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Mass Effect 3 N7 replica gets real world debut for your Spacer pleasure
If you're the type to stock your walls with Lord of the Rings-style elvish daggers (or, you know, build full-scale Portal gun replicas), then you'll love this official Mass Effect 3 mockup commissioned by the folks at Bioware. Arduously crafted by self-proclaimed graphic design dork Harrison Krix, the N7 assault rifle replica made its facsimile debut at this year's San Diego Comic-Con. With only a fortnight to work with, the DIY, prop-making hobbyist took the made-for-cosplay gun from a glued wood, styrene and PVC-detailed master concept to paint weathered, final collector's edition mold. It's an impressive feat you can view in heavily photographed detail at the source, but there's still one thing we're waiting on Krix to bring to life -- that space-skipping SSV Normandy.
Help pick female Commander Shepard's default look for Mass Effect 3
Though we're certain everyone reading this takes the time and effort required to truly breathe life into the facial characteristics of their Commander Shepard, BioWare is looking to change up the pre-made female model for Mass Effect 3. On the game's Facebook page, the developer has posted six images of potential prefabricated protagonists, asking fans of the franchise to vote for their favorite by "Liking" one of the candidates. The current vote leader is Shepard No. 5, featured in the center of the line-up above. We suppose she fits the part, though really, how many galaxies can Samus Aran save in one lifetime? She's being awfully greedy, now that we think about it.
BioWare: 13% of Mass Effect players use default hero, 18% play female Shepard
We've already heard that the female Commander Shepard, voiced by the talented and busy Jennifer Hale, will be featured in Mass Effect 3's marketing, marking the first time in the series that BioWare has done so. But VG24/7 has more about the female version of the Commander, and just how many players have seen her and Hale's performance over the years. Turns out, according to BioWare, that 13 percent of Mass Effect players just use the default male Commander Shepard. 83 percent of players customize the hero in some way, and of those, only 18 percent use the female version. Director of Marketing David Silverman says BioWare doesn't have a "canon" version of the hero: "The beautiful thing about the Mass Effect series is the fact that the player gets to make choices that actually impact the game and make their entire game experience unique to them." For example, none of you have ever played with my Commander Michael Shepard, honorable Vanguard war hero, one of the coolest Paragons ever, and also incredibly handsome. Shame you've never gotten to meet him.
Meet James Vega, Mass Effect 3's newest human
To celebrate hitting 10,000 followers, Mass Effect 3's Executive Producer Casey Hudson tweeted the above picture of James Vega, a human Systems Alliance soldier and Commander Shepard's newest compatriot. According to the May 2011 issue of Game Informer, Vega is meant to embody the mindset of a new player entering the franchise: capable as a soldier, but unacclimated to the delicate and often deadly inner-workings of galactic politics. Beyond that, not much else is known about Vega, how he'll fit into the series' spiderweb of emotional character interaction, or what's happened to his porcelain mask and claws.
Mass Effect Normandy SR2 Cerberus Variant model up for pre-order
The problem with that Normandy SR2 model you pre-ordered for your cube back in May is that it doesn't have anything to pick a fight with. Enter the newly announced Cerberus variant, available for 35 clams, and expected to arrive in this galaxy sometime in November. Pew-pew sounds not included.
Dark Horse Mass Effect digital comics free today
Ahead of the San Diego Comic-Con, Dark Horse has announced that all of its digital Mass Effect comics are free for 24 hours, starting at 3PM EST today. In addition to the free comics, Dark Horse is also offering a seven-page preview of its next Mass Effect series, Invasion. The comics are available via the Dark Horse online store or the Dark Horse app on iPad and iPhone. And, again, they're only free today, so you'd best get your mass in gear.
BioWare: Mass Effect 3 combat more like chess (Us: Chess has grenades?)
Speaking to CVG, BioWare gameplay designers Christina Norman and Corey Gaspur detailed some of the changes that have been made to the Mass Effect combat formula for Mass Effect 3. According to Norman, BioWare wanted to shift the focus of combat, making it more about positioning than simply shooting and using abilities. To help complement this idea, enemies were designed with better AI to work as a coordinated force, with certain units designed for specific roles. Norman likened the concept to a chessboard, where each piece can work together, but different pieces will interact with one another in different ways. All of these factors, according to Norman, lead to a more challenging game. "It's not just that the game is harder on Insanity," said Norman, "it's that this creature actually behaves differently on higher difficulty levels." Just remember, bad guys: Singularities don't care how smart you are.
