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Mass Effect's M8 Avenger rifle brought to exquisitely detailed life
Harrison Krix understands if you don't remember his name. After all, your mind can't be expected to retain information when you've just seen the spectacular Portal gun and Daft Punk helmet the man has already authored. Latest on his hitlist is an homage to the awesomeness that is Mass Effect. Employing mostly leftover bits from previous projects and $28's worth of new materials, Harrison set about the task of recreating Commander Shepard's trusty assault rifle. The source will delight your eyeballs with a litany of pictures and build details, though our major question remains unanswered -- does it use armor-piercing, incendiary, or shredder rounds?
BioWare drops 10-day validation from Mass Effect PC
After stirring up a hornets' nest of gamer contempt last week by announcing that the forthcoming PC flavor of Mass Effect would require re-validation every 10 days, BioWare community manager Jay Watamaniuk has come forward as the voice of reason on the game's official forums, stating that the developer has now removed the "feature" from the game.Instead of employing the previously revealed DRM madness, Watamaniuk explained that Mass Effect will include just a one time online authentication, allowing players to play the game once validated without the disc in the drive at all. That said, if any new content is downloaded, the game will again have to bite the disc to make sure it's real. The caveat to all of this, however, is that each Mass Effect purchase will only be able to be installed a maximum of three times, news that has again incited us to pick up our torches and pitchforks and join the mob outside.
Mass Effect PC will 'Bring Down the Sky' at launch [Updated]
Don't expect to play Mass Effect's "Bring Down the Sky" downloadable content on the day the game releases for PC. Developer BioWare tells IGN that the DLC will not be included in the PC release, though there will be an "announcement soon" about "additional content" for it. Update: The DLC will not be included in the box, but will be offered for free to BioWare community membersBioWare dodges the question about whether future DLC will be staggered and released on Xbox 360 first, followed by PC. Either way, the PC gamer race is sure to giggle with delight as they experience less texture popping and shorter elevator rides when Mass Effect launches May 28.
Mass Effect II will have 'richer' side quests
In an interview with MTV's Multiplayer, BioWare General Manager Greg Zerschuk says Mass Effect II's side quests will be "a little bit richer." He says the company is looking into ways to auto-generate content and possibly tie those into the main story. He'd like to make sure that side quests stay to the side, but that there's something "purposeful about them."Zerschuk explains now that the technological backbone for Mass Effect is there, the sequel should be much better. He uses the company's Baldur's Gate series as an example, explaining that the the first one was a very solid game, but that the sequel allowed things to be taken "to a whole new level."
Joyswag: Win Mass Effect's 'Bring Down the Sky' DLC
We never forget a face. That explains why we nearly overlooked the charming fellow above, as his disturbing assemblage of teeth, eyes and wrinkles really stretches our definition of "face" to its very hideous limit. Apparently, we were supposed to meet him for a round of Mass Effect today, foiling his and his fellow Batarians' plan to toss an asteroid at an unsuspecting planet.If you feel like your galactic romp across BioWare's rich galaxy is in need of extension, the "Bring Down the Sky" Mass Effect add-on promises "approximately 90 minutes" of gameplay and 50 gamerscore points. It's available on the Xbox Live Marketplace now for $5, or 400 MS Points. Oh, and you can win a download code for it right now. To enter this giveaway, suggest a caption for the above image in the comments section. You must be 18 years or older and a resident of the US or Canada (excluding Quebec). Limit 1 entry per person. If you enter this giveaway more than once you'll be automatically disqualified and jettisoned into space! This entry period ends tomorrow at 5:45pm ET Tuesday 3/11/08. We'll randomly select 10 winners at that time. For complete rules capable of generating extensive dialogue trees, click here. [Update: The contest is over. We'll be contacting the winners shortly, so please keep an eye on your inbox!]
