dragon-age-2
Latest
Dragon Age 2 champions UK sales chart
Dragon Age 2, as it was foretold by the Chantry prophecies, took the top spot on Chart-Track's all formats UK sales chart for the week of March 6. Hawke's ascension meant that s/he pushed back the Pokémon of the White and Black breeds to second and fourth place, respectively. Fight Night Champion beat up most of the competition to retain third place, while Just Dance 2's seductive moves helped it slide up two spots to fifth. The big move last week was THQ's uDraw Studio (with Game Tablet), which shot up into tenth place from #83 in its second week at retail. Check out the complete UK top ten after the break.
Player banned from Dragon Age 2 forum 'accidentally' loses access to entire game
There are bans, and then there are bans. One user of BioWare's forums found himself facing one of the latter after having his account suspended for allegedly using inappropriate language in a post -- but instead of just keeping him from socializing temporarily, it prevented his PC copy of Dragon Age 2, purchased online, from running entirely. EA has acknowledged that this actually happened to the affected user, but calls it an error. While it says it intended to temporarily ban the individual for violating the forum code of conduct, "there was an error in the system that accidentally suspended a user's entire account." "Immediately upon learning of the glitch, EA took steps to restore the user's macro account and apologized for the inconvenience," the publisher told Joystiq. What it didn't say is what -- if any -- steps are being taken to prevent similar mega-bans from happening in the future. [Thanks, Jeff]
Dragon Age 2 glitch is an XP factory
Amateur QA engineer "boricuacookie" discovered a glitch in Dragon Age 2 that awards XP infinitely. The glitch, taking place in the chantry, appears pretty simple to execute -- certainly much simpler than dozens of hours of fighting. But, of course, don't do this.
Day-one texture pack released for Dragon Age 2
On its own, the release of a high-resolution texture pack for the PC version of Dragon Age 2 wouldn't be that weird. It would just be nice for those PC owners with the gear to handle it. But this pack isn't being released years after the fact, when graphical display technology has improved and made the game look dated -- it's being released now, on the same day as the game. In order to take advantage of the new textures, you need at least 1 gigabyte of video RAM, and BioWare recommends DirectX 11. You also need over a gig of spare hard drive space. You should probably clean your glasses, too, for the absolute highest visual fidelity.
Dragon Age 2 review: A world of your own creation
It's pretty much impossible to have a conversation about Dragon Age: Origins without talking about its development time. Sure, it's an epic, but after so long in development (as many as eight years by some accounts) what excuse would it have not to be? Also, why does it still feel so shoehorned onto consoles? Now, with just a fraction of the development time, BioWare has delivered Dragon Age 2, a sequel that streamlines the experience to something that feels far more at home on the 360 or PS3 ... but might just have lost a touch of that epic feeling along the way.%Gallery-115856%
XBLM in March: Lara Croft deals, MvC3 and Dragon Age 2 DLC, free Gold weekend
Major Nelson has posted highlights from the Xbox Live Marketplace schedule for March. First up, the Dragon Age 2 "Black Emporium" DLC -- free to those who purchase new copies of the game -- will land on March 8 for 800 points ($10). Second, as promised, bonus characters Jill and Shuma Gorath will be available for Marvel vs. Capcom 3 on March 15 for 400 points ($5) each. In other XBLM happenings, March 7 kicks off a Lara Croft themed "Deal of the Week," which will see Lara Croft and the Guardian of Light knocked down to 600 points ($7.50). Lara Croft DLC will also be discounted by fifty percent. Also, the week of March 14 will see several St. Patrick's Day deals, notably some discounted Green Day DLC (green -- geddit?) and Social Distortion's "Bad Luck" for Rock Band. Finally, Xbox Live Silver members can enjoy free Xbox Live Gold this weekend, beginning Friday, March 4 at 12PM ET through Monday, March 7 at 12PM ET. Head past the break for a more complete schedule of releases.
Dragon Age 2 'Exiled Prince' comes home with launch trailer
Dragon Age 2's "Exiled Prince" ain't putting out for free anymore, but you can purchase his adventure on the game's launch date, March 8, for $7.
