Gotta take BioShock.

:3
I'll go with bioshock since I have wanted to be a little sister my whole life

Well I've already said a lot about both, and that all still stands, but in this scenario with these two particular candidates, a different dilemma comes to mind.

BioShock kicked ass at storytelling and immersion, and pushed the boundaries in these areas, so it seems like an obvious winner. Besides the fact that simply Mass Effect's dialogue setup alone is enough to make it a worthy contender, what comes to mind is that Mass Effect pushed the boundaries of gaming as a whole. By touching on some advanced and more mature scenarios it is still a golden example of how to elevate games from just fun pasttime hobbies to serious mediums of storytelling that deserve just as much attention and credit as movies do. BioShock was amazing, but it really doesn't fit those shoes.

In essence, BioShock showed the industry that we've been slacking with storytelling, but Mass Effect showed us all we've been slacking in even more and important ways.

And fuck, I am such a sucker for Grim Fandango dialogue tree interface design. This is really hard to choose, but...

VOTE: BioShock.

It is very possible that I would vote differently if I ran this debate again in a year from now. The reason for my pick right now though, is that the thing that attracted me so strongly to gaming is its ability to bring imaginations to life. To make up an entire world that is not real, and make it feel so damn real. And then the whole conundrum that goes along with it that South Park has explored in the last year -- it may not be real, but when millions of people are affected by something that is make believe, well then it's not exactly "not real" either. And BioShock is one of the most immersive games in several years. My god does Rapture both kick ass AND feel real, and its characters and imagery feel so vivid. So it gets my vote.

BQ: Don't forget to make suggestions!

Bioshock, but my saying is a little biased, as I've never completed Mass Effect, my brother likes it(cant seem to like the same things much) and I like my gameplay more faster than "Talk to this person to move to an elevator to talk to another person to move to another elevator to get in to a 60- second battle; and repeat."

Bioshock.. ftw

Love em both but I gotta go with mass effect. It's scale was epic, it's story engrossing and the characters were awesome.

I like both games a lot, but I'd give BioShock the edge because it's a far more immersive experience.

Bioshock, and No More Heroes vs. Wario Land Shake It.

OMG this is going to be so fucking hard. I played and beat both of these games soon after I got them. But I am going to give it to...

BIOSHOCK!

It was just better, hands down. Mass effect did nothing new. At all. TO give it to you straight, I would just rather throw bioshock into my 360 rather than Mass Effect. Also I have played through biodshock twice, and mass effect only once.

Bonus question:
metroid prime 3 vs. fire emblem radiant dawn.
This should be interesting.

Mass Effect

I'm not going to explain myself.

Augh, this just points out why having a 360 when I have a PC is so lame. All these games getting nominated for 360 matchups I can and have played better versions on my PC. Is there even going to be PC matchups? Probably not.

So uh, Bioshark I guess. Because taking photos is fun.

Also, need to start doing some DS games.

This is like choosing which one of my children I love the most.

Even with my Big Daddy on top of my PC tower, I have to give it to Mass Effect; I bought it twice, for the 360 and then with promises of prettiness and bug fixes, PC.

It is so close for me but my vote is for Mass Effect purely because I am looking forward more to ME2 than BS2(Damn it, stop the milking BS, it does not need a prequel!)

Mass Effect. I still play it and still have fun with it, but I can't compel myself to beat BioShock again after playing it in hard difficulty.

Mass Effect.

The open universe did it for me. The multiple dialogue trees, the sense of accomplishment when you're mentioned in the loading elevators, all that made for a solid experience for me. While bioshock is definitely a great game in its own right, Mass Effect just takes the cake for me.

bioshock.

i'm amazed at last weeks results! thanks for really giving us a good debate.

i'm also playing bioshock on the impossible (no vita chambers) difficulty to get platinum and wow, your head and ass need to be screwed on tight! the telekinesis plasmid is the best, one hit kills by throwing dead splicers into living ones! i'm in chapter 2 right now and the big daddies are fuckin unstoppable but i've managed to kill two so far. it is hard but i'm gonna beat it.

Once again, BIOSHOCK without a doubt!

Long story short: Bioshock

Long story long:

I found both of these games to have well-written characters and both (main) storylines were interesting enough to draw me forward. But Mass Effect had far too much filler around it's meaty narrative bits. I can appreciate that it's a fully fleshed out universe, but I never cared for all of that extra stuff. The main plot drove me forward, but it was a chore to get to sometimes. Bioshock on the other hand was so tight and well paced that I never felt like I was wading through useless filler or unnecessary backstory.

So win for the story (and atmosphere for that matter) to Bioshock.

As for the actual games themselves, Bioshock was a little too easy at times, but I enjoyed the combat and the variety of ways you could deal with foes throughout the game (even though turrets weren't as useful as I would have liked). Mass Effect on the other hand feels clunky to me, and the inventory system was a big hassle to deal with. It breaks up the actiony bits too often, which is what I feel the running around/talking to people/traveling places/buying things bits should do. Having to stop and dive through menus during and around combat was a real bummer for me.

Gameplay win goes to Bioshock too!

This is my first game debate, I can't believe I never got in on this before :)

Interesting choice. I guess, in the end, i played Mass Effect right through because i enjoyed how it played, despite its many faults. I did not play Bioshock much at all because i hated how it played, despite its many amazing qualities.

So Mass Effect. But Bioshocks gonna win. Id put Fallout 3 ahead of ME, too.

Wow, that was close, both are great games though, so I'm not mad that Fallout 3 lost.

My pick this time is .... Bioshock!

AAAAAAAH too hard to call. Bshock drew me in more, but ME was actually an RPG, which bioshock just claimed to be. However, which one did I have more fun with?

BIOSHOCK.

As with most everyone, I found the atmosphere in Bioshock to be completely engrossing. Yes, it was very straight forward, but it played out so beautifully, although I think I speak for the majority when I say that the endings were a bit of a let down.

Mass Effect, although I love me some sci-fi, didn't pull me in as much as I needed it to. I think perhaps I wanted another KOTOR. Needless to say, I was disappointed.

Verdict: BIOSHOCK

Also, I'm going to be a bitter bitch, I call a rematch for Fallout 3!

I have to vote against BioShock two weeks in a row! Mass Effect is one of my favorite games of all-time.

Mass Effect.

I'm going with Mass Effect, because everyone's probably going to say BioShock. And because Jim's funniest when he's angry.

Mass effect! no question about it!

spent close to 50 hours in my first playthrough ( immediately scored the 'Completionist' achievement for completing more then 90% of the available quests & subquests :-) )

Bonus Question: "No More Heroes" vs " Day of disaster "

Oh man, I bought Mass Effect just yesterday, and after three hours of play time, and in love with it. But I love Bioshock too, and...er...I vote Bioshock.

BONUS:
Audiosurf vs. Rhythm Tengoku
Dwarf Fortress vs. every other game ever made