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New Mass Effect 3 multiplayer DLC announced
BioWare have announced today that they’ll be releasing their first free DLC pack for Mass Effect 3 next Tuesday, the pack contains not only five new characters; Batarian Soldier and Sentinel, Geth Infiltrator and Engineer, Asari Justicar Adept and the Krogan Vanguard, but it’ll also contain two new maps, one set on the Turian world of Palaven and the other on Ontarom; an abandoned Quarian planet. On top of all this, you’ll also have a chance to unlock a tonne of brand new weapons ranging from some rather powerful shotguns – to a harpoon gun.
BioWare have also announced another weekend event commencing Friday 6th April, giving players another 25% exp boost, following last week’s event which asked players to level their characters to 20 and then promote as many as possible, each week the community has nearly tripled it’s goal proving that the Mass Effect 3 multiplayer segment that we all allegedly dreaded really wasn’t as bad as it was made out to be in the end.
Meanwhile more and more players are suffering with bugs and errors that make the game completely unplayable, you can read more on this over in an earlier news post this week.
Head on over the BioWare’s blog to check out more details or click here to directly watch the video.
Extend your Mass Effect 3 Experience Soonish, kinda
Feeling unsatisfied with your Mass Effect 3 experience*? Looking for more action*, adventure*, and satisfaction*? Bioware meets your needs!
We’ve all been there. After a long, hard day grinding out a pittance at the foot of tyrants and fools, we just want to come home to a space opera that we can love and loves us back, with gusto. But what happens when that gusto just doesn’t cut it*? What happens when you just don’t get that satisfaction*? Bioware meets your needs.
Never be dissatisfied again with Bioware’s new MASS EFFECT 3: EXTENDED CUT! More space! More opera! More endings! More extension! All these things add up to more satisfaction!
Presumably. Bioware has said that they believe they’ve finally crafted an ending that perfectly balances “delivering the answers players are looking for while maintaining the team’s artistic vision”*.
The DLC will be available on all platforms until April 14, 2014.
*in bed
Red 5 Studios CEO Rallies Gamers Against New Video Game Violence Legislation
“WARNING: Exposure to violent video games has been linked to aggressive behavior.”
Reminiscent of cigarette boxes, right? Congressmen Joe Baca and Frank Wolf have proposed legislation that would place this label on “nearly all titles” from Tetris to Call of Duty in an effort to propagate the myth that video games are somehow responsible for violent behavior.
A new initiative, known as League for Gamers, is being spearheaded by Mark Kern, CEO of Red 5 Studios. Its first mission was to protect gamers against the whole SOPA/PIPA fiasco; Kern believed that the gaming community wasn’t being properly represented by other groups like ESA (Entertainment Software Association) and VGVN (Video Game Voters Network). Now, a new threat has entered the arena.
Mass Effect 3 “BSOD” still plagues Xbox 360 users
The troublesome Black Screen Of Death issue that has plagued Xbox 360 users is still hard at work giving the Reapers a run for their money, by ruining everyone’s fun over in the world of Mass Effect 3.
For roughly three weeks now Xbox 360 players of BioWare’s latest WRPG Mass Effect 3 have been suffering a complete black out, with errors that render the game unplayable from launch. The error quite adequately titled The Black Screen Of Death appears upon boot up and refuses players access to any of their content on disc, whilst BioWare and EA have had very little to say on the issue, fans have taken to the forums to discuss the problem, with more and more users cropping up reporting it.
Whilst rumours are taken with a pinch of salt, speculations imply that the problems arise from a clash between EA’s log in service and the Xbox live log in service, causing the game to essentially melt down and cause all levels of fun to terminate – others have insinuated that it is something to do with EA’s user name check in which might be a little stricter than Xbox live’s, specific names that could be conceived as offensive including my own; Capn Raccoon (Presumably for the alleged racial slang) – and most other users I’ve seen with this issue have had a similar username or an equally offensive name..allegedly.
This falls at an extremely bad time for both BioWare and EA, with fans launching the re-take ME3 campaign (That’s a whole different kettle of fish.) and only weeks after ME3′s launch too, causing out rage and general fan disappointment, but are BioWare to blame? Most likely not, with two of the world’s biggest publishers of both Hardware and Software being on site (Microsoft and EA) you’d have thought they might’ve picked up on such a simple server side issue.
Rumours also suggest that BioWare won’t be given the go ahead to patch this until paid DLC is launched in late April (Once more, pinch of salt) furthermore frustrating fans of the WRPG giant – as for now, there are hundreds, if not thousands of users who are currently suffering with this issue and we’re all just waiting to save the universe.
You can find the community thread here over at the BioWare forums
More Playstation 4 Details Emerge
On Wednesday an anonymous source spoke to Kotaku about the possibility of Sony’s next-gen console hitting markets as soon as Q4 2013. According to this source, the Playstation 4 (codenamed “Orbis”) will place several restrictions on used games wherein users will have to pay a fee to unlock the 100% of a disc’s content, thus compelling them to use Sony’s PSN Store. As much as we hate to hear this, such measures are widely supported by developers who have lately resorted to the cruel and unusual “online pass” punishment.
