Mass Effect to drop for the PC in May, EA to publish

by Jason Dobson { Feb 12th 2008 at 9:15AM }

Mass Effect's long-rumored jump to the PC is now a certainty, as publisher Electronic Arts has taken the popular action RPG under its wing with plans to publish the title for the PC in May. The game is the first in a new deal struck between EA and Microsoft, which will see the publisher bringing this and other unspecified games to the PC market.

According to EA, Mass Effect has undergone a slight makeover for its PC debut, with new PC-centric "fully customizable" controls, the ability to assign hot keys for "run and gun control," an enhanced inventory system, and a new decryption minigame. The publisher also boasts of the version's new "highly detailed" visuals, though we're curious to see if the console version's horrendous texture pop-in will be checked at the door before boarding the painfully slow rising elevator leading to Mass Effect's spring release.

Tags: bioware, breakingnews, ea, electronic-arts, electronicarts, mass-effect, masseffect

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 3)

UNC Samurai @ Feb 12th 2008 9:20AM

So now you can put hard-core pornography on your computer? This is brilliant!

Nicholas @ Feb 12th 2008 9:47AM

Never thought I'd see the day too!

Jason @ Feb 12th 2008 12:03PM

nude patch?

copa @ Feb 12th 2008 9:24AM

Nice to see Microsoft sharing their publishing rights.

Mass Effect 2 for PS3. Confirmed!

Cyro @ Feb 12th 2008 9:36AM

Not so fast. Microsoft did this because they want it on Games For Windows. I believe they will do everything humanly possible to stop ME 2 and ME 3 from going to the PS3. ME 1 will never go to the PS3 that at least is for sure.

Kimatg @ Feb 12th 2008 9:57AM

Uhh and noone really knows if there is gonna be any sequel to Mass Effect.

and even it there was, Microsoft would never let its studios' games on other consoles. Just like Nintendo would not let Mario on Xbox or PS. :P

Erwos @ Feb 12th 2008 9:59AM

Microsoft has no reason to stop games from going to Windows. They have plenty of reason to stop them from going to the PS3, Wii, MacOS X, and Linux.

The Purveyor of Justice @ Feb 12th 2008 11:09AM

@kimatg,

BioWare has already previously said they intend to make a trilogy.

tmacairjordan87 @ Feb 12th 2008 10:50AM

"Uhh and noone really knows if there is gonna be any sequel to Mass Effect."

lol it was confirmed as a trilogy many times for the last few years, and it sold over a million copies in a month or so. There's going to be sequels.

rv @ Feb 12th 2008 12:56PM

I just hope whoever the publisher is the game will be better than the first. They have to add in more main story planets, fix inventory, and they also have to give uncharted worlds more uniqueness.

jynxycat @ Feb 12th 2008 1:20PM

"lol it was confirmed as a trilogy many times for the last few years"

So was Shenmue.

The Purveyor of Justice @ Feb 12th 2008 3:34PM

@jynxycat

Shenmue suffered from excessive overhead, and abysmal sales. Something which clearly doesn't afflict Mass Effect. So long as it remains so, the trilogy will be made.

Kimatg @ Feb 12th 2008 9:50PM

uhh yeah sorry. just found out there is gonna be a sequel right after commenting. :P

but seems like devs surely like "trilogies" for sequels.. except for CoD4. :)

el serpiente @ Feb 12th 2008 9:35AM

There really is no reason to get an Xbox, all the games end up on the PC anyways, with much better graphics and no red-ring-of-wait-for-4-weeks!

Cyro @ Feb 12th 2008 9:39AM

*with much better graphics*, That depends on your PC. I don't think this game is going to have low system requirements.

Besides Not everyone that has a console has a Gaming PC.

baby sea tuna @ Feb 12th 2008 9:42AM

Dang. I wanted to be the first one to make a dumb-assholishly obvious comment about the 360's "exclusives"...but it looks like someone already beat me to it.

Hey buddy, ever think that there are people out there that don't use their PCs to play video games? Maybe because they've been glued to a mouse and keyboard for 40+ hours a week, sitting a foot and a half away from a monitor and the last thing in the world they want to do when they get home is look at another damned computer? Cause these people exist, and they're the reason that consoles are pretty much murdering PCs in terms of game sales these days. One might even say, we are legion.

Geo @ Feb 12th 2008 9:48AM

LOL!!......

