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BioWare's 'Jade Empire' gets another shot at life on iOS
BioWare is virtually synonymous with Mass Effect and Dragon Age these days, but it has had its share of experiments. Remember Jade Empire, its China-inspired (and critically well-received) action role-playing title? Aspyr does -- it just released versions of Jade Empire: Special Edition for the Mac and, crucially, iOS. You can now relive the story of a martial artist restoring balance to the world using your phone or tablet, not just your computer at home. There are simple controls in the iOS version if you're not comfortable with a touchscreen, but you can also switch to an expert mode when you're comfortable with using taps and swipes to defeat other warriors.
EA games 60% off on GOG this weekend
Over 33 games (some in bundles) from the Electronic Arts back catalog are on sale this weekend through GOG.com for $2.39 apiece, a 60 percent savings off the regular price. The sale includes classic franchises like Wing Commander, Ultima, Syndicate and Populous. Also not to be overlooked are Sid Meier's Alpha Centauri and Jade Empire. If decisions like this are too difficult, grab everything on the list for $84.07. Our rough guesstimate is that this would boil down to something like $0.06 per game hour. Oh, and one more thing: Remember that you get The Witcher for free with any GOG purchase through October 17.
Jade Empire still 'near and dear' to BioWare
BioWare is busy, but it hasn't forgotten about its diamond in the rough, 2005's Jade Empire -- the company is "just looking for the right way to deploy it," co-founders Ray Muzyka and Greg Zeschuk said at Eurogamer Expo 2011. Muzyka said BioWare is passionate about Jade Empire because it's an IP, and fans may see something from its universe "in the near future." This is consistent with BioWare's previous proclamations of Jade Empire love, when Mike Laidlaw called it a "staff favorite" in 2009. Laidlaw said BioWare didn't have anything to announce at that time, a sentiment echoed by Muzyka this week -- we may have to wait another two years to see what exactly this new non-announcement means, or to get another vague, nostalgic claim about Jade Empire.
Ex-BioWare employee claims to have worked on Jade Empire 2 in 2006, 2007
It could just be a very, very specific, unintentional typo, but we're gonna bet that ex-BioWare lead level designer Rafael Brown knew what he was doing when he included "Jade Empire 2 (360/PS3/PC)" in his list of "unreleased" games that he worked on in his LinkedIn profile. The listing suggests a current-generation sequel was planned for the 2005 Xbox/PC/Mac Jade Empire. The listing also indicates he was working on the title at BioWare somewhere between April 2006 and April 2007 -- the year that Brown was employed by the company. His job description at the dev even specifies he was the "lead level/world designer on an unannounced project." Meanwhile, other folks still employed at BioWare were feeling optimistic about the Jade Empire IP as recently as 2009. The BioWare of 2011, however, had yet to respond as of publishing.
'No plans' to add Conker and Jade Empire to Xbox Originals [update]
Update: Microsoft has told us that the press materials were updated for an internal marketing request. The publisher "currently has no plans" to bring Conker: Live and Reloaded and Jade Empire to the Xbox Originals lineup.Original post:Hot on the heels of some new Xbox Originals releases comes word that more may be on the way. Specifically, Conker: Live & Reloaded and Jade Empire may soon be appearing as downloadable titles on Xbox 360.According to 360sync, Microsoft has recently updated its press materials for both Conker and Jade Empire. Considering neither title is particularly new, and both are already supported by backwards compatibility, it seems logical that Microsoft may be updating assets in preparation for an Xbox Originals announcement.Of course, it could also be coincidental. X3F reports that Microsoft also updated its press materials for Kameo and Perfect Dark Zero on the same day, suggesting that the updates might simply be part of an early spring cleaning, and nothing more.[Via X3F]
Jade Empire: Special Edition goes gold
The "Special Edition" part referring to the PC (and potentially politically correct) version of BioWare's KOTOR-but-with-Kung-Fu epic, Jade Empire. The 2K-published RPG, which now boasts higher resolutions, improved AI, an extra difficulty level, an art book and a poster, has officially gone gold and should be in North American stores by February 27th. Europe will receive the game a few days later on March 2nd. Of course, no Jade Empire press release is complete without referencing IGN's frothing demand for the 2005 Xbox release. It scored a 9.9, you know.
BioWare embracing episodic content for all future projects
BioWare looks to start swinging episodes like it was 1993 again (LL Cool J? "Back Seat"? Too obscure?). The Mass Effect developer recently pledged to support all of its confirmed upcoming titles with post-release episodic content, including Dragon Age and Jade Empire: Special Edition. BioWare even claimed that its "other" (read: announced) titles would be treated to digitally distributed content, suggesting the studio's total adoption of a longevity model built on episodic releases. The strategy will span both "console and PC" platforms, confirmed CEO Ray Muzyka. "Consoles," eh? Could BioWare be expanding its console development beyond Xbox 360? After all, a DS title is in the works.
Mass Effect combat video uses the force
If you sat down last night to watch ... The G-Hole (shudder), expecting to see the new Mass Effect trailer, you were sorely disappointed. We have received word that trailer had to be cut due to time constraints. If you feel slighted, then fear not, for the trailer is available on MTV's cavernous flash site. If you'd rather not traverse such fetid places -- even if it is the only place you'll find the trailer in hi-res -- you can watch the YouTubified version after the break.
Mass Effect trailer debuts on MTV tomorrow
It's been a long time coming. So long in fact, that we damned near fell out of our collective chairs when we found out there was actual news about Mass Effect. For those that don't know (or don't remember) Mass Effect is the latest RPG offering from Bioware, creators of hits Knights of the Old Republic and Jade Empire. Seriously, the last "news" we had about Mass Effect was a picture pack before X06. A picture pack! At any rate, the news is this: MTV will be featuring a new trailer for Mass Effect during tomorrow's episode of, ahem, The G-Hole (who comes up with these names?). The G-Hole, MTV's first show specifically about video games, will air tomorrow night at 8PM EST as part of MTV's Gamer's Week 2.0. The trailer, along with other exclusive Mass Effect content, will be available at Games.MTV.com after the television debut. So, all you enterprising YouTubers out there, grab this trailer when it debuts so we won't have to wade through the flash based nightmare that is MTV's website. (Actually don't do that, because it's, like, totally copyright infringement or something. And don't think you can get away with it just because there's absolutely nothing we can do to stop you, either.)
Massively dark Mass Effect screens
CVG -- the folks that pseudo confirmed Assassin's Creed for the 360 -- has posted some screens of BioWare's Mass Effect. All of them appear to be taken from combat sections of the game, and all of them are pretty dark. Perhaps that's why the CVG article in question was down at the time of this writing. Luckily, QJ has done us all a favor and hosted the images themselves.While you may not be able to make out much detail, you can at least rest assured that Mass Effect will feature super trendy nighttime levels. Lest these screens leave you doubting Mass Effect's graphical prowess, be sure and check out the video on XBLM, or right here. So, who wants this? (Me.)
Get your Mass Effect here! [update 1]
If you haven't been able to grab the video on XBLM, or if your slavish devotion to X360F prevents you from checking it out on Joystiq, here is the recently released Mass Effect video. If I am not mistaken, it is rendered using something called "streaming" technology. Simply amazing.So, if you've got four minutes to spare, sit back, relax, and enjoy the show.[Via Joystiq]Update 1: Replaced not working Gamevideos video with reliable Youtube. Sweet.
