Tag Archives: Games

I made some things!

Posted by on May 22, 2016 No comments

I know I don’t post here often enough, and every time I think about it, I just kind of brush it away, but hey, I am doing it now!  Mostly because A lot of the stuff I would post regularly, I do over on the Comic page.  It’s no good excuse, but aside from the comic and work, most of what I have been doing has been pretty mundane.

Till now.

If you follow along on the comic, you know that I picked up a 3D Printer and have been having quite a bit of fun with it.  It’s been a blast.  We have made all sorts of useful things for the house and some costume pieces as well.  The most exciting thing to come from it has been a dive into 3D design using 123D Design (it’s a simple CAD program) that I have used to design some game boxes for card based games like Fluxx and the Looney Pyramid games.  Not to slight the boxes they come in, but the StarFluxx box used to travel with us in Sarah’s purse for play while we were out and it got pretty beat up.  So I designed a cool box that holds the cards and travels well.  Likewise, the Pyramid bags are cool, but they get cumbersome.

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Also, on kind of a dare/challenge from my Son, who is really into period re-enactment, I made a wooden looking version of one of the Pyramid games, that can be taken to events and not look like a 20th century plastic game.

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The printer I picked up is a Makerbot Replicator 2, it was on sale from Amazon for a fraction of the normal cost.  It’s build area is roughly 11x6x6 (inches).  Since it’s not one of the new fancy versions of their printer, turns out it’s incredibly easy to work on.  If you have ever been around any sort of 3D printer, you would learn quick that all sorts of things can happen to them from jamming to parts failing.  So having something that is easy to fix and repair is vital.  

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This is what happens when your extruder is leaking and it’s not caught in time.

Downside to buying an older version is that you don’t get all the bells and whistles, so I have had to improvise.  One of the great things on newer versions is a build in camera to show the print as it’s happening.  This way, if something goes wrong, you can address it quickly.  Also, it’s great fun to watch something getting built.  You may think it’s boring, but it really is fascinating.  To make up for this shortcoming, I have setup two cameras that stream to the website and show the current build as it happens.  

Sometimes I am building plain stuff, other times it’s cool stuff. So if you are interested, just click this link, or check out the tab on the top of the page for 3D printing.

In the meantime, get out there and make stuff!

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I’m On A Boat!

Posted by on February 8, 2013 No comments

OK, I am not on the boat yet, but I will be shortly.  Sarah and I are attending JoCoCruiseCrazy 3 this year and it’s going to be awesome!  This will pose some interesting #FirstWorldProblems.  The internet on the boat, while available, is very expensive.  Many folks are going without as a challenge.  I may or may not be up for this challenge.  Of course that means that uploading my P365 pictures is going to be difficult (or non-existent).  Take heart people, I will be taking and processing my photo every day, when I get back to the Internets (or possibly at a hotspot in one of the ports of call) I will upload and label them for the days they were taken.

In the meantime, enjoy this slideshow of my P365 shots to today.

Also, check out the Trooper Adventures, who will also be going with us on the cruise.

Kuwait Adventures continued!

Posted by on January 28, 2013 No comments

Crane on the beachRapidly closing in on finishing up my full month in country, I have to say I have certainly learned and seen a lot so far.  With my Project 365 task, I have tried to keep the pictures themed to what I have been doing here and some of my experiences.  I can look back at these pictures and probably tell you all about what happened that day.

 

Recently I had a great adventure when I met up with a local, Mohamed, who got in contact with me via Reddit.  I know it’s not the safest or wisest thing to do, meeting random strangers on the internet and having them take me through a foreign country, but hey, I like to live dangerously.  (Also a fan of not getting raped or stabbed, thankfully that didn’t happen)

This meetup was to show me what gaming culture was like in Kuwait.  Boy did I learn all about it too.  I don’t want to put too much into this post because the whole reason for researching this was to have some great knowledge for the next RetroNick Radio podcast.  All my findings will be there!

In the meantime, you get to catch up on my P365 photos.  Also, don’t forget to check out the Trooper Adventures!  These Lego guys are out on a tour of whatever they can find.

Blue Ring (P365-27)

Blue Ring (P365-27)
When I got here to Kuwait, it was VERY dry. Back at home I am used to higher humidity levels so I went out and bought a humidifier. I found one in a place downtown, it cost me about 18KD (close to $60) but it really is amazing. And it looks cool too.

