The original standard release box art (shown above left) for BioWare’s Mass Effect 2 game revealed back in July has changed. The new art (shown above right) is what BioWare is calling the”final” box art for the highly anticipated sequel. Maybe the old one showed off a little more female crotch than EA felt parents would be comfortable with? Who knows.

I personally like the new cover choice. While there’s significantly less female anatomy to admire, the in your face close up shot makes you feel like your part of the team, and don’t we all want to be part of the team?

Check out the image below for a closer look at the new cover and make sure to let us know what you think of the new direction in our comments section.

If you like BioWare and all things “Mass Effecty”, you are going to want to make sure you tune in to this week’s GameTrailers TV for the inside scoop on Mass Effect 2’s Elusive Man plus a first look at some new levels.

Want more incentive? Alright. How about some never before seen Alan Wake footage, new trailers for Dante’s Inferno and Command & Conquer 4, and in-depth review of Infinity Ward’s Modern Warfare 2? Get your palette wet with the preview trailer below.

The team at BioWare released a few new Mass Effect 2 screens for us to chew on over the weekend. How nice of them.

Mass Effect 2 Image Gallery – Click Here To View

Here, have a Mass Effect 2 trailer. No no, it’s free. You don’t have to pay. Go ahead, watch it- there’s a potential spoiler there, so don’t do it if you really care about the plotline of the game. Perhaps you could get someone who doesn’t care to watch it for you and tell you how awesome the cities and stuff look, as well as the epic looking shot of the Normandy, but miss out any spoilers. Just make sure this person is really good at describing stuff. It’s a nice looking trailer.

Ray Muzyka and Greg Zeschuk

Emily Balistrieri and I had the rare opportunity to interview the founders of BioWare, Ray Muzyka and Greg Zeschuk, the minds behind Baldur’s Gate, Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic, Jade Empire and Mass Effect about BioWare’s upcoming titles, as well as experience the almost tangible passion and curiosity that they have for making games, discussing the future of narrative and even their opinions on characters that break the fourth wall such as Psycho Manits.  It’s a unique look into the thought process of two visionaries, so if you’re into BioWare or ever want to create a game yourself, please read and enjoy.

Emily Balistrieri: So tell us something that you didn’t tell anyone else.

Ray Muzyka: At this stage it’s hard to remember what you told anyone.

EB: Yeah, it’s true. It’s been all day.

RM: We could just start talking randomly…

Greg Zeschuk: That’s a dangerous question because sometimes we say random and crazy things.

EB: Hey, random and crazy works.

Jonathan Zungre: So yeah, what are you guys excited for in the future of BioWare?

RM: I think our best work is still ahead of us. I really believe that. Like, I think all our games are very different. I’m really happy with our portfolio because it’s quite diverse. Like, you look at Dragon Age — it’s a different kind of fantasy; it’s dark heroic fantasy. It’s going to be very differentiated from all the other kinds of fantasy that you’ve seen before, especially from us. It’s a more mature, gritty kind of world, choices with consequences, and we’re not pulling any punches, basically.

And then Mass Effect. Mass Effect 2, it’s a refinement of everything we did in the past on Mass Effect, but we’re really taking on all the challenges that we wanted to solve based on feedback after the original game. So we’re really addressing the shooter aspects of the game and amping the intensity moment to moment in terms of the action. Also tightening the exploration and making that a much more important part of the game; even though it’s optional still, it’ll actually enhance your main story experience and we’re making it feel very intense. You can grab control of the action more, even in conversations, things like that. I think people are going to see Mass Effect 2 as a real revolution compared to the first one, which got a lot of acclaim, but the second one I think is that much better again.

The Old Republic is something again very different — it’s an MMO in the Star Wars universe, and we’re very excited about that. And then beyond that we have a couple things that — a couple few things actually — that aren’t announced yet that we’re excited about too that are actually different from any of these products, different in the setting, target audience, business model, the genre, the gameplay, some are more of those different aspects. So I’m just very excited about all those things because I think they’re all cool in different ways. I love playing them all. They’re all unified by the story, by the vision of emotional engagement, but beyond that they’re all quite diverse and different.

JZ: Expand on that emotional engagement concept, because I’m a big BioWare fan, and I feel that you guys do story and character interactions very well, perhaps because of that emotional engagement. If you could, tell me a little more about that.

GZ: Yeah absolutely, that’s really our ultimate goal. As a company, we sort of describe ourselves as building story-driven entertainment, but there’s a reason behind that, and the reason is to try and emotionally engage the player. We sit back and go, “Imagine a world’ where technology is a commodity, so no longer are we competing on, “Hey, who’s got the best engine and the most characters on the screen?” What are you going to compete on? Well, grabbing the player and getting their attention. And our feeling in a lot of ways is that story is one of the best tools for that. I mean, action can do that sometimes, but story is the area we’ve decided to really focus on.

RM: And the broader definition of that, maybe, is narrative. Story is one form of narrative, but there are other kinds, too.

GZ: And I think, well if you’d like to talk about that..

JZ: Yeah, what do you mean by that?

GZ: Yeah, talk about narrative. You can do your narrative discussion.

RM: Ok, sure. I’m kinda passionate about narrative.

PR: He can go on for a half an hour, just so you know. ;D

All: Ha!

RM: *unclear* But I think there are different kinds of narratives in games, and story and voice over and dialogue are one form of narrative but they’re by no means the only or the best, necessarily. They’re one of the things we pursue — and we certainly made it a focus for BioWare — but there are other equally valid ways to express story.

You can look at a pure action or sports game, and there’s a narrative there based on the choices you make and the moment to moment responses of the other team, the other player, or whatever. If it’s a boxing game, it could be the narrative of combat or boxing moment to moment in a three minute round, or whatever. You look at the back and forth of the engagement: ducks, you know, punches, and so on. There’s a narrative in that, too.

There’s a narrative of an explorer, too. Like in a game like Dragon Age or Mass Effect or The Old Republic, where you’re going from world to world or area to area and you’re unlocking new events or areas in the game, and you feel like you’re an explorer. So you get that sense of discovery and awe that you’re the first person in the world or the universe to be there representing humanity, or representing your Grey Wardens in Dragon Age, or whichever group.

And there’s a social narrative outside games which is also compelling. You see people playing the Wii — they’re interacting with the game, but they’re also interacting with each other as a social narrative like three to four people playing together. And there’s a narrative in a game like Dragon Age where we have community. People are making content with user generated content tools, sharing content amongst themselves, downloading content from us, interacting on the forums, interacting on other sites, and that’s a form of narrative, too, but it’s sort of a narrative outside the game.

And the whole narrative, moment to moment what you do: do you do exploration or combat, progression, or story? And what order you do them and where you go — there’s a narrative there so it’s almost like your life journey is a narrative, too, as your character or your characters.

GZ: And to add a point to the discussion *unclear* It’s interesting because we chose to make multidimensional games, and what I mean by that is our games support these different types of narratives, flipping between them rapidly so your actual overall player narrative for the whole experience is quite varied. In a lot of games — in a driving game, which is just driving, it’s narrow right? The emotional engagement you’ll receive from a driving game is much less than one where you’re able to do a lot more stuff and experience a lot more things so there’s a complexity that goes up, but there are also benefits. Like you look at GTA and GTA did a lot of stuff.