Florence + the Machine lends exclusive track to Dragon Age II
No, your ears aren't deceiving you, future Dragon Age II player. That is, in fact, Florence + The Machine, a modern band that sent a re-imagining of its song "I'm Not Calling You a Liar" back through the annals of history to appear in BioWare's upcoming action RPG. The new track, produced by composer Inon Zur, is titled "I'm Not Calling You a Liar (Dragon Age II: Varric's Theme)," but you can hear the non-Dragon Aged version after the break. Though we love the idea of anachronistic music in games, à la Red Dead Redemption's darkly folksy interlude, not going with a DragonForce track seems like ... a missed opportunity at best.
The Queue: Hey, pretty lady. Nice ... hair.
Welcome back to The Queue, the daily Q&A column in which the WoW Insider team answers your questions about the World of Warcraft. Alex Ziebart will be your host today. How about that Dragon Age II demo? How many of you have checked it out already? While playing through it, I couldn't help but notice that the women of Thedas all seem to have huge ... Monty Python jokes. It's a bit much, isn't it? Joakim asked: Is the Defias Brotherhood terrorists, and if so, why or more to the point, Who branded them as terrorists?
PSA: Dragon Age 2, Lego Star Wars 3 demos available today
Like shady peddlers of exotic, habit-forming narcotics, the Xbox Live Marketplace and PlayStation Store are offering users a free taste of two products before they launch at retail. Fans of gigantic RPGs, honorable knights and ancient dragons should turn their eyes towards the demo for -- what else? -- Dragon Age 2. Fans of gigantic AT-ATs, Jedi Knights and ancient Qui-Gons would be better suited for the Lego Star Wars 3: The Clone Wars demo. (Note: Qui-Gon Jinn probably isn't in this game. We just needed the symmetry.) The demos are available now on XBLM, and will arrive on the PlayStation Store later today, following the weekly PSN update. The demo for Dragon Age 2 will also make its way to PC sometime today -- we'll let you know when it shows up.
Dragon Age 2 'call to arms' promises in-game items for 1 million demo downloads
The Dragon Age 2 demo is becoming something of a gift that keeps on giving. Its developer, BioWare, is issuing a "call to arms" -- a challenge, if you will -- asking fans of the upcoming title to download the demo one million times between its release on February 22 and March 1 in order to unlock two special items in the retail version. The swag comprises two books, Lothering's Lament and The Far Cliffs of Kirkwall, that, when read, will grant players unique perks in addition to what we suspect will be some interesting Dragon Age lore. Players will receive an XP boost for reading Lothering's Lament; cold, hard cash is the reward for cracking open The Far Cliffs of Kirkwall. Downloads of the PS3, 360 and PC demo all count towards the goal, and will be tracked on the demo's official page. It's probably safe to say the one-million mark will likely be hit, what with three platforms and plenty of hype, but we imagine the numbers could be fudged a little in order to unlock these items if they come up short.
Dragon Age: Redemption web series starting in summer
Felicia Day appeared on yesterday's episode of "Late Night with Jimmy Fallon" to promote Dragon Age: Redemption, a six-episode web series in which she plays Tallis, a sarcastic elf assassin. Uh, that is to say, she's a sarcastic elf and an assassin -- otherwise she'd have to stab herself immediately. Day reveals that there's no danger of that happening by accident, as she spent several months training with daggers before filming. The enthusiastic star didn't share much in the way of plot or how it connects with Dragon Age 2, but the first trailer (embedded after break) reveals that it won't be all dialogue trees. Based on the brief bit of footage, we can deduce that Tallis' main activities include sprinting through forests, ducking beneath axes and smoldering directly into the camera.
A peek into the technology behind Dragon Age 2
BioWare's been talking up a storm on Dragon Age 2's graphical enhancements. A post over on the BioWare blog offers a bit more insight into the technical wizardry responsible for summoning up these new visuals: the Lycium engine, an upgraded version of the Eclipse engine that powered Dragon Age: Origins. The lighting and environments hog the spotlight in this first of a promised series of posts dealing with the sequel's tech. The image above showcases the new lighting, which employs global illumination to help "scatter light around the level for a more clean and realistic lighting overall." The new tech benefits not only cave environments, as BioWare points out that the sequel's sporting some new sky editing tools and water rendering technology which will illuminate and reflect the new lighting to hopefully create more dynamic, realistic scenes.
