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'Mass Effect: Andromeda' looks to the future with an Xbox One X upgrade
After a launch troubled enough that it caused Bioware to rethink how it makes games, there's some new news for Mass Effect: Andromeda. No, it's not a single-player story addition addressing the fate of the Quarians, but for this year's N7 day (a reference to the military rank held by the player's in-game character) a 1.68GB patch on Xbox One has arrived. It adds support for higher resolution and HDR on the Xbox One X for anyone ready to try playing through again, or for the first time. Clearly Bioware and EA are reminding fans that the franchise isn't gone for good, and have a "What does N7 mean to you?" campaign going on social media, plus new merch from a partnership with J!NX. Even as the developer prepares to launch its multiplayer-focused game Anthem, general manager Casey Hudson recently wrote that teams are working on "secret stuff" for fans of ME and Dragon Age. Has enough time passed to wash the taste of a glitch-ridden and uneven release from gamer's mouths and get them ready to try again? We'll see.
How 'Anthem' balances story and shared-world action
BioWare's next blockbuster RPG, Anthem, comes out in less than six months. We know little about the project, though, despite its extensive showing at E3. The studio has explained the basics; it's a sci-fi epic that combines BioWare storytelling with the cooperative action and shared world structure of games like Destiny and The Division. We've seen a mission that takes place in the harsh, monster-riddled wilderness, and how all the different exo-suits -- known as javelins -- provide different tactical advantages. The team has also teased a town called Fort Tarsis that acts as a single-player story hub. But how does it all fit together?
'Mass Effect' failings forced BioWare to reevaluate how it makes games
Developer BioWare is in a much different place today compared to where it was when producer Casey Hudson left. Sure, the studio cancelled its multiplayer game Shadow Realms, but no one knew much about it so it wasn't a huge blow in terms of public perception. As far as we knew, Mass Effect: Andromeda was still on track to be the awesome space-opera RPG fans had been waiting for since 2012 and everything was on the up and up. Now, of course, we know that wasn't the case. In a post on the BioWare blog, Hudson apologized for how that game turned out. Specifically, the scuttling of DLC that'd wrap up Andromeda's Quarian ark storyline.
‘Mass Effect: Andromeda’ fans will have to read a book for closure
Fans of Mass Effect who have been waiting for the conclusion of the Quarian ark storyline in Andromeda, we have a good news/bad news situation for you. The good news is that we'll finally find out what happened aboard the ark, called the Keelah Si'yah, and get some closure for that storyline. The bad news is that it's happening in novel form, rather than as a playable DLC. The plot point will be resolved in the book Mass Effect: Annihilation, which will be written by sci-fi author Catherynne M. Valente. It releases in the US, UK and Canada on June 26, 2018, and in Australia on August 28, 2018.
'Mass Effect: Andromeda' won't get more single-player content
BioWare vowed to fix Mass Effect: Andromeda's numerous teething troubles shortly after launch, but there's apparently only so much it can do. The studio has revealed that its 1.10 patch is the last single-player update for the game -- in a confirmation of rumors, there won't be any solo-focused patches or (more importantly) downloadable content. The game was meant to expand on the Pathfinder story though multiplayer missions, BioWare says, and other stories will be told through comics and novels.
Former 'Mass Effect' creative director returns to the franchise
Strange things are afoot at Mass Effect and Dragon Age studio BioWare. Mass Effect's former creative director, Casey Hudson, is leaving his spot at Microsoft and will return to Edmonton to lead the studio, as general manager Aaryn Flynn has announced he's stepping down. "I have been contemplating changes in my own life for some time, but when I heard that Casey had confirmed he was up for the task, I realized the opportunities before us," Flynn writes. "I will be working with him over the next couple of weeks to catch him up and do my part to set him up for success to be the best GM he can be."
