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Mass Effect Andromeda, Battlefront II Trial & Need For Speed Trial Coming To EA Access


Posted on October 11, 2017 by Rae Michelle Richards

Electronic Arts are set to expand the line-up of free games on both Origin Access (PC) and EA Access (Xbox One) according to official-looking descriptions posted by industry insider Wario64 on Twitter. These reports were seemingly confirmed by other outlets including GameSpot later on in the day. 

The full version of Bioware Montreal’s freshman effort Mass Effect: Andromeda will be joining the vault on PC. Issues regarding the game’s facial animations and overall performance made for quite a lot of meme-worthy content when the game was first released earlier this year. After several patches, Andromeda is a better state now but this hasn’t stopped EA from putting the breaks on the series for the foreseeable future. 

Upcoming new releases Star Wars Battlefront II and Need For Speed: Payback will get pre-release trial versions for EA Access members. Need For Speed will get the customary 10 hour trial before the street date but no word yet on how long Battlefront II‘s trial will be or if it will only include a limited sub-set of content. The original Battlefront received a ten-hour trial on both Xbox One and PC before the full version was included in the vault several months later. 

Xbox One fans receive the full version of Dead Space 3 along with a trial version of the upcoming console port of The Sims 4. 

Here are the official game descriptions as originally shared by Wario 64:  

Mass Effect: Andromeda – You’re the Pathfinder, the leader of a squad of explorers, and it’s your job to find a home for humanity in the alien Andromeda Galaxy. Bring together a team of colorful characters, discover new worlds and unravel the ultimate secret at the heart of this strange new system.  

Star Ware. Battlefront II: Play First Trial – Play a part in a gaming experience inspired by forty years of timeless Star Wars’. films: dominate in rich multiplayer battles across all three eras (prequel, classic and new trilogy) or rise as a new hero and discover an emotionally gripping single-player story. Blast into hyperspace before launch day.  

Need for Speed: Payback Play First Trial – Divided by betrayal and reunited by revenge, you and your crew join forces to take down The House, a nefarious cartel that controls the city’s casinos, criminals and cops. Craft unique rides, escape the heat in epic police chases, and go head-to-head with other racers on- or off-road – all before launch for a full 10 hours.  

Also coming to EA Access (Xbox One):  

The Sims’ 4 Play First Trial – The smash-hit life sim is on its way to Xbox One Create unique Sims, build their perfect home and help them pursue their dreams. It’s up to you who your Sims will become and the direction their stories take, and you can start writing their stories before launch day.  

Dead Space 3 – You awake on a space station to find yourself hunted by crazed cultists and deadly reanimated corpses – and it gets worse from there. journey across the icy planet of Tau Volantis, overcoming the violent wilderness and an army of deadly enemies to save mankind from the impending apocalypse. Now the entire Dead Space collection is available on EA Access and Origin Access!  

[Image Source]

[News Source]


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Watch The First Hour of Mass Effect Andromeda


Posted on March 17, 2017 by Rae Michelle Richards

Set in the distance future of the year 2865, Mass Effect Andromeda tells the tale of Ryder – a member of the Andromeda Initiative. Taking place chronologically after the original trilogy of games, Andromeda’s narrative focuses on an ARK vessel sent to the Andromeda constellation with 20,000 souls ready to colonize “Habitat 7” in order to find a new home for mankind among the stars.  As a member of the Pathfinding team – who are among the first setting foot on this new world – Ryder must help assess whether Habitat 7 is the right home for humanity and what the intentions of its habitants are.

Before Mass Effect Andromeda coming to PC, Xbox One and PS4 on Tuesday I’ve got the chance to sit down with the game for several extended play sessions before the games’ release thanks to the Origin Access Trial. Last night I captured the first hour of gameplay with no commentary so that our readers could get a chance to check out how Andromeda performs & the introduction of Ryder.

Watch it in the embedded player below and look out for more gameplay videos from Mass Effect Andromeda in the coming days as well as our full review on Tuesday.

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Mass Effect: Andromeda jumps into PAX East


Posted on March 10, 2017 by Meghan Kass

With Mass Effect: Andromeda quickly approaching, PAX East was alive with the anticipation of what was going to be revealed at the development team panel. The main theater was filled with hundreds of voracious, excited fans as the team was prepared to entertain and answer any last minute questions or concerns while showing off the project they worked hard on and were passionate about.