RM: They’re approaching the problem from a different direction, but it’s the same endpoint, or a similar end point.

GZ: And they wanted you to be emotionally engaged in the character. They do so much stuff that it’s easy to get distracted and drive off the story path, but we try to keep the player focused on that, and very goal oriented, but allowing them to do a lot of stuff, and keeping them engaged and excited about what their next thing is.

JZ: What narrative are you guys most passionate about? Are you most passionate about the main story line or the different quests, trying to direct the narrative? Or are you more passionate about letting the player almost create their own based upon where they go or how they explore?

RM: The last thing you said feels to me like the most–

GZ: Yeah, the non-linear storytelling.

RM: Because the story is certainly part of that, but even that’s not linear. Then of course bigger narrative is moment to moment like Greg said, you can kinda weave your way through the world and do some combat, go back to that area that you couldn’t get past before and keep butting your head against it until you finally break through or go to progress your character for a bit first and then go back and take on that tough enemy. Or explore the world and see if you can find some items to give you more capabilities, or try to drive the story forward a bit more and get some more quests so you can find more stuff to do that’s cool.

We call these things activity chains, going back and forth between different activity types, but that’s the meta-narrative that really is the essence of our game. Even if story and character interaction is one of the parts we’re known best for — it’s the easiest one probably, just to see, “Oh, BioWare makes games with characters that we find compelling, emotionally engaging, who you want to travel the world with,” but our games are more than that. They’re the story of the explorer, the story of combatants, or conflict, and the story of progression and customization of your character, too — making the character that you want to actually have with you on your journey.

JZ: Why do you guys do so many RPGs? What is it about an RPG that’s really compelling for you guys? IS it that progression?

GZ: It’s because you can mix all the ingredients in. It’s not limited. It’s funny because when you get a whole bunch of game developers together, they’ll often naturally fall into — like when they say, “Oh, I’d love to make this game,” they almost always describe an RPG. When it’s sports: “Oh, I’d love to make a football game where you’re a high school football player, where you have to live at the school, interact with people there, progress your career,” well, you just described an RPG. We’re not trying to say, “Well, they’re the absolute best,” but it’s just when you really want to create one of those experiences that just grabs you and never let’s you go, it seems like…

RM: I think they’re the broadest in terms of potentiality or possibility space.

EB: Well, it’s like meeting a goal that’s further than just grabbing the flag at the end of the level in a platformer, or something. You want to have more emotional impact than that.

RM: Yeah, and do more things or have different dimension of growth. It’s almost the journey is more important than the endpoint. And our games are all about the journey; they’re about the heroic journey, or the conflicted journey. There are different journeys you can take as a character, but RPGs are more about the journey, and the narrative is the journey, your personal narrative. You travel through the world, you travel your character progression, you go through different battles, and try different tactics — some succeed some don’t, or social narrative.

GZ: The journey of becoming a professional football player. It’s funny because it still is a journey.

In “Football RPG” Troy Palomalu appears as a Level 70 Warrior.

RM: Yeah, that could be an RPG. And it probably would have to have playing football as part of that, and that’s the combat analog, right? But then you have to progress your character or level them up, whatever way you want to describe that that makes sense contextually.

EB: Prom king!

GZ: There you go.

RM: And you’d have to have cheerleaders, and prom –sure you’d have to have all that there too.

JZ: The rival…

EB: Are you guys making a football RPG? ;D

RM: No no, but it would be cool.

EB: It would be cool. You could do it!

RM: But I would argue almost any lifetstyle, any journey you can imagine, or any heroic attribute you’d want to aspire to — it’s aspirational fantasy. Any role you can aspire to, basically, you could make into an RPG. That might actually be kind of a fun panel to be on, where you have a bunch of people who make games to kinda like–

GZ: Make this into an RPG.

RM: Yeah.

GZ: The Dance Dance Revolution RPG.

RM: Yeah, Blizzard, Bethesda, BioWare, Square — get some guys that make RPGs together and kinda…

GZ: Theorize.

EB: So you just mentioned Bethesda. I saw a guy from Bethesda today talking, and he was saying that even though they make RPGs that are really text heavy, he’s really interested in the possibilities of expressing really emotionally engaging narrative without so much text, and I’m wondering — everyone loves your writing and stuff– but I’m wondering if you think about that, too, and how to do that.

RM: Well, you look at a game like BioShock as an example of another group I respect a lot, and we were talking earlier how their narrative is as much how the world interacts with you or reflects your actions.

GZ: The world itself, how you perceive it.

RM: And that’s a form of narrative too, sort of an explorer’s journey, but really showing your actions reflected in the world. And not as much dialogue in that game. There’s some you know, because you’re interacting with people, and it’s how you communicate with other people.

EB: Yeah, you need some dialogue.

RM: To the extent it feels natural and appropriate, it’s good, but you don’t want to have too much.

GZ: It’s hard…To create that emotional engagement, you have to communicate some way, whether it’s some sort of picture or pictographs.

EB: Well, and then you have some of the indie developers who are talking about creating really engaging emotional experiences with barely any narrative at all, and almost using mechanics themselves as the feeling.

GZ: And are they succeeding, though, really?

EB: There…are some examples.

GZ: I know what you mean.

EB: You know, the art games. It’s an interesting space. It’s not the same thing at all, but–

GZ: No, I totally agree. I think that’s the thing, is that’s actually a neat place to aspire to. When you pull it back, though, the interesting thing is, I think Portal (this is last year’s story winning game [Ed. note: Actually, Portal won Best Game in 2008, among other things. BioShock won for Writing.]) when you think about it there are actually like…the computer’s talking to you, there’s writing and information, so communication has to happen for story to occur. Whether the communication is physical, structural, auditory — it has to have some level of communication. And that’s the interesting thing, because I guess that’s where the mechanics might never really accomplish it, because if the mechanics can’t in some way communicate something like purpose or goals, then it’s hard to achieve it.

RM: You have to substantiate the feelings in some way and then ultimately you have to convey them.

GZ: But it’s theoretically possible. And we look at it, we look at it from the perspective of–the Half Life stuff is another example. They did certain things that sort of create story in a very limited way. And then Portal was interesting because clearly there was something going on. The way they told it made you suspicious and then you started watching for story. It’s kind of funny because you can kind of tune the user to to certain behaviors and once you do that, they then react. That’s part of the fun of making games.

EB: It’s interesting to see how just much you can strip out and still have the narrative.

RM: It’s a good exercise, isn’t it? I mean, when you can always, before you implement it, consider alternative forms of narrative. Almost like, what’s your other option? And then you get a nice balanced experience that will never feel overweighed in one category of communication.

JZ: What about relationships? Mass Effect had a big relationship part of it. Where do you guys feel like you’re going with that?

RM: That’s a good way to characterize it, because it’s not about having a sex scene or, you know, like Fox and some of the groups characterized it –actually that was taken out of context. It was more about– again, that’s a journey as well, where you have characters that you start to care about, and you want to invest the time to actually try and–just like in real life — you want to have a friend, and maybe that blossoms into a romance or something.

But you know we tried to do it in a way that was appropriate, and we’ve never shied away from it. It’s been in every Bioware game to date– people may not realize that. We’ve had romances in every BioWare game pretty much since Baldur’s Gate.

