Posts with tag bioware
by Christopher Grant Jul 17th 2008 1:40PM
Filed under: PC
Portfolio.com just published a short excerpt of its interview with EA boss John Riccitiello who tells the site that it's "got two of the most compelling MMOs in the industry in development" including "the one that people are dying for us to talk to them about -- in partnership with Lucas, coming out of BioWare." One doesn't need to connect too many dots to arrive at the conclusion that BioWare is returning to the Star Wars universe with a
Knights of the Old Republic MMO.
Of course, this product has been rumored for ... well, for
a long time. Separately confirming a
BioWare / LucasArts collaboration and a BioWare MMO project lead to certain obvious conclusions and countless other rumors and leaks seemed to do everything
but confirm (and some
denied) the project's existence. Though it would appear Riccitiello wasn't quite ready to put a name on that project – it's Portfolio.com connecting those dots – by referencing that this is the game that "people are dying for us to talk to them about" he clearly seems to be pointing to
KOTOR.
[
Update: We've just spoken with N. Evan Van Zelfden, the writer of the report, who told us that when asked specifically if this game was "KOTOR Online", Riccitiello responded unequivocally, "Yes." So, there you have it – sounds like we can take off our skeptical glasses.]
by Ross Miller Jul 15th 2008 1:00AM
Filed under: PC, Sony PlayStation 3, Microsoft Xbox 360
BioWare's Greg Zeschuk told attendees at the Electronic Arts that the
Dragon Age franchise
will, at some point, cross the PC threshold and head into the realm of consoles. A vague release window like that isn't reassuring to those hoping for a day-and-date multiplatform, but we don't expect the wait for some sort of console
Dragon Age game to last
too long.
by Ludwig Kietzmann Jul 14th 2008 12:30PM
Filed under: PC, RPGs
"Dragon Age: Origins is a dark heroic fantasy that doesn't pull any punches. Our fans are in for the most emotionally intense gaming experience we've ever created, and we hope to surprise them with just how dark and gritty it gets!" says Bioware co-General Manager and CEO, Ray Muzyka. EA has released new details regarding the highly anticipated and titularly tweaked RPG, Dragon Age: Origins, with the glut of said details describing it as the bestest most amazingest thing ever. And, much like the latest Harry Potter film, it's the darkest one yet.
Aside from hooking up your heart strings to a tractor and driving off, Dragon Age promises "epic" and scalable party-based combat, numerous magic spells which can be combined for "emergent unique effects," deep customization, and an "emotionally compelling" story that tasks you with choosing sides, forming alliances and choosing your avatar's origin. Add in some "credible digital actors" and you have, well, just what you'd expect from the folks that brought us Mass Effect.
The no-punch-pulling, dark and gritty Dragon Age: Origins is out on PC in early 2009. We'll be sure to update this post with more media assets as soon as we receive them. by James Ransom-Wiley Jul 10th 2008 2:54PM
Filed under: PC, RPGs
It turns out yesterday's big
Dragon Age reveal -- after years of silence -- was to dump a bucket of MS Paint all over the game's logo. Voilà!
Dragon Age: Origins. Same game ...
slightly different name.
The new
game site does hint at a world builder feature, which BioWare faithful may remember from the first
Neverwinter Nights. "Are you a world builder or modder? We have epic news for you but our cruel masters have forbidden us from speaking on pain of death," teases a message on the site. TiVo alert: GameTrailers TV will air the debut
Dragon Age: Origins trailer at 1:00am Saturday (aka Friday night) on Spike TV.
[Via
Big Download]
by Jason Dobson Jul 9th 2008 10:30AM
Filed under: Culture, PC
Ask a hundred PC game developers about
piracy, and you're likely to come away with at least as many ideas on how to keep games from being flown beneath the Jolly Roger. There's even those who have
thrown up their arms already, sailing instead for calmer console waters or opting just to keep piracy '
in perspective.' However, when it comes to
Mass Effect dev BioWare, fighting piracy is as trivial as simply making games that people want to buy by nurturing customer fidelity through DLC and engaging multiplayer options.
"That's ultimately the best, most successful path to prevent piracy," noted BioWare's co-CEO Ray Muzyka, "to have players that want your games, want to believe in them and think they're high-quality and realize they're going to get a lot of value out of them as platforms for long time afterwards." It's a great theory, though we imagine that getting players to want your game isn't exactly the problem; it's getting them to open their wallets for them that's the trick.
by Randy Nelson Jul 1st 2008 6:25PM
Filed under: Business, Mobile
Speaking to
MTV Multiplayer, the developer of such epics as
Mass Effect and
Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic confirmed that it is looking into games of a much smaller (physical) scale. Specifically,
BioWare co-CEO Greg Zeschuk states that he finds Apple's iPhone "intriguing" as a games platform. Mind you, he's not saying development is underway, but he is a fan.
"Something that's as big a cultural and technical success as the iPhone is something you've really got to take a close look at," explains Zeschuk, adding that, "We've got a lot of folks looking at it." Zechuk's statements come just a few days after the project lead on BioWare's Nintendo DS RPG,
Sonic Chronicles: The Dark Brotherhood, revealed that the company is
also investigating Wii and PSP dvelopment. Now BioWare just needs to look into developing for those LCD games you see at mall kiosks and it'll have all bases covered.
by Randy Nelson Jun 20th 2008 3:00PM
Filed under: Sony PSP, Nintendo Wii, Business
Mass Effect creator
BioWare likes console development. In fact, it would like to do more of it – on more platforms – so implies
Sonic Chronicles: The Dark Brotherhood project lead Mark Darrah in
an interview with Gamasutra.
"We're looking into Wii and PSP as a company," Darrah revealed, although "nothing's been decided." BioWare is also intent on broadening its portfolio, Darrah says.