After the team was introduced, they shortly fired up a mission for the game and Ian began to show off some story and gameplay. The team made sure to point out that their new Frostbite engine enabled for some beautiful views of space and mission settings and, fluid, impressive character animations. The change over to the Frostbite engine seemed to be appropriate for the feeling of a new start the team wanted to emphasize, which was mentioned multiple times in the panel. The characters are new and different, the story is more light hearted and the look is more advanced than the previous trilogy. While there were some throwbacks to the previous installments, such as mention of your Shepherd’s gender, loyalty missions and the like, the team wanted to start fresh and try to step forward trying new things for the series, even saying “it’s always exciting to start with a blank page”.

 

 

While some fans express concern that Shepherd is not involved and that it is trying to distance itself from previous games, the team only seemed confident that this was the right way to go with the series. They expanded exploration and the environments without making the world feel empty, revamped the battle system by allowing one to switch between favorite roles (such as vanguard or soldier) “on the fly”, the ability to jump and puzzles involving jumping, displaying stats in both multiplayer and single player and even more romance options that seemed to be spoiler free for the panel. The team also addressed the concern over multiplayer affecting story; they stated that multiplayer will no longer be a “story changer” but optional for players to add to the experience. While it appears that the team has learned a lot from past mistakes in Mass Effect games, just like for our new protagonists, it is all a new (and slightly scary) experience and we will all have to see how the final product will turn out March 21st.

 


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EA Details Mass Effect Andromeda Recommended Specs For PC


Posted on March 9, 2017 by Rae Michelle Richards

Electronic Arts has released the official minimum and recommended specs for Bioware’s upcoming space epic Mass Effect Andromeda on their support website. It might seem that this information is hidden but it didn’t take the internet long to unearth what kind of rig we will need to experience Andromeda at 30FPS at 1080p.

Here is Andromeda’s minimum requirements:

Minimum Requirements

Predicted performance
30 FPS at 1280×720 on Low Settings

Operating System
64-bit Windows 7, Windows 8.1 or Windows 10

Processor
Intel Core i5 3570 or AMD FX-6350

Memory (RAM)
8 GB

Graphics Card
GTX 660 2 GB

and here are the recommended specs:

Recommended

Predicted performance
30 FPS at 1920×1080 on High Settings

Operating System
64-bit Windows 10

Processor
Intel Core i7-4790 or AMD FX-8350

Memory (RAM)
16 GB

Graphics Card
GTX 1060 3 GB / RX 480 4 GB

So how are these specs? Well on the surface they do appear a bit on the higher end considering that these are targeting 30 FPS and not the 60 FPS that many dedicated PC gamers feel provide the superior experience. Also worth noting is the fact that these minimum / recommended specs do not mention 4K resolution at all, even though we know that Mass Effect: Andromeda will support the burgeoning resolution.

My personal gaming rig falls just above the recommended specs, so when it comes time to write up my impressions of Mass Effect: Andromeda – please don’t expect 4K Ultra screenshots, as that is probably not going to happen. As PC Gamer points out – both Andromeda and Battlefield 1 share the same Frostbite 3.0 engine and BF1 was fully playabale @ 1080 60FPS on Ultra settings. Perhaps the ‘high quality’ recommended settings are a typo on Electronic Arts part.

Mass Effect Andromeda will release in just 12 days – On March 21st for PC , Xbox One and PlayStation 4.


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Mass Effect Andromeda Gameplay To Be Shown At CES


Posted on December 31, 2016 by Rae Michelle Richards

New gameplay footage from Bioware’s next space RPG adventure Mass Effect Andromeda will be shown at Nvidia’s Consumer Electronics Show keynote event on January 4th. The confirmation of a brand new gameplay trailer, which will reportedly focus on in-game environments, comes via the official Mass Effect Twitter account.