Felicia Day to star in 'Dragon Age: Redemption' web series
Felicia Day, star of online comedy show The Guild, is writing and starring in a six-episode web series based on BioWare's ye olde fantasy franchise, Dragon Age. Set to debut later this year, the "Dragon Age: Redemption" plot follows Tallis, an elvish assassin in search of a rogue mage -- presumably one that's run afoul of Ferelden's controlling religious group, the Chantry. "Tallis is headstrong, she fights dirty, and she has a really sarcastic sense of humor," Day says of her character. "I wanted to bring a modern sensibility to a fantasy character in a fantasy world." According to USA Today, the premeditated LARP-ing was filmed near Los Angeles in January, with Peter Winther (co-producer on Godzilla and The Patriot) as director and John Bartley, who worked on Wrong Turn and Lost, as cinematographer. The show is also co-produced by Felicia Day, who says that her appreciation of gaming and of the Dragon Age franchise has empowered her efforts. "I put every single effort into making this something that gamers will be proud of. Even though we were constrained a lot as a Web series, none of the people who were involved took that as a constraint. They took that as a challenge." Dragon Age isn't the only game to receive a promotional web series in recent memory -- the excellent "Bright Falls" series led into 2010's Alan Wake, and the upcoming Mortal Kombat reboot will be accompanied by a series of high-profile character vignettes later this year.
Two tracks from Inon Zur's Dragon Age 2 soundtrack released
Care to give the boring events of your day an exciting hint of fantasy? It's a simple process -- just load up the two tracks from Inon Zur's Dragon Age 2 score posted below, and listen to them in the background while you go about your business. Suddenly, your routine chores become wondrous quests.
Dragon Age 2 demo no longer available early to GameStop employees
A couple of weeks ago, EA and BioWare offered GameStop employees early access to the Dragon Age 2 demo, due out February 22 everywhere else. That early access has since been rescinded: BioWare posted a terse note on the page formerly used to get to the GameStop demo, announcing that "Due to security reasons, we have decided to delay this offer until the demo publically releases on February 22." During an interview at DICE, BioWare co-founder Ray Muzyka -- who hadn't heard about the demo's removal yet -- told Joystiq that in addition to the security concerns (which weren't explained, but likely involve people disseminating the PC demo before its official release), "Maybe the goal is to release them all simultaneously, because all three platforms are important to us." EA said it will issue an official statement soon; we'll update when we hear it. Update: EA tells Joystiq: "We originally wanted to release a version of the Dragon Age 2 demo to some of our partners early, but could not find a way to keep it exclusive. After further consideration we decided to wait to release the demo all at once on February 22nd." [Thanks, Omar]
Dragon Age 2 Achievements posted
You may want to go into Dragon Age 2 without knowing every major plot point that will unfold. After all, not everyone is an Achievement-obsessed husk of a human looking to have what stands to be one of the most epic tales of 2011 ruined. For the rest of us: find what you desire after the break.
See the first two minutes of Dragon Age 2
During a recent demonstration of Dragon Age 2 (the last before it launches on March 8), BioWare allowed us to capture up to two minutes of game footage. We thought you might like to see the in-game introduction -- you'll find it just after the break.
Dragon Age 2 preview: A shot of adrenaline
"What we wanted to do, fundamentally, is take Dragon Age: Origins and give the franchise a shot of adrenaline." Lead designer Mike Laidlaw's statement shouldn't come as much of a shock -- all of the marketing materials and crunchy riffs have said as much. But fans of BioWare's successful 2009 RPG shouldn't fear a repeat of Prince of Persia: Warrior Within. The aesthetics have changed, the battles system has been altered, but a familiar formula still operates beneath the surface. %Gallery-115856%
Mordant mage Anders returns in Dragon Age 2
With Dragon Age 2 a mere month away, BioWare has highlighted another member of the RPG sequel's multi-talented cast. The illicit and easily irritable mage, Anders, returns from a brief stint as Grey Warden in Dragon Age: Origins - Awakening, and finagles his way into Dragon Age 2's plot and the quest of its new protagonist, Hawke. According to Game Informer, you'll encounter Anders in the slums of Kirkwall, where he's traded pithiness for pity long enough to heal injured Blight refugees. Anders' motivations are unclear, but his mastery of magic should make him a valuable party member -- especially after you trade him in to the chantry for a healthy reward, we imagine. Update: It seems Anders may have had ... a change of heart since the events of Awakening. Beware of spoilers. [Thanks, Voltron.]