GZ: Except for Shattered Steel and MDK2.

RM: Well, Shattered Steel was before and MDK2, yeah, there aren’t enough characters…but Baldur’s Gate, Neverwinter Nights, KotOR, Jade, Mass Effect…

GZ: And I think the interesting thing is that other characters make your existence worthwhile in games, on some level. It’s actually those interactions which are really rewarding and interesting. You guys saw the demo, yet?

JZ: Yeah.

GZ: So you’ve seen the approval system. We’ve tried to personalize [it]–we’ve always sort of measured the characters’ behavior, and instead of creating a general metaphysical scale, it’s now, what does everyone think of you?

RM: Individually, because that’s the way it works in real life, where people have opinions and you can influence those opinions. And sometimes changing one character’s opinion might change another character’s opinion, so, you know, it isn’t always as simple as it might seem. But that’s the way real life works, too.

JZ: As opposed to dark side/light side.

RM: Yeah. It’s a more nuanced form of approval.

The progression of character alignment in BioWare games from KOTOR to Mass Effect.

GZ: And we’re always trying to play around in different ways in the space. It’s always fun to try these different things. We haven’t quite done this approval system so overtly — this is the most overt we’ve done it. But again, back in Baldur’s Gate we used to do that.

But I was going to add another point about the relationships and the romances and all those things. It’s funny because in a lot of ways that’s become a very dominant part of what people are concerned about when they play our games. They’re always making sure that, “Ok, what am I doing? Am I covering my romance bases?” or whatever and we actually always ask gamers, “Is this important?” and they, “No no no,” but if you would track their behavior, you would see that actually, no, they’re spending considerable effort and time to support that, just because it’s a meta-game, right?

RM: We make it feel like its appropriate — it’s never gratuitous. It’s there to actually recognize the time you’ve invested in developing relationships. There’s an endpoint. It’s worthwhile. You’ve made something that endures.

JZ: Very cool. Now, you guys have gone to space a couple times, and you’re doing Dragon Age, but is there a place or something that you guys really like? Where are we going next? What’s the next setting? Just generally speaking, what really turns you guys on?

GZ: I think a celebrity dance show. Apparently those are very popular now. The kids just love those.

JZ: You can make a narrative from anything!

RM: Actually it sounds like a football RPG is where we should go…

JZ: Or boxing, I like what you said about boxing.

GZ: Again, they all work, right? It’s a little scary. I hate to say it, but that dancing thing could easily be done. Like you know, a Dance Dance Revolution mechanic with, you know, “Are you going to make it to ‘Dancing with the Stars?’”

RM: We’re NOT doing those.

GZ: For the record…

RM: But some of the things we haven’t announced yet are different settings, totally different than Dragon Age or Mass Effect.

GZ: And it’s not the circus either.

JZ: That’s cool, as well. And after this conversation I feel like we could do it anywhere.

RM: We could.

GZ: The beard, the progression of the bearded lady.

JZ: Where does your love for narrative come from? What did you guys grow up with? What books did you read? What shows did you watch? What games did you play?

RM: I read everything. I would go to the library as a little kid (6, 7, 8, 9, 10, probably) and I would go home with a stack of books from down here all the way to the top of my head, twenty books kinda thing. I would go home carrying these books, and the librarians never believed I would read them all, but I was like, “Yeah, I read every one.” I don’t know, I just liked reading a lot. So for me, it came from science fiction., fantasy, sort of the classics. I still have a weakness for the classics of science fiction/fantasy, so now I’m collecting them all kinda one by one, trying to get first editions or signed copies. Got a lot of my favorites, so…

GZ: Well it’s funny because on the games side–well, I did the same thing, tons and tons of books…

RM: And then after that came the games.

GZ: Yeah, I’ll flip it to the game side. The the game side’s funny because we go back all the way to the early 80s, even the late 70s, which is scary, but games like Wizardry — and Ray’ll know exactly when I say this phrase, “The wizard is in.”

RM: Beep beep beep!

GZ: Yeah it’s very exciting like *gasp*

RM: I have that game on my PDA, by the way.

Wizardry: Proving Grounds of the Mad Overlord (1981)

GZ: [Unclear] So what was interesting is that these were games that were RPGs that were so story-light, like there were like 3-4 written lines in the entire–so one of them was a “Monster allocation center” just written on a sign.

RM: Or there was that line of text–your warning to the dark area as well. You have this text and the smoke and the fire and it teleports you away, remember?

GZ: So there’s literally like 5-8 lines of text in this entire game and you would hang on them. Like, “What does that mean? Who’s that guy? Why did he teleport me? What’s gong on?”

RM: And I got so frustrated about that. They never did explain that.

GZ: No, it’s just random probably…but you don’t realize how much of a grip these things can have on you. So you don’t have to have a really in your face kind of experience.

RM: That game actually was a great example of something — like you believed you were in this dungeon that had very little story in it, and you actually believed the mad wizard of the proving grounds of Trebor was your nemesis and you had to go down all these levels of dungeons to defeat him.

EB: And it’s really all just in your head.

GZ: Yeah, it actually was all in your head.

RM: It was player fiction. And an example of that player fiction outside of games, is what we’ve done recently with Mass Effect 2. We released that trailer, right, where we created a lot of interesting buzz and controversy. “But what does this mean? Is Shepard dead?” Well, I mean, everything we showed in the trailer there was absolutely true; everything we said before was true as well, in terms of you have to keep your save games, and we have plans for a trilogy, continuity — everything we said in both of those is true. So what’s in the middle? It’s a surprise, it’s a tease for the fans. But that’s an example of player fiction, too.

JZ: One more question? I wanted to know what you guys thought about a game breaking the fourth wall — between the game and the player? Much like some of the Metal Gear Solid games did where they tell you to turn off the controller–

Literally everyone in the room: Psycho mantis!

JZ: Is there any value in that for you, where you connect the actual player sitting in his room with his controller to another type of narrative?

GZ: Hmm, that almost breaks it, though.

RM: Works better in contemporary science fiction types of things.

GZ: Another one is kind of Eternal Darkness.

JZ: The bugs and the blood, yeah.

RM: I remember that I was really low on ammo one time and I got one of those, what do you call them?

GZ: Events? Crazy events?

RM: No, but they had a name for it in Eternal Darkness. Anyway, there was a room full of bullets, like bullets everywhere. I was kinda running around like in the Simpsons, “Bullets! Ahhh! Bullets!” picking up bullets. Then you run out of the room and it’s like, “Haha!”

GZ: See I don’t know if we would do that. Because I don’t think we want to create this incredibly intricate world and all this stuff, and then just destroy that linkage.

EB: But it’s almost sometimes, like with Psycho Mantis — it’s the example…

[Unclear]: It’s the classic example.

EB: But when you realize what’s going on you feel this crazy like–you’re REALLY connected.

RM: Well, you feel emotion. LIke, you messed with me.

JZ: You feel violated almost–

EB: Well no, it’s exciting. Wow, a game, I didn’t expect that.

JZ: But not necessarily negatively. It KNOWS I’m sitting here.

RM: Well if a movie character turned to the screen and said, you know, “What do you think of that?” and the audience realized he’s talking to them– It’s a technique.

EB: LIke Groucho Marx. He’ll talk to the screen at you.