Fighting at the White Tower (P365-26)

Fighting at the White Tower (P365-26)
This one is more of a snap shot of something I went to do today. I was guided by a great Local guy to one of Kuwaits main gaming communities. The White Tower (Facebook.com/whitetowerq8)
Here you will find the elite of the Kuwait fighting game league. It was a great glimpse into Kuwaiti gaming life. Much more about this trip will be covered on the RetroNickRadio pod cast. Www.retronick.com.

Keyboard Conundrum (P365-25)

Keyboard Conundrum (P365-25)
Spent a lot of the day working, which meant typing away on a keyboard. This one is not my regular laptop but one from a small netbook sized laptop I bought while here. I have been using it as a media PC running XBMC.
You can see from the keys that it has both english letters and arabic letters. Just in case I need to write out some letters to the locals.

Pop Pop relief. (P365-24)

Pop Pop relief. (P365-24)
I mentioned on my blog that I had a minor crisis when I left for Kuwait. I left my battery charger at home. Yeah I know! My battery normally lasts around a week, two if I conserve. You would also think I could just buy one here, but alas, no. I tried 12 places and no one had any DSLR chargers. (not even Canon ones!)
Thankfully, my lovely wife slipped my charger (and fully charged spare battery) into the mail and about a week later, it arrived. She loaded it so full of bubble wrap it was comical.
This bubble wrap may show up again. Just warning you now.

Play time is over (P365-23)

Play time is over (P365-23)
Another walkabout brought me upon this old abandoned playground. I have to imagine that there were many days of kids swinging and laughing here. On the plus side, across the street from here is a large park with a new playground that looks much safer.

Night Transit (P365-22)

Night Transit (P365-22)
Wanted to try for a long exposure night shot of the road in front of my building here. There are always cars zipping by till pretty late, and the cross road is sually pretty busy as well. My angle for the view isn’t the greatest but it gave me a chance to play around with it.

Fishing boats in the Mists (P365-21)

Fishing boats in the Mists (P365-21)
Went to the local open air market and found some of the fishing boats that supply it. The fog rolled in today so I took advantage of it.

Smug Camel is Smug (P365-20)

Smug Camel is Smug (P365-20)
We went to visit the camel breeding and trading post today. While we did not actually find the trading post, there were plenty of camels around and all of them were very friendly.

A taste of home, abroad. (P365-19)

A taste of home, abroad. (P365-19)
I love ginger beer. Back home I would find all sorts of brands to test. Here in Kuwait is almost impossible to find. Thankfully one of the stores imports Barr brand from England.
This was a backup picture I took as a “just in case”. I have started the habit of shooting a few things through out the day just to have something for later.

Chillin like a goat (P365-18)

Chillin like a goat (P365-18)
Came across this guy while I was out on a little expidition. I love the way he is staring longly at his watering hole conteplating his life……… as a goat.

Machine City during the day (P365-17)

Machine City during the day (P365-17)
The nearest large refinery looks amazing both during daytime and night time. It really does look like a giant machine city. I’ll work on getting a shot at night with all the lights.

Pocket Stuff (P365-16)

Pocket Stuff (P365-16)
At any given time I almost always have 4 things in my pocket, and my fitbit clipped to the side. Two are very basic, some lip balm (which is more for Sarah than for me), and a USB stick with some basic documents on it. The more interesting items are the 20 sided dice and the brass acorn.
Most gamers know that your dice are sacred, they have a connection to you. This one has been in my pocket for years and is very connected. Also, you never know when you may have to make a roll to resist temptation.
I always get asked about the acorn. When we started dating, Sarah and I were out for a walk and she randomly picked up an acorn and handed it to me. Not thinking much about it, I put it in my pocket. At the end of each night, I take the stuff in my pocket out and put it on the dresser, then the next morning it all goes back in my pocket. At my bachelors party, the real acorn disappeared and I was devastated. Sarah found the brass one online and gave it to me just after the wedding. It’s been in my pocket ever since.

FishEye view of the coast (P365-15)

FishEye view of the coast (P365-15)
Decided to give the DSLR a rest today and broke out my GoPro camera for a nice super wide angle view from my balcony here in Kuwait. Even in a foreign country, I still end up on the East Coast!

Old habit with new things. (P365-14)

Old habit with new things. (P365-14)
I am a big tea drinker. I had thought that coming to the Middle East would open up the types of tea I could try. Turns out that’s not the case. They are a big fan of Lipton here. I found this Red Label tea that’s not too bad, but kind of strong.
The mugs in my apartment are tiny, so I picked up this one on the base.