What EA learned from 'Mass Effect' will shape its future
When I spoke to Electronic Arts Executive Vice President Patrick Soderlund last week, Kotaku's report about why Mass Effect: Andromeda turned out so poorly hadn't been published yet. Nonetheless, when I asked him about the flawed game's development cycle, he was incredibly candid -- just as he had been in 2013 when I'd interviewed him about his company's move from myriad game-design toolkits to just two. Here are his thoughts on several key topics.
Bioware will address more 'Mass Effect: Andromeda' issues soon
Mass Effect: Andromeda launched in rough shape, with issues affecting everything from character creation to in-game animations and facial expressions. In April Bioware laid out some of the issues it planned to fix and while some have already been addressed via updates, the next patch will also attempt to untangle some stickier problems like LGBT representation. According to the changelog, v1.08 will update the game so that a male Ryder player will have a same-sex romance option available within the squad. Beyond making Jaal available as a companion, it also means that someone using Scott Ryder can earn the game's achievement for completing three romances while sticking to same-sex partners.
Twitch toys with the idea of chat-controlled TV shows
It sounds like Twitch doesn't want its new sneaker show to be its only stab at interactive programming. In the eyes of chief operating officer Kevin Lin, the ideal TV experience on the platform would be one where the story changes from one episode to the next depending on user feedback. "We'd want to identify really progressive studios that are willing to take a gamble and not release something in a big dump like most digital platforms these days," Lin told Recode. "[Someone who] will work with us and say, 'week to week, we're going to change this thing. We're going to somehow make it a little more interactive.'"
How BioWare will fix 'Mass Effect: Andromeda'
The internet's reaction to Mass Effect: Andromeda has been overwhelmingly negative. Whether the game's pitiful user ratings on review sites are actually representative of what most players think is a question for another day, but it's fair to say that the game had more than a few technical issues at launch.
Bioware: Expect 'Mass Effect: Andromeda' support info Tuesday
The latest installment of Mass Effect is here, but so far, Andromeda doesn't look like it's a high point for the series. A Metacritic score in the 70s puts it well below earlier games that all rate in the 90s, as concerns have been raised over facial animations, squad combat, game-breaking glitches, character romance options and more. Tonight, Bioware tweeted a message from the team behind the game, confirming that feedback is "an important part of our ongoing support of the game," and promised to share its "immediate" plans on Tuesday, April 4th.
What we love and hate about 'Mass Effect: Andromeda'
A veteran Mass Effect player and a complete novice walk into a bar. This isn't the beginning of a terrible joke: Instead, it's the premise of a conversation between Engadget associate editor Timothy J. Seppala and senior reporter Jessica Conditt, both of whom have been playing the latest Mass Effect game, Andromeda, over the past few weeks. Tim has devoured and adored the Mass Effect series for almost a decade while Jessica has never touched the games before. How does Andromeda compare to previous Mass Effect games? Does it stand on its own as a worthy addition to the sci-fi genre? Are the animations always this messed up? In the following conversation, Tim and Jessica discuss Andromeda's highs and lows from two vastly different perspectives -- and somehow, they end up with similar conclusions. Spoilers for the entire Mass Effect series reside below; you've been warned.
'Mass Effect' gets raunchy in its new Cards Against Humanity pack
If your favorite part about Mass Effect is making jokes about the game's wide-array of sexual paring options, you can skip Andromeda -- Cards Against Humanity has announced a limited run Mass Effect expansion. Well, expansion is a bit of an overstatement. The terrible person's favorite card game is selling 14 Mass Effect themed cards for $1 -- and yes, most of them are poking fun at the series history of letting the player hook up with pretty much everyone.
EA Access members get 'Mass Effect: Andromeda' five days early
If you're an EA Access subscriber you'll be able to play Mass Effect: Andromeda's first ten hours almost a week ahead of everyone else. Like Electronic Arts has done for games in the past, folks on Xbox One will be able to play the highly-anticipated sci-fi RPG five days before its retail release on March 21st. Sound familiar? That's because EA did the same thing for the most recent entry developer BioWare's other role-playing series, Dragon Age: Inquisition in 2014. The news comes by way of a tweet from Xbox's Larry "Major Nelson" Hryb. Xbox One is the only console where Access is available, but PC owners have the same deal with Origin Access according to Game Informer.