Mass Effect to drop for the PC in May, EA to publish
var digg_url = 'http://digg.com/pc_games/Mass_Effect_PC_confirmed_EA_to_publish_in_May'; Mass Effect's long-rumored jump to the PC is now a certainty, as publisher Electronic Arts has taken the popular action RPG under its wing with plans to publish the title for the PC in May. The game is the first in a new deal struck between EA and Microsoft, which will see the publisher bringing this and other unspecified games to the PC market.According to EA, Mass Effect has undergone a slight makeover for its PC debut, with new PC-centric "fully customizable" controls, the ability to assign hot keys for "run and gun control," an enhanced inventory system, and a new decryption minigame. The publisher also boasts of the version's new "highly detailed" visuals, though we're curious to see if the console version's horrendous texture pop-in will be checked at the door before boarding the painfully slow rising elevator leading to Mass Effect's spring release.
Heed Totilo's warning -- keep a late Mass Effect save to play new DLC
We're certain that anyone who is excited about the new DLC for BioWare's intergalactic opera Mass Effect probably beat the game late last year, allowing their respective Commander Shepherds to grow portly and short-winded in the following months. While you may be tempted to delete those vestiges of space adventures past from your hard drive so you can start anew when it comes time to 'Bring Down the Sky', MTV Multiplayer's Stephen Totlio strongly suggests you don't -- unless you want to wait a few hours before perusing the new content.You see, in order to access the new missions provided in the download, you'll need your trusty space-faring vessel, which is not available for the last couple of hours and first few hours of the game. So, whether you've started the game over, or just deleted your old saves, make sure you reclaim your wings by March 10 if you want to venture forth into uncharted territories in search of new extraterrestrial nookie.
Mass Effect DLC to 'Bring Down the Sky' on March 10
BioWare has unveiled the first in a series of downloadable add-ons to its interstellar epic of planetary exploration and interspecies cavorting, Mass Effect. Warping onto the Xbox Live Marketplace on Monday, March 10th, "Bring Down the Sky" expands the game's rich universe by adding a new uncharted world and an alien race mentioned but never seen in the award-winning central campaign.It seems an extremist group of Batarians, who sadly look nothing like the gigantic space bats we envisioned them to be, has taken control of a mobile asteroid station and set it on a collision course with a nearby colony. Since you'll have absolutely none of that, you'll download the adventure for 400 MS Points ($5) and put an end to the crisis within "approximately 90 minutes." If saving Terra Nova isn't reward enough, there are 50 Gamerscore points in it for you.%Gallery-15459%
Today's most satirical video: Loading.Ready.Run tackles 'Max Effect'
It's been a week since Fox News ran a largely ignorant news segment on the the brief, minor and optional sex scene found in Mass Effect. The crew of Loading.Ready.Run have produced a satire of the news segment for our enjoyment. All the important interview tactics are present, from the gaming supporter being frequently cut off mid-sentence, having his mic turned off, and the host giving loaded questions and descriptions ("full on hardcore porn sex ... with freaky alien chicks"). The acting may not be top-notch, but the snark is. For a summary of events surrounding Mass Effect so far, including head-turning comments by Jack Thompson, check out this post. Video embedded after the break.[Thanks, Pattmyn]
Gamers wage war on Mass Effect basher's book, garner apology [update]
Anyone who has stared into the pitch-black eye of madness known as the Fox News Network's "coverage" of Mass Effect and its "Luke Skywalker meets 'Debbie Does Dallas'" gameplay, is probably now familiar with psychology specialist Cooper Lawrence, who laughingly admitted on the show that she had never played Mass Effect, but still assured the program's viewers of the game's vicious, child corrupting qualities.We imagine the chuckles came to an abrupt end when Lawrence checked the Amazon ratings of her newest book, "The Cult of Perfection: Making Peace With Your Inner Overachiever," whose middling review had been torn asunder by incensed gamers -- many of whom took the time to mention that they had never actually read the book, but hated it anyways. Amazon recently took down these negative reviews -- a shame, as we're sure they'd provide more entertainment than the actual book ever could.Lawrence has since apologized in a New York Times article, claiming she was misinformed about the game, and that she's "seen episodes of 'Lost' that are more sexually explicit." Nice work, Lawrence. You might have settled things with the gaming community, but now you've pissed off the DHARMA Initiative, who are capable of doing much more than just downvoting self-help literature.Update: X-Play's Adam Sessler recently spoke his mind about the "Mass Stupidity" debacle -- his video comments can be viewed (and enjoyed) after the jump.