GZ: It’s a tough one. I don’t know if we would do it. I mean, it’s…

RM: Well you’d have to do it carefully.

GZ: In the right game, at the right time.

RM: Like, I don’t think there are many other examples in Metal Gear Solid where that occurred — I think that was one of the few — but it was really cool when they did it because it was so unique and different.

GZ: I almost wonder, like — it’s more philosophical, but isn’t stuff like Guitar Hero doing that on a continuous basis?

JZ: Yeah kind of.

GZ: LIke it’s continually feeding you information. I was thinking first back to Parappa, “Ok everyone: Chop chop kick!” It’s telling you what to do, and you’re doing it, right? And it’s sort of almost like the wall is completely broken, but in that case you really feel like you’re playing a game.

EB: Or like have you ever played Seaman? Where you’re talking?

GZ: That’s the craziest game ever.

RM: That game’s not even a game.

GZ: Sure it is!

RM: It’s more of a simulator…

EB: A therapist for some people, I’ve heard…

RM: …of a virtual creature who insulted you at every turn.

GZ: Yoot Saito was trying to do another game on iPhone, but they wouldn’t let him, where you have this monkey.

EB: Really? Wow.

GZ: Oh, it’s hilarious. If you search– it’s like this primate guy that you would kinda… [Unclear] sent those links around? It’s on Kotaku. Search Yoo Saito on Kotaku.

RM: It’s like a real monkey that you can make do all kinds of…

GZ: Yeah, it’s odd.

RM: Very strange things…

GZ: There’s also a Seaman for the iPhone, but Apple said, “No way in hell.”

RM: Did they?

GZ: Apparently they did.

RM: That’d be a pretty cool iPhone game.

TIME

JZ: All right, guys. Thanks a lot! :D

EB: Thanks!

The first gameplay of Mass Effect 2 has been released at the Game Developers Conference in San Francisco. Above, you’ll see the first gameplay clip, which while it has bad quality, it is looking great.

Read on for a look at a cut-scene from the game.

LucasArts has just released their second video documentary for the anticipated Star Wars: The Old Republic, a sure to be intense Star Wars MMO experience developed by Bioware Austin.

This video documentary sheds some light about the story and how players will be able to interact with it. Nothing too ground shattering was revealed but besides Jedi and Sith, the video confirms that Bounty Hunter would be a playable class in the up coming title. The video also shows off some never before seen footage and concept art, which is absolutely stunning.

Please do not take my word for it, head over to the official Star Wars: The Old Republic website for a glimpse of it yourself.

 To no surprise, we all knew that it was bound to happen, Electronic Arts officially announces Mass Effect 2 for the Xbox 360 and PC gaming platforms.

“We’re going to surpass the extraordinary gaming experience we brought our fans in Mass Effect by delivering intensified combat and expanded weapon options as well as increased depth of planet exploration, all while delivering a powerful, emotionally engaging story,” said Dr. Ray Muzyka, General Manager and CEO, BioWare and General Manager and Vice President, EA.

“Mass Effect 2 is shaping up to be an unforgettable RPG-shooter experience, taking players on a non-stop roller-coaster ride filled with stunning plot twists and no-holds-barred action.”

Mass Effect 2 is scheduled for an early 2010 release which I would suspect to be anywhere between March and May of next year. If this release window holds true, this would mean that Mass Effect 2 and Bioware’s other powerhouse title, Dragon Age: Origins would release within a matter of a few months. Damn, that is a lot of Bioware to handle but I am sure we are all up for it as they never really let their audience down with their quality titles.

Expect some sort of fresh information regarding Mass Effect 2 at next week’s Game Developer’s Conference. Then gear up for another heavy dose for this year’s huge E3 event, which are likely grounds for vast Mass Effect 2 information. Ripten will bring you more on Mass Effect 2 as soon as it becomes available.

Well, here it is — your first official look at Mass Effect 2. As far as teaser trailers go, it certainly has me excited about the game already, even though (like most teasers) it reveals pretty much nothing. Have a gander at the teaser… now!

No wait… now!

You can also check out the sweet flash site set up to house all of the upcoming Mass Effect 2 teases, though there’s not much there at the moment except for some classified videos and some concept art.

There is currently no platforms or release dates announced, but we can likely assume it’s coming to the Xbox 360 (and eventually PC). As far as if this one makes it to the PS3, only time will tell.

While the Knights of the Old Republic series has not been the highest selling brand for LucasArts the same way that the Battlefront series has, the KOTOR games remain unique in their own way. For the first time ever, 4000 years before the events that set place in the movies, players found themselves introduced to a more dreamy time in the Star Wars space. A time when Jedi and Sith alike were in abundance and great disgust strewn between the two, a time where political affairs stood out on the forefront all while large corporations and mercenary groups extended their hand for a piece of the galaxy.

With gripping and immersive storytelling, proficient voice-acting, stunning visuals, and not to mention an incredible musical score, both KOTOR games have found themselves a permanent home in RPG and Star Wars fans alike. The only thing missing is the final piece to make it a complete trilogy. That final piece will come in the form of a MMO titled Star Wars: The Old Republic.

It is unclear whether LucasArts or Bioware initially decided to go forward with this project but unsurprisingly the two came together and is looking forward to succeeding again in the industry with The Old Republic. LucasArts will get a second undertake at a MMO after Galaxies and Bioware will take their first attempt. This has been a tough pill to swallow for KOTOR cohorts.

Support has been strong, however, but there remains a large collection of fans who have remained bitter by the MMO concept over the single player experience. It is understandable as I felt similar emotions initially after the announcement, but after elongated forethought and much optimism, I have created three points of focus as to why gamers should feel comfortable and have full faith that Star Wars: The Old Republic, while not KOTOR 3, will become an experience they’ve always wanted plus more.

Korriban, a location essential to both KOTOR titles makes yet another appearance in TOR

The first focus point is that of story. What better success has Bioware had in their previous games than the story? Many people will have their own opinions but personally, the story structures in all of Bioware’s preceding titles is the true testament of their success and with TOR, expect it to be nothing different.

“This game has more story content than every single other Bioware game put together…” -James Ohlen, Creative Director at Bioware

Bioware and LucasArts have remained steady on their efforts to press on the fact that this will be a MMO experience driven by story based in the region of the player’s class and faction. In the time spent in the TOR community, one of the primary concerns is how a MMO set 300 years later, would relate to the previous two KOTOR titles, which were strictly single player adventures. The exploits and fate of Revan and the Exile is the key concern for many of the players who will ultimately participate in TOR.

The players should realize that characteristics from the two KOTOR games such as key events, locations, and characters would be entertained. Nothing that had any type of relevance is going be deserted. This alone should give reassurance to fans of the series that while being a MMO, The Old Republic will cover all content that would have been covered if this were to be a pure single player experience as anticipated.

So the fate of Revan and the Exile will be discovered as well as the surfacing of key events and locations from the past two games will play a central role and TOR would have done it’s part in connecting the games. The desire that has been there since after the release of KOTOR 2 will finally receive the proper consideration.

Simultaneously, the player will embark on a journey which will lead the story further into a new adventure as the Republic and Empire fall into all out conflict after the return of the True Sith Empire. Ultimately, the player would not even give too much attention to the fact that TOR is a MMO because Bioware will have created an experience with the fourth pillar, story, in which it just immerses everyone into a journey of revelation, mystery, and triumph.

