth) If an IP wants to cross media (making movies, video games, etc.), it is more than welcome to do so. However, copying the story from one to the other inevitably leads to trouble (and poor sales). Craig Ellsworth believes that creating separate stories in the same universe fixes this. Black hat game design (E McNeill) Black hat or white hat? E McNeill offers a frame for ethics in game design. Lost in translation (Tom Battey) Do Japanese games just suck? Perhaps not, but the trend for Japanese studios to design games for a 'Western audience' has led to some poor quality titles, and is perhaps missing the reason that Westerners enjoyed classic Japanese games in the fist place. Contemplative solitude in games (Jorge Albor) Jorge Albor argues that the most interesting moments of video game solitude are populated by the ghostly presence of the past and future, and when they become an integral part of play.