Not even BioWare knows what Tali looks like
If a rose by any other name would smell as sweet, would a space-babe by any other face... uhm, be as spacey? Or something? Forget it. In a recent interview with CVG, Mass Effect 3 Art Director Derek Watts admitted that his team tends to avoid discussing the visage behind Tali'Zorah's lavender visor, primarily because they still have no idea what's in there. "That's something we're going to have to decide." says Derek. "We've had a lot of debate over Tali's face, but that's the one we kind of dread a lot." While it hasn't been confirmed that Tali will be unmasked at some point during BioWare's upcoming space odyssey, Derek laments that "Obviously people are going to be pissed off either way." Hit the source link to check out the rest of the interview, unless you want to go into Mass Effect 3 completely in the dark
BioWare 'figuring out the right way' to continue Mass Effect after ME3
Speaking with business giant Forbes, BioWare founders/doctors Greg Zeschuk and Ray Muzyka spoke on the possibility of life after Mass Effect 3, saying that ME3's universe of diverse alien races and planets has struck a chord with the series' audience. While their priorities and resources are currently focused on "nailing it" with ME3, the doctors maintain that possibilities in the future are wide open. "We do have a desire to continue the Mass Effect franchise," said Muzyka, "and we're working on the details, figuring out what the fans want, figuring out the right way." Given the amount of codex text the series has generated over the years, we don't doubt that there are still stories left to tell in the ME universe.
New Dragon Age 2 DLC, Mass Effect 3 demo playable at Comic-Con
Going to Comic-Con won't just let you meet all the most enthusiastic Dragon Age cosplayers. It'll also let you get an early look at new Dragon Age content! BioWare announced that it will debut a new Dragon Age 2 DLC pack at the event, which runs from July 21 - 24. BioWare's demos will be located in the developer's "base in the Hilton Gaslamp hotel." In addition to Dragon Age 2, fans will also have the opportunity to play Mass Effect 3. And to guarantee the maximum concentration of cosplayers, BioWare is holding a costume contest on July 22.
EEDAR picks its most promising retail performers from E3 2011
Using a complex mish-mash of chicken bones, crystal spheres and traffic reports from IGN and GameTrailers, game industry analysis firm EEDAR has picked which games from the E3 show floor it expects to be the biggest sellers this year. Their choices probably won't shock and surprise you: Mass Effect 3 took top honors, followed by Battlefield 3, Skyrim, Modern Warfare 3 and Assassin's Creed: Revelations. Let this be a lesson to all the video game publishers out there: If you want your games to sell like hotcakes this holiday season, you best slap a three on the title. Check out EEDAR's full report (PDF) for the rest of E3's expected mega-successes.
Female Shepard will play a greater role in Mass Effect 3 marketing
For years, when confronted with Mass Effect marketing materials, you've been asking yourself, "Who is that dude?" Trailers, toys, boxart ... he's everywhere. Not only is that dude bland beefcake, but everyone knows that Shepard is a woman. With that said, BioWare's Director of Marketing David Silverman noted on Twitter that the company recently had a meeting about incorporating female Shepard into marketing materials and "are working on the look now." Silverman also stated that the Collector's Edition of the game will have both Shepard genders on the cover. We can't wait to see generic man Shep paired with a powerful, black female Shepard. What? Shepard is a black woman! Everyone knows this.
Rumor: Mass Effect 3 getting four-player co-op mode
Though it's been quite a while since we've heard anything regarding Mass Effect 3's once-rumored multiplayer functionality, Eurogamer and CVG are both citing anonymous sources who claim the title will have a standalone four-player cooperative mode. The mode will feature a handful of missions which won't interact with the main storyline, and are designed to have a high replay value. Considering we spent around 40 hours mining for Element Zero in Mass Effect 2, we don't think our attention is going to be very hard to retain. Speaking to Eurogamer at E3 last week, BioWare co-founder Ray Muzyka wouldn't confirm nor deny the co-operative missions, instead saying, "We haven't talked at all about multiplayer in the Mass Effect franchise, but we're exploring multiplayer in all of our games and all of our franchises." Sounds like he's either deflecting, or hinting at a multiplayer update to Sonic Chronicles: The Dark Brotherhood, which might be the single most illogical assumption we've ever crafted.