6000 Miles from home

Posted by on January 14, 2013 No comments

Trooper Adventures - It looks so tall!Howdy folks!  Live from Kuwait City It’s Satu…wait, no it’s Monday for me.  Well, I have landed and been on site for almost a week.  There is certainly a level of adjustment to living in a Middle East nation.  Things are a LOT more conservative here than back home, but for the most part, it’s not that different.  I am staying in a simple 2 Br apartment in the Fintas region.  We have Cable TV and the internet is not terrible.  Only now and then do I run across the “This Web Page is Blocked.”  The work here is good, it’s keeping me busy and most of what we are working on is done from our Apartments with the occasional trip into the Datacenter.

 

 

There are a few things I wanted to try and see/do during this trip.  Of course, one of them is to keep up with my Project 365, which I have done pretty well so far.  As an added challenge to my photography project, I managed to leave the charger for my DSLR battery at home!  Sarah mailed it to me but it can take up to a week to get anything.  I have been very sparing due to this.  You would think I could just buy a new charger out here, but I have hit, and I am not kidding, 12 different places and NONE of them carry the charger.  I did manage to buy a backup battery (because you can never have too many) so I should last until the charger arrives.  I still kept up on the pictures and I’ll add them at the end of the post.  Another is to scope out some cool places to see when Sarah comes out in March.  And the latest addition to the agenda is finding a Gaming culture.

In the Americas we have a rich gaming culture.  Be it video games, board games, card games, or dice games.  There is usually something for everyone.  Out here, it’s a little harder to find, but I think I just need to dig a little deeper.  (Not speaking arabic is a hurdle as well, but I have google translate to help me with that.)  One of the saddest things I have found here was in a park near the beach close to where I am staying.  It would appear that there is a “Fun Times” park that has an arcade, go-karts, and family fun area just across the street.  In a fenced off area near by I found this:
Arcade CabinetsYes, that is a bunch of arcade cabinets just sitting out in the elements.  I don’t know what games they are, but I can see the PCB’s and CRT’s still intact.  I cried a little.

Another thing I am working on is a project that I will detail in another post later this week, but it involves those little guys at the top of the page.

Now, for the catch up on Project 365.

Kuwait Towers (P365-13)

Kuwait Towers (P365-13)
I had been waiting for the chance to get out to the Kuwait towers, today was the day. Beautiful clear sky’s and a nice wide angle shot from below the towers.

Kuwaiti Sunrise (P365-12)

Kuwaiti Sunrise (P365-12)
The first time I have ever woke up early enough to get a sunrise picture. Normally I hate waking up early but I took advantage of the time change effect on my system.
Lesson learned from this shot, I really need to work on my landscape pictures.

Rough Ride (P365-11)

Rough Ride (P365-11)
While driving through the desert we came across this car that had been in an accident and abandoned. This is commonplace around here. You can see a bit of a dust storm off in the distance.

Reflection on conversions (P365-10)

Reflection on conversions (P365-10)
The weather today was incredibly bad. Lots of win and sand everywhere. This made any sort of outside shot despicable. So I fell back on some of my travel accessories.

Traveling Man (P365-9)

Traveling Man (P365-9)
We arrived a bit late for me to get out and see some of the local scenery so today’s picture is about the transition.

Ready for take off? (P365-8-2)

Ready for take off? (P365-8-2)
Bonus Pic! Quick shot on the plane. See you in 12 hours

Late Night Flight (P365-8)

Late Night Flight (P365-8)
in the airport looking for a good shot for today, saw the reflection in the window and thought I would play a little.

What are you (Wanting) to play?!

Posted by on October 16, 2012 No comments

It’s been awhile since I have done a good “What are you playing” post so I thought it was about time to bring it back.  Now, you may notice the difference in the title, and with good cause.  If you have been listening to the Retro-Nick podcast that we have been doing, you may have a feel for the types of games that I enjoy.  One of those types of games is the Space-Sim.  I have loved the space sim since space sim’s started to get big.  The concept of flying around in open space, exploring, dogfighting, etc. It’s all awesome.

One of the biggest Space Sim’s out there was a series called Wing Commander.  There is something about the story based saga that led me down the career path of Commander Blair that just made me feel like it was my story.  When the Tigers Claw was destroyed, I was devastated. (if you played, you know).

So when I heard that Chris Roberts, the creator of the WC games, was working on a new game, I got excited.  The best part about it is that it’s the game I have always wanted to play!