'Mass Effect: Andromeda' arrives March 21st
Electronic Arts and BioWare have finally ended months of itchiness by announcing the release date for Mass Effect: Andromeda. At CES this morning, the duo revealed that the title will arrive in the US on Tuesday, March 21st. Europeans will need to be a little more patient, unfortunately, since the game debuts on that side of the pond on the 23rd. The title will arrive on the PlayStation 4, Xbox One and Windows just four months after its original ship date of "Holiday 2016."
'Mass Effect Andromeda' novels tie into the full video game saga
Literary pop culture powerhouse Titan Books will publish four new novels in the Mass Effect universe between August 2016 and March 2018, as outlined in its 2016 Fiction Rights Guide. The books line up with the release of Mass Effect Andromeda in March 2017, but they'll tie into the entire Mass Effect series, serving as prequels and sequels to some events in the games. "They will focus on key characters and answer the many questions fans have been asking," Titan writes. The first novel, Mass Effect: Andromeda Initiative, is written by The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms author and three-time Hugo Award nominee NK Jemisin. The final novel will be penned by Mac Walters, creative director of the Mass Effect franchise.
Here's everything we saw at EA's E3 'Play' event
Today, video game juggernaut Electronic Arts kicked off this year's Electronics Entertainment Expo with a show all its own. If you weren't a member of the press or one of the lucky few fans that were let into the event to experience it firsthand, don't worry: We've collected all the trailers that made their debut on The Novo theater's stage and put them in one handy spot for you. Want a look at the new multiplayer trailer for October's Titanfall 2? Look no further. How about FIFA 17's intriguing single-player story mode? We've got your back there as well, with a few other bits like a new glimpse at Battlefield 1's World War I action. Join us below, won't you?
'Mass Effect: Andromeda' promises to be bigger and more beautiful
Andromeda is still delayed, but when you're a big budget EA franchise, you can't just show nothing at the world's biggest gameshow. BioWare at least had a new fanciful trailer, showing what its "new galaxy" will look like. According to the teaser trailer: "Distant star systems with remote and hostile planets ripe for discovery." So perhaps a little bit like No Man's Sky, but with extra political intrigue and sci-fi powers? The originals are starting to show their age now, so it's not surprise that Asarians and the citadel looking all the prettier on new gaming hardware. The teaser is peppered with creatures, locations, species and monsters from the Mass Effect trilogy, even if it's hard to pin down any spoilers or tangible facts about this new universe -- and when we'll actually get to explore it. Best just hit replay on the teaser again.
BioWare confirms 'Mass Effect: Andromeda' delayed to 2017
BioWare has confirmed what we already knew: the next instalment in the Mass Effect franchise has been pushed back to next year. Publisher EA teased the bad news during an investor's call in March, when CFO Blake Jorgensen said it was scheduled for a fiscal "fourth quarter" release. Still, today's announcement is a useful confirmation -- there's no way to misinterpret BioWare's new blog post, which states the game will "ship in early 2017." The studio says the delay is due to the scale of Andromeda, which will provide players with "an unprecedented level of freedom."
The 'Mass Effect' theme park attraction opens in May
Mass Effect is traveling to a strange new world: California's Great America theme park. The Mass Effect attraction opens on May 18th at California's Great America in Santa Clara, featuring an interactive 3D presentation with 4D effects, all hosted by a live performer. Riders will travel to "a distant planet" to make a stand against "larger-than-life foes," though there's no word on which characters will make an appearance in the experience. The ride is made in conjunction with Mass Effect publisher EA, and developer BioWare announced it back in September.