Here is the tweet that confirmed the brand new gameplay segment to be shown during CES:

Here is Nvidia’s official description of their upcoming keynote which will also be live-streamed:

“This January, NVIDIA will kick off CES and usher in a new year of technology innovation when co-founder and CEO, Jen-Hsun Huang, takes the stage to give the preshow keynote address on January 4, 2017, 6:30 p.m. PST, of the industry’s most exciting tech unveilings in artificial intelligence (AI), self-driving cars, and gaming.”

We’ve known about the existence of Mass Effect: Andromeda for quite a while – with first word of the project coming over four years ago on “N7 Day” back in 2012. Since then EA & Bioware have been quite open about the development of the game, showcasing early engine technology and animation reels at E3 2014 before officially unveiling the game’s title at last year’s E3. More recently they released the first gameplay trailer from Andromeda, which you can watch below.

Mass Effect Andromeda is expected to be on PlayStation 4, PlayStation 4 Pro, Xbox One and Windows PC Via Origin.


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PS4 Pro Enhanced Announced, 4K Videos Available


Posted on September 12, 2016 by Ellen McGrody

Horizon: Zero Dawn on PS4 Pro

PS4 Pro Enhanced

Following last week’s PlayStation Meeting, Sony announced more details about the PS4 Pro. In addition to adding 4k game videos to their YouTube channel, Sony confirmed details concerning PS4 Pro Enhanced. Acting as a new labeling system for game releases, the new logo implies a game uses some or all of the features of the new console.

As discussed last week, the Pro offers graphical enhancements to existing and upcoming PS4 titles. Enhanced will mean that a game takes advantage of any combination of these tweaks. A Pro Enhanced game will offer 4K resolution, HDR capabilities, and/or higher frame-rates. Older titles can offer software updates with these features. Newer games will come with this label on packaging or on PlayStation Store pages.

Because of Polygon‘s reporting, we know developers won’t be able to charge for Enhanced upgrades to older titles. In addition, as Enhanced can entail HDR lighting, users of the original PS4 and the new Slim model will benefit as well.

Gameplay videos are available from Horizon: Zero Dawn, Mass Effect Andromeda, and more. You can view every 4K PS4 Pro video on Sony’s playlist. Note that you’ll need Chrome in order to view 4K YouTube videos on your computer.


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PS4 Pro Announced at PlayStation Meeting


Posted on September 7, 2016 by Ellen McGrody

PS4 Pro announced, launches November 10th

PlayStation4 Pro announced, launches November 10th

Sony officially unveiled the much-rumored PS4 Pro at today’s PlayStation Meeting. The PS4 Neo improves performance and offers higher resolution graphics. A new, slimmer base model will accompany the PS4 Pro’s launch in November.

Insomniac Games's Spiderman shown running on PS4 Pro

Sony’s Mark Cerny demoed the console’s 4K graphics with games such as Horizon: Zero Dawn and Mass Effect Andromeda. Because the console features enhanced hardware, games will be able to employ higher resolutions and greater detail. In addition, HDR lighting is coming to all PS4 models via a software update.

PS4 Pro will make its debut on November 10th for $399.


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Titanfall 2 Is Coming This Fall According To EA Investor Call


Posted on May 12, 2016 by Rae Michelle Richards

Respawn’s Titanfall sequel that they have been teasing for weeks now has a solid release window according to the recent EA investor’s call.  Listed in the publically available PowerPoint presentation shown during the call were 8 already announced titles, with Titanfall 2 sharing the same release window as the recently announced Battlefield 1, meaning that we will see Respawn’s next game sometime this Fall.

TitanFall_1

The 8 games featured on this particular slide included:

  • Mirrors Edge Catalyst (Q1 FY 2017)
  • FIFA 17 / Madden 17 / NHL 17 (Q2 FY 2017)
  • Battlefield 1 (Q3 2017)
  • Titanfall 2(Q3 FY 2017)
  • NBA LIVE (Q4 FY 2017)
  • Mass Effect: Andromeda (Q4 FY 2017)

Respawn released a teaser trailer for Titanfall 2 last week and more information is expected to be released before E3 2016 during EA’s “EA Play” event. The original Titanfall was released exclusively on Xbox One and Windows PC. Its’ sequel will be coming to those platforms in addition to the PlayStation 4.

