Tag Archive

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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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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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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2016 and Gaming: A Year in Preview


Posted on December 28, 2015 by Kenny Keelan

2016featured

As we’re closing in on the end of one year and getting ready to start the next, a lot of people are reflecting on the year that’s past and others are looking at the year to come. I’m one of those looking to the future and I’ll tell you why: 2016 and the coming years after are going to be an extremely exciting time for games. While gaming has always been a longtime passion of mine, I do have to admit that it has felt like, in the last couple generations, innovation and creativity had been been steadily decreasing while market saturation has been steadily increasing. It wasn’t looking good as the market was looking stale and things weren’t change. Sure, there were gimmicks that came and went but nothing really stuck. There were few real surprises and the things that jumped aboard the hype train were mostly games we’d been anticipating and asking for, for years. There was a lot of vaporware, a lot of E3s that came and went that left us wanting more and spending more time laughing at the flaws than celebrating the wonders. In my honest opinion, the fifth generation was the last generation that truly brought us wonders we never thought we’d see possible and all the last couple generations did was expand on that. We never saw anything truly groundbreaking and that’s part of why 2016 is going to be an exciting year: we are going to see a lot of broken ground and whether or not it will be truly successful, we finally see companies going out and taking risks and those are the kinds of moves that change gaming for the better. Follow the jump for our preview of the year to come and what to watch for!

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Dragon Age 3 And Next Mass Effect Using Frostbite 3


Posted on March 31, 2013 by Les Major

Remember that absolutely beautiful Battlefield 4 video we saw just last week? Well the general manager for Bioware Edmonton and Montreal Aaryn Flynn has confirmed Dragon Age 3 and the next Mass Effect will use the same engine!

This is definitely amazing news! The characters, details and realisim level in the Battlefield 4 video are stunning. Even the video itself was produced more like a short movie told from a first person perspective. Of course that doesn’t mean the other games will be first person, just that they’ll be potentially as beautiful. Hopefully this means other EA titles will be adding this wonderful engine to their games as well.

Previous reports revealed that Dragon Age 3 would be using Frostbite 2 by DICE, and it’s great to see this upgrade. Artists on DA3 were already impressed with switching to the earlier Frostbite, seeing what they come up with now should truly be amazing!


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Mass Effect 4 Coming Late 2014 – Mid 2015 (Update)


Posted on December 12, 2012 by Joshua Rust

Update 12/13/12: This is why we state it was a “mystery source” as now the Gamer Syndrome article that was posted was pulled today with the site stating:

 “This interview has been removed. The information provided previously by the author of this post was deemed to be obtained from an inaccurate source and NOT an official Bioware or EA interview response. We apologize for the inconvinience.”

So there we have it folks. If new information comes into the light, we will be here to share it with you. At least we do know that Mass Effect 4 is in development now.

Original Story

An unnamed Bioware dev gave Gamer Syndrome an interesting update on what the status of Mass Effect 4. This mystery source states that:

“Fans can expect a similar style of choices and action that they’ve come to know in Mass Effect. Casey Hudson is very much involved in the new Mass Effect game, as well as many from Edmonton. BioWare Montreal is a great studio and they did fantastic with the multiplayer for Mass Effect 3, so fans should know the series is in good hands,” they said.

“You’ll hear more about the new Mass Effect game in 2013.”

So, we are pretty sure that this game will definitely be next-gen and almost 100% that it will run on the Frostbite 2 engine – which was created for Dragon Age 3.

I’m personally hoping that they let you pick from different races then have the storyline alter depending on what race you pick. I can dream, but regardless: I’m ready for Mass Effect 4, Dragon Age 3, and the next generation to get here! What would you all like to see implemented in the next iteration of Mass Effect? Please don’t say competitive multiplayer…please!


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You Got My Mass Effect 2 In Your Black Ops II!


Posted on November 13, 2012 by Seung Lee

Retail PC copies of the highly anticipated Call of Duty: Black Ops II come with second installation discs. That may seem perfectly normal, but these discs seem to contain data for BioWare’s Mass Effect 2. People everywhere, from Steam to Reddit, have been talking about this issue. There’s even a video on YouTube showcasing the huge blunder. PC players aren’t completely out of luck, however, because the game can still be installed (albeit, very slowly) with a Steam key that comes with each copy.

One has to wonder though–how, exactly, do you go about making such a careless mistake like this? Check out the YouTube video here (warning: there’s excessive profanity).

 


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Mass Effect 4 Powered By Frostbite Engine – Headed New Direction


Posted on November 12, 2012 by Joshua Rust

Mass Effect 3 may have been the end of a trilogy, but that doesn’t mean that EA/Bioware are done with the franchise just yet. In the early stages of development is a new Mass Effect game being labeled as Mass Effect 4 (not the “official” title yet, mind you).

Over on the Bioware blog, Yanick Roy – studio director, has let loose some new information regarding the next installment in the franchise.

“This is the goal we have been working toward for years now, and every member of our team is proud, excited, and humbled to take on the responsibility for the next game,” Roy wrote.

“To ensure a proper and effective transition, we’ll continue to be supported by the Edmonton studio through the game’s development, working with and learning from them on some critical initiatives,” he added.

“On top of that, Casey [Hudson] remains the Executive Producer, but he will have a Project Director under him, working in Montreal, leading our development team and making day-to-day decisions for the game. We all care very much about Mass Effect and make our decisions based on what’s best for the game.”

The studio boss said the new Mass Effect will be respectful of the heritage built over the course of the first three games, however it’s “exploring new directions”, both on the gameplay and story fronts.

