dragon age
Latest
Dragon Age becomes ... Dragon Age: Origins
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]
EA: Saboteur, Dragon Age to miss '08
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.
Joystiq interview: BioWare's Ray Muzyka talks Mass Effect 2, DLC and his favorite interface
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.
BioWare likes WoW but thinks it can do better
GameInformer published an interview with BioWare President Greg Zeschuk and CEO Ray Muzyka in its December 2007 issue. Most of the questions in the interview focused on the EA acquisition, Mass Effect, and Dragon Age, but one did probe for information on the (KotOR?) MMO in development at BioWare's Austin studio.Both Zeschuk and Muzyka admitted to being players and fans of World of Warcraft, but expressed dissatisfaction with the way that making progress in the game is so time-consuming that "it's almost like having another job." They said they are thinking about ways to make the genre more accessible and easier to "pick up and play and have fun.""We certainly like the games," said Muzyka, "but the staying power hasn't been as strong. They totally enthrall a certain set of people, but we thought about how to make it an experience where you don't have to have a massive investment of itme."Blizzard had similar aspirations with World of Warcraft, and it succeeded in its goal; WoW is far more accessible than previous entries in the genre. Can BioWare expand the appeal of MMOs even further?
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.
GFW mag peeps Bioware's latest RPG, Dragon Age
1UP reports that their soon to be relaunched sister publication, the elegantly titled Games for Windows the Official Magazine (née Computer Gaming World), will have the scoop on Dragon Age, the latest RPG from Canadian developer Bioware. 1UP says it uses an evolved form of Baldur's Gate's"tactical real-time combat" and a "modified" version of Mass Effect's branching conversation system to bring us a new, "much darker" outing than earlier titles like Jade Empire. So, why is this a fetching cover model for the newly relaunched mag (and the newly reinvigorated Games for Window marketing campaign leading up to the Vista launch)? Because Bioware has been all over the console scene lately, with initial releases of Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic and Jade Empire hitting the Xbox first, and Mass Effect slated to be a 360 exclusive. Dragon Age will mark the developer's first PC debut title since 2002's Neverwinter Nights ... but how long until they exploit Microsoft's XNA cross-platform tools and release a 360 port? [Thanks, EvanB]
Dragon Age to get kissy with it
Sorcerer's Place recently posted a summary of the latest activity on BioWare's Dragon Age forum, and a considerable amount of the discussion was focused on potential romantic encounters in the game. Lead Writer David Gaider explains:"In terms of the animations themselves, I actually wanted a kiss in KotOR, but we just couldn't fit in the animation...We got the kissing animation in Jade Empire, and we'll have it for DA, but I doubt we'll get much more in the way of animations for that."But it's not all physical, folks. Gaider continues: "I'm hoping that the romances will feel much more organic this time around...a series of dialogues and choices that builds the relationship between you and your NPC. But instead of building towards getting married and having babies, you're building towards a close friendship. We're also talking about being able to switch between that kind of friendship path and a romantic path for those characters which you can romance."So if that special lady in your life gives you crap about spending hours in front of the computer after Dragon Age arrives, just tell her you're learning all about building meaningful and lasting relationships. She just might leave you alone. One other note from the forums -- Dragon Age won't necessarily ship in 2007, despite what you may have read in GameSpot or PC Gamer. However, Mass Effect should be in stores this holiday season.[via RPGDot]