 

[youtube id=”hJ1r2f1Jv0Y”]


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Mass Effect Andromeda Animation Reel Leaked


Posted on April 2, 2016 by Rae Michelle Richards

Demo animations from the next Mass Effect title may have leaked thanks to an animation reel from “a certain developer” who previously worked on the next installment of Bioware’s futuristic space opera RPG series. According to this very brief animation reel this particular animator worked on fire effects for objects like barrels, rain / fog and other environment weather effects, pollen plumes and a jet pack animation.

According to well known industry insider – shinobi602 – this particular footage is from a 2014 build of the game and the game “doesn’t look like that anymore”. As any long time video game fan knows the style and even mechanics of a game can change during years of development.

Adding to the legitimate of this leak, the in-game HUD matches the one teased by Bioware last year on Twitter:

Bioware_MassEffect_Hud

The original video of the Mass Effect: Andromeda has been taken down but for now a mirror exists here. If you can’t get the video to load here are some GIFs that the community has created:

Mass_Effect1

Mass_Effect2

As soon as more information about Mass Effect Andromeda is available we will be sure to bring it to you.


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Did the plot of Mass Effect Andromeda leak in a Survey?


Posted on March 30, 2016 by Fionna Schweit

An EA marketing survey may have just exposed the plot for Mass Effect Andromeda. Take this with a grain of salt because this comes from screengrabs posted by NeoGAF user anexanhume. NeoGAF is often responsible for false or just plain faked information on upcoming games and system, so take the following images with a grain of salt.

SPOILERS BE AHEAD (potentially) so click the jump if you want to see them

Read More


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Mass Effect Andromeda Delayed to 2017, Titan fall 2 Q3 2016


Posted on March 3, 2016 by Fionna Schweit

It seems like I get half of my news from investment calls these days. This tidbit is no different,  Electronic Arts Chief Financial Officer Blake Jorgensen, who said at the Morgan Stanley Technology, Media and Telecom Conference yesterday that it’s slated for the fourth quarter of EA’s fiscal year.

The exact statment was “We’ve got our Battlefield first-person shooter game coming in the third quarter, and our third-party title that Respawn, our partner, built, called Titanfall, it’s the second title that they brought into that brand. Both of those are first-person shooters and will be targeted around both the fast, action-driven shooter market, as well as the strategy-driven market in the quarter,We have all our sports games. We have our Mirror’s Edge runner game, it’s first quarter. and then we have Mass Effect, which is a sci-fi action game, in our fourth quarter. So big year ahead and we’re pretty excited.”

MAE

There is a lot of info in that short statement. Mass effect in fiscal Q4 (so 2017), Titan fall two this year in the third quarter, and Mirrors edge in Q1. EA’s fiscal year runs from April 1 to March 3, which means our window for Mass Effect is now January 1 to March 31 of 2017. This is quite the delay from its original reported date sometime between October  and December  of 2016. I tend to think game delays are good rather than bad as they make sure they game thats delivered is polished and well finished, but this seems to be motivated by how the games EA offers need to be spaced out rather than any real need to have it finished. Pushing Mass Effect means EA will have a major release after the Christmas season instead of three major titles during it.

this news first appeared on Neogaf.


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Chris Wrynn, Senior Development Director “moving on from BioWare and Mass Effect: Andromeda”


Posted on December 28, 2015 by Tamsin Heineman

Chris Wrynn, Senior Development Director of Mass Effect:Andromeda announced today through a series of tweets that he will be moving on from Bioware and returning to the USA. It’s kind of a shock due to how long he’s been on the project. Chris hasn’t let on any details as to why he is leaving at this point in time, but I don’t see any reason why his leaving would have any impact on the final release. BioWare also haven’t released any information on a possible successor to Mr. Wrynn. Before his work with BioWare Montreal, Wrynn worked as a producer for companies such as Epic Games and Microsoft.

At this point fans are clamoring for any scrap of information on the upcoming title and recently a supposed leak detailed on AntarcticWildlifes YouTube channel has everyone brimming with conjecture. Also of note is the return of writer Drew Karpyshyn, known for his work on Mass Effect, Baldur’s Gate, and Knights of the Old Republic. Having a veteran onboard certainly bodes well.

I’ve gone ahead and inserted the relevant tweets below.


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