“The MMO industry in general has been trying to solve story in their games for a long time. With TOR, what we’re doing is putting story at the forefront of your experience, where everyone of your decisions is impactful to your end goal and character progression.” -Jake Neri, LucasArts Producer

The perspective of story is something else that players should mull over with The Old Republic. Unlike the first two KOTOR games where you had to take control of a Jedi, in TOR the range of classes would be much broader. Not only that, but the story would reflect upon each player’s class and faction.

Bioware is allowing players to experience the final pieces of the KOTOR story through the perspective of many other classes besides just a Jedi. So if you were one of those players who always wanted to experience the KOTOR games as a bounty hunter for the Sith but could not because you were forced into being a Republic Jedi? Need not to worry because that freedom is now granted with TOR, the restrictions have been lifted.

The story will lead players into new locations

Two aspects regarding story that really stand out are the addition of choice and companion characters. Just like in both KOTOR titles, TOR will have great emphasis on the choices your character makes. Furthermore, like both KOTOR titles, companions will accompany the player.

“Part of the story thing that is very important from our perspective is adding choice. Typically online games do not have a lot of choice, you do what is in front of you. But this game, you get to chose to do things.” -Dr. Greg Zeschuk, CoFounder and VP Development Operations, Bioware and VP, EA

“There are a lot of things that the companion characters have, their own stories and their own interest to pursue. Depending on what side of the force you sit on, you can help them and support them or manipulate them.” -Dr. Greg Zeschuk

This only goes to show just how similar The Old Republic will be to the two previous titles, in spite of the fact that it is a MMO. Players would be able to walk into the TOR atmosphere and contain a feeling of familiarity.

It is tolerable if a gamer remains on the fence about this title being a MMO and not being able to deliver a strong story. Bear in mind, however, that this is Bioware, a company which makes a living by delivering some of the best stories told in videogames no matter what the platform or genre they are. Do not be hampered by the verity that it is a MMO because what lies ahead is possibly one of the best Star Wars stories ever told in a videogame. Give the vote of confidence to Bioware and LucasArts and watch them perform something miraculous with The Old Republic.

Next, I will break down how an online community will facilitate into an overall great experience then I will highlight how TOR’s longevity will satisfy gamers years after the release through updates and expansion packs. Until then, may the force be with you….

Bioware are set to be delivering a lecture at the 2009 Game Developer’s Conference in San Francisco about the level design process of Mass Effect 2. A detailed description of the level design process is to be shown, and “graphical examples of a level” will be used to back this up. Of course, this mean we’ll be getting new Mass Effect 2 info along with it once everyone pours out of the conference hall. Hit the jump for the full details, but don’t expect anything necessarily interesting unless you’re into game design.

The Iterative Level Design Process of Bioware’s MASS EFFECT 2
Speaker: Corey Andruko (Project Manager, BioWare), Dusty Everman (Lead Technical Designer, BioWare)
Date/Time: TBD
Track: Production
Secondary Track: Game Design
Format: 60-minute Lecture
Experience Level: All

Session Description
This session examines the BioWare Mass Effect team’s new level-creation process, which is focused on maximizing iteration for quality while minimizing rework and cost. This approach to building levels strives to integrate the Design, Art, and Production teams such that the highest-risk level-creation issues are addressed early in the development cycle. Lessons learned from Mass Effect lead to a detailed description of the new level-creation process, and graphical examples of a level illustrate its progression through the necessary phases. The discussion also examines how BioWare is currently implementing this process using elements of Scrum and Lean Development.

Takeaway
Attendees will: – Gain insight into some of the major issues the development team encountered while building Mass Effect at BioWare; – Get a detailed look at the Mass Effect team’s new approach to creating levels while avoiding these issues; – Find out how this new process is working for the Mass Effect team; – Learn about new pitfalls the team discovered that can potentially be avoided on future game projects.

Intended Audience and Prerequisites
This lecture is intended for producers, designers, or any game developer involved in planning, specification, or content creation for game levels. An understanding of modern video game development workflows is recommended.

Via the ever-lovely GameZine.

Marvel producer guy Avi Arad, the dude behind such fine adaptations as the Iron Man, Spider-Man, and X-men movies, has recently snatched up the rights to Bioware’s awesome story-driven RPG Mass Effect.

I personally think Mass Effect is already a movie, but the idea of slicing off all the running around and repetitive alien-squishing to concentrate more on the story certainly could make for a decent two-hour entertainment experience.  Oh yeah, and no load screens, though if they made a joke about an extremely long elevator ride, that could be pretty humorous.

I’m curious to see what the plans are for the license.  Will they simply just remake the trilogy of games into movies, will they incorporate the books into the films, or is there going to be a whole new story that just happens to take place in the Mass Effect universe?  Time will tell on this one… or not.

At this point, there is no other information on the project other than the rights being sold.  Considering the multitude of Marvel movies already slated for production by Avi Arad and crew in the next few years, Mass Effect doesn’t seem like it’s going to be hitting the theaters anytime soon unless it gets put on the fast-track.  There also exists the possibility that Mass Effect was picked up simply because it’s a popular game and nothing will actually become of it.

Avi Arad’s newly formed production company is currently working on another videogame movie that you may or may not have heard of — Lost Planet (which is being written by Solid Snake himself, David Hayter).  We’ll see how that turns out and let that be the gauge for how excited we should be about this Mass Effect movie news… unless it has hot blue alien lesbian scenes, in which case I will totally see it no matter how lame it is.

Source: Variety

The Internet age has lifted humanity up to a fast-paced, easily accessible society. When it comes to console videogames, online gaming has become an essential part of the overall experience.

Ten years ago when a gamer would complete a twelve-hour single player game, the experience was all but over, and the only way to enjoy the game further was to play it all over again, running through the same occurrences with little to no fresh experiences. Flash forward ten years later, and gamers can now rejoice as their short-lived single player experience may now be expanded through the infinite realms of online gaming and downloadable content.

While online play might be something that has been engraved into the videogame industry for over a decade now, downloadable content (DLC) is a newly introduced concept that allows developers to create fresh content such as maps, characters, and items so that a twelve-hour single game experience could be a whole new experience the second or third time through.

Downloadable content is available through the Xbox 360’s Xbox Live and PlayStation 3’s PlayStation Store ranging from prices of $5 to $10, which can be paid with a pre-paid card bought in stores such as Gamestop or with a debit/credit card. Downloadable content varies between games– for example, Rock Band’s DLC is typically a pack of 3 new songs, while Call of Duty 4’s DLC is a bundle of new multiplayer maps which provides the player with a variety of environments.

As a result, those small $5 or $10 investments may add just a few more months of fresh gameplay for that particular title. In 2008 alone, titles such as Call of Duty 4 and Halo 3 were friendly to the DLC community. However, there are two titles that promised to appeal heavily to the DLC community, but as of today, they have failed to pursue that promise.

Grand Theft Auto IV

At the time Grand Theft Auto IV was initially announced at the 2006 Electronic Entertainment Expo (E3), specifically for Xbox 360 owners, the hype machine was in full swing when it was declared that episodic content would be released exclusively for the 360. After a few delays and long periods of anticipation for new information, GTAIV finally released onto the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 consoles in April 2008.