Maverick_saturn_626 @ Feb 12th 2008 9:51AM

baby sea tuna, nobody much cares about everyone elses thought on the matter, you buy the game because you individually want it.

I for one am pissed ¬_¬ I bought my PS3 for exclusive games, I have my Wii for exclusive games, I have my Xbox 360, and apart from Halo, I often question why I have it to be honest, all the games I wanted are on PC -_- Would have saved me £300 had I just blimming bought the games for PC instead.

Sigh, I hope this doesn't keep up, I love my 360, but I can't have everything I bought it for porting to PC, that just won't do!

el serpiente @ Feb 12th 2008 9:55AM

Don't get so excited young man. Why spend the extra $600 on an equivalently functional xbox if you already have a PC sitting at home? Just seems like you could spend the money on an upgrade, and bang, a machine that plays everything the xbox plays, that doesn't have to be sent to microsoft every other month. Oh and free online without annoying ads too.

'the last thing in the world they want to do when they get home is look at another damned computer?'

So they come home and sit in front of a TV screen? I don't think so. Come up with another story.

baby sea tuna @ Feb 12th 2008 10:11AM

I'm really sorry that your 360 cost $600, mine didn't.

Regardless, I'll continue using my PC for Photoshop, spreadsheets, and internets and my gaming systems for...oh, I dunno, gaming. On my 42" HDTV. From my couch.

WiNG @ Feb 12th 2008 10:14AM

This is basically the only reason I got a Wii over a 360.

Best 360 games that aren't fighters? Go to PC.
Best Wii games that aren't multiplatform? Wii only.

So instead of spending $500 for a 360 and accessories, spent the money on upgrading a computer I already had to be able to play everything except Crysis. Plus, my Internets work faster!

Einhanderkiller @ Feb 12th 2008 10:39AM

I have a 360 gamepad hooked up to my computer. Works pretty well, and it even has vibration.

Grimmus @ Feb 12th 2008 11:49AM

I'm not going to lie, the "I work 40 hours a week at a desk job, therefore I must hate computers when I get home" thing is a complete cowpie.

Maverick, I'd like to thank you personally for proving the irony of the internets; You tell someone nobody cares about why they would or wouldn't buy something, but then rattle off your own whiny post on the same subject.

343 Guilty Fart @ Feb 12th 2008 12:36PM

42'' hdtv or tiny 17'' screen, I prefer the larger thank you very much.

Kodros @ Feb 12th 2008 1:29PM

10 feet away from the 42'' hdtv or 1 foot away from a tiny 17'' screen...

PointyThings @ Feb 12th 2008 2:34PM

This whole "comfort" argument is the most ridiculous bullshit I've ever heard. If gaming was about ergonomics then controllers would have been comfortable back in the NES days. I have an Ikea chair for the PC, a couch for gaming. They are equally comfortable, there is no hunching.
As for the "I work and don't like to look at computer screens", I watch an obscene amount of TV, that doesn't stop me from playing console games.

gameplayFanBoy @ Feb 12th 2008 3:11PM

I think I've said this before, but I'll say it again. PC gaming does NOT have to be on a 17" monitor at a desk. I hooked up my gaming PC to my 37" LCD TV and route sound through my 7.1 receiver and use a 360 gamepad. It feels just like my 360 except has better sound, graphics, and reliability. Of course it cost quite a bit...

Big Ed @ Feb 12th 2008 9:38AM

Knowing EA, it was only a matter of time before they would start whoring out Mass Effect to different platforms.

Viridium @ Feb 12th 2008 1:10PM

Hold up a minute there, Crack Stuntman. Who says that EA owns any of the IP, or even the publishing rights? Looks like they had to get an agreement with MS just to publish it on the PC. I'm with other posters that you won't see ME1 on any other platform, since MS only has a vested interest in the 360 and Games for Windows.

And as an aside, I'm with other people here on gaming. I can't afford to keep upgrading my PC, and working 40 hours a week, it's great to come home, kick back on the couch, and game with the wireless controller on a 100" image from the projector.

Geo @ Feb 12th 2008 9:46AM

Question: does this game support multiplayer..??

Kimatg @ Feb 12th 2008 9:52AM

No.

.
.
.
though if there was, a co-op would be quite fun.

nutman @ Feb 12th 2008 4:44PM

They dont look better on the PC. I've seen Cod 4 on the 360 and PC side by side. They looked exactly the same. I was actually amazed.

