In the just released September issue of Australian 360, comes the commitment of Bioware CEO Ray Muzyka to bring the Mass Effect trilogy exclusively to the Xbox 360″.
by TWODOGSz
©2008 Aaron Bertinetti
Speaking exclusively to Australian 360 at EA's European Showcase, Muzyka also stated we said we were committed to supporting Mass Effect as a franchise and have the trilogy on the Xbox 360, and that's still our goal, before adding to the question of the trilogy staying exclusive with what appears to be a subtle jibe at Sony, saying we're always very ambitious in our goals and the most important thing is quality, so we're never going to compromise that.
This is great news for 360 gamers who had feared a different outcome as a result of Bioware being purchased by EA, and is a stark contrast to more recent announcements concerning other third party titles going multiplatform such as Bioware's Dragon Age and Square Enix's Final Fantasy XIII.
Not only will the trilogy stay exclusive to the 360, but it will be released entirely on the 360 platform. And for our gaming colleagues who enjoy their PS3's and Wii's there's still hope that they may yet get to experience the wonderful world of Mass Effect, albeit not within the Commander Shepard based trilogy.
`Australian 360 writes it was suggested that once the trilogy has closed the IP could begin to move in new directions. Given the recent confirmation by EA that Bioware is indeed behind the KOTOR 3 MMO project, we have to wonder whether a multiplatform Mass Effect will have a similar fate, or if we see an entirely new trilogy much like the Star Wars prequels/sequels.
But beyond all the console positioning and future IP speculation are some juicy details for the current trilogy that should get fans excited for what appears to be a 2009 release for Mass Effect 2.
Whilst Muzyka would not confirm the ability to import your character from the first Mass Effect into the sequel, he heavily emphasised the importance of the trilogy to be a coherent, narrative whole. Teasing Australian 360 and gamers worldwide, Muzyka said you can do it through technology and importing character saves, or you could do it through the natural branch points where things come together and branch off again. A mixture of those two things is probably what we'll want to do
Either way it's clear Muzyka understands the appeal of Mass Effect amongst fans saying they like to feel that they're part of something bigger, something memorable, that has impact and weight. And it seems the controversy over the admittedly tame sex scenes have done nothing but embolden Bioware's intent to push storytelling in games into far more mature themes with Myzuka remarking that stuff like that is proof that games are an emerging art form and I think that's incredibly exciting.
We couldn't agree more.
Ed Note: Big shout out to our friends at Australian 360 for the juicy details. XboxOZ360 highly recommends you check out the September issue that's on sale now at newsagents across Australia and includes the full Ray Muzyka interview, a particularly awesome six-page spread on the game vs film divide, and a very nice Gears of War 2 collector's tin.
http://www.n4g.com/industrynews/News-173534.aspx
by TWODOGSz
©2008 Aaron Bertinetti
Speaking exclusively to Australian 360 at EA's European Showcase, Muzyka also stated we said we were committed to supporting Mass Effect as a franchise and have the trilogy on the Xbox 360, and that's still our goal, before adding to the question of the trilogy staying exclusive with what appears to be a subtle jibe at Sony, saying we're always very ambitious in our goals and the most important thing is quality, so we're never going to compromise that.
This is great news for 360 gamers who had feared a different outcome as a result of Bioware being purchased by EA, and is a stark contrast to more recent announcements concerning other third party titles going multiplatform such as Bioware's Dragon Age and Square Enix's Final Fantasy XIII.
Not only will the trilogy stay exclusive to the 360, but it will be released entirely on the 360 platform. And for our gaming colleagues who enjoy their PS3's and Wii's there's still hope that they may yet get to experience the wonderful world of Mass Effect, albeit not within the Commander Shepard based trilogy.
`Australian 360 writes it was suggested that once the trilogy has closed the IP could begin to move in new directions. Given the recent confirmation by EA that Bioware is indeed behind the KOTOR 3 MMO project, we have to wonder whether a multiplatform Mass Effect will have a similar fate, or if we see an entirely new trilogy much like the Star Wars prequels/sequels.
But beyond all the console positioning and future IP speculation are some juicy details for the current trilogy that should get fans excited for what appears to be a 2009 release for Mass Effect 2.
Whilst Muzyka would not confirm the ability to import your character from the first Mass Effect into the sequel, he heavily emphasised the importance of the trilogy to be a coherent, narrative whole. Teasing Australian 360 and gamers worldwide, Muzyka said you can do it through technology and importing character saves, or you could do it through the natural branch points where things come together and branch off again. A mixture of those two things is probably what we'll want to do
Either way it's clear Muzyka understands the appeal of Mass Effect amongst fans saying they like to feel that they're part of something bigger, something memorable, that has impact and weight. And it seems the controversy over the admittedly tame sex scenes have done nothing but embolden Bioware's intent to push storytelling in games into far more mature themes with Myzuka remarking that stuff like that is proof that games are an emerging art form and I think that's incredibly exciting.
We couldn't agree more.
Ed Note: Big shout out to our friends at Australian 360 for the juicy details. XboxOZ360 highly recommends you check out the September issue that's on sale now at newsagents across Australia and includes the full Ray Muzyka interview, a particularly awesome six-page spread on the game vs film divide, and a very nice Gears of War 2 collector's tin.
http://www.n4g.com/industrynews/News-173534.aspx
I keep hoping they'll eventually strike gold again.