Mass Effect 3 preview: Run and gun
Since the beginning of the Mass Effect series, BioWare has had to walk the line between the role-playing genre the company is known for, and the series' setting-driven third-person shooter combat. The first game in the series was arguably a role-playing game with shooter elements, and the second game, to both cheers and jeers from fans, definitely bent a little further towards the shooter side of things. And with the third title, a BioWare representative told Joystiq at E3 this week, Bioware wants to "bring both of those elements up at the same time" -- increase the depth of the customization and the role-playing game, and make the combat sequences more smooth and exciting than ever. We got to play through one short segment of the game, and while we didn't see a lot of the RPG elements in that part, it's safe to say that the combat is coming together to be some of the best the series has ever seen. %Gallery-125509%
Mass Effect 3 N7 Collector's Edition headed to Earth
In addition to revealing Kinect features for Mass Effect 3, EA has also announced a special edition packed with plenty of space goodies. For $80, the special edition includes a metal disc case, hardbound art book, Dark Horse comic, soundtrack, a lithograph of the Normandy, a fabric N7 patch, an extra downloadable mission, character and weapon pack and a robotic dog to "to keep you company on board the Normandy." The Xbox 360 version even includes a Normandy Avatar prop. If they have kitchen sinks in space, we assume it has one of those too. %Gallery-125549%
Mass Effect 3 screens: Mordin you can handle
Mass Effect 3 now has a launch date, and to accompany the news EA has engaged us with new screens. %Gallery-125509%
Mass Effect 3 hits on March 6, 2012
Speaking at EA's ongoing E3 press conference, Mass Effect project lead Casey Hudson announced that the third installment of the space-faring series would debut on March 6, 2012. If you let Mordin die, now's the time to start your previous game and fix your horrible mistake.
Mass Effect 3 gets Kinect support with voice recognition
Mass Effect 3 will allow you to choose whether various characters live or die, BioWare announced this morning during Microsoft's E3 2011 press conference. CEO Ray Muzyka took to the stage to reveal the added functionality -- rumored just this past week -- detailing the functionality as voice commands for various effect. Choosing whether characters live or die (by voice) and ordering around your squad around the battlefield were both shown off, though it's possible more features will be added before the game's planned early 2012 launch. We're not exactly sure why Kinect is required for this functionality where an Xbox 360 headset would work (a la Ruse), but it sure is neat being able to command someone's death with nothing more than the sound of our voice.
Rumor: Mass Effect 3 getting 'Better with Kinect'
There are lots of things we would ask Mass Effect 3 developer BioWare to put into the third and final Shepard adventure -- way more scenes with Grunt, for instance. "Kinect functionality," however, isn't exactly at the top of that list. Then again, a new image of the game's box art seems to indicate that we won't have to ask. A "Better with Kinect Sensor" logo is emblazoned above the words "Mass Effect 3." NeoGaf user 'Lakitu' allegedly spotted the image on the EA.com store, though it was said to be removed soon after. Lending credence to the report is Destructoid's discovery that the image is still being hosted on EA's website servers as of this report. Alongside Ghost Recon: Future Soldier, Mass Effect 3 is the second title with potential Kinect support to be outed by box art. With E3 2011 just a few days away, we're sure to hear more about both very soon.
Mass Effect 3 will have gay romance option for male Shepard
Mass Effect Executive Producer Casey Hudson has confirmed that the final installment of the trilogy will finally allow a male Shepard to know the touch of another man. Hudson tweeted over the weekend that Mass Effect 3 will support "wider options for love interests," including same-sex for male and female characters "reactive to how you interact with them in-game." Previous installments of the stellar, interstellar saga allowed Shepard to participate in male/female, lesbian and Asari tentacle-head encounters. The omission of a gay pairing for Shepard became even harder to reconcile when BioWare's Dragon Age series allowed players the freedom to define the sexual orientation of their protagonists. In interviews, BioWare heads Drs. Ray Muzyka and Greg Zeschuk have been responsive to the subject. "The team has its perspective," Muzyka told us during February's DICE meeting. "When they created the character, when they defined him. We're pretty open to how the team wants to define their characters. We go with what they like." It seems the team is ready to try something different.