This source, whom Kotaku describes as “reliable” but “not authorized to talk publicly about next-gen hardware”, mentions that “select developers” have been receiving Orbis devkits since the beginning of this year. This gives developers plenty of time to make sure that their launch titles are ready by next year’s holiday season. However, this shrunken timeline contradicts Sony CEO Kaz Hirai, who said at January’s Consumer Electronics Show that the Playstation 3 isn’t going anywhere for at least a few more years. ”I’ve always said a 10-year life cycle for PS3, and there is no reason to go away from that,” explained Hirai.
Kellee Santiago leaves ThatGameCompany
Some of our more savvy readers are also some of our more savvy listeners. These people who listen to our PODcasts may know that we recently discussed ThatGameCompany busting out of their exclusivity contract with Sony, and what this could mean for the small but cirtically acclaimed developer. One thing we admittedly would never have seen coming was co-founder Kellee Santiago announcing her departure from ThatGameCompany before the ink has even dried on all the “Journey is the best game ever” letters they’ve been receiving from gamers, industry professionals, and God himself.
In an interview with Gamasutra, Santiago indicated that, “So much of my work at Thatgamecompany was really supporting Jenova [Chen]‘s visions for the types of games he wanted to make, and I felt like I have done everything I needed to do there…” While she has expressed interest in moving on within the games industry, taking her wispy minimalist design sensibilities to newer (and potentially bigger) homes, it is unclear as to whether Santiago will integrate into an existing project or if she has plans for her own startup, let alone if other of her former team members will be joining her.
Fans of ThatGameCompany will undoubtedly be watching closely to see what sort of innovative ideas come from one of the minds behind FlOw, Flower, and Journey now that she’s struck out on her own. I would make a “Journey” pun here, but nobody really wants that, right?
Baldur’s Gate: Enhanced Edition hits iPad this summer with multiplayer support
Okay, so when Overhaul Games set forth to reforge BioWare’s seminal PC RPG, they understood what a task they had on their hands. This isn’t just a port, people; Baldur’s Gate: Enhanced Edition is a retooling of some of the most fundamental aspects of the game. With some of the game’s original programmers on deck, Overhaul Games intends to produce a revitalized game that not only respects its former incarnation but moves into the 21st century with new and exciting design talent.
With that said, I was absolutely heart-broken when I realized that all this effort was going into reviving a game that – admit it – is inferior in almost every way to its sequel. However, once the door is open, it really can’t be closed again. Overhaul Games team member Trent Oster recently tweeted that they have an interest in working on a Planescape: Torment port after the BG “series”. As the BG1 Enhanced Edition includes the expansion pack in addition to offering new content and an additional party member (sweet!), this is an ironclad indicator of working plans for Shadows of Amn.
Third week running for Mass Effect 3 events
It appears that BioWare have announced yet another community event for the coming week, titled; Operation Raptor.
The event consists of having players build their levels up so that they may promote their characters into the single player campaign. The overall goal is 150, 000 promotions which will unlock a Victory pack for everyone that participated. The individual prizes consist once more of the commendation packs that we’ve seen in previous weeks, whether or not these will contain N7 weapons again is anyone’s guess.
Fan predictions are already flying around the web, some concluding that this event is how BioWare will launch all new classes including the Batarians, Geth, Asari Justicar and Krogan Battlemaster that unofficially leaked only days after the launch of Mass Effect 3.
As it currently stands there’s no confirmation as to whether or not this will be available on the PS3 version, nor are all regions included in this event – but no word currently on which regions they are.
“Welcome to the next N7 Multiplayer Weekend!
Last weekend our community operatives united to train a record number of new recruits. The time has come to turn these new recruits into battle-hardened veterans.
Join the war against the Reapers online between 5PM PST Friday, March 30th to 5AM PST Monday, April 2st and promote at least 2 characters to your single player campaign.
This operation includes PC and Xbox 360; due to Sony restrictions and policies, Playstation 3 eligibility is still to be determined at this point.
Commendation Packs will be awarded to individual soldiers who complete their training, and a Victory Pack will be awarded to everyone if the Allied Goal is achieved. Please note that participants need to set “Upload Gameplay Feedback” to “on” in the online options to be able to participate in Operation RAPTOR.
*Some restrictions may still apply, Operation Raptor is not open in all regions. Playstation 3 eligibility will be determined as soon as possible.”
Head on over to the BioWare community site to check out more details
A Big Day For the Industry in the UK
Today marks both a great and sad day for the British games industry, with the UK’s biggest games retailer entering administration this morning taking down both their flagship store GAME and their ‘alternative’ games retailer Game Station. This leaves the UK with very few choices left when it comes to physically purchasing games.
On the more positive side, the British government has decided that it’s finally time to give the games industry the break it needs – after years of requests the games industry has been given the tax breaks it needs to compete with other countries that receive much more enticing deals, such as Canada and Japan.
345 Games Revs Up for Deadliest Warrior: Ancient Combat Release with “Battle of the Week”
Back in the 90s the phrase “flavor of the week” was tossed around a lot. In fact, it was so ubiquitous that it was basically the Kevin Bacon of slogans; you could trace it from your local iced creamery all the way to a brothel in downtown Brooklyn. The “flavor of the week”, initially intended as a gimmick to promote a particular shop, ironically became the thread that tied them all together. That’s why people stopped using it.
Somebody didn’t get the memo.