Wing Commander Cockpit

Let me explain that last bit.  I love space games in general.  the physics, the concept, everything.  I love Star Wars, Star Trek, Firefly, and nearly every other space adventure show/movie. (still struggling with Babylon 5) The idea that a game could allow me to experience that myself, instead of just watch it, is amazing.  A great example of this was in the early beta of a game called Star Wars Galaxies.  The beta was for the space combat portion of the game where you could pilot ships like the X-wing, and YT-1300 (look it up).  My friends and I were in a YT-1300 and I was piloting.  One friend was navigating, one in the Turret, and one running around the ship repairing damage that was happening in the fight we were in.  The experience was outstanding.

Sadly, the actual game didn’t live up to the initial experience.  Those of you who played SWG, know that Sony Online broke all the best parts of the game while emphasizing all the crap.

Chris Roberts is a gamer.  He knows what we want because that’s what HE wants.  I have faith that this will be the Go-To space sim game.  Go check it out!  http://www.robertsspaceindustries.com/

In the meantime, I have been brushing up on my space skills by re-installing Freelancer on the PC, playing Galaxy On Fire on the iPad, and I just picked up Evochron Mercenary, on Steam.  I am waiting for my Saitek X52 Flight Control System to arrive today.

Oh, and a little Borderlands 2 to mix it up.

What are YOU playing?

N7 Gaems G155 Case

Posted by on April 13, 2012 No comments

It’s GADGET TIME!!!

Yup, it’s finally here!  I spent the last 3 weeks refreshing the Bioware store website.  Now it has finally arrived.  My Mass Effect N7 Branded Gaems G155 Portable Gaming Case.

So let me rewind a bit here.  This year I have a TON of travel coming up for work and personal stuff.  With Mass Effect coming out, I really wanted a way to carry my xbox with me on these trips.  So weeks ago I started looking at the G155 case.  It was inexpensive and had great reviews.  It was just a matter of pulling the trigger.  Then my friend tweets out a link to this.  My eyes went wide, pulse raced, cheeks flushed…..wait a sec here…ummm.  Yeah, so, the fact that I had just been looking up this very case, and this one is N7 BRANDED!!  It was a no brainer.  Trigger pulled.

Click to Embiggen

Then began the waiting game.  I didn’t realize that the shipping would take 3 weeks.  I had hoped to have it before PAXEast, but alas, that did not happen.  Thankfully, it did arrive yesterday so I will have it for my Vegas trip.

The case itself looks great. It’s not overly heavy with a system in it and it holds, in its side pouches, the power supply for the Xbox (which is ginormous), power for the screen, 2 HDMI cables (a short one it comes with, and a long one in case the hotel I am in allows for an input), a single controller, and a play-and-charge cable.  I can set two games on top of the Xbox and close the lid with no difficulty.

Click to Embiggen

Overall, I am very happy with how the case works.  I was surprised to see that the screen actually will do 1080p.  Everything fits great and works perfect.  What I wasn’t that pleased with was that the N7 branding was a sticker skin……that I had to apply myself.

So let me throw some things into perspective here.  The case I had started looking at is the listing on Amazon.  At the time I was looking at it, the price was listed as $269.00 (prime shipping).  The N7 Branded one on the Bioware store was $260.00 (with $8.50 shipping).  I was like “Sweet, I am saving $0.50 AND getting the N7 brand!”  Meanwhile, in the past 3 weeks, the Amazon listing has dropped to $249.00, still with prime shipping.

Grand Scheme, I love the case.  If I were waiting for 3 weeks for it, I would have liked for them to professionally apply the skin.  That’s it.

If you are interested in the G155, or the N7 Skin, you can find them Both at the Bioware Store, Separately at the Gaems site, and the Amazon listing is still the best for fast shipping.  The Skin by itself is $29.99 from Gaems only.

PAXEast 2012

Posted by on April 12, 2012 1 comment

I am back from PAXEast 2012 and I have a few days of recoup before I have to head out on another business trip! (oh the life of a jetsetter #notreally).  I wanted to throw out some thoughts on PAXEast before I had to run off again, and I am finally awake enough to do so!

First of all, PAXEast has gotten HUGE!!!!!!! (Seriously, it could use some more exclamation marks, it’s that huge.)  They expanded this year to include more of the convention center.  So much so that I didn’t even find some of the show floor until Sunday, because it was hidden behind some of the crazy big displays.  I followed my basic rule of “No standing in a line for 2 hours to see a demo/trailer that I can just watch on Monday”. Which means, or course, I hardly got to see any of the good demos on the show floor.  Seriously, if I can’t see the demo from outside your booth, I am not going to waste 2 hours of my con to watch 5 min of footage!