Fox says EA ignored invite to discuss Mass Effect [update]
In what looks to be a standstill, MTV Multiplayer's Stephen Totilo contacted Fox News to follow up on a letter sent to them yesterday by Electronic Arts asking to "correct the record" on the ignorant Mass Effect "sexposé." An unnamed spokesperson replied, "Fox News Channel has extended several invitations to EA through a company representative to appear on 'Live Desk With Martha MacCallum' to discuss 'Mass Effect' and the segment which aired on Monday. We have received no response." We're wondering if an EA representative coming on MacCallum's show would get the same treatment as Geoff Keighley in the original segment. Also today, Totilo contacted Brown, who reiterated his position from yesterday's letter. Hence, both sides are waiting for other to somehow respond. Is someone going to make the next move (we're doubtful), or is this just going to blow away until the next batch of "sex-ified" games? (Potential candidates include Grand Theft Auto 4, Smash Bros Brawl and Spore.)Update: GameDaily contacted EA VP of Communications Jeff Brown, who wrote the original letter to Fox News, to see if there was any update on the situation. Said Brown, "Not much to say other than there's no interest here in another debate with an 'expert' that will say anything to sell a book. They need to step up and correct the record." We couldn't agree more (and we can't seem to get the image of Brown's razor sharp fangs out of our minds).
Mass Effect 'virtual orgasmic rape' columnist apologizes
Following his inflammatory and just-plain-wrong criticism of Mass Effect, "conservative" columnist Kevin McCullough has apologized "to the gaming universe." McCullough says he still finds the material he had umbrage with before offensive and that it should be kept out of the hands of children -- if parents and retailers are doing their jobs regarding the M-rated Mass Effect then McCullough will get his wish.The next time some columnist wants to level criticism against a game it'd be nice if they at least play the game first, which McCullough admitted he had not done and only perused some clips of the Mass Effect sex scenes on the internet. Now that we've gotten that futile dream out of the way: Bring on the next nut job![Via GamePolitics]
Most bizarre thing you'll read today: Mass Effect's 'virtual orgasmic rape'
We feel a little awkward pointing the way to a horribly researched criticism of Mass Effect by "conservative" blogger Kevin McCullough, but it's probably just about the most flat-out crazy thing you'll read all day. GamePolitics discovered the article entitled "The 'Sex-Box' Race for President" where McCullough just pulls out of the vacuum of space various criticisms against Mass Effect which are "pushing our next generation of young men through the gates of hell as fast as is humanly possible." McCullough's issues include, but are not limited to: Mass Effect is marketed to fifteen year old boys. That may be possible, but the game is rated M (17+). He says players engage in "the most realistic sex acts ever conceived." Sorry, but there are much better sex simulators. That players can customize an avatar's body and breast size -- that's just not true in the slightest. The piece de resistance: Players can "hump in every form, format, multiple, gender-oriented possibility they can think of." As we've gone over before, there's no love for our gay brothers in the game, sex is straight or between the ladies. Not to mention players can only have sex with a few characters -- it certainly isn't the Baskin-Robbins interstellar sex club of 31,000 flavors. Those are McCullough's issues in just the first two paragraphs! Happy facepalming gentle readers.[Via GamePolitics]
Takahashi apologizes for Mass Effect review
Mercury News reporter Dean Takahashi has quite publicly apologized for his negative and unfair review of Mass Effect. Takahashi's mea culpa reveals that he rushed into (and through) the early levels of the game without taking the time to learn the rules. BioWare can also be faulted for its lack of explanation in teaching the uninitiated the finer points gameplay.The lengthy apology clearly highlights issues we've heard about and experienced in Mass Effect over and over again. Some simple thoughts to enjoy Mass Effect: Take your time and be sure to make time, it is an RPG after all and not a rushed experience. Hopefully for the sequel they'll fix blatantly ridiculous things like the inventory system, inability to run around the Citadel, and the slowest elevators in intergalactic history -- the title sure sold enough to warrant future installments.
Best of the Rest: Griffin's Picks of 2007
Resident Evil 4: Wii Edition (Wii)For a port of a two-year-old game, RE4: Wii Edition didn't have a whole lot going for it. It had the same extra features as the PS2 port of the game, not-so-updated graphics, and slightly lower reviews than its original iteration -- and yet, somehow, just by changing how the game is controlled, Capcom created an entirely new adventure. When the peculiar controls for the Wii were first announced, this is the type of interactivity that I imagined from the future games for the system -- responsive, accurate, and realistic. The only way they could have made the gunplay feel any more natural would have been to package the game with an actual gun, which you shot at the on-screen zombies. Once.