While its forte is definitely in the RPG genre, we have seen solid effort from BioWare in the action category with
MDK2 for Sega Dreamcast and PlayStation 2. Company co-founder Greg Zeschuck has previously told Joystiq that he's keen to take another stab at the genre ... it's just a matter of clearing its already very full plate first and catching the right idea.
by Randy Nelson Jun 20th 2008 12:30AM
Filed under: PC, Sony PlayStation 3, Microsoft Xbox 360, Action, RPGs
Delays are never good, but in the case of two titles emerging from EA's acquisition of
BioWare and
Pandemic, it's nice to see the publishing giant giving its studios the time they need to get the job done right. In particular, we're talking about BioWare's all-new original RPG title,
Dragon Age, and Pandemic's WWII action game,
Saboteur, both of which EA boss John Riccitiello revealed are now 2009 titles during a speech Tuesday.
BioWare, hot off the PC release of
Mass Effect, has been crafting its first fantasy RPG since
Neverwinter Nights for some time.
Saboteur showed substantial promise when we saw it last year; it's a third-person action game set in Nazi-occupied France, starting off in black & white, with color appearing as Nazis are driven out of areas of Paris.
by Christopher Grant Jun 17th 2008 10:31PM
Filed under: PC
When we first reported on
EA's reworked DRM scheme for
Mass Effect PC – one that removed the
onerous 10-day re-validation process but now only allows a maximum of three activations – we teased that we were ready to "pick up our torches and pitchforks and join the mob outside."
Now, a little over a month later, that mob has grown to some considerable size, spurred on by a forum thread on BioWare's site being referenced on consumer-advocacy blog The Consumerist. The problem: some confusion over whether or not uninstalling the game reinstates one of your three activations. After some wrangling (you know how support centers can be) EA confirmed that "unfortunately, you will not gain an activation by uninstalling the game." So, be stingy with those installs, gamers.
[Via
Consumerist; thanks, Eric]
by Scott Jon Siegel May 29th 2008 11:00PM
Filed under: PC
Mass Effect PC players will soon have a chance to "
Bring Down the Sky" (did you see what we did there?), as BioWare has announced that the free downloadable content will be
available very soon for the PC version of the giant space epic.
The content --
available on the Xbox 360 since March -- includes a brand new uncharted world, and the inclusion of the ass-ugly Batarian race. And did we mention that it's free? That's incredibly good per-eyeball value.
by Ludwig Kietzmann May 29th 2008 9:00PM
Filed under: PC, Microsoft Xbox 360, RPGs, Metareviews
We always thought BioWare's galaxy-spanning RPG,
Mass Effect, was just a teensy bit too epic to fit into that whirring beige box beneath the TV. Now, the game has been enhanced --
improved inventory, expanded squad control and
less clunky interface,
all check -- and released roughly six months later on a computer that doesn't sound like it's constantly sawing the disc in half. The first batch of reviews seem to approve.
- IGN (92/100): "This is easily one of the best RPGs on the platform in recent years, delivering a terrific new universe, a fun blend of action and role-playing, and a deeply satisfying story. If you have any love of science fiction or space opera, then you owe it to yourself to check it out. There are hours upon hours of joyful discovery here, and an undeniable love for science fiction, as well."
- GameDaily (90/100): "Although the game suffers from a few minor bugs, including a small number of missions that don't show as completed when finished, some computer controlled teammates that have trouble following orders and occasional glitches when switching between movement and hacking mode, the PC version of Mass Effect is superior to the Xbox 360 release. The mouse and keyboard controls are so natural that they improve the game's performance at practically every level."
- Eurogamer (80/100): "It's an incredibly ballsy game, not afraid to take on any of its competitors, in any field. Story-lead games? Shooters? Even genuine, non-game populist sci-fi? Mass Effect has a try at them all, and leaves more wounds in them than they leave in it, before blasting off into a space all of its own."
by Justin McElroy May 23rd 2008 2:25PM
Filed under: Features, Interviews
Normally, when we want to talk to Ray Muzyka, General Manger of BioWare, we have to camp outside his palatial mansion and wait for him to get his morning paper. He's pretty spry though, so we can usually get out "When is
Mass Effect 2 go--" before he slams the door in our face. But this time, EA actually
asked us to pick the good doctor's brain. Here are the results:
BioWare has worked in several fantastical settings. How did working in a sci-fi world like Mass Effect differ from some of your earlier titles?That's a great question. The creative inspiration for both fantasy and sci-fi, and contemporary settings for that matter, certainly come from very different sources on different projects – for example, we're inspired by the classic fantasy novels for our fantasy games like
Baldur's Gate or
Dragon Age, and by classic science fiction films for science fiction IPs like
Mass Effect, and by contemporary setting movies and novels for other titles. We're always striving to deliver powerful emotional experiences to our audience.
Continue reading Joystiq interview: BioWare's Ray Muzyka talks Mass Effect 2, DLC and his favorite interface
by Justin McElroy May 14th 2008 12:00PM
Filed under: PC, RPGs
Can you remember back to November 3? No, young one. Not November 3, 2007. That'd be easy. No, we're talking about Nov. 3,
2006. The nation was tuning in to watch the antics of
The Honeymooners, bell-bottoms were all the rage and a young Dwight D. Eisenhower was just gearing up his bid for the presidency. It was a crazy time. But it's also when we first
got a release window for Dragon Age, a BioWare RPG that was supposedly due in late 2007 or early 2008. As a quick check of your calendar will tell you, both have come and gone.
But fear not! Speaking at yesterday's EA spring showcase in San Francisco, BioWare co-founder Ray Muzyka said that the game is not only still in the works but is "Looking really sweet." Well, we should certainly hope so,
Ray. We should certainly hope so.
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