Mass-Effect posts (Subscribe to this feed)

Well now, this is a little perplexing. Speaking on today's EA earnings call, a spokesperson for the company said that something "far-reaching" for Mass Effect would arrive in Q4 of EA's fiscal 2010, which translates to sometime between January 1 and March 31 of 2011.

The perplexing part is that no mention was made of the multiplatform Dragon Age release referenced in the pre-call release for the same period. So, did someone misspeak and confuse BioWare releases? It's possible. We've put a line in to EA to sort this out.

Update: We heard back from EA spokesperson Jeff Brown, who told us, "Both Dragon Age and Mass Effect are referenced in the FY11 SKU plan. That's all I can tell you for now."

Thank the Enkindlers! Encompassing an entire galaxy's worth of alien beings, uncharted worlds and tattooed psychopaths, Mass Effect's bible doesn't exactly make for light reading. "We probably spent 6-12 months with a team of designers, artists and so on doing concepting, world building, design and character iteration, timelines, and the history of the universe," BioWare CEO Ray Muzyka recently told IGN. The "IP bible" is consulted for all Mass Effect games, he explained, comparing it to an "iceberg that's down there, giving it weight and gravity, credibility and depth."

Echoing earlier statements made by BioWare co-founder Greg Zeschuk, Muzyka pointed to the franchise's considerable backstory as a viable source for "future extensions, ancillary products, things like that." Things like that may include spin-offs like Mass Effect: Galaxy for iPhone, novels, further expansions to Mass Effect 2, and, obviously, Mass Effect 3.

Sadly, if there's one thing the Mass Effect bible can't teach us, it's the virtue of patience. Who wouldn't kill for the next part of the trilogy right now?

Just in time for Valentine's Day, Amazon is now offering a special buy two, get one free deal on Xbox 360 Platinum Hits titles. The deal is fairly straightforward: just pop three Platinum Hits games into your cart and the cheapest of the three will be knocked down to the wallet-friendly price of zero dollars. It's really the perfect excuse to pick up some great games you might have missed, especially considering many of them have sequels out this year -- notably Fable II, Halo 3, Fallout 3, Mass Effect, BioShock and Dead Rising. You'd better do it quick though, as the offer is only valid through February 13 and only while supplies last.

[Thanks, Goldenchild]

Okay, there seems to be some confusion out there. Gamers have taken a microscope to the code in the PC version of Mass Effect 2, which they claim hints at an inevitable PS3 release. Well, we hate to break it to you, but it looks like that's not gonna happen.

Bioware's Chris Priestly hopped onto the forums to bring some balance to the Matrix. "The Unreal Engine is cross platform, hence the PS3 code," he said. "This was brought up back in Mass Effect 1 days as well."

So, there you have it. Priestly also added one last quote, to help drive the point home: "Mass Effect is for the PC and Xbox 360."

[Via GameWire]

Beginning February 3, the first issue of the four-part comic series Mass Effect: Redemption will be available on the iTunes App Store. To celebrate its release, Dark Horse and EA have announced the issue will be free for a limited time. How limited is the "free digital comic" window? One day only. After February 3, the digital release is bumped up to 99 cents. Of course, if you're a Mass Effect 2 fanatic you probably own the collectors' edition, which included a mini-version of the first issue. But, if you love moving pictures, a free digital comic is a hard thing to ignore.

Let me tell you something. It's rough being one of the few Joystiq editors that isn't currently knee-deep in the space-faring magic of Mass Effect 2. The constant insults, the pointing and laughing, the threats on my life; it gets old really fast. And now Electronic Arts has to announce that Mass Effect 2 has already shipped two million units worldwide in its first week. The press release also notes that the game has earned more than 40 perfect review scores. And, of course, the Joystiq review drips with effusive, well-earned praise. I get it, okay? I need to play it, and I will, just as soon as I finish the first Mass Effect.

Oh, gotta go. Looks like Justin is putting another stink bomb in my lunch box.

It would appear that BioWare has gotten things with our buddy Zaeed all sorted, as his Xbox 360 DLC pack is now available through Mass Effect 2's Cerberus Network. Coming in an update this morning, the disgruntled, padded mercenary is now available for the low, low price of zero dollars.

As BioWare doc Greg Zeschuk explained to us recently, additional content arriving for Mass Effect 2 through the Cerberus Network will be free of charge, with "paid DLC packs" available separately.

I was an unlikely choice to review Mass Effect 2.

Unlike most of the Joystiq staff, I wasn't in love with the first entry in the series. Oh, I could see the promise, but I had a hard time getting past the clunky combat, the terrible vehicle sequences and a damnably irksome inventory system. But in a weird way, I was the very best person to review the sequel, because BioWare has gutted the original framework, doing away with everything that didn't work and replacing it with something vibrant, something engaging. All the while, the developers have expanded on the sweeping yet personal scope of the first game that made such an impression on so many.

The resulting concoction is the best game BioWare has ever made and the best action RPG in history.