Best of the Rest: Justin's Picks of 2007
Dead Head Fred (PSP) Though he may have been on a small screen, Dead Head Fred (voiced by Scrubs' John C. McGinley), had more character than 90 percent of the leads in this year's crop of console games. If you haven't played it, do yourself a favor and track it down. It's excellent stuff.
Best of the Rest: James' Picks of 2007
Pac-Man Championship Edition (XBLA) If not worthy of a Top 10 spot, then certainly Pac-Man deserves Joystiq's 'Comeback Player of the Year' award. I covered Pac-Man CE's overblown launch in early June, but it wasn't until I became a devoted player at home that I realized the sheer genius of the first true Pac-Man sequel since 'the Ms.' hit the maze in '82. Designer Toru Iwatani managed to scrape off a quarter-century of rust and fashion a remarkably relevant game that held me down during an otherwise punishing summer drought. Geometry Wars might be the most celebrated, but Pac-Man CE is Xbox Live Arcade's true star.
Joystiq's Top 10 of 2007: Mass Effect
If you've ever borrowed a great novel from a library (ask your parents), you would know that all those reams of text can latch on to your thoughts regardless of the tattered, pig-eared and terrifyingly sticky pages they're printed on. Mass Effect is just such an experience, its story spread across technically dubious and slow-turning sheets filled with text that randomly pops in and out of existence. You also have to read several chapters while standing in the world's slowest elevator, for some reason.Still, these are complaints that are best gotten over with in the first paragraph and promptly forgotten, for Mass Effect makes its rich story heard well above the incessant clacking of the Xbox 360's exhausted DVD drive. It may seem strange to place emphasis on the massive universe and nuanced characters over the increasingly vague term of "gameplay," but BioWare's craft has masterfully blurred the lines between plot and play. We can't remember the last time we preferred chatting to aliens as opposed to shooting them in... whatever approximates a face. A laborious inventory system and initially confusing combat certainly detract from the game's (forbidden) planet-hopping journey, but the cinematic ambition on display and tough choices to be made will linger in your memory for much, much longer. In a bountiful year which encouraged us to breathlessly rush from game to epic game, it's remarkable that Mass Effect could make us pause long enough to consider the consequences of our actions.%Gallery-1968% He sounds like a cereal (killer) ->
NYTimes names Mass Effect game of the year
A little lesbianism goes a long way as the New York Times names Mass Effect its game of the year for 2007. The NYT bestowed Mass Effect with the honor for its "focus on character development, personal growth and moral tension, all fueled by a graphics system created to evoke emotional empathy." Ratchet & Clank Future: Tools of Destruction was honored for being the shining star on the PS3 and BioShock was named the "best newcomer." There's also digs at Halo 3 and Super Mario Galaxy for being "unambitious representations of the state of the art."Speaking of unambitious, for the second time in less than a month the New York Times copyeditors took a nap (albeit a minor one) on a video game-related story, which is slowly becoming inappropriate in covering an $18 billion-plus industry. There's no telling when reporter Seth Schiesel submitted his copy for this piece, but E3 2008 was already confirmed for the Los Angeles Convention Center last Tuesday, so the article's suggestion that "the solution for [E3] next year can be summed up in one word (or is that two?): Las Vegas" is just about 1,000 New York minutes behind the times.
Second Mass Effect book, Ascension, announced
Say what you will about Mass Effect, but you've got to admit that it was a great read. In fact, the game's copious amounts of text will be spilling into dead-tree form a second time with Del-Rey Books' just announced Mass Effect: Ascension, which will be penned by Mass Effect lead writer Drew Karpyshyn, as was the first prequel book in the game's universe. (A second book had previously been hinted at with the (apparently) temporary subtitle of "Revolution.")This second novel, Ascension, will span the events between the end of the first game (Spoiler: Rosebud is his space sled!) and the beginning of the second. There's no word on a date yet, but we're going to go out on a limb and guess "sometime before the second game is released."