Aside from all of that, there were some great things to see there!  Borderlands 2 looks amazing as usual.  Assassin’s Creed 3 was there, but the only thing they had on the outside of the booth was the same trailers we have already seen.  Those were my two big finds.  Lots of small booths and little games to see, but I think it was a bit overwhelming due to the glut of booths and the overpowering of some of the big names.  Farcry actually has a bus!  A FULL BUS!

I attended the show with a friend and Podcast Co-Host, RetroNick, so there was lots of visits to the Retro Gaming rooms.  After all these years I learned that if you have a second controller hooked up while playing Duck Hunt, you can control the duck!  Also, I apparently can identify the sound of the atari 2600 game Surround from across the room.  You guys remember how hard Space Ace was?

The Table Top area was also kind of screwed up.  Last year there were tables everywhere and you could pop down and play whatever you liked.  This year the Magic folks and the D&D folks had ½ the room reserved for their games.  So you would go in and see tons of tables open, but couldn’t sit unless you were playing an “Authorized” game.  The open gaming area was very small and always packed.

The main theme of the con, at least from our point of view would have to be Mass Effect.  Tons of great Cosplayers from ME there. The panel was great with awesome information, and the chance to sit and talk with some of the writers was outstanding.  I swung by one of the rooms and just asked about the time of their signing and the person I asked was the lead writer for Mordin.  We talked about the script and choices.  Big highlight to my trip.

Overall, great trip.  Looking forward to next year!

If you want to see some of the various media I took at PAX, check out these links!
Walkthrough of the PAX East floor

Mass Effect Photo Set
PAX East Photo set

Working through the Trilogy (again)

Posted by on March 26, 2012 No comments

Lately I have been suffering a little PTMED (Post Traumatic Mass Effect Depression, it’s a thing).  I tried to go play some Old Republic, but found myself too distracted with all of the huge range of emotions I experienced with my playthrough of ME3.  (Note, still liked the ending).  As I have mentioned before, I never did a second playthrough, only the single story, and single save.  The quick recap about this meant that I was able to experience the whole story in a very unique way.  It didn’t get convoluted with alternate choices or multiple stories.  (Not that there is anything wrong with that, just not what I wanted to do).  I have now experienced the whole story, and I loved it.

So, what do you do with a story you just finished and loved?  You experience it again!  I made the decision to run through the whole story again, starting at Mass Effect 1, and working through the whole trilogy.  I experienced a small snag in this though.  My ME1 disk went missing!  I had pre-ordered and bought the collectors tin for ME1 and had the tin, and the bonus discs…..but no game disk!  I checked with Gamestop and they wanted $30 for a pre-owned copy (WTF!!!).  Amazon had new Platinum editions for $19 (UPDATE, it’s $16 now!!!) with prime shipping so that’s how I went.  It arrived on Friday.

To accompany this epic playthrough I also splurged and purchased the N7 branded G155 Personal Gaming Environment.  I have a number of trips coming up that may end up with me in a place that might get boring. (assuming I don’t get out and take pictures.) So I picked up this case so I could take a 360 with me.  I will probably have a post about the case after I get it wit photos and such.

So, I am now 10 hours into Mass Effect 1 and the experience is amazing.  First off, it’s VERY difficult to transition from ME3 controls down to ME1, you can tell they improved on quite a bit.  Outside of that, though, it’s been outstanding.  It feels like one of those movies where I have been transported back in time and given the opportunity to make new choices, knowing what I know now!  My favorite moment so far was meeting Wrex for the first time (again) with the Dialogue

Wrex: Do I know you human?

Me: * Not yet
* You will
* Shut Up

For those that are curious, I am playing through as BroShep.  My first was with FemShep, and my Romance options were ME1: Liara (Duh), ME2: Garrus (Comedy Option), and ME3: Traynor (Stress Relief).  I would be happy to explain these if you ask, but I think I know how I will steer things this time around.  I will certainly keep you updated on the progress both here and on Twitter.

The new Retro (Wait what?): Braid

Posted by on March 22, 2012 No comments

Also featured at http://www.retronick.com

You got Retro in my Next Gen!  Well you got Next Gen in my Retro!!

Stop stop, you’re both right!  I want to talk a moment about a current gen game that brings the classic retro style that we all know and love.  This one is about….Braid.