Here's the deal: We're not going to be the least bit clever or amusing in this post. 1. It's just past 7 a.m. and Uncle Joystiq got a little ... silly last night and do these lights have to be so bright? and 2. We don't want you to waste a second reading when you could be grabbing all the Mass Effect 2 DLC that's currently on Live. You'll find links after the break.

Is it supposed to be up yet? Will it be free forever? There's no earthly (or spacely, for that matter) way of knowing. But do you really want to be the guy that missed out?

[Update: Okay, it looks like all have been pulled now, except the Collector's Weapons and Armor.]

[Thanks, Ryan Gan]

"Huh?" you say, confused by the very prospect of the Mass Effect trilogy getting the film treatment. Don't worry buddy, we're right there with you. The BioWare space RPG may be getting said treatmentt, though, according to Mass Effect 2 project director Casey Hundson in a recent interview with MTV. "Obviously we have a tremendous amount of interest from people in Hollywood to make a major motion picture about Mass Effect," Hudson said.

Thankfully, Hudson followed up his statement with a conditional position for the possibility of a Mass Effect film. "The most important thing for us is, we don't just want to see a movie get made ... we want to see a great movie get made, if it's going to get done at all." We have but one humble request should a movie ever be made of the series: it goes fully 3D -- if only for text trees in the third dimension.

"You may not even see the impact of a decision in Mass Effect 1 in Mass Effect 2, but in Mass Effect 3," BioWare's Dr. Greg Zeschuk told us while elaborating about the whole Mass Effect franchise. The pedigreed co-founder of BioWare isn't simply set on promoting the upcoming Mass Effect 2, but a vision for the entire trilogy. "In planning out the overall trilogy, we know what general story beats we want to hit along the entire thing. So we know the key events we want to have in 3, and right now the team is starting to flesh that out, fill in the spaces. And of course, we're going to be waiting for the fan response to Mass Effect 2, to see what works and what didn't work, what we can strengthen."

Fan reaction is a huge part of the BioWare design, but according to Zeschuk, the Mass Effect team still goes with what they want to do. "Fan reaction is usually a really important part of what we do. We listen to everything the fans say, everything the press says. And when we make a sequel, that's one of the guiding things. Overriding that though really is the team's choice. And I think that's interesting because obviously the fans have been very vocal about who they want to see and how they want to see them. We've made our choices, and they may or may not be happy with what we did. But at the end of the day, they're going to think the experience was incredible. And you have to remember there's a third part, as well. Hey maybe you didn't see who you wanted to see in number two, but maybe you'll see them in number three. We're going to keep fans guessing."

The announcement of Mass Effect 2's in-game DLC pipeline, "Cerberus Network," left some details unclear. For example, will DLC through Cerberus be free, since the network itself costs money to install for those without a code from a new copy of the game ($15, to be exact, as reported by Bitmob)? And will DLC only be available through Cerberus?

In a video interview with Joystiq (to be published later today), BioWare's Dr. Greg Zeschuk cleared up some of the confusion around the DLC portal. "We'll definitely have for-pay DLC down the road too," he said, revealing that the DLC through Cerberus will be free. "It's not going to be all free DLC for Mass Effect 2 -- far from that. There'll be paid DLC packs, and there'll be stuff available through Cerberus as well."

The way Zeschuk puts it, there will be two separate types of DLC: free material that is offered through the Cerberus Network and paid DLC that can be purchased without Cerberus (through BioWare or Xbox Live Marketplace).

If you're pessimists like us, you've been looking at Mass Effect 2 not as an exciting new chapter in the trilogy but simply as "the one before the last one." But, speaking with Kotaku, BioWare co-founder Greg Zeschuk metaphorically stroked our hair and told us to put those bad old thoughts right out of our heads. "Don't worry if you love Mass Effect," he said, "There will be more Mass Effect in the future."

A soothing reminder that, no matter how chaotic the world may seem, people will always keep doing something if it's making money. Consider us comforted.

We know, we know -- there's been a constant flood of Mass Effect 2 media over the past few weeks. What with your SyFy channel specials and your six trailers being released at once, we can appreciate that you might feel a bit overwhelmed. That's why we're promising that today's clip -- the launch trailer, mind you -- will be the very last bit of media you see for the game on Joystiq before the game launches. That is, of course, unless there's something really, really amazing released in the next five days. But, ya know, it'd have to be pretty sweet. Like, the sweetest.

In one week's time, rather than wading through the torrent of new media released today for Mass Effect 2, you'll be picking up your copy of the game and rushing home to get started on Commander Shepard's second big adventure. For now, though, if you're anything like us, you're raptly watching the above dev diary (and likely heading after the break to the five "Fight for the Lost" character videos), already plotting how your own Shepard is going to spread his intergalactic vengeance -- we like to play as the ruthless monster with sporadically humane moments. Also, the one who can charge into dudes real fast.

Regardless of how you plan on playing it, the sheer amount of new media released today should suitably tide you over (at least in terms of time) until next Tuesday. Get a comfy chair -- it's gonna be a while.