I had a few people PM me asking about Mass 2 but I couldn't say much about it until now anyway ...

Mass Effect 2 is coming to PC and the Xbox 360 video game system in Early 2010.

full PR ...

http://www.bioware.com/bioware_info/press_releases/2009_03_17_bioware_announces_mass_effect_2/

2010? Did you guys take 2008 off? ;)

I had a few people PM me asking about Mass 2 but I couldn't say much about it until now anyway ...

Mass Effect 2 is coming to PC and the Xbox 360 video game system in Early 2010.

full PR ...

http://www.bioware.com/bioware_info/press_releases/2009_03_17_bioware_announces_mass_effect_2/
Is it confirmed it won't come out for the PS3?

Completely unannounced DLC now available?!?

http://kotaku.com/5345206/mass-effects-pinnacle-station-is-online

Already added to my queue...

You won't see Mass Effect on the PS3 but there's no reason not to pick it up for the PC unless your PC is just terrible. I paid $30 for it. I too waited for a year for a PS3 release date but eventually said screw it and just bought the PC version. One of the reasons it's kinda of nice to have a PS3. Most of the 360 "exclusive" stuff comes out on the PC anyway because the 2 are so close in terms of design. How many PS3 exclusives have you ever seen on the PC?

I found the first DLC to be very lackluster and I suspect this one is just as bad considering the lack of an announcement. I'll probably just play once more just before Mass Effect 2 to get back in the groove and have a level 50 character for the sequel.

IGN sure didn't rate it highly, and based on the review itself, I'm expecting it to be pretty lackluster.

That is just one source though - guess I'll look for more reviews.

Ouch... (excerpts from the IGN review)


I have to hand it to those that designed Pinnacle Station, though. They did manage to create the perfect gameplay scenario for showing off each and every one of Mass Effect's faults...

The entirety of Pinnacle Station feels uninspired. From the combat environments that look pulled from other sections of the game to the near lack of story, there just isn't anything here that will get you excited about continuing on....

I'm not sure why this add-on was ever released. Nearly two years after we were regaled by BioWare with the idea of a constantly expanding Mass Effect universe through downloadable additions, we've now born witness to a grand total of two underwhelming expansions. Pinnacle Station is uninspired, poorly constructed, and offers none of what made Mass Effect a great game in the first place. Skip this, lest you want to sully your anticipation for Mass Effect 2. That's all Pinnacle Station has done for me.


They may be a bit bitchy because they had no heads-up about the DLC's release, but it's refreshing to see them hammer on a developer. That doesn't happen very often.

Yea the DLC has not been getting much love ... I won't say too much, but lets just say the core Mass Effect team has been working on Mass Effect 2 for a few years now ... I personally haven't even seen the new DLC, as I had nothing to do with it and much of the team hasn't either from what I gather. <sigh> I am not trying to make excuses either ... in the end if the fans and customers don't like it, then we didn't do our jobs right?

All I can say really is that Mass Effect 2 is a better game then Mass Effect (IMO) ... the combat is much much better, the visuals are great all around and in some situations stunning ... I see this stuff everyday and I have to admit some of the stuff I see still makes me go "WOW!" :o. The team has done a lot of work this past few years to really hit what the fans have been asking for.

Mass Effect was a hard game to make. To ship, when we did required lots of new Tech, like the Xbox360 hardware and the Unreal 3 engine to figure out. I mean when we had the UT3 engine, Gears of War was not even announced and the 360 wasn't on the market (still in testing). Plus all that stuff that made Mass Effect what it was, took a ton of time and resources to implement, not to mention the team was the largest BioWare has ever had.

I think everyone in the industry will agree that this current generation of games has been a royal pain in the ass. The teams are getting bigger the budgets are growing to new heights ... the technology is getting more and more complex and it is all moving faster and faster every year. Just keeping up sometimes is all you have time for. :cool:

Anyway ... a little inside info for a friday. ;)
Keep the comments coming ... I like to read them ... and I know there are more BioWare people who read these forums as well ... they are just a bit more shy I guess.

Had no idea we had one of the team here! Oddly my opinion is that DLC is the answer to the question of expanding budgets. Instead of a stand alone static game that never changes you have regular DLC. I mean the groundwork is already there right? I wouldn't think you would need a huge team do handle it. I would be willing to bet Bethesda has made a bundle just off the DLC itself for Fallout 3. Also here is the best reason to have DLC. To combat 2nd hand sales. There is a huge market for 2nd hand games and Gamestop are the ones who are reaping those rewards. If you can convince gamers to hold onto that copy of Mass Effect because of a living breathing expanding world that money goes from gamestops pockets to yours when random stranger can't find a used copy and needs to buy new.

Psssst feel freee to spread KOTOR III propaganda around the office. KOTOR was 3 colors of awesome, KOTOR II was terrible sadly.

O and Dragon Age looks fantastic as well!

Ya I agree dezzpayne ... and I can tell you more and more of the studios are noticing this ;).

Look at Battlefield 1943 ... EA sold a ton in the first few weeks and sales are still going strong ... it is a $15 updated version of soem old BF1942 maps. Simple really and the fans love it. Bethesda has made some good revenue from FallOut 3 DLC ... I talk to a few of the guys there and overall it has been positive ... they had a few issues with bad code but, that happens sometimes.

I have long been a fan of Valve ... I play TF2 with a few of them once and a while (see TF2 Studio Rumble - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fwqWKXitLrs ) and I have always admired the way they do things. From their development process to the episodic releases of the Half Life 2 series. They do take their sweet ass time ... but the quality is always good and it keeps the fans wanting more.

Releasing a $25 game every year as a part of a long rich story line is the way things should be done. A 4-5 year development cycle for a single $60 game is just too much I think. Both for the consumers and for the developers ... no one benefits from it really. Sure there are the CoD4s and Halos that sell 10 + million copys ... but that is not a common thing. To sell even over a million in this market is considered good, most games these days need to sell a million plus just to pay for the giant bill at the end of the meal (development).

The publishers and studios spend millions and I mean tens of millions of dollars producing a game and often the trouble is, that by the time it reaches market, it is out of date. The technology in these games (hardware and software) changes almost monthly. Also the market is always shifting to different consumer demands. How can you be adaptive to a market when you are making a entertainment based product for 4 years? You can't. :(

By shortening the development cycles and focusing on a very narrow part of a larger story the customer gets many things ... a richer experience, a more up to date technology, and a smaller price tag, and they don't have to wait 4 more years for the next game. The developers get a steady cash revenue, and are also able to adapt and be more perceptive to the fans as they go from year to year. I think I would rather sell a million units every year for 4 years then sell three million units after 4 years.

The industry is still getting over its juvenile years ... things are changing. With digital distribution catching on .... and budgets getting close to the hundreds of millions ... change is inevitable.

and Dragon Age is an amazing story :p , however it suffers from what I just outlined above.