The game was met with critical accolades, boosting revenue higher for Take Two Interactive and ending a long, seven year wait for the new title. Gamers were finally satisfied, but the DLC announcement is something that Rockstar has been tight lipped on all year. By now, the initial buyers of GTAIV have probably completed the game at least one time, and have delved deep into the title’s stellar online realm. While GTA games in the past have withstood their lifespan without DLC and multiplayer, GTAIV is different in that respect. Microsoft in particular used downloadable episodic content in the title’s marketing.

The planned release for the DLC was set for sometime in early Fall. However, it seems that the wait for episodic content will go on into November or December 2008. Now that September is here and no official word on DLC has surfaced, uneasiness is beginning to settle in the minds of many owners.
We still don’t know when DLC for GTAIV will come about, and what it will contain. Could it be a new plot layered over the current story, or could it be a totally new location such as Vice City? The possibilities are endless, and let’s just hope that whatever comes out will truly live up to the high expectations and appease the masses.

Mass Effect

When Bioware, developers of Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic and Jade Empire, introduced Mass Effect during the 2005 X05 convention, RPG gamers were instantly taken in by what appeared to be the flagship RPG for the Xbox 360. After the game was released in November 2007, it was met with great praise across the board and brought home a large number of awards.

One of the key selling points was that between all three games (Mass Effect is a planned trilogy), DLC would bridge the games together plot-wise. At least, that was the idea, because ten months into the release, Bioware has only released just one DLC mission that does not bridge the story between Mass Effect and Mass Effect 2, but rather branches off the main path into something trivial.

Bioware has also been secretive about future DLC, almost to the point where the Bring Down the Sky DLC for Mass Effect will be the first and only downloadable content that gamers see. I was visiting the Mass Effect forums on Bioware’s website and I ran into this statement made by the Community Communications Coordinator, Chris Priestly:

“There may be more DLCs in the future. Currently, we’re keeping our cards close to our chest, so you’ll have to wait and see what we come up with. Stay tuned.”

The choice of words “There may be more DLCs in the future” amuses me. From what we knew, it was a given that there would be multiple DLC packs for Mass Effect, so now it has been downgraded to an uncertain “may be”? Mass Effect is a great game, but it suffers a short playing time as the main storyline can be completed in less than 15 hours, which is short by RPG standards. So while it’s almost a given that DLC is in high demand for Mass Effect, but when will owners ever see more of it?

Each generation of videogames comes with a specific demand from its audience. The 90s was the graphics age and the new millennia brought online multiplayer. Now that online multiplayer has been established, downloadable content will be the next great demand in the next decade. Hopefully developers and publishers will key in on this model and make good use of it. As for Grand Theft Auto IV and Mass Effect, well, we continue to wait.

BioWare, a company that was once a bastion of the PC-iest of PC-centric game design, is forsaking their roots once more as word comes down that they are considering bringing several of their key franchises to the DS, including Mass Effect, Jade Empire, and Dragon Age.

Miles Holmes, the lead designer on the upcoming Sonic Chronicles: The Dark Brotherhood, remarked to Eurogamer that Bioware’s take on Sonic was only the beginning of the company’s move to position themselves in the handheld space, and that the company is looking to produce more handheld titles to support its franchises’ console entries.

“We have a lot of big plans for Mass Effect,” Holmes said. “Having a DS version would be an awesome way to keep interest alive and keep it going in addition to the next one.”

I can see Mass Effect’s gunplay working well on the touch screen, but otherwise the thought is just kinda weird.

Source: gamesindustry.biz

After supposedly stating in an interview that the Mass Effect trilogy would be exclusive to the Xbox 360, BioWare reps claim that CEO Dr. Ray Muzyka, in fact, never uttered those words.

The story broke on the Internet via the website XboxOz360, which claimed their source to be the magazine Australian 360.  The quote directly from the magazine is as follows:

“Speaking exclusively to 360 at EA’s European Showcase, BioWare CEO Ray Muzyka restated his company’s commitment to bring the Mass Effect trilogy exclusively to the Xbox 360, despite having been brought up by Electronic Arts and analysts claiming it would go multiplatform.”

So, as you can clearly see, Australian 360 printed the word “exclusively” in their magazine. This apparently must have been a misunderstanding on their part, as BioWare reps claim Dr. Ray “never confirmed any plans of Mass Effect exclusivity for the trilogy,” and that the “site is incorrect”.

So while this doesn’t necessarily rule out the Mass Effect trilogy as being exclusive, it certainly has confirmed that nothing has yet been confirmed.

Source: Joystiq and GameDaily

After confirming that the Mass Effect trilogy would not be coming to the Playstation 3, BioWare CEO Dr. Ray Muzyka commented that “the most important thing is quality, so we’re never going to compromise that.” Does that mean that developing for PS3 would compromise quality?

Here’s yet another instance of nit-picking someone’s words. While most 360 fans will almost certainly assume this is what Dr. Ray was saying (taking a subtle stab at the PS3), I think it’s more than likely he just thinks starting development on Mass Effect for another console would be detrimental to the momentum they already have on the 360.

Mass Effect was always slated as a 360 exclusive and was planned out long before the EA deal. Everyone thought the Mass Effect sequels would go multiplatform because of EA, but BioWare probably feels it would just slow them down. After all, if the 360’s successor is supposed to be out by 2010 (ha!) and the whole Mass Effect trilogy is supposed to be on 360, BioWare is working on a very limited time frame.

Then again, maybe he was ever so subtly professing his love for Xbox since BioWare was Xbox exclusive up until now. Who knows? Dr. Ray knows, but I’m sure he’ll never come out and explicitly confirm anything. That’s just not how BioWare rolls. They remain morally ambiguous and let you, the gamer, decide for yourself.

Source: XboxOz360

CEO of Electronic Arts John Riccitiello confirmed at E3 that BioWare, in collaboration with LucasArts, is in fact working on the next Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic game. Will it be an MMO like has often been rumored? Riccitiello replies simply, “Yes.”

Riccitiello did little to expand on the news other than to say that EA has “two of the most compelling MMOs in the industry in development.” One of those is the previously announced Warhammer MMO (Age of Reckoning), and the other one is now confirmed as the KotOR MMO, which is tentatively titled “The Old Republic”.

Riccitiello went on to talk about PC versus console and handheld systems, stating that he thinks the PC market will increase in large part due to MMOs. So, does this mean the KotOR MMO isn’t coming to consoles? Riccitiello won’t say.

EA plans on using MMOs as an icebreaker in foreign territories, suggesting that China is next on their list of countries to piss off with their douchebaggery. “We’re launching some mid-session games on a micro-transaction model,” Riccitiello says. Hear that, China? You will be nickel and dimed to death, except those nickels and dimes will cost you $5 each (that’s 34 Yuan Renminbi!). Don’t say we didn’t warn you.

Source: Portfolio.com

BioWare’s next big RPG, Dragon Age: Origins, has finally been shown to the world. So this is what Mass Effect would be if it took place a thousand years ago…

Okay, not really.  We actually have no idea whether or not it will be similar in any way to Mass Effect.  Considering it is a BioWare game, however, one would assume it will be heavy on the dialog and story aspects of the role-playing game genre.  Word is that Dragon Age is considered the spiritual successor to the Baldur’s Gate series.  Based on this trailer, though, it’s hard to tell what we’re gonna get, other than medieval ass-kickery.