As for this little announcement. No surprise. Dont expect Mass effect 2 and 3 on the PS3 though. EA will publish the GFW versions and Microsoft wil publish the 360 versions. Bioware AND EA will be listed as the developer for the 360 version.

Jeff @ Feb 12th 2008 7:56PM

Then whoever you looked at wasn't running it at a high resolution with 16x AA.

That being said, COD 4 doesn't have as many graphics enhancements for the PC version as it should, so its a bad example of the difference between PC and console versions. Try Oblivion for a fair comparison.

capt_carl @ Feb 12th 2008 9:46AM

YES GOD YES!!

Now I can put my rig to other usage besides making it groan with Crysis. But yea, there need to be a LOT of technical improvements to the games' engine before it hits the PC or else hardcore PC gamers are going to flip. Texture pop-in absolutely, I hate that crap. Framerate issues need to be fixed too. I don't care if the game runs at only 30fps, but as long as it does that consistently I'll be happy. Unreal Tech 3 is very scalable, so there's no reason why it shouldn't be able to run on older machines at that. When they say "improved inventory system" I wonder what they mean. Maybe the ability to sell multiple items at once and/or reduce multiple items at once to omni-gel?

Either way, EA better not fuck this up. This game is too good to fuck up with a bad PC port.

Jeff @ Feb 12th 2008 10:57AM

Try out Sins of a Solar Empire. It's a serious smack in the face to anyone who's considered transitioning from PC gaming to consoles. It is perfection, and in a way that is impossible without keyboard + mouse.

Crono (NDF - Knight of the Old School) @ Feb 12th 2008 11:10AM

Wait, you want a consistent frame rate, on a PC?

Good luck with that.

capt_carl @ Feb 12th 2008 11:42AM

@Jeff, I'll look into it. I've been looking for a new RTS to tide me over until Halo Wars hits the PC. I've been considering replaying Warcraft 3 because it's so epic.

@Chrono: Don't scoff, it's very possible to do with the right setup. Ask Jeff, or any other long-time PC gamer. If I can get TF2 to run maxed out playing 2Fort with a full pack of 24 and CoD4 running at a pinned 60fps, I don't see Mass Effect being that big of a problem.

Jeff @ Feb 12th 2008 7:55PM

Crono.. you raise a very good point. When I'm not running V Sync, my framerate often skirts dangerously high into the 100s, which can be a bit disastrous to a 60 hz refresh rate.

True, but sarcasm. I maintain 60 FPS almost 100% constant in almost every game I play.

paragraph @ Feb 12th 2008 9:47AM

"...before boarding the the painfully slow rising elevator leading to Mass Effect's spring release."

I see what you did there...

---

Sounds good, i'm waiting for a "Lukewarm Tea" Patch, allowing even more digitally orgasmic digital sex scenes of an orgasmic nature...

Kimatg @ Feb 12th 2008 9:49AM

srsly the elevators are waaaaayy too slow.
especially the one on Normandy. Makes me dont wanna go down there :P

Cyro @ Feb 12th 2008 9:54AM

I see what you did there...

borland502 (SDF - Macross Ring) @ Feb 12th 2008 9:48AM

Since I don't have a 360, I've been missing out on this beastiality/sodomy/lesbian sin simulation. My only gripe is the well developed dialog trees. Who needs that crap?!?

Cyro @ Feb 12th 2008 9:49AM

I knew this was going to happen, but I did not believe they would do it so soon.

Now all PS3 Fanboys are going to download this through a torrent site, play it and then bash it, say that this game is overrated and that it sucks and so on and so on.
I know this because they all secretly wish to play teh awesomeness that Mass Effect is.

I think Microsoft should seriously consider keeping at least a couple of Console exclusive games. I mean dammit.

el serpiente @ Feb 12th 2008 10:01AM

Or maybe they'll really enjoy it, and be glad they didn't have to waste money on defective hardware to play it.

Crono (NDF - Knight of the Old School) @ Feb 12th 2008 11:14AM

You know, RROD is a thing of the past. I wish you fanboys would get new material to bash the 360 with.

Oh, wait, no. Thats right. There isn't anything. You rely on RROD attacks because everything else is practically perfect, especially compared to the George Foreman grill.