Braid is a side scrolling game created as an indi project by a developer named Jonathan Blow.  JB took the initiative on himself and solely funded the Braid project with the idea of creating a classic style game with high artistic value.  Using $200,000 of his own money, he did just that.
In Aug of 2008, Braid was released on the Xbox Live Arcade platform.  Since then it has taken off on all platforms now.  It’s even been featured on the Humble Indie Bundle a few times.

But what is it?

Braid tells the story of a young man working to rescue his girlfriend from a horrible monster.  To do this he uses various skills and tools to master the art of time and space.  He can rewind time to fix mistakes and move objects to solve puzzles.  Each world he visits presents new challenges that he may or may not need tools from a different world to solve.  To your average player, this may seem like a copy of many other classic games like Prince of Persia, or even the various Mario games.  (Yes, your princess IS in another castle)

What sets Braid apart from these other games is really in the artistic presentation.  The artwork is very stylized and beautiful.  Even more so than the visuals, the music was outstanding.  I almost found myself using Braid as a way to relax because the music was so soothing.  I am not even kidding about that.  If you doubt me, listen to yourself. (link to Magnatune, embeds below)

Personally, I enjoyed the hell out of Braid.  I bought it on XBLA and couldn’t stop playing it.  I picked up the Humble Bundle and now I play it on my PC.  I highly suggest it to any gamer who appreciates the art of the game as well as the art of the world.

You can find a demo version of Braid at http://www.playgreenhouse.com/

The Mass Ending Effect

Posted by on March 19, 2012 5 comments

Its done.

3 years of playing Mass Effect have come to a close.  I finished Mass Effect 3 last night.  I have managed to avoid all of the spoilers and got to judge the ending on my own.  I will do my best to make this spoiler free, or at least make it so you have to do something special to see the spoilers.  I love WordPress.  I looked for a spoiler plugin to handle that sort of thing and Boom!  So Spoilers are marked, click to read if you want. (It should be noted that the Spoiler tags ONLY work if you view on the site.  If you are reading Via RSS feed, I marked the paragraphs that are spoiler-ific)

As I had mentioned in my Single Playthrough post, I have been playing Mass Effect using only the Auto-saves and one single story.  If I made a decision, I stuck to it. No regrets.  This was the story I played with in Mass Effect 3.

To Address all those who are complaining about the ending.  I really have only one thing to say.  If you don’t like the ending, go make your own epic story arc video game and make the ending you want.  Seriously.  I enjoyed the ending as it was. the roller coaster of the game WAS the ending.  Mass Effect 3 WAS the ending of the story.  The last 20 min of the game was just the, the last 20 min of a 40+ hour ending of a 3 year game.  If you are complaining about the “ending” of the game, then you didn’t do it right.  That’s not Bioware’s fault.

Many people are complaining that the ending should have encompassed all of the decisions.  Now think about this.  ME3 accounted for decisions made in ME1 and ME2.

Spoiler: For example, in Mass Effect 1:

In ME1, I let Kaiden die.  Because of this, Ashely was the crew member that was brought through to ME3.  There was story in ME3 that specifically was aimed at Ashley.  It affected my missions and the conversations between the crew.

Spoiler: And then in Mass Effect 2:

I will tell you that I lost quite a few people at the end of Mass Effect 2.  I started ME3 without Thane, Grunt, or Jack.  They gave their lives at the collector base and that’s just how it was.  Their names are etched on the Normandy’s wall and they will be remembered.  Without them in the game I didn’t have many conversations that some of my friends had.  Other interactions between crew members were different, and my friends didn’t see them, because those crew were missing.

Spoiler: So, in Mass Effect 3:

Wrex was in charge of the Krogans, Miranda helped me with the Cerbrus base, Tali helped me with the Geth, and a number of other main story plots were altered due to my decisions in the other games.  When it came to the ending.  I looked at my options and weighed them with the other decisions I have made.  I went with the Synthesis ending, simply because it was the best option for letting the people I fought for survive in the best way possible.  I knew before I even attacked the reapers, I was not planning on living.  Shepard’s job was to do the best by her people.  When I met with my crew on Earth, just before the final push, I was saying goodbye.  That was my closure.  Those people were there because of the decisions I made.

Spoiler free version: It wasn’t just about picking a path in the last 20 min of the game, it was about the entire journey. The ending of the game was DAYS long, not 20 min.
So, like I said, if you are unhappy with the ending, Go make yourself a multi-tiered epic video game and write your own ending.  Bioware did right by me.