What do you think? I personally threw up a little bit when I saw the EA logo at the end, but that’s just me.

Here’s your useless factoid of the day: BioWare’s online community has out paced the nation of Puerto Rico for population.

According to EA, BioWare’s parent company, the number of registered users on BioWare’s community site has hit the 4 million mark, with an estimated 38,000 new accounts being created every month.

BioWare, makers of such titles as Baldur’s Gate, Neverwinter Nights, Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic, Jade Empire and Mass Effect, has more than their share of top-notch titles to draw in such a number of fans. But, it helps to remember that not all registered accounts are active, nor are they limited to one person per account. So, while the numbers may say 4 million, the number of actual people is probably a bit lower.

Still, it’s an impressive number, and a hard-earned and well deserved milestone.

BioWare has just updated their official Dragon Age site with its first real glimpse at the game.  Well, not really.  All it does is tell you that the first real glimpse of the game will occur on Spike TV on Friday night.

You can head over to the Dragon Age site to check out the full scoop for yourself by clicking HERE.

Bioware has just unleashed “Bring Down the Sky”, the first of supposedly many downloadable expansions to the Mass Effect universe. It is currently available in English — sorry, “Galactic Standard” — from the Xbox Live Marketplace.

The DLC introduces, or rather “shows for the first time”, the Batarians. Bioware describes the race as “a disreputable species that chose to isolate itself from the rest of the galaxy”, and even though the Batarians played a prominent role in the Mass Effect novel, they have up till now been absent from the game.

The “Bring Down the Sky” content is described as follows:

Batarian extremists have hijacked a mobile asteroid station in the Asgard system, setting it on a collision course with the nearby colony world of Terra Nova. Only you can save the human hostages on the asteroid and reroute it before it crashes into the world, killing millions of innocent civilians.

This DLC adds supposedly 90 minutes of playtime to the game and costs about $5 (400 Microsoft Points). If any of us here at Ripten decide to download it, we’ll let you know how it is.

An Electronic Arts analyst report has revealed that developer BioWare is working on a new sequel to the massively successful franchise Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic.

BioWare is known for several quality RPGs, most notably the first KOTOR, Neverwinter Nights, and more recently, Mass Effect, to which they’re also working on two sequels.

Obsidian Entertainment took over the reigns for KOTOR 2, but it looks like BioWare is back in the saddle for the third installment. In addition to KOTOR 3 and Mass Effect 2 and 3, the developers are also currently working on the original RPG Dragon Age and possibly another MMO project. It’s a good day to be a BioWare fan.

Via Kotaku

Of All the Mass Effect news (see: DLC and Target Rumor) that’s been popping up lately, this is the only one that shouldn’t surprise. The popular title has officially been announced to hit PC’s in May 2008.

Although, the game will largely offer up the same experience as its console counterpart, it will be optimized and feature fully customizable controls for comfortable mouse and keyboard use.

In addition to the obvious ability to output higher resolutions, Mass Effect for the PC will also include a new decryption mini-game, and curiously enough, a new inventory user interface.

Just how different will this UI be? EA claims “The enhanced inventory system makes it easier for players to equip and modify their weapons and armor.”

One thing we are definitely looking forward to is the addition of user-mods, however EA has yet to comment on how they plan to handle this popular PC game perk. My initial guess would be that it would go the way of Oblivion, but either way, this is good news for PC gamers.

Interested in seeing what the game will look like on the PC? Check out the 8 images we have for you in our image gallery below.

Mass Effect PC: 8 Screens

8 Photos

 

Now that we’re done with the whole FOX “report” debacle, we can focus on the game itself, not the full frontal digital nudity — and what better way to do so than some damn nice DLC?

For a mere 400 MS points ($5) we’ll be receiving a new world to traverse, a new race to smack down, 90-minutes of your life to waste and 50 gamerpoints to earn. This new undiscovered world will introduce a new race to the already ginormongous codex.

The Batarians, apparently this disturbed little spec of a race saw fit to hijack a ‘mobile asteroid station’ that’s on course for the colony ‘Terra Nova’. And if A meets B, the answer will probably be boom!

Yep, I have no idea what I just said either.

Source: masseffect.bioware.com

Fans of Mass Effect are probably aware of the game’s prequel novel, Mass Effect: Revelation. The book revolves around Saren, the main antagonist in the game, and it leaves off right around where the game picks up.

Those of you who have read the novel and played through the game will be happy to know that Mass Effect: Ascension is currently in the works and will pick up where the game leaves off, bridging the gap between ME and its sequel. Plot details are scarce, but I’ve yet to beat the game, so I’m happy as a clam. The internet is a minefield of spoilers and I’m sick of having to watch where I step.

If you immediately scoffed at the idea of a video game novel, I don’t blame you in the slightest. With a few exceptions, most video game novels (much like the movie adaptations) have been complete garbage. However, Revelation was written my Drew Karpyshyn, the lead writer on Mass Effect, so we know he’s got some sort of creative juices flowing through his head. He’s also written a few other novels, including some Star Wars, so he’s not new to the medium either. I’m a total Bookasaurus, so this novel-to-game-to-novel-to-game system is something I can totally get on board with.

Mass Effect: Ascension is scheduled to hit Spring 2008, so if you can’t read, you only have a few months to schedule those adult literacy courses.

Source: News 14

Let’s start with what is incredible about Mass Effect. As a child of the 80’s, I was reared on The Black Hole, Blade Runner, The Last Starfighter, and Enemy Mine — a mix of cult classics and lovable garbage that tried to capture the public’s imagination between Star Wars episodes 4-6.

From the simple but elegant jumpsuits to the cheaply designed aliens and backdrops, Mass Effect ‘borrows’ these elements and I think it’s great. It’s a wonderful style choice that is the opposite of many space adventures that wants to progressively boost the amount of detail and techy crap that usually litters the environment. Simple is good sometimes.

There’s even a film-grain laid over the screen, which shows real dedication to old-school geeks of the genre. Sure, you can turn the grain off, but why would you?

All of the aliens and creatures look like they were designed by the Muppet Factory during the time of Labyrinth and I adore it. Although the animations can get a bit choppy, I give Mass Effect the benefit of the doubt due to the sheer scope of the multi-planet adventure. I’m just willing to look the other way because Mass Effect is about style, not graphics that push the envelope.

To coincide with the visuals, the music is a direct ode to keyboard cheese soundtracks from The Terminator and Escape from New York. This impacted me even more than the film-grain. John Carpenter himself couldn’t have picked a better soundtrack! I tripped out when the music began. It is a Casio-Keyboard classic.

Mass Effect has many ways to draw the player into this universe, like a satisfying character creation option that allowed me to put my visage on screen. This is important, since you have full control of the dialogue your character spews, and essentially, your mood and personality dictate the response you give. There are a lot of choices in the dialogue, and seeing all of this interaction with your face on-screen is strange and cool.

You also have far more options than the black & white of Bioshock. The amount of dialogue is staggering and epic. Everyone communicates, and with so many potential choices and reactions, I doubt the game could ever be played the same way twice. But by hour ten you may shout, “Enough with the damn talking!”