“You can still expect the pillars the franchise is known for to be fully intact though, including diverse alien races, a huge galaxy to explore, and of course rich, cinematic storytelling.”

“There is really not much I can tell you about the game right now, except that it will be built with the amazing technology of Frostbite as its foundation, enhanced by many of the systems that the Dragon Age III team has already spent a lot of time building.”

I’m a fantasy lover by nature, but Mass Effect is one of my favorite franchises to come out of this generation of consoles. I’m hoping that the next iteration of Mass Effect lets us pick what race we want to start out as. Possibly giving us different starting locations depending on who we choose and have the storyline alter a bit depending on that choice as well.

Hey…we can all dream right?


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9 Minutes Of Mass Effect: Paragon Lost Anime Prequel


Posted on October 26, 2012 by Joshua Rust

For fans who love continuum (I’m one of them) Bioware,  FUNimation, T.O Entertainment and Production I.G have partnered together to make an anime based off the ever popular Mass Effect franchise titled Mass Effect: Paragon Lost.

So where does this story take place in the Mass Effect world? Here is the official description with all the details:

“Mass Effect: Paragon Lost is the prequel to the highly-anticipated Mass Effect 3 and follows the early career of Alliance Marine, James Vega. Vega leads an elite Special Forces squad into battle against a mysterious alien threat known as The Collectors. Stationed at a colony in a remote star system, Vega and his soldiers must protect the civilians from a ruthless invasion determined to capture the population for unknown purposes. Learn more about the Mass Effect universe with an unprecedented glimpse into the haunted past of Mass Effect’s newest hero! “

Here is the 9 minute preview video of Mass Effect: Paragon Lost:

[youtube id=”o7v616__Ays” width=”600″ height=”350″]

Mass Effect: Paragon Lost will be available December 28th, 2012 on Blu-ray & DVD. You can find other details on the official website here.


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Mass Effect 4 Will Be ‘Shepard’-less


Posted on October 19, 2012 by Joshua Rust

That’s right everyone – Shepard will not make it to Mass Effect 4 (or the equivalent name to the next game). In a recent interview, art and design producer Fabrice Condominas from BioWare Montreal, told VG247:

“There is one thing we are absolutely sure of – there will be no more Shepard, and the trilogy is over.

“This is really our starting point. Now the Mass Effect universe is vast, and very, very rich. So at this point in time, we don’t even know what kind of time frame we’re going to be in. All we’re doing is more gathering ideas from the teams.

“So first, we don’t want to make ‘Shepard 2′, or Mass Effect 4 with like, ‘oh there’s no more Shepard but you’re a soldier in the universe’. So this will be a very, very different context for sure, and nothing has been decided on the rest.”

Personally, I’d like to see you be able to choose the race you want to start with. Then have the story cater around the race you have chosen through dialogue and the storyline. For instance if you were a Krogan and you had to go to the Salarian’s for help, you might have to do extra things to convince them to help you – or vice versa. Or you could just kill them all and take what you wanted…after all, when will a Krogan ever ask a Salarian for help?

But that was just an example of how Bioware could open up the missions to a whole new complexity. What are your thoughts?


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Red Sand: A Mass Effect Fan Film


Posted on October 11, 2012 by Jason Bassett

Do you like Mass Effect? Do you like movies? Do you like fan-made movies? If you said yes to all of these, then you should check out Red Sand: A Mass Effect Fan Film. The students of the University of Advancing Technology led by instructor Paul DeNigris created and filmed a 15 minute story with guest star Mark Meer (voice of Commander Shepard).

Red Sand takes place before the original Mass Effect where a discovery is made on Mars about a powerful and unknown technology known as Element Zero that is described as a power that goes beyond human imagination. A team led by Colonel Jon Grissom (voiced by Mark Meer) is tasked by going to the ancient ruins on Mars where a team of terorrists are trying to find Element Zero for themselves as there is a powerful narcotic known as Red Sand that uses the elements power. This Red Sand is used to gain special powerful biotics based on telekinetic powers.

Far be it from me to say that this movie is awesome, but you should check it out yourself by viewing the video below.

[youtube id=”7yOAZux8ip8″ width=”600″ height=”350″]

Don’t forget to check out their website and Facebook pages as well!


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Mass Effect Trilogy Bundle Announced


Posted on September 26, 2012 by Broken Joysticks

Shepard’s trilogy is being bundled in the Mass Effect Trilogy Bundle. This news marks the first time Mass Effect 1 will be released on the PlayStation 3.  The release of the bundle will coincide with N7 Day, November 7th where Bioware will be planning events in-game, online and in live events, as a worldwide celebration of the Mass Effect Franchise.Read More


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WiiU Version of Mass Effect 3 Bundles DLC On Disc


Posted on September 14, 2012 by Rae Michelle Richards

It’s taken for granted that Wiiu ports of games like Mass Effect 3 and Batman Arkham Asylum include custom tablet interfaces that enhance the game’s inventory management. Well, those who choose to partake in commander Sheppard’s latest adventure on Nintendo’s next-gen machine will get two pieces of DLC for free:  Mass Effect 3 Extended Edition and From Ashes.

Extended Edition adds additional content to the game’s ending, it was originally available for free for owners of the Xbox 360 & PS3 version before becoming a paid add-on. From Ashes originally came bundled with the collector’s edition and was later added to the PS3/Xbox marketplaces for $10. Ashes adds Javik to your squad, a new particle rifle and new outfits.

Source


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