Mass Effect has so many conversations, side-quests, details and monotony that it can be boring, or worse, coma inducing. Casual gamers need not apply. Battles are so few and far between, that it won’t take long for you to wonder if you accidentally purchased the “My Dinner with Andre” video game that Martin Prince once played on The Simpsons.

You have to constantly check journals, talk to people, fetch more items, and talk some more before finally someone will draw a gun and cause a 23 second battle. More action does eventually follow, but it takes a good 5+ hours before you can even planet-hop and take on some real challenges.

I don’t know about you, but 5 hours just to get the ball rolling on a game is 5 hours I typically don’t have. Bioware is telling a long tale here, which is pretty good but takes its sweet time getting the plot across to any players left awake. That is the deciding factor.

Hype is like a snowball, thundering down a mountain, gaining size and momentum as it barrels towards the quaint Swiss ski village nestled below. Mass Effect’s hype may have snowballed, but that doesn’t mean it’s terrible.

It’s a really good game that tries to offer the universe as its playground, but it occasionally simulates a long conversation with the old man at the bus stop who won’t shut up about Aunt Bea’s trip to Maine in 1974.

If RPGs are your thing, then Mass Effect is a fantastic investment. For those who want satisfying action and excitement, I recommend waiting until you have a vacation long enough to play this epic.

While I was under the impression that everyone liked hot lesbian sex, apparently I was wrong. Singapore’s Media Development Authority (sounds so official) has decided to ban Mass Effect due to the game’s inclusion of hot alien girl on human girl action, or “lesbian intimacy” as they so eloquently referred to it.

This is not the first time that an alien has shared an intimate moment with a human being. I clearly recall ET gazing into Elliot’s eyes as he made contact with the young boy’s fleshy limb. Seems like a double standard to me.

Update: 110:14PM EST 11/16
It appears that the intergalactic lesbian love is back on again. Singapore’s Media Development Authority has had a change of heart regarding Mass Effect, and will now be allowing the sale of the game with a Mature 18 rating.

In a press release today, LucasArts finally confirmed a long standing rumor which involved the company working side by side with Bioware to publish and develop a “ground-breaking interactive product”. Could this be the long-anticipated Star Wars MMO everyone has been hoping that Star Wars Galaxies would be? Fans of both companies will have to wait a little longer, as the press release promises more information coming at “a later date”.

Jim Ward, President of LucasArts, went on to comment, “we believe that our upcoming product will deliver an experience that will span the traditional boundaries of video game entertainment.” Assuming the product they are working on is indeed a Star Wars MMO, the fit could provide a deeper story element than most of the current titles, essentially fusing what players love most about the single player games with all the social aspects of a multiplayer game.

This is all speculative at the moment however, as nothing more than a development team has been announced thus far. That said, Bioware’s track record of making story-driven games speaks for itself.

In the same press release, CEO of Bioware Ray Muzyka went on to state, “BioWare’s mission is to deliver the best story and character-driven games in the world, delivering powerful emotional experiences to our fans.” Let’s hope we’re as floored by the new game as we were when we first saw Luke Skywalker turn off his targeting computer.

Just like its advertising campaign, EA is BIG. The company made net revenue of over 3 billion dollars in 2005 and continues to grow. The recent acquisition of BioWare will only continue to drive this monster forward. This along with its near-monopoly on professional sports games could prove to be a bottomless well for future earnings.

However, EA is so big that it has actually made its inclusion on this list a difficult undertaking, due to its predominant status as a sun-eclipsing monster publisher. But it cannot be denied that EA's logo is found on so many must-own titles that it has to be acknowledged as an iconic developer.

Electronic Arts got its start when the director of product marketing at Apple decided to head out and establish his own venture back in 1982. The company would turn out to be Amazin' Software, later updated to the far superior call sign of Electronic Arts.

"We See Farther, 1983 EA Advertisement" Artists listed left to right.
Top: Mike Abbott, Dan Bunten, Jon Freeman, Anne Westfall, Bill Budge
Bottom: Matt Alexander, John Fields, David Maynard

Early on EA made its debut doing what it does best-- publishing. A publisher that would step out of the spotlight and let their developers bask in the public eye, EA would develop a reputation for giving their staff the credit they were due.

In 1983, EA released the now classic M.U.L.E. This little piece of software would revolutionize gaming with its multiplayer focus, and would eventually be ported from the Atari 400 to the Commodore 64, PC, and even the NES.

The game was great but it still wasn't an EA original. That feat wouldn't come until many years later when the classic skateboarding title Skate or Die! hit shelves in 1987. Skate or Die! didn't set any milestones, but it would hint at the sports-focused direction that EA would head towards in the future.

EA is such a massive firm, with their hands in so many pies, that it isn't easy to find out which games were developed completely in-house and which games were constructed by their smaller development companies. Many of the games bearing the EA logo were not actually developed by EA, but a subsidiary.

What cannot be debated about Electronic Arts is that they have cornered a significant market share. EA turns out an annual collection of new professional sports titles that mostly go unchallenged, and the rate at which players eat it up is awe inspiring (anyone remember the Madden addicts on MTV?).

The reason that these games do so well is that kids grow up wanting to field like Derek Jeter. They long to throw the pigskin like Joe Montana. They practice dribbling for hours to get that Alan Iverson crossover and stay out on the greens past sundown to sink that amazing 15-footer they saw Tiger Woods nail in the Masters. Kids want to be their heroes. So why not let them? That's what EA said back when it started its line of licensed sports games back in the late 80's, and the whirlwind is still going strong today.

After the success of Madden Football and NHL Hockey, EA decided to devote a specific branch to sports development. That fork in the road would be known as EASN. Catchy name huh? Well too bad ESPN had all four lettered acronyms on lockdown. The new name would have to have a sub-label on every box, leading to the more familiar EA Sports being created. So now with a new name, a new box style (the famous all-white cases) and a fresh new batch of official licenses, which EA is the biggest purchaser of, Electronic Arts would be ready to take no prisoners in the 16-bit console war.

EA Sports NBA Live 97 -- watch out for those steals!

The 16-bit era truly built the empire of EA that we know today. Their contributions to the Sega Genesis would make it a console seller. But not one to discriminate, they would develop for the SNES as well. This is when many of the series we still play today would be born-- Madden, NHL Hockey, NBA Live, Knockout Kings, FIFA, PGA Tour (later named Tiger Woods) and Triple Play Baseball (dubbed MVP Baseball in 2003) would all be born from this era.

If you like sports games, then chances are at some point in your gaming career you've had one of these white-boxed beauties stashed in your entertainment center ready to collect dust when you get the update and never play the old version again. And why would you? You've got the new one, and the new one has better announcers, updated graphics and improved puck/ball/racket/bat/club control than the one before it.

Maddenoliday commercial promoting the annual release of Madden

Therein lays the genius. Not only did EA corner the market, but they made it so that they can get repeat customers year in, year out. You may not like sports games, but a lot of people dig em', and EA is the hardest hitter out there delivering the goods. EA publishes a lot of games, but as far as development is concerned, sports games are the golden goose. EA has become one of the biggest publishers of video games in the world, and EA Sports was the BIG reason for that. Like the slogan says, “it's in the game”.

Must Haves:
Madden '08 (Multi),
NHL '08 (Multi),
FIFA '08 (Multi)

Have Nots:
Rugby '08 (PS2),
NASCAR '08 